A Few Words About A few words about...™ Ben-Hur -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Alan Tully]

I enjoy all ancient world epics, even the religious ones, even though I'm not at all religious. We all want what we don't have, so fingers crossed for 2020 releases of, Barabbas, Land Of The Pharaohs & Helen Of Troy, plus a few others.

 

[TJPC]

I was really surprised at how religious the silent version was. I showed it to a public school high school media class with many different religions, and though nobody seemed offended, I talked to the class after and not exactly apologized, but said I hadn’t realized.

Isn’t it funny how you notice different aspects of the same film depending on the audience? I had seen the movie several times before and that aspect had not even occurred to me. During the manger scene I had focused on the early Technicolor and really had not noticed the religious aspect at all!

It’s like watching an R rated film with your friends vs watching it with your parents.

 

[ScottHM]

.

 

[OliverK]

I enjoy all ancient world epics, even the religious ones, even though I'm not at all religious. We all want what we don't have, so fingers crossed for 2020 releases of, Barabbas, Land Of The Pharaohs & Helen Of Troy, plus a few others.

These are the top three on my list of unreleased Roman / biblical epics and given how (un)popular these movies seem to be with the studios I would be very happy if even one of them gets released next year!

 

[skylark68]

I enjoy all ancient world epics, even the religious ones, even though I'm not at all religious. We all want what we don't have, so fingers crossed for 2020 releases of, Barabbas, Land Of The Pharaohs & Helen Of Troy, plus a few others.

All three of these are on my wish list.

 

[john a hunter]

Barabbas should look fantastic given it was shot in Technirama not early anamorphic. We live in hope!!!

 

[DP 70]

I saw a 35mm print of Barabass at Bradford this year it looked very good but the 4 track mag track could not be played because
they had a problem a good movie.

 

[Alan Tully]

With Barabbas, it's a case of Sony getting around to it (& they may have already done the work for all I know), there's a few sixties Columbia films that I hope will get a great looking release next year.

 

[john a hunter]

Let us pray (!!!!!! )for Barabbas.
In Paris I found BD of Messalina made in 1960 by Cottafavi which said it was a new master.
When I got it back home to my surprise it was filmed in Technirama and the PQ was superb.
Let's hope we get Barabbas looking as good.

 

[Lord Dalek]

it was shot in Technirama not early anamorphic.

This statement is an oxymoron.

 

[Alan Tully]

The trouble with these very wide formats is that they may have looked overwhelming at the cinema, but it's quite the reverse at home, but then there's not much they can do about that. I've said it before, but I would like to see a Smilebox version of Ben-Hur, & yes I know it wasn't shot in Cinerama & would involve a bit of digital pulling & stretching the picture about a bit, but it would be a fun release.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I watched some of my Smilebox HTWWW on my 65" panel and felt that the effect didn't work. You need a big screen at home to get the effect. I usually project my small collection of Smilebox films. I would buy Smilebox editions of IAMMMMW, Ice Station Zebra, 2001 (but obviously not Ben Hur!).

 

[RolandL]

Barabbas should look fantastic given it was shot in Technirama not early anamorphic. We live in hope!!!

Technirama 1.5 anamorphic.
Cinemascope 2.0 anamorphic.

 

[RobertR]

Hi Mr. Harris,

I recently watched Ben-Hur in its entirety or this first time on Blu-ray. And while the image quality is very good, I think there are some problems regarding brightness, contrast and black levels. Every interior and night scenes in the Blu-ray version of Ben-Hur seem way too dark to my eyes, especially when compared to the previous DVD releases that I own. Moreover, I've also seen the film several times on TV throughout the years and I've never seen a presentation of Ben-Hur as dark as the Blu-ray.
Therefore, I would like to know your expert opinion regarding this issue. Was the film this dark when it originally ran in theaters, or was the film "darkened" during the 8K restoration made by Warner in 2011? Or were the DVDs "brightened"?

For comparison, here's two videos I found on YouTube of the Messala death scene, the first one sourced from the DVD and the second from the Blu-ray:

Best regards.

To me some of the scenes in the latest version look uncomfortably dark

The DVD looks horribly washed out. I absolutely disagree that the Blu Ray is too dark. On my calibrated JVC projector, the deep rich black levels very much look like Warner got it right, and there is no loss of shadow detail. To quote Mr. Harris, "Everything looks to have been dutifully handled".

 

[Robin9]

Let us pray (!!!!!! )for Barabbas.
In Paris I found BD of Messalina made in 1960 by Cottafavi which said it was a new master.
When I got it back home to my surprise it was filmed in Technirama and the PQ was superb.
Let's hope we get Barabbas looking as good.

Now, that's very interesting because there was a Blu-ray disc in, if memory serves correctly, Germany which was said to be awful. Messalina with a mesmerising Belinda Lee is a film I'd love to have on a high quality disc.

 

[john a hunter]

Then you will be very pleased with this French release but it is region B locked.
I can't work out the label but if you search a French website you should be able to find it.
She is good in the role as far as you could be in 1960 and her early death was a great shame.

 

[john a hunter]

"Technirama 1.5 anamorphic.
Cinemascope 2.0 anamorphic."
And with lovely Delrama prism optics with no "mumps"

 

[JoshZ]

Then you will be very pleased with this French release but it is region B locked.
I can't work out the label but if you search a French website you should be able to find it.

This the one you're talking about?

https://www.amazon.fr/MESSALINE-Blu-ray-Belinda-Lee/dp/B07DQ9M423/

 

[john a hunter]

that's the one Josh!
The sets and the costumes are quite lavish considering.

 

[Robin9]

that's the one Josh!
The sets and the costumes are quite lavish considering.

Many thanks. I've now placed my order.