King of Kings

Jesus Christ was apparently some dude who hung out in Israel around 2000 years ago. Isn’t it remarkable that our current year is 2003? Coincidence? I think not.

This DVD contains possibly the most majestic film I have ever seen. With massive sweeping vistas, glorious and epic sets and a cast of thousands, the tale of Jesus is told in a monumental film experience. However…

Being a tale about Jesus, this film could have gone one of two ways: honest interpretation of the New Testament or squeaky clean glory of God piece. Unfortunately for this film, it went the way of the latter, making the whole film appear dated, (regardless of its age of 42 years.)

There can be no doubt that Jesus was a great man, whether you believe he was the Messiah or not. He turned a whole nation toward him and is still worshipped today by a major percentage of the western world. However, he was half human and should therefore have been plagued by the doubts and fears we all suffer from. In this version of his life, those fears and doubts aren’t fully explored as he is portrayed more as a Messiah and less as a man. His miracles aren’t really shown, which is kinda like a magician not telling us how they do their tricks, thereby creating a sort of legend over fact. Naturally there are the major moments in which he was afraid, but these tend to be glossed over just once too often in favour of making him out to be the Son of God, rather than the son of Mary, though he was both.

This film is rated G (for godliness!) and so must have a level of cleanliness necessary to fulfil this censorship. And cleanliness is next to godliness (though not in the dictionary). Therefore, there aren’t the ruthless and bloody murders perpetrated by King Herrod as he tried to kill Jesus soon after birth. The brutal war and killing between the Jews and Romans is nicely sanitised and even Jesus’ crucifixion, a grisly and graceless form of murder, is related quite painlessly. (Bearing in mind we see crucified Jesus everywhere, nearly everyday and are therefore desensitised to this form of torture.)

I believe this story would have had far more impact if the time had been shown in its full horror rather than the rather clean series of events we actually bear witness to here.

"Judge ye not, lest ye be judged."

Having said all that, this is a great film. It is beautiful to look at, has a well played story with some genuinely moving moments (that we are all no doubt familiar with regardless of religion), and will stand as an eternal testament to Hollywood’s long-gone monumental epics.

Wow. I can’t believe King of Kings is 42 years old. This film has been well loved in its transfer and treated with the respect such a piece deserves. With a magnificent 16:9 enhanced viewing format from the huge 2.35:1 aspect, every massive set comes across in full epic size. The sets are just extraordinary in this film, with only rare instances of SPFX betrayal by the fantastically clear transfer. Old school lenses that shoot a close-up and midshot character clearly but blur areas around it are mainly where this occurs, making it all too clear where editing or shooting choices have been made. This is only fleeting mostly and is barely worthy of mention.

There is a weird blue bar, almost invisible, but covering the top third of the screen from 2:11:43 for one second that I couldn’t figure out, but again is barely worth the mention. Otherwise, everything is spectacular. Colour levels are great (except for that awful scarlet they use for fake blood) and shadows are rich and dark with no loss of details. Sometimes skin colours get a little orange, but not too often and for the third time, it's barely worth mentioning.

All up, the picture quality is my highlight of the DVD, though Aussie actor Frank Thring is the film's highlight. He's so great in this film, you'll wish he hadn't followed Jesus to Heaven yet.

I could hardly believe how good this looks, yet our old betrayer is that the devil has been at work and presented it in NTSC. Curse that Beelzebub!

I never would have thought it possible on DVD, but believe it or not this film includes a playing Intermission! It runs for four and three quarter minutes and features some of the fantastic score from the film. Just time to boil the kettle, go to the toilet and get a couple of bickies. It appears to be the genuine article too, as it runs over the same holistic shot under the banner Overture that opens the film. Talk about attention to detail on this DVD. (By the way, the film ends in the same manner, rolling music as Exit for a coupla minutes.)

Having said that, the music is phenomenal in this film. Being scored by legendary composer Miklos Rozsa it remains a statement of his fabulous talent. It is well balanced, well placed and the levels are perfect. It also comes at us full force in Dolby Surround 5.1 and includes full orchestra and choral refrains. Fantastic!

Dialogue is well spoken and well understood by the actors. There’s nothing worse than when actors are just saying lines without knowing exactly what they’re saying (anything by Shakespeare can suffer the same fate.) Granted it’s been a little Anglicised from its original bible delivery, but even this hasn’t been overdone. Therefore, the actors must make us understand the dialogue and they all do so very well.

Lastly, the sound effects are also sensational. No apparent ‘stock SFX’, except maybe some stabbing and sword swooshing, but this is forgiveable. It’s about Jesus.

There seem to be a lot, but there isn’t much more than some interesting footage they’ve managed to scrape up from around about. The first is a two-page text window of the Cast and Major Crew so doesn’t hold much. A vintage Documentary entitled The Camera’s Window of the World promises interest, but only runs for three and half minutes. It’s very shaky, in black and white and sounds like a bad journalist’s hard sell job on the film. Light interest stuff only.

A couple of Featurettes (for want of a better term) show us the premieres held on the East and West Coasts of America. I recognised Jimmy Durante in one of these and he was pulling a Jimmy Durante face. Coincidence? I think not. They are also voiced by that annoying ‘Go Get ‘Em Boys’ kind of narration that shits me.

Finally, there is the tragically disrespected Theatrical Trailer that is scratched and dinged up and looking sorry for itself. Not a bad package, considering the film’s age, but a recent interview with surviving cast or crew might have been a thoughtful addition.

I genuinely found this a compelling and well-made movie. It has been shot magnificently, the transfer is state of the art and it’s been digitally remastered to sound as good as it ever has (perhaps even better.) All this adds up to a fantastic package that will be as relevant today as it was yesterday and just as so tomorrow. Great stuff - it’s just a pity about the extras and that it’s only in NTSC (someone should be cast down for that decision). As far as epic films go, you won’t find one much better than this.

Amen, brother.