The Conqueror – Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

The infamous, but modestly successful, Mongol “western” The Conqueror starring John Wayne and Susan Hayward, now available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.



The Conqueror (1956)



Released: 28 Mar 1956
Rated: Approved
Runtime: 111 min




Director: Dick Powell
Genre: Adventure, Biography, History



Cast: John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Pedro Armendáriz
Writer(s): Oscar Millard



Plot: Mongol chief Temujin battles against Tartar armies and for the love of the Tartar princess Bortai. Temujin becomes the emperor Genghis Khan.



IMDB rating: 3.7
MetaScore: N/A





Disc Information



Studio: Universal
Distributed By: Kino Lorber
Video Resolution: 1080P/AVC



Aspect Ratio: 2.55:1...

Continue reading...

 

[Patrick McCart]

Some screenshots:

Example of intermittent color fringing

 

[RICK BOND]

I changed my mind. Video 2.5 ? ....I canceled my order from Amazon. I'll be getting The Glass Web 3D on March 25.

 

[Mark-P]

Mono? My DVD from Universal has stereo sound. What the heck?

 

[Patrick McCart]

Mono? My DVD from Universal has stereo sound. What the heck?

The Vault Series DVD and John Wayne collection list mono from what I can find for DVD covers and reviews, but the GoodTimes DVD lists Dolby Surround on the back cover. Curious if that's a misprint or true considering even the last Universal VHS from the 90s doesn't appear to be anything but mono.

Forgot one screenshot that I thought would interest people...

 

[Mark-P]

The Vault Series DVD and John Wayne collection list mono from what I can find for DVD covers and reviews, but the GoodTimes DVD lists Dolby Surround on the back cover. Curious if that's a misprint or true considering even the last Universal VHS from the 90s doesn't appear to be anything but mono.

Forgot one screenshot that I thought would interest people...

My DVD is from the John Wayne An American Icon box set. I just pulled out the disc to confirm that it is indeed full stereo sound. Interestingly though it is not the full 2.55:1 like the new Blu-ray, but cropped to 2.35:1. While I would have bought the Kino Blu-ray even with inferior picture quality, the mono sound is a deal-breaker for me.

 

[Jeff Fearnside]

A very nice and thorough review, Patrick. I am curious about one thing. You rate the production 2/5, the video 2/5, the audio 3/5, and the extras 2.5/5. Yet overall you rate the package a 3/5. I'm curious how you arrived at that. It seems it should be 2.5/5 at best.

 

[Patrick McCart]

My DVD is from the John Wayne An American Icon box set. I just pulled out the disc to confirm that it is indeed full stereo sound. Interestingly though it is not the full 2.55:1 like the new Blu-ray, but cropped to 2.35:1. While I would have bought the Kino Blu-ray even with inferior picture quality, the mono sound is a deal-breaker for me.

View attachment 246066

I thought that maybe I didn't hear any separation because I had to view it on a different setup than my usual (dealing with a family emergency), but after checking with my headphones and laptop - it's definitely mono. Curious if this is how Universal's master is or Kino made a mistake since I was wondering why there were occasional phasing anomalies.

A very nice and thorough review, Patrick. I am curious about one thing. You rate the production 2/5, the video 2/5, the audio 3/5, and the extras 2.5/5. Yet overall you rate the package a 3/5. I'm curious how you arrived at that. It seems it should be 2.5/5 at best.

I spend about two seconds thinking about the overall rating, so it's not surprising my math would be off.

 

[Malcolm R]

3/5 is still a pretty low grade (60% or D-) so I don't think it's that egregious. It's the "Peppermint Patty" of discs.

 

[Jeff Fearnside]

I spend about two seconds thinking about the overall rating, so it's not surprising my math would be off.

No problem! I think a number of reviewers don't average out each rated element for the final score but rather have the final score reflect the overall package. Regardless here, whether this rates a 3/5 or a 2.5/5, it sounds pretty much like a middling effort all around, which is about on par with what I've heard about this film over the years. If it had received a full-blown restoration and superior encoding and just looked spectacular on Blu-ray, I might be tempted to pick it up just for the eye candy aspect of it paired with its kitsch quality. Wayne and Hayward in a dazzling CinemaScope turkey! However, obviously, that's never going to be in the cards for this title.

 

[Douglas R]

Deleted

 

[Capt D McMars]

Under the right medication it might be okay. I just can't stop breaking out into laughter as "The Duke" belts out these lines, and just can't help but be Him!!! I'd love to hear the back story on the how and why's that Wayne got the part?? To me, John Wayne as Genghis Khan makes no reason for the misapplication...if it was the 60s I'd understand, LOL!!!

 

[RolandL]

Blu-ray

Streaming from 2022

Blu-ray

Streaming from 2022 - sorry not exact shot