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OK, as anyone who knows me, knows that, no matter how good a restoration of a classic film is, I would still much rather have a film print of the title, unrestored, film grain and all. In the case of "The Ten Commandments", I am more than happy to own a copy of the 3X400ft Marketing films digest, which is a lovely, unfaded Agfa print, but today we decided to watch our blu-ray copy of the self-same feature film. When we bought this, we were watching our Blu-ray films on an old school 42 inch TV, and it looked pretty good. Since then, we have bought a 4K TV, and decided to watch this film on it, and I am astounded as to how good this film look! The detail is astounding! It was like watching a brand new film. I especially loved looking at the large Egyptian jewelry on the Pharoah and such. I am not lying, I'd swear that with some of these shots, you'd swear that you are right there on the set as they were filming it. With a restoration like this, it really makes the technicolor shine for all it's worth.
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Osi-Did your disc come with the silent 10 Commandments and documentary? Some years ago on PBS they had a documentary on special effects and they showed the silent version of the parting of the red sea. So I wanted to make sure I got that also. In the silent version, the bible version is shorter and ends with Moses throwing the tablets on the golden calf and the aftermath then cuts to modern times, 1920's of course. I thought 'what the heck' and turned it off. Then, I watched the documentary and then understood what came next. It's almost like 2 different movies with a connection. Worth watching.
I also saw a documentary of some people trying to dig up the old sets from the silent version, I forget what California city it was. The sets were buried. They went through all kinds of red tape but finally got part of the set and put it in a museum setting.
I did a little digging on the doc and it's called The Lost City of Cecil B DeMille. Here's a video of someone visiting Guadalupe dunes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW9XZnJEZsE -
THAT was retty cool, Larry. It happened so long ago, 100 years, that it seems like ancient times. Yes, I have the dusl version of the films as well. I think that what made watching this in the past less than enjoyable, was that I always saw on the networks, a faded copy or compared to the restoration, faded. It looked like a tired 1950's color copy on TVComment
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And the best thing about your discovery is that as good as the film looks on your new setup, you have the bluray. Next step is to get the UHD 4k version of the movie. It is also "like watching a brand new film", in 70mm.Originally posted by Osi Osgood View Post
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It is a great transfer on Blu Ray. Shame they couldn’t edit it by about a hour 😙Comment
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John Clancy does make a point that I must confess, was something I didn't notice before, but I have now. There are times where you can obviously tell that it's a painted backdrop, like when Moses mother sets her son a sail. Other places as well. In those places, it almost feels like it's a stage play and not supposedly out in the elements. I feel the same way about, for instance, the restoration of the original War of the Worlds. On super 8 or old prints on 16mm on TV, you barely saw any wires, but they have tended to be painfully obvious today. I hear that in the case of WOTW, the most recent restorations have those lines digitally painted out.Comment
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A few years ago a friend loaned me their Bluray of The Ten Commandments. I watched the first half. That was enough for me. I had the same reaction to the 1960's Cleopatra. The first half was great, but the movie was over when the Intermission card appeared. I was reluctant to even start watching Oppenheimer, but found the entire 3+ hours captivating (although I did take an Intermission halfway through). 😀Originally posted by Mike Newell View PostComment
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Yes, War of the Worlds Blu Ray have managed to remove the wires and boy it does make a difference. 1st 2/3 of Ten Commandments is the problem it goes on and on. Cleopatra is fine until Caesar Rex Harrison is murdered. Once Burton takes over it dives. Even the battle sequences are reduced as they had run out of money.. I have held off watching Oppenheimer as Christopher Nolan’s movies are dramatically visual but lack something.
The only long movies I can think of than are worth the length. Spartacus , Titanic and Avatar. It’s a shame James Cameron is now just spending all his life making Avatar sequels.Comment
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Nolan's Tenet certainly lacks something...dialogue you can hear and understand. 😒 Oppenheimer is exceptional; just remember to break for intermission when they decide to call the first test "Trinity". See: https://8mmforum.film-tech.com/vbb/f...2745#post92745Originally posted by Mike Newell View Post
Another long movie worth watching at nearly three hours: Patton (1960)
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Though it is now literally thirty years old, I love the crime epic "Heat" ( Robert De Niro, Al Pacino ). Though three hours, it goes by so quick. I still love the scene where Dr Niro sees Pacino in the distance and had to do what he says he has always do, walk away, but you can see in his eyes, that it kills him to do so. It's more powerful than all the well executed gun battles combined, in my opinion.Comment
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I was told by a friend who had an evening job at a cinema that when The Ten Commandments was re-released in the UK the original Technicolor prints were reused as they were still good.Comment
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We watched "The Ten Commandments" on blu-ray a while back and its certainly an impressive production but long to watch even with a break. I am not a fan of long movies but surprised myself with "Oppenheimer" in that I watched it right through, it was like reading a good book, once you start I had to keep going
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Ed you mentioned "Patton" would that not be the 1970 film with George C Scott?. With a running time of almost 3 hours, that's another one of the few I have watched in one night and have watched more than once. I agree an Intermission with long movies gives a nice break.
A few years back I read an amusing story of a couple who went to a local multi-plex here. The girl got fed up with her boyfriend as he had gone to sleep, so she got up and left him there and went home herself. It wasn't until later that night when he had still not arrived home she got concerned, anyway the police went to the cinema along with cinema staff and found him still asleep, where she had left him Although the cinema staff were suppose to check the place before they went home they had slipped up here they had turned the lights off and had left. I don't no the title of the film they had set out to watch, it might not have been a long one, but that's the danger with any movie.
Last edited by Graham Ritchie; January 23, 2024, 11:49 AM.Comment
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Patton is a good long movie. Heat is fine but the long drawn scene with Pacino’s partners daughter could have been cut. Scorsese is one of the most guilty directors of over long movies.Originally posted by Osi Osgood View PostComment
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There is an excellent feature length documentary on the search for, and digging up the sets for the silent 10 Commandments called The Lost City Of Cecil B DeMille. It used to be streaming on Amazon and now is streaming on Tubi. Apparently after they spent years looking for the site, they found it in a location is now an environmentally protected area and the needed mountain of permits from the city, county, and state to dig it up. Each jurisdiction refused to issue the permits before the others, delaying the project for years.Comment
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