To celebrate the 65th anniversary of one of the cinema’s greatest works, The Ten Commandments, Paramount has released the flick with a stunning 4K Ultra HD with High Dynamic Range upgrade. It’s jaw-dropping (on many levels).
In hindsight, legendary director Cecil B. DeMille was the perfect individual to be tapped to helm the iconic story of Moses (Charlton Heston, a role that made him a superstar), his famous demand to “let my people go,” the subsequent march across the desert, parting of the red sea, the burning bush and of course those titular tablets that contain God’s guidelines to living life to its absolute best.
Given the scope of The Ten Commandments, the filmmaker whose artistry resides in downtown epic, DeMille could not have been a better person to tackle this story and this film. The helmer directed 81 projects over four decades, including The Greatest Show on Earth, Samson and Delilah, and of course the notorious epic Cleopatra.
Back in 2010, The Ten Commandments was given a restoration where the classic was scanned in 6K, the basis for this brand-spanking-new Dolby Vision incarnation. It spotlights the full beautiful vision of DeMille and his VistaVision negative.
At the time, VistaVision was an envelope pusher. It utilized special cameras to send 35mm film into the camera in a horizontal manner—all in an effort to seize a wider image spread over not one, but two 35mm film frames. That process gives twice the resolution as compared to regular 35mm film.
Also, Paramount undertook a painstaking 150 hours of work cleaning up the scan and improving the color scheme. In addition, the move to Dolby Vision allowed those charged with the upgrade the opportunity to enhance certain colors, such as deeper and more resolute blacks, not to mention its ability to enhance the special effects mattes of the original. This 4K upgrade and anniversary package feature the most immaculate image possible. It won’t ever look better than it does right now in this stunning upgrade.
This anniversary package of the story of Moses and his fateful journey features an introduction by DeMille himself, an intermission, an overture/exit music card, as well as an entr’acte card.
The package includes the 4K Ultra HD disc, two Blu-ray discs, as well as a revealing, informative and fascinating commentary track done by Katherine Orrison, who penned the book Written in Stone: Making Cecil B. DeMille’s Epic The Ten Commandments.
There are two additional bonus features that are an utter treat. The first is actual newsreel footage from the film’s New York City premiere in 1956. The second is the original theatrical trailers (which for any film fan is a hoot), and a 10-minute “making of” trailer. For movie buffs, this is a must-own package if there ever was one.
Film Grade: A
Bonus Features: A