The Ten Commandments 4K UHD (1956)

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by COBill

True, but The Ten Commandments was shot in VistaVision, or 35mm run horizontally through the movie camera, so it's not as if it was coming from a regular 35mm negative.

True.

But everyone needs to realize that the film was restored twice, once analog (optically) and more recently digitally. It was literally falling apart, faded...in horrible condition. They spent a LOT of money to bring it back. It's a miracle it looks as good as it does. It's not like they can just go back and "rescan the negative" with current tech. The 4K disc wrings out every bit of information from that restoration.

Lawrence of Arabia, My Fair Lady, Ben-Hur, Spartacus and The Ten Commandments are all large format films that were almost lost forever and I'm grateful to have them all on Blu-ray and 4K UHD (come on Warner - where's Ben-Hur???).

[COBill]

We could also use 4K UHD discs of the Rogers & Hammerstein films (especially given Oklahoma, The Sound of Music and South Pacific were in Todd-AO, the first at 30 FPS), but I doubt we'll ever see them because… Disney.

[Tboneator64]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

True.

But everyone needs to realize that the film was restored twice, once analog (optically) and more recently digitally. It was literally falling apart, faded...in horrible condition. They spent a LOT of money to bring it back. It's a miracle it looks as good as it does. It's not like they can just go back and "rescan the negative" with current tech. The 4K disc wrings out every bit of information from that restoration.

Lawrence of Arabia, My Fair Lady, Ben-Hur, Spartacus and The Ten Commandments are all large format films that were almost lost forever and I'm grateful to have them all on Blu-ray and 4K UHD (come on Warner - where's Ben-Hur???).

Although with "Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)," as I recall, the late '80s restoration of scenes that had been edited out required Peter O'Toole to rerecord some of his dialogue, as some of his original dialogue was either lost and/or otherwise unusable. This was covered in an extra on a VHS LOA release.

That aside, praise be the rescuers of these epic films!

CHEERS!

[D00mM4r1n3]

10 Commandments does the same thing Beastmaster did on my Sony player, around 1:14 it chugs for about a minute then resumes playing normally. Not a problem with the disc, just the player. Great commentary, BTW.

[RockyIII]

Originally Posted by wjasoncul

How does one read things like this and not feel like the reviewer is saying the UHD is an improvement

I never said the uhd was not an improvement and I agree with the bluray.com review.
By the way, nice job at strategically picking and choosing very selective quotes from the review

[RockyIII]

Originally Posted by jh901

Why should a prospective buyer care about your opinion any more than a completely random opinion?

I do. I do care about reading different opinions from experts such as Geoffy boy to the random movie enthusiast who bought and watched this uhd

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by RockyIII

I do. I do care about reading different opinions from experts such as Geoffy boy to the random movie enthusiast who bought and watched this uhd

You shouldn't have to rely on anybody else's reviews, screenshots and opinions about anything because you have a mind of your own and besides, everybody doesn't have the same TV and sound system that you have, so therefore the movie is not going to look and sound the same when you're watching it in your home theater. Personally I don't read reviews! If I want a movie I'll buy it, regardless what everybody else had to say about it. As the movie look and sounds good to you in your own home theater, that's all that matters.

[bokes]

Anyone redeem the digital code?
How does the iTunes digital quality look on this?

[Dunemoon]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

True.

But everyone needs to realize that the film was restored twice, once analog (optically) and more recently digitally. It was literally falling apart, faded...in horrible condition. They spent a LOT of money to bring it back. It's a miracle it looks as good as it does. It's not like they can just go back and "rescan the negative" with current tech. The 4K disc wrings out every bit of information from that restoration.

Lawrence of Arabia, My Fair Lady, Ben-Hur, Spartacus and The Ten Commandments are all large format films that were almost lost forever and I'm grateful to have them all on Blu-ray and 4K UHD (come on Warner - where's Ben-Hur???).

Maybe Ben Hur has to go through a committee first?

[RICKBONDOO7]

Originally Posted by bokes

Anyone redeem the digital code?
How does the iTunes digital quality look on this?

I redeemed mine on VUDU. Also TGSOE. Both look Great on my SONY TV's !

[RockyIII]

Originally Posted by slimdude

You shouldn't have to rely on anybody else's reviews, screenshots and opinions about anything because you have a mind of your own and besides, everybody doesn't have the same TV and sound system that you have, so therefore the movie is not going to look and sound the same when you're watching it in your home theater. Personally I don't read reviews! If I want a movie I'll buy it, regardless what everybody else had to say about it. As the movie look and sounds good to you in your own home theater, that's all that matters.

It's not about relying on anybody else but rather about exchanging thoughts and opinions. Just because we might have different tv setups, likes and dislikes doesn't make our thoughts and opinions any less interesting to share as long as we all keep it civil and cordial

[bradnoyes]

Watched this over the last two nights and I thought it looked outstanding. I'd never seen it before, and honestly this type of movie isn't up my alley, but I really enjoyed taking in the sets, costumes, and visual effects. It all shines on the UHD.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by bradnoyes

Watched this over the last two nights and I thought it looked outstanding. I'd never seen it before, and honestly this type of movie isn't up my alley, but I really enjoyed taking in the sets, costumes, and visual effects. It all shines on the UHD.

So basically you've bought The Ten Commandments in 4K UHD just for eye candy, not because you like biblical movies.

[trespoochies]

Originally Posted by bokes

Anyone redeem the digital code?
How does the iTunes digital quality look on this?

Movie looks reference on my 4K TCL. I had to redeem it using iTunes since I already have the HDX version on Vudu. But watching it using the Apple TV app is a great experience.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by slimdude

So basically you've bought The Ten Commandments in 4K UHD just for eye candy, not because you like biblical movies.

It doesn't matter if it blows his religious skirts up or not. One can view The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, The Robe, etc. as just Hollywood epics and still enjoy them.

[Brian81]

The slip is nice but the paint on this one is the worst I've ever seen. I went to one store, looked at about 8 copies and every single one had paint flaking off to silver on every corner. I picked the best one. I love this artwork, so I drove around to five other stores carrying it, and every-single-one had the same issue. Two of the other stores had 6+ copies each and they ALL had the same issue. I ended up purchasing a second copy which is better than the original. There's a small bare spot on the front near the bottom and all the corners have it, but the original had an array of tiny speckles of missing paint on the HDR logo that I didn't notice in store. Even thought of ordering from Bullmoose and hoping for better.


PQ? Looks pretty similar to what I remember the BD looking like. I'd say it looked smoothed but I think it is a case of just the film grain being very fine, like 2001. But one thing which caught my eye is motion. Did this restoration have motion artifacts. Almost seems like it has mild trails on movement.


Debra Paget in this is gorgeous.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

It doesn't matter if it blows his religious skirts up or not. One can view the The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, The Robe, etc. as just Hollywood epics and still enjoy them.

Is your username bradnoyes? He doesn't need you or anybody else to answer for him. If he has anything to say he can speak for himself.

[Dunemoon]

Originally Posted by slimdude

So basically you've bought The Ten Commandments in 4K UHD just for eye candy, not because you like biblical movies.

Thou Shall Not Be Needlessly Upset.

[reanimator]

Gave this UHD a spin last night. Another example of where I expected to watch a few minutes just to check the quality of a disc -- and then it's suddenly four hours later and the movie is over.

TEN COMMANDMENTS plays better and better for me as the years go by. The first two-thirds centers around palace-intrigue and political maneuvering ala GAME OF THRONES. And the last third emphasizes the consequences of the new path Moses has chosen. As a kid, the first portion always bored me, but I now find it fascinating -- Moses' rejection of his destiny, and his questioning of how a God could ever exist that would allow so much suffering in the world -- it's very relatable drama that hasn't aged a day. Heston and Brenner are terrific in their respective roles.

When I saw the screencaps, I was expecting only a modest improvement from the original BD. This was not the case at all, as the PQ improvement here is easy to see. The caps would suggest only a slightly more detailed image, when the true result is obviously higher definition and sharpness. Let's be clear, the original BD is fantastic -- one of the very best on the BD format. If anything, we may simply be "hitting the ceiling" of definable detail from the source elements. My guess is a modern scan might yield a little more detail, but not much.

The bigger note here is the HDR color grade, which is extremely impressive. The colors on display are everything you would hope for -- truly looking like a Technicolor film print. Specular-highlights dance before your eyes every time someone in Egyptian armor comes marching onto screen, it's very striking. The burning bush and the pillar of fire VFX both benefit from the expanded brightness range -- and in fact, any time you see someone holding a fiery torch you're likely to be impressed.

The highlight for me was the plague of Egypt and the first Passover. There is an eeriness in this presentation that no other video version has ever matched. The color and darkness range just looks so cinematic. When people say, "it's like seeing it for the first time" -- this truly is the case here. I've never before felt the impact of this sequence the way I did while watching the 4K. There's a shot where Moses comes walking back into the palace at night, and Pharaoh finally gives-in to his demands -- the color and the darkness is just gorgeous. Unearthly green flames pouring from cauldrons, creating pools of mysterious darkness and light. I immediately checked that same scene on the BD, and there is simply no comparison -- the BD looking bright, washed-out and colorless, robbing the scene of its dread-filling impact.

SPARTACUS retains it's title for best image detail, but we may have a new champ for classic-era color. A genuine Hollywood landmark now has it's ultimate home video release -- and at a great price. If you can't tell, I certainly recommend TEN COMMANDMENTS and I can't wait to watch it again.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by Dunemoon

Thou Shall Not Be Needlessly Upset.

Upset? What the hell are you talking about!