Blu-ray Review HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Greatest Story Ever Told (1 Viewer)

[Konstantinos]

Sorry to bump this thread, but i wanted to ask something that I can't find the answer to.

I have purchased the US Bluray of this film.
At about 1.56.20'' of the film, i hear a popping sound in the rear channels, and maybe in 1-2 more places.
The French and German 5.1 tracks don't have these audio defects.

I have tried a couple of players, and it's always in the same spot.
Do I have a bad disc, or is it like this in everyone?

 

[RobertMG]

This is an MGM property. Fox is not going to shell out big money for MGM titles based on a temporary distribution deal. ahollis has named The Alamo that is not even released as a DVD so one could argue that TGSET fared better than that as it got a Blu-Ray release that overall is a bit better than a good DVD.

 

[RobertMG]

Great review - spot on! Never have been a fan of this film can could never understand why after the box office disappointment of King Of Kings in 1961 why Mr. Stevens would have even attempted another retelling of this story. Today King Of Kings is hailed as one of the best Biblical epics rightly so. Looking at directors like Mr. Capra and Mr. Stevens as they got older it seems they did not know how to keep their films from becoming overly long and bloated, Like Pocketful Of Miracles and TGSET. TGSET filming in NV killed it for me as did the bulimic Jesus - I know the image of Jeffrey Hunter too is the idolized image of Jesus is how he has been portrayed in our culture for decades but it works while TGSET's portrayal just seems like an ill conceived decision that doomed the enterprise.

 

[OliverK]

Great review - spot on! Never have been a fan of this film can could never understand why after the box office disappointment of King Of Kings in 1961 why Mr. Stevens would have even attempted another retelling of this story. Today King Of Kings is hailed as one of the best Biblical epics rightly so. Looking at directors like Mr. Capra and Mr. Stevens as they got older it seems they did not know how to keep their films from becoming overly long and bloated, Like Pocketful Of Miracles and TGSET. TGSET filming in NV killed it for me as did the bulimic Jesus - I know the image of Jeffrey Hunter too is the idolized image of Jesus is how he has been portrayed in our culture for decades but it works while TGSET's portrayal just seems like an ill conceived decision that doomed the enterprise.

Von Sydow indeed is a bit of an odd choice as is the choice of locations and then there are some very badly made trick shots, the ridiculous Hallelujah scene, the el cheapo backlot crucifixion scene, medieval looking "palaces" and the often ridiculous cameos. Stevens truly lost his way on this one and it seems that nobody stepped in to tell him.

I still find most of the music and the outdoor shots stunning in 70mm and imo they give the movie an almost hypnotic quality while they last. Some may say that is the feeling that you get when one hypnotizes you to fall asleep but I really found this to be the main strength of the movie that for me made it worth watching it despite those other issues.

That is if one was able to enjoy it as a very good Blu-ray or even UHD disc. Sadly these days we get a UHD of The Wolfman and other rather shabby looking horror fare but the mostly magnificent looking TGSET is only available as a subpar Blu-ray.

 

[marcco00]

if they ever do a 4K restoration of this film, boy would i buy!!

 

[OliverK]

if they ever do a 4K restoration of this film, boy would i buy!!

Day one purchase even if it comes in a big special edition believer box with a plastic crucifix and holy water

 

[RichMurphy]

if they ever do a 4K restoration of this film, boy would i buy!!

Same here. I tend to look at TGSET as an audio-visual experience to be savored, rather than focussing on its dramatic and casting misfires. That's what made the existing Blu-Ray especially disappointing.

 

[OliverK]

Same here. I tend to look at TGSET as an audio-visual experience to be savored, rather than focussing on its dramatic and casting misfires. That's what made the existing Blu-Ray especially disappointing.

I only watched it in faded 70mm prints but the magnificent cinematography and score was still there even with the geometric distortion that comes with those rectified cinerama prints.

It was like watching it for the first time as this is one of those movies that are made for a big screen experience and in that regard TGSET is easily the most impressive single strip cinerama production.

 

[stevenHa]

Of course the score is heavily influenced by Samuel Barber Adagio for Strings.

 

[Frankie_A]

Von Sydow indeed is a bit of an odd choice

I'll say!! I kept hearing him saying, "The body of CHRIST COMPELS you...the body of CHRIST compels you!...oh wait, that's me!" And yah, those cameos -- they were so distracting you could hear people snickering in the screening room. Then John Wayne appears and the snickering gets even louder. Then he says his first line and people are laughing out loud. Such a mistake using well-knows. The only thing great about this production is the cinematography. It's Loyal Griggs and William Mellor's greatest film.

I also wish there were a way to know which sections were directed by Stevens and which by Lean. Knowing David Lean's work, somehow I would guess that where the film is at its most melodramatic and ponderous, were directed by Stevens. He seems to be the least effective on the big expansive films like GIANT and TGSET (yah, that's right, I said it...for all its hoopla, I didn't find anything even mildly compelling about GIANT either); he is the most real and authentic on the smaller, more intimate films like DIARY. Those miles of 70mm negative should have been saved for the likes of David Lean and Stanley Kubrick.

 

[PatrickDA]

Completely disagree with your feelings about "Giant," however, Lean only directed the scenes with Claude Rains.

 

[RolandL]

I'll say!! I kept hearing him saying, "The body of CHRIST COMPELS you...the body of CHRIST compels you!...oh wait, that's me!" And yah, those cameos -- they were so distracting you could hear people snickering in the screening room. Then John Wayne appears and the snickering gets even louder. Then he says his first line and people are laughing out loud. Such a mistake using well-knows. The only thing great about this production is the cinematography. It's Loyal Griggs and William Mellor's greatest film.

I also wish there were a way to know which sections were directed by Stevens and which by Lean. Knowing David Lean's work, somehow I would guess that where the film is at its most melodramatic and ponderous, were directed by Stevens. He seems to be the least effective on the big expansive films like GIANT and TGSET (yah, that's right, I said it...for all its hoopla, I didn't find anything even mildly compelling about GIANT either); he is the most real and authentic on the smaller, more intimate films like DIARY. Those miles of 70mm negative should have been saved for the likes of David Lean and Stanley Kubrick.

From a 1960 theatre trade journal:

 

[Malcolm Bmoor]

I wonder if anybody knows definitely whether this probably apocryphal story is true:

Legend has it that after John Wayne did a take of:

'Truly this man was the son of God'

George Stevens asked him to do the line with more awe:

'Aw, Truly this man was the son of God'

 

[OliverK]

I wonder if anybody knows definitely whether this probably apocryphal story is true:

Legend has it that after John Wayne did a take of:

'Truly this man was the son of God'

George Stevens asked him to do the line with more awe:

'Aw, Truly this man was the son of God'

Seems this was a made up story but fun nonetheless.

Here is a nice retelling with a few more tidbits that may or may not be true. It also claims that it was NOT George Stevens who had the idea of the many cameos - not sure what to make of that:

"Say it with awe!" The Apocryphal John Wayne

Twelve years ago ( Say it with awe ; Say it with awe update ), I blogged about the legendary John Wayne story, in which the Duke, playing...

ntweblog.blogspot.com

Interesting part though about the scene where the famous words are uttered. I will not rewatch that part on the wretched Blu-ray but it seems that John Wayne did not move his lips during that scene so it would have been recorded on some kind of soundstage.

 

[Malcolm Bmoor]

Many thanks for the information which adds to the comedy potential. I don't remember why I never saw the film in the cinema as I was a devotee of THE PARK HALL CINERAMA in Cardiff and this was their reopening after changing from 3 strip.

The perfect ending for the film would have been if Mr Wayne had actually said the line, complete with moving lips, and then turned and walked away, SEARCHERS style, with that wonderful plump lady waggly hips and swaying bottom walk.

Then: 'CUT - (to Max von Sydow) How was it for you?'

'Please can I go home to Sweden now?'