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King of Kings
Stars:
Jeffrey Hunter, Siobhan McKenna, Hurd Hatfield, Ron Randell, Viveca Lindfors,
Rota Gam, Carmen Sevilla, Brigio Bazlen, Harry Guardino, Rip Torn, Frank Thring,
Guy Rolfe, Maurice Marsac, Gregoire Aslan, and Robert Ryan
Writer:
Philip Yordan
Director:
Nicholas Ray
Feature
length: 171 minutes
Extras:
Vintage Newsreel Footage and Trailer
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and French Monaural Sound
Subtitles
English Captions and Closed Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Snap Case
Chapter
Stops: 52
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Monaural Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1961/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Warner Home Video
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Produced
by Samuel Bronston (El Cid) and directed by Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without A
Cause), “King Of Kings” is finally coming to DVD with a beautiful anamorphic
widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio presentation and a dynamite digitally
remastered English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack. This is a film that I
grew up seeing on TV because my parents had the MGM VHS tape for years and it is
one of their favorite films. Jeffrey Hunter, who some might associate more for
his role in the original “Star Trek” pilot “The Cage” as well as the
scenes in “The Menagerie” as “Captain Christopher Pike,” plays Jesus in
“King Of Kings” and does a great job at it. However the standout performance
belongs to Robert Ryan who plays “John The Baptist” with fantastic visual
and vocal delivery. His scene between Herod and Herod’s Wife as well as Salome
has some of the most memorable dialogue in the entire film. Rip Torn seemed
unrecognizable to me as “Judas.” Over 7000 extras appeared for the “Sermon
On The Mount” scene alone and despite the sword and sandal films that have
appeared in theaters recently as well as those in production and development,
they simply do not make religious epics like “King Of Kings” anymore.
The
Technicolor presentation looks amazing on this DVD with bright colors and
beautiful contrasts that look almost like moving paintings rather than film. The
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is surprisingly discrete and well
mixed. “King Of Kings” has never looked or sounded so good before on
television to me before watching this DVD. A French Language Monaural Soundtrack
and English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired as well as
French and Spanish Language Subtitles are encoded onto the dual layered DVD as
options. A cast and crew list, the theatrical trailer, (1:42), and three black
and white newsreels depicting behind-the-scenes production footage (3:57), the
NY premiere (1:50), and Hollywood premiere (1:10) wrap up the extra features
included on this DVD.
The
menus are standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate. Warner
Brothers has done an excellent job with their DVD presentation of “King Of
Kings.” “King Of Kings” will debut on DVD-Video on Tuesday, February 25,
2003 from Warner Home Video.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.