UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about…™ The Ten Commandments (1956) - in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[RICK BOND]

Pressing "Top Menu" does not work on the 4K disc to get to the main menue when the warnings are played. Also be aware there is no "resume" function on the 4K so if you stop the player (or pause it and it goes into auto-shut down) you have to go through the whole megilla of the warnings both when you start the disk and when you finally get past the newest Paramount/CBS mountain logo.

The blu-rays enclosed must be from ca 2010 A.C.E as the include a "Paramount Digital" logo ....

I know ! NO Top Menu ! ? .... I paused and stopped a few times and No Resume showed up on the screen. What a Dumb way to start a Famous and Loved Epic classic.

 

[Mark Stenroos]

Considering that the whole “Jews were enslaved in Egypt and built the pyramids as slaves” is an outright myth (ask any Egyptologist/Archeologist), I don’t know if outrage over not casting Jews as the thousands of extras is an issue. I mean, the guy playing Moses wasn’t a Jew.

BTW - I noticed there are few if any Egyptians playing the Egyptians.

Bottom line, it’s fiction.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Considering that the whole “Jews were enslaved in Egypt and built the pyramids as slaves” is an outright myth (ask any Egyptologist/Archeologist), I don’t know if outrage over not casting Jews as the thousands of extras is an issue. I mean, the guy playing Moses wasn’t a Jew.

BTW - I noticed there are few if any Egyptians playing the Egyptians.

Bottom line, it’s fiction.

Some people might find the following article interesting as I had no idea regarding who were the workers on pyramids.

https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/who-built-the-egyptian-pyramids-not-slaves

The part in bold was an attempt at humor by the OP that apparently was lost by some of us and was taken seriously by them. Anyhow, back to the movie and 4K disc itself.

 

[RolandL]

Comparison of 4K to 2K Blu-ray. I know screen caps are not the best comparison.

 

[Noel Aguirre]

A most annoying disc- every time you restart this 4 hour fabulous monstrosity it makes you go completely through all over again choosing a language to watching licensing warnings to scrolling through chapters to get back where you left off. Are you kidding me?? Total aggravation.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

That’s the case for many discs. DVDs had a pretty decent resume function enabled if the player could handle it, but BDs and UHDs are designed so that the content producer can disable resume functionality and force the disc to start from scratch each time. It’s a 10+ year old problem at this point, unfortunately.

This is far from the only reason that discs have fallen out of favor with the general audience but intentionally making discs inconvenient to use is one of many reasons that they’ve become a niche format.

 

[murrayThompson]

That’s the case for many discs. DVDs had a pretty decent resume function enabled if the player could handle it, but BDs and UHDs are designed so that the content producer can disable resume functionality and force the disc to start from scratch each time. It’s a 10+ year old problem at this point, unfortunately.

This is far from the only reason that discs have fallen out of favor with the general audience but intentionally making discs inconvenient to use is one of many reasons that they’ve become a niche format.

This is the very reason I rip all my discs to mkv files and play them through JRiver, no warnings nothing! Start/Stop/Pause/chapters all work perfectly using my ipad as the remote. Then playing through my JVC NX9 and 145" curved scope screen.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

This is the very reason I rip all my discs to mkv files and play them through JRiver, no warnings nothing! Start/Stop/Pause/chapters all work perfectly using my ipad as the remote. Then playing through my JVC NX9 and 145" curved scope screen.

I do a version of the same - it’s a great solution for hobbyists with time to spare and extra hard drive space, but it’s a shame the hassle is there in the first place.

 

[Noel Aguirre]

That’s the case for many discs. DVDs had a pretty decent resume function enabled if the player could handle it, but BDs and UHDs are designed so that the content producer can disable resume functionality and force the disc to start from scratch each time. It’s a 10+ year old problem at this point, unfortunately.

This is far from the only reason that discs have fallen out of favor with the general audience but intentionally making discs inconvenient to use is one of many reasons that they’ve become a niche format.

Seriously- what are they thinking here- are they that clueless they don’t know how they are harming the format with this aggravation? It’s worse than Disney previews which you can at least skip. And the reviewers on here respectfully ought to be mentioning disc functionality in addition to just content and A/V because I would have seriously thought twice cause to me this drops the rating down a notch. Paramount needs to see this somehow and stop with it and including in the review would possibly help to alert them.

 

[Mark Booth]

We rented the iTunes 4K Dolby Vision version to watch today. We paused at the intermission and had Easter dinner, finishing the film afterward. The iTunes digital version asked if we wanted to resume where we paused, it worked perfectly.

I am increasingly less inclined to buy discs. I never thought I’d feel that way. But studios continue to make discs a pain in the butt by adding forced previews, slow-to-load menus, and can’t make up their minds whether to use the resume function or not.

It cost me $3.99 to see a gorgeous 4K presentation with no hassles. I won’t watch the film again for 3-5 years, I’ll rent it again then too. Or, if the digital copy drops to $4.99 I might buy it.

Mark

 

[B-ROLL]

We rented the iTunes 4K Dolby Vision version to watch today. We paused at the intermission and had Easter dinner, finishing the film afterward. The iTunes digital version asked if we wanted to resume where we paused, it worked perfectly.

I am increasingly less inclined to buy discs. I never thought I’d feel that way. But studios continue to make discs a pain in the butt by adding forced previews, slow-to-load menus, and can’t make up their minds whether to use the resume function or not.

It cost me $3.99 to see a gorgeous 4K presentation with no hassles. I won’t watch the film again for 3-5 years, I’ll rent it again then too. Or, if the digital copy drops to $4.99 I might buy it.

Mark

Considering the street price of the 4K disc set you could consider the price of the digital $4.99 plut $15.00 dollars for a case and three discs which might come in handy when something happens to one of the mega-conglomerates involved in bringing the digital presentation to you. ( I wouldn't doubt this will be under $10.00 on Black Friday.)

 

[Mark Booth]

Considering the street price of the 4K disc set you could consider the price of the digital $4.99 plut $15.00 dollars for a case and three discs which might come in handy when something happens to one of the mega-conglomerates involved in bringing the digital presentation to you. ( I wouldn't doubt this will be under $10.00 on Black Friday.)

Since I just watched it, I am in no hurry to buy it. If the 4K disc goes on sale for $9.99, I’ll strongly consider that route. It would get me the iTunes 4K digital too.

Mark

 

[Robert Crawford]

We rented the iTunes 4K Dolby Vision version to watch today. We paused at the intermission and had Easter dinner, finishing the film afterward. The iTunes digital version asked if we wanted to resume where we paused, it worked perfectly.

I am increasingly less inclined to buy discs. I never thought I’d feel that way. But studios continue to make discs a pain in the butt by adding forced previews, slow-to-load menus, and can’t make up their minds whether to use the resume function or not.

It cost me $3.99 to see a gorgeous 4K presentation with no hassles. I won’t watch the film again for 3-5 years, I’ll rent it again then too. Or, if the digital copy drops to $4.99 I might buy it.

Mark

Hell, you rented it for $3.99, you'll rent it again for that same price in 3-5 years or even purchase it for $4.99. Yesterday, I believe the purchase price was $7.99 on iTunes which would be about the same price as renting it twice or a dollar cheaper than renting it yesterday for $3.99 and then buying it later on for $4.99. Mark, I'm just messing with you as it's your money.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Considering the street price of the 4K disc set you could consider the price of the digital $4.99 plut $15.00 dollars for a case and three discs which might come in handy when something happens to one of the mega-conglomerates involved in bringing the digital presentation to you. ( I wouldn't doubt this will be under $10.00 on Black Friday.)

Man, a lot of things can happen in the future as that's not a good enough reason for me to buy any disc. With that said, I bought the iTunes HD digital for $4.99 which upgraded last week to 4K. Yet, I still bought 3-disc 4K set using some bonus rewards from BB. I just can't help myself when it comes to certain movies. I could've sold my 4K digital code to recoup some money, but I never sell my codes for personal reasons. Anyhow, now I have the 4K digital on Vudu too.

 

[Mark Booth]

Hell, you rented it for $3.99, you'll rent it again for that same price in 3-5 years or even purchase it for $4.99. Yesterday, I believe the purchase price was $7.99 on iTunes which would be about the same price as renting it twice or a dollar cheaper than renting it yesterday for $3.99 and then buying it later on for $4.99. Mark, I'm just messing with you as it's your money.

I considered buying it outright at $7.99 (instead of just renting it) but I reminded myself that I only watch this film every 3-5 years. It's too long and, well, too "theatrical" for me to watch it more often than that. Don't get me wrong, I think it's outstanding filmmaking and I do enjoy the film. But I need time to pass between viewings so it feels "fresher".

And, with that in mind, one of my thoughts when I pulled the trigger on a rental instead of a purchase was... What will the situation be in 5 years? Will there be an 8K version?

Mark

 

[cda1143]

Considering the street price of the 4K disc set you could consider the price of the digital $4.99 plut $15.00 dollars for a case and three discs which might come in handy when something happens to one of the mega-conglomerates involved in bringing the digital presentation to you...

Man, a lot of things can happen in the future as that's not a good enough reason for me to buy any disc....

Good point Robert. Cases and discs are no guarantee of anything. While you guys were watching this epic, we were watching the disc of Godfather 2: purchased on release in 2008, watched and handled only once previously - not a single scratch or fingerprint. The disc froze up at the most critical moment in the film "you broke my heart Fredo", so in the middle of the film, I had to rent it on iTunes. Within ten seconds I was at the precise point I needed to be and back running. This after many wasted minutes of lights-on disc cleaning)

I have had this scenario happen more than a few times.

I am a disc lover, with over a thousand discs, but even with discs I own, I am streaming more and more to avoid the numerous problems the studios have added to impede us from enjoying the product we just paid them for.

 

[Mark Booth]

I am a disc lover, with over a thousand discs, but even with discs I own, I am streaming more and more to avoid the numerous problems the studios have added to impede us from enjoying the product we just paid them for.

EXACTLY!

I spend $20 on a movie, pop it into the player, and then have to fight through several minutes of forced BS to get to the actual movie I PAID FOR. It has really soured me on discs.

Mark

 

[AlexNH]

One point, you don't get the great audio commentary with a digital rental or purchase. The commentary for this film is amazing. It's one of the best I've heard. Katherine Orrison recorded it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

One point, you don't get the great audio commentary with a digital rental or purchase. The commentary for this film is amazing. It's one of the best I've heard. Katherine Orrison recorded it.

Not true, the Orrison commentary is part of the extras for the iTunes 4K digital.

 

[Tino]

Not true, the Orrison commentary is part of the extras for the iTunes 4K digital.

Terrific commentary. Just finished listening to it. Jeez she knows everything about the film!