The Ten Commandments Blu-Ray (Two-Disc Special Edition) - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (1 Viewer)

[Nelson Au]

I watched the entire film on blu ray last night as well in one sitting. The image quality was very impressive as has already been discussed. There were a few things that really popped for me. Aside from the location shots that looked so sharp and stunning, the opticals where blue screen was used looked better integrated. The color difference wasn't as great, though the matte lines were certainly sharper and the edge from live action to opticals were clearly seen. One other thing that was really cool is the design of the progress bar that appears as you rewind. It's cool how its design matches the style of the titles. One little odd glitch for me, when I started disc 2, I wanted to scan forward to fast forward through the entr'acte, as I over shot it a bit, I rewound it and found that my Sony player just showed a black screen after I let go of the rewind button. And the counter on the player's screen showed 00:00. It was frozen, I couldn't get it to resume. After hitting stop and hitting play again, it wouldn't play. So I had to eject the disc and start over. Not sure what happened. After the film ended, I did rewind again to see some scenes again, like the chariots as they pursue the fleeing slaves. I was able to rewind a few other times to check out other sequences till it locked up again. Strange! The one extra I watched was the newsreel of the New York premiere and the one trailer with DeMille. The black and white newsreel footage looked brand new! The 75 minute doc is next. While this is a very impressive restoration and blu ray transfer, I can't help but think how equally impressive the blu rays of Forbidden Planet is, a film of the same year, and North By Northwest from 1959. The Day The Earth Stood Still is also impressive! There's a few other films from this decade I have yet to see, but these are great!

 

I love the 1989 re-release trailer!

 

The Ten Commandments was the number one program last night!

 

[Phoebus]

HD showing of Ten Commandments on one of the UK terrestrial channels this morning/early afternoon. AC3 compatable soundtrack too.


I'm guessing this is the same restoration - looks wonderful. Really makes a lot more sense of the thrill of some of these 50s/60s movies when the large negative image is brought back to something akin to the Roadshow effect of the original presentations. A grandeur that makes so much modern fare feel like thin gruel, or fast food by comparison.


[Ten Commandments hasn't arrived on bluray in the UK to date. The USA versions are said to be region free, though.]

 

[oscar_merkx]

Originally Posted by Phoebus

HD showing of Ten Commandments on one of the UK terrestrial channels this morning/early afternoon. AC3 compatable soundtrack too.


I'm guessing this is the same restoration - looks wonderful. Really makes a lot more sense of the thrill of some of these 50s/60s movies when the large negative image is brought back to something akin to the Roadshow effect of the original presentations. A grandeur that makes so much modern fare feel like thin gruel, or fast food by comparison.


[Ten Commandments hasn't arrived on bluray in the UK to date. The USA versions are said to be region free, though.]

Hi ya


Just watching this glorious feast.


I had forgotten how beautiful the print of The Ten Commandments is.


Charlton Heston has really left his mark on cinema.

 

[JoHud]

It looks like the Limited Edition Gift Set is already going out of print on Amazon. Those who want it should not wait much longer if they want it at a reasonable price.

 

[benbess]

After a few years I decided to watch at least part of this one again.

Below is part of Neil M's perceptive and well-written review from several years ago....

"Charlton Heston achieves the perfect tone, stature, and pitch as Moses. Moses is a fascinating figure and Heston’s magnitude upon the screen – handsome, heroic, and humble - fill the myth and man of Moses most suitably. Moses’s great doubts of the Almighty God persist in the tale of The Ten Commandment, but his compassion for the slaves give rise to his arrival into the role he was born to and that his journey down the Nile ignited – all of which Heston delivers exceedingly well.

The cast assembled for The Ten Commandments is superb. Yul Brynner exudes the ‘villainy’ of Rameses II with aplomb; Edward G Robinson is very good as the devious and depraved Dathan (though critics at the time found his portrayal somewhat troublesome); Anne Baxter is lovely and deliberate as Nefertiri, and it is a great joy to watch Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Pharaoh Sethi I. Among the wash of other stars, standouts include Yvonne De Carlo as Sephora, Debra Paget as Lilia, and Vincent Price as Baka the Master Builder.

Released in 1956, many years before the passage of the American Civil Rights Act, it is difficult to imagine how the subject of Moses’ contemplative pursuit to find himself, questioning how any man could be a slave, could have been viewed by audiences with anything but compassion for those in American society still relegated and mistreated by those in power. That may seem a tangential thought from this grand telling of the biblical stories told in the great book, but at the core of The Ten Commandments is the question of ‘what makes man’ and why is man so cruel to man; as is stated early in the film “God made man, man made slaves”. DeMille always considered the star of this film to be God and the extraordinary journey of one man to free the chosen people of God. Though slavery in America had ended a less than hundred years before this film premiered, the lingering effects were pronounced. DeMille’s film, then, is a remarkable feat of popularity, spectacle, and statement for the treatment of all men (and, as is inherent to this story, reverence for the word of God), delivered at a precarious time in American society."

 

[benbess]

Finished this late last night. For me, it's still a very enjoyable movie—amusing, spectacular, and moving.

 

[Alan Tully]

Ha, remember the days when Paramount released stuff like this. As a film, I think the first half is better than the second, when Charlton Heston grows a big beard & becomes all serious & boring. I have this & The Egyptian & would love Land Of The Pharaohs to make up the ancient Egypt trilogy, but I'm starting to understand that there's VERY little chance of this happening.

 

[skylark68]

Still one of my favorite films of all time. I do agree that the first half of the film is more interesting and “colorful”. The visual effects are stunning to this day. The burning bush and “death” coming down from the sky are amazing. I also am a huge fan of the various matte paintings.

I have just about all the various biblical epics released on Blu-ray in the US, this is by far my favorite.

As an aside, It would be amazing to see Land of the Pharaohs released on Blu-ray.

 

[Ed Lachmann]

Land of the Pharaohs is the very tip top of my most wanted last. I've pulled out the DVD many times in the past and would LOVE to see this visual treat in HD. I just bet it would sell too. Seems to me that the historical/ancient/biblical epic has become an ignored and all too often ridiculed genre. Many of the best titles remain unreleased in HD. The gorgeous sets, costumes and often incredible musical soundtracks just "do it" for me. Hawks and Tiomkin, does it get any better?

 

[battlebeast]

I have watched this film on Easter Saturday EVERY YEAR since 2003, and this year will be no exception! Can't wait!

 

[Matt Hough]

I have a friend who borrowed my two Blu-ray discs three years ago, and he called today to tell me he's finally watched the movie and is returning them this afternoon. Thankfully, during that time I had no real desire to watch it. Now with the discs back, I may break down and watch at least the first half sometime this weekend.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I often watch this around Easter/Passover season. For a four hour movie, it's far more entertaining, and far faster paced, than its running time would suggest. The first half in particular just flies by.

 

[Carabimero]

This may be widely known, but in Rinzler's MAKING OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, Heston's son says, in the foreward, that he was the baby used in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

I have a friend who borrowed my two Blu-ray discs three years ago, and he called today to tell me he's finally watched the movie and is returning them this afternoon.

I commend your friend for remembering he had it. I stopped loaning movies and books for the very reason that my borrowers never seem to take the responsibility of remembering they borrowed it. So I either keep my stuff or make a point of saying it's a gift and never expect to see it again.

 

[Matt Hough]

Ordinarily I don't loan out movies either, but this is my best friend, and we have lunch once or twice a week. For three years I've been able to rib him about how much I'd LOVE to watch The Ten Commandments but I couldn't.


It should look stunning upcoverted on my OLED, so it is something to look forward to.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

For the most part, I’ll only loan out the included DVD copy that’s thrown in with many Blu-rays. Too much has gone missing over the years.

 

[Wayne_j]

For the most part, I’ll only loan out the included DVD copy that’s thrown in with many Blu-rays. Too much has gone missing over the years.

This is what I typically do to get copies of Disney movies to my niece.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I often watch this around Easter/Passover season. For a four hour movie, it's far more entertaining, and far faster paced, than its running time would suggest. The first half in particular just flies by.

It was either last year or the year before that my local Quality theater showed it on the big screen. It was like watching it for the first time again which was quite different than those severely compromised TV showings that played on WCBS/Channel 2 back in the dark age of the 1960s.

 

[marcco00]

many years ago i saw this on a double bill with demille's "samson and delilah" at the vista theater in hollywood. was with a VERY enthusiastic friday night crowd....one of the best times i've ever had in a theater!!