Rating: 
Summary: KING OF KINGS
Review: As soneone who grew up in the era of the widescreen, epic Biblical dramas, I am pleased that the DVD process preserves the quality of the original negatives and soundtracks. KING OF KINGS looks and sounds terrific. In the linear notes to the CD of the exciting Miklos Rozsa score, it states that, when completed, "this film was a mess." There was no structure, just a lot of disjointed footage. So a narrator was used to tie scenes together. Thankfully that narrator was Orson Welles, who adds a wonderful, if originally unplanned, quality. Today the narrator would probably be James Earl Jones. Because of the fictional character of the Roman officer, Lucius, played by Ron Randell, who is supposed to represent the Gentile world's reaction to Jesus, time is lost for more intimate scenes between Jesus and his Disciples. This lack gives us, therefore, only a cursury view of Jesus. As far as history is concerned, there is one glaring mistake. In the beginning, Herod's son, Herod Antipas, is seen taking his father's throne. In reality, Antipas's brother, another of Herod's sons, took the throne for ten years. Antipas was never more than the ruler of Galilee. The "trial before Pilate" scene also lacks emotion depth, as it takes place among only three participants: Jesus, Pilate and Lucius; where are the famous crowds? Martin Scorsese did a more complete attempt at an intimate look at the life of Jesus with THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. KING OF KINGS also seems to me to have a bright and shinning look to it and makes the ancient world seem less dirty and dingy than it probably was. In the end, however, if we are talking about simple preservation of motion picture history, then the telecine and audio artists who created this DVD are to be applauded.
Rating: 
Summary: Powerful, moving & beautiful - especially on DVD!
Review: When I watched this film on DVD for the first time, I was amazed that a film made in the early 1960's could still be presented with such visual splendor today. The excellent video quality combined with the passionate score by famed composer Miklos Rozsa certainly helps to create a timeless work. Of course, the story & actors must be mentioned as well because they are truly the heart and soul of "King of Kings". Jeffrey Hunter's portrayal of Jesus was very well done, and I thorougly enjoyed the performances of the actors who played Peter and John the Baptist as well. The extras included on this DVD are also great bonuses, but truth be told, the impressive quality of this film definitely makes it worth purchasing on DVD.
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Summary: Classic Transfer!
Review: Whatever Warner's is doing to make their 'classic' films pop bigger and brighter than their current releases - should definitely put Fox and ESPECIALLY Universal on notice.This transfer is simply gorgeous. Forget about the snap cases, it's the contents that count. A beautiful film that has been given the royal treatment. This one must be added to your collection.
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Summary: A great film of Inspiration
Review: I wish they would make more films like this. It is encouraging to the soul and gives us hope that our lives do have meaning and while we are here we can make a difference. That one simple carpenter could make such a difference is awe inspiring. Hunter gave one of his greatest and most sincere performances. It's a pity that he was such an underrated and now almost forgotten actor.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: There are a few things in the world one can really say they've loved their entire life. This is one of them for me. I've never seen it in widescreen format before. It is awesome. The movie is great and the special features make it a must for anyone who loves this film. This is a must have for Christian DVD collections.
Rating: 
Summary: REBEL JESUS
Review: In 1960 during production, reporters mockingly referred to KING OF KINGS as "I Was A Teenage Jesus" -- a reference to its star, blue-eyed heart throb Jeffrey Hunter. According to scripture, Jesus never went more than 130 miles from his birthplace, never wrote a book, never led an army and never held office, yet He's impacted our culture, calendar and history more than anyone. This nice-looking widescreen feature has the proverbial cast of thousands as well as Robert Ryan and Rip Torn. Miklos Rosa created the stirring, memorable score. An uncredited Orson Welles delivers the near poetic narration said to have been written by Ray Bradbury (also uncredited). In King of Kings, Nicholas Ray -- who several years earlier directed "Rebel Without A Cause" -- honors a different kind of rebel -- one with a cosmic cause.
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Summary: A Condensed Christ Story...
Review: Every so often, perhaps about once a year or so, I get in a mood to watch Epics. I dig through my collection and haul out gems like "Lawrence of Arabia", "Cleopatra", "The Ten Commandments" and the like, and devour them one after another like candy. "King of Kings" is one of the Epics that I never saw until recently, when my Epic mania drove me to purchase the DVD. I had heard so much about Jeff Hunter's Jesus, I just had to see it. After seeing the wonderful Max von Sydow, and even the enigmatic portrayal of Jesus in "Ben-Hur", I thought Hunter fell quite a bit short in filling Jesus' sandals. Now, to be fair, I had also just recently viewed "The Greatest Story Ever Told", which may account for how disappointed I was with "King of Kings". "TGSET" was, in every sense, an Epic, while this film has a more condensed feel. Even though "King of Kings" qualifies as an Epic, it just didn't carry through on the Epic scale of other Bible Epics. I have to say that I found Hunter's Jesus to be somewhat stiff, and almost an incidental character at times. The Jesus here is not an approachable figure, and radiates little warmth. Because he is so stiff throughout, when Hunter shows his grief and fear in the Garden, it looked as if Jesus was having a heart attack! The big miracles associated with Jesus are not shown either (walking on water, feeding the people, water into wine, etc.). Even the raising of Lazarus goes unmentioned, which just makes this Jesus look less... well, miraculous.
But Hunter is not the only poor casting choice here. Robert Ryan is great in almost everything, but his John the Baptist just doesn't seem to work. He seems miscast here, especially when compared with Charlton Heston in "TGSET". And, as is the want of Hollywood writers, Barabbas goes from being an incidental figure in the Christ story to becoming a leader of a Judean revolt against Rome in "King of Kings". While the battles he leads are spectacular, the whole Barabbas sub-plot took too much of the focus off of Jesus, and the film would have been better without it. Don't get me wrong. There are some very good scenes, and the film is quite watchable. The Sermon on the Mount in perhaps the defining moment of the film, with some seven thousand extras filling the screen. Jesus wanders amongst the crowd on the hillside, answering individual questions put to him by the people. This was easily the best version of the Sermon I've yet seen. A camera mounted to the top of the cross as it is raised gives a new dimension to the moment, and was something I do not believe had been done before, or attempted since. The camera placed high above Herod and others in the palace is also interesting. I also liked how Jesus cured the sick. In a succession of shots, we see Jesus' shadow on the wall, the shadow of his hand approaching the figure he wishes to help. When his shadow touches the person, they slowly realize they are cured of their ailments. This was probably the most original way to show Jesus at work in any film I am currently aware of, and it worked very well. Another plus is the reserved narration of the great Orsen Welles. While a more prevalent Welles would have been nice, he is nonetheless very effective in his duty as narrator. His casting here is somewhat of a redemption for Welles, who thought he would star as Christ in his own film version, a project that was sadly forever shelved because of the backlash over his opus to greed, "Citizen Kane". Overall, this is a rather condensed and fairly inaccurate take on the life of Jesus. Despite some great moments, "The Greatest Story Ever Told" is the better of the two, should you need to choose between them. To prove the point, let's take a scene that is in both films; the crowd wanting to stone Mary Magdeline. Hands down, "TGSET" is more poetic, more poignant, and more effective. The identical moment in the Hunter film is treated almost as an afterthought, the Hunter Jesus having little or no power over the crowd when he says, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Max von Sydow, by comparison, really shames the crowd with his reading of the classic line. von Sydow holds a stone out to the mob, slowly sweeping his arm in a wide semi-circle to take in all those gathered around. Hunter thrusts the stone at individuals in no particular order, almost daring them to take it. Adding the Barabbas subplot highlights the fundamental difference between both films; one is more focused on highlights and action that occurred during the life of Christ, and the other on unraveling the mystery that surrounded the man who led the life of Christ.
"TGSET" is far and away the superior film in just about every way one could imagine, but for a pure white conservative Christian viewer, "King of Kings" is probably the perfect version of the Jesus character and his life story. Even more so than Max von Sydow, and far more so than the fairly realistic portrayal of the Savior in "Jesus of Nazareth", the Jesus here is most decidedly the European take on the character (white, blonde, blue-eyed, no accent, etc.). As such, the Falwell crowd will not find their ideal threatened with "King of Kings". Even the crucifixion is surprisingly bloodless, so this may be the best version for the kiddies to watch. For grown-ups, although "TGSET" is much slower, it is also much more rewarding.
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Summary: Best Jesus Movie
Review: I've seen them all, and have most of them: Zeffirelli's JESUS OF NAZARETH, Pasolini's GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SAINT MATTHEW, the JESUS movie (Campus Crusade for Christ), both versions of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, the Visual Bible MATTHEW, FROM THE MANGER TO THE CROSS (silent), that wretched TV movie JESUS with Jeremy Sisto, THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD, etc., etc. And BEN-HUR (which is sort of a Jesus movie). KING OF KINGS is the best (but the claymation THE MIRACLE MAKER is excellent, too) of them all, in my opinion (and that's what this review is, right?). I've seen it twice now, and though it has its flaws and some things I'd like done differently, its weaving of subplots into the gospel story works very well and makes it MOTION PICTURE ENTERTAINMENT and not just a flat retelling of the Gospels event-by-event. It's truly a great and well-done movie, and the DVD print quality and Technicolor colors are outstanding, a joy to watch. The sound/score could be more dramatic (it's DD 5.1, but not very spectacular), but it's decent. A few more extras would be nice, too. But I bought this for the movie, not the extras, and this DVD is worth every penny it cost me.
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Summary: Its Visually Beautiful but . . .
Review: This was, is, and always will be one of my favorite indulgences. However, the film is still missing scenes from its original release! Where is the scene in which Joseph conks the Roman (Ron Randall) on the head in the Bethlehem stable in order to take his family to Egypt? Later, when that very same Roman encounters Mary twelve years later while taking the census and remembers the incident, it makes no sense as to why he stares intently at Mary and twelve-year-old Jesus if you didn't see the now-missing scene in the stable. I own the original Dell comic book version of this movie from 1961, and the scene is in the comic book but not the movie! I wonder what other scenes are missing? What was the original release time? But I digress . . .
It still is a beautiful film with moving music and incredible cinematography, albeit historically inaccurate.
The Bible according to Hollywood! Who would have guessed?
Rating:
Summary: A Fine Film But Still Missing Scenes from Original Release
Review: The DVD is visually beautiful! The letterbox framing and the cinematography return it to the manner in which it should be seen. My only disappointment is that there is still at least one scene missing from the original theatrical release. The particular scene I'm talking about is the one where Joseph hits the Roman (whose name escapes me at this time) over the head with a club after Jesus' birth so they can escape to Egypt. Later, when Jesus is twelve years old and the census man (the same Roman Joseph struck!) shows up, he questions Mary and Joseph as to why the boy is not registered in the census. When Mary tells him he was born twelve years ago in Bethlehem, there is a very tense moment while the Roman recalls being knocked out in the stable. Without the scene in which Joseph strikes him, the Roman's tense moment of recall is pointless. I have the original Dell comic book version of the movie and this missing scene is in the comic book. Why did they leave it out? The music is moving. I would recommend purchasing it!
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