DeMille wins Biblical Blu-ray showdown

By Christopher P. Jacobs
Staff Writer

The past Sunday was Easter and this month saw a sudden wave of classic Hollywood Biblical epics by major directors released to Blu-ray. Some are better than others, both in dramatic/entertainment quality and in video quality. The standout of the bunch is the dazzling deluxe gift set of the 1956 version of “The Ten Commandments.” Second-best both dramatically and in its Blu-ray transfer is Nicholas Ray’s version of “King of Kings” (1961). George Stevens’ “The Greatest Story Ever Told” (1965) and John Huston’s “The Bible… In the Beginning” (1966) each have elements to recommend them and are worth seeing, but both unfortunately have substandard Blu-ray image transfers barely better than a standard DVD.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956)
Cecil B. DeMille’s remake of his silent epic is the epitome of lavish Hollywood spectacle. Amazingly, it manages to inject enough character and sincerity into its poetic dialogue and nearly four-hour high melodrama to be simultaneously morally inspiring and campy fun, besides showing off eye-popping Technicolor and VistaVision visuals, effective early stereo surround sound, wonderful art direction and still impressive special effects.

The first two-and-a-quarter hours follow Moses from his birth, through his rise as a prince of Egypt and rivalry with Ramses, discovery of his Hebrew origins, and exile into the desert. After the intermission (at the end of disc one) there’s just an hour-and-a-half left to go, as he returns to Egypt to lead his people to the promised land. There has never been a Moses to equal Charlton Heston nor a Ramses like Yul Brynner.

The 2010 restoration is nothing short of spectacular on Blu-ray, quite possibly the best transfer of any film yet issued on the medium, old or new, a superb representation of the original film. Except for some bluescreen and composite shots that look much more obvious with the higher quality than they ever did on standard definition video, the film looks as though it was shot yesterday. Details and textures are visible that could never be seen on DVD, VHS or even ABC-TV’s hi-def broadcast last week, and colors look more vivid than the theatrical reissue some 20 years ago. The lossless 5.1 DTS sound is likewise impressive, clearly revealing details of dialogue by extras during crowd murmurs previously hard to make out. In short, “The Ten Commandments” looks and sounds better than it ever has since its premiere in 1956.

The deluxe gift set has a cleverly designed, if somewhat awkward, box that literally parts the Red Sea to open, revealing a plastic replica of the ten commandments tablets, which themselves contain the six discs in the set (three Blu-rays and three DVDs). Then there’s a nice little hardcover commemorative book about the film, a replica of the original souvenir program booklet and several reproductions of various memorabilia connected with the film (telegrams, a commissary menu with sketches on it, costume designs, etc.).

The most welcome of the Blu-ray extras is the complete 1923 version in full HD (on Blu-ray disc 3, which is missing from the cheaper 2-disc Blu-ray edition), and there are the same excellent audio commentaries that were on the 2006 DVD release. There’s a new and very good 73-minute documentary about the film’s history, an informative 1953 10-minute promotional featurette of DeMille discussing the film, newsreel footage of the film’s premiere and trailers. Perhaps the most unexpected bonus is that all of the extras are also in fine 1080p transfers, not merely upscaled or ported-over standard-definition transfers from earlier DVD editions.

Silent film fans may consider the 1923 film as the main feature in the deluxe edition, with the 1956 remake as the bonus. DeMille’s original version is two films in one, the first 50 minutes following Moses through the Exodus and parting of the Red Sea, to getting the 10 commandments. The last 86 minutes are a heavily allegorical modern 1920s morality play as only DeMille could tell it, with every melodramatic stop pulled out (greatly intensified by the thundering pipe organ score, also with every stop pulled out).

Great drama or powerful social statement it’s not, but valuable social document of 1920s pop culture and highly entertaining hokum it most certainly is! Bonus materials for the silent version include a fine commentary, 20 minutes of color-tinted footage showing the Exodus sequence, part of that same sequence with two-color Technicolor footage, and a stills gallery, all in full-HD. “THE TEN COMMANDMENTS” on Blu-ray—Movies: A / Video: A+ /  Audio: A+  / Extras: A+

KING OF KINGS (1961) ***

Nicholas Ray’s “King of Kings” is not DeMille, but has its own advantages and flaws. His 171-minute version of the life of Christ is, however, an interesting take on the familiar material, sometimes as much for what it leaves out as for what it includes and expands upon. Once one accepts that this was a major Hollywood studio film aimed squarely at middle-America in the mid-20th century, it’s not difficult to find much of the film a reasonably involving historical drama with an inspirational message. Like all such films, it needs to be viewed in context as a part of the larger body of similar but often very different works (just as the various Gospels, canonical and otherwise).

Warner Home Video’s high-definition transfer is excellent, a strong upgrade from the old DVD, now with crisp details and textures as well as a fine film grain clearly visible. The DTS-HD 5.1 stereo audio is also very good, with occasional directional dialogue noticeable. There are few bonus items, all in standard definition of various quality: just a trailer, an old featurette and two newsreels of the premiere. “KING OF KINGS” on Blu-ray—Movie: B+ / Video: A+ / Audio: A / Extras: C-

“THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD” on Blu-ray—Movie: B / Video: C+ / Audio: A / Extras: C+

“THE BIBLE” on Blu-ray—Movie: B- / Video: A-  / Audio: A / Extras: D-

Questions and comments: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)