6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 3.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
An account of Moses' hand in leading the Israelite slaves out of Egypt, defying Ramesses II.
Starring: Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, John Turturro, Aaron Paul, Ben MendelsohnAdventure | 100% |
History | 17% |
Epic | 16% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Otto Preminger’s 1960 opus Exodus offered a still controversial portrayal of the rise of the nation of Israel in the wake of the horrifying linked events of the Holocaust and World War II. The film is probably best remembered today for its iconic Academy Award winning score by Ernest Gold, a score whose towering theme became an unexpected number 2 charting hit for the piano duo of Ferrante and Teicher. In a bit of unintentional irony, perhaps the most goyische singer of that era, Pat Boone, later wrote a lyric for Gold’s theme, a lyric which included the opening lines:
This land is mineNow Boone’s lyric of course referred to the Jewish People in general and therefore perhaps Moses by inference, but it still may have seemed weirdly anachronistic for such a “white bread” crooner to be espousing territorial rights in a region that had been beset by internecine (remember Abraham and his children, please) tribal warfare for untold millennia. The “real” (or at least original) exodus is of course one of the central stories of Judaism and by default Christianity, a tale that has been imprinted in countless minds not just due to the Bible but perhaps (as sad as this may strike some folks) more so due to annual broadcasts of Cecil B. DeMille’s legendary 1956 version of The Ten Commandments. That iteration of the timeless narrative is almost unapologetically hokey at times (I still can’t make it through a viewing without busting a gut when Anne Baxter gazes at Charlton Heston and emits the unforgettable line, “Oh, Moses, you stubborn, splendid, adorable fool!”), but it still manages to work up a rather remarkably potent emotional aspect as it details the Jews’ flight from slavery in Egypt into an ostensibly more hopeful future. Now Ridley Scott, certainly one of the more audacious and visually perspicacious directors working in contemporary film, has offered his interpretation of the Moses chronicle, in a revision which may not rise to the almost magical realist levels of Darren Aronofsky’s “reboot” of the Noah legend, but which certainly doesn’t feel itself beholden to either the original Biblical account or in fact to the accretion of popular tropes which have become part of the narrative due to offerings like the DeMille film. The result is often spectacular from a visual perspective, as might be expected, but Exodus: Gods and Kings never really delivers on an emotional level, beset by inadequacies in the screenplay and some odd casting and performance choices that tend to lift the viewer squarely out of the supposed historical milieu and (somewhat like the Aronofsky film) directly into a more contemporary ambience which is sometimes at odds with what’s being portrayed.
God gave this land to me.
Exodus: Gods and Kings is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Digitally shot with a variety of Red Epic cameras, Exodus: Gods and Kings is an often breathtaking visual experience in high definition. Scott's always assured and stunning visual sense is perfectly realized by his frequent collaborator, cinematographer Dariusz Wolski. The film offers a nicely interwoven selection of CGI effects, and Scott wisely frequently uses these for huge panoramic shots that instantly deliver depth and scale, but are far enough away so that pernsickety sorts won't be wondering whether every individual has defined facial characteristics. The image is wonderfully clear and sharp throughout this presentation, despite a huge array of lighting conditions and elements like color grading. Color grading is in fact (once again) very much in evidence, with (once again) blue and yellow the preferred shades. Detail and fine detail are both exceptional despite the somewhat rather aggressive accretion of various hues (look at screenshot 4 for one of the more extreme examples, one which also offers a good look at shadow detail). In brightly lit environments under relatively normal lighting conditions, fine detail is superb, offering clear delineation of elements like the crags around Turturro's eyes or the tufted fabrics of some of the royal outfits. While the bitrates aren't overly impressive, there are no problematic issues with artifacts or image instability.
Exodus: Gods and Kings offers a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 audio presentation which is in its own way as impressive as the visual element. Surround activity is near constant and is not entirely reliant on the film's big set pieces, though elements like the early battle where Moses saves Ramesses to, later, the huge sequences involving the Red Sea, offer the audiophile a really immersive, all encompassing aural experience. Even quieter scenes, like a little heart to heart between Seti and Moses on a kind of outside veranda of the Pharoah's palace, offer great placement of ambient environmental effects which immediately help to establish a sense of space and ambience. Dialogue is presented very cleanly, and the film's enjoyable score (by Alberto Iglesias) is also well positioned throughout the surrounds. Fidelity is top notch, dynamic range is extremely wide, and there are no problems to report.
Exodus: Gods and Kings is a problematic treatment of iconic source material, one that trades a bit too much in a post-modern approach toward its subject, while also resolutely eschewing even the hint of any "real" supernaturally Divine interference. That makes it a rather odd "Biblical" epic to begin with, something that is probably only exacerbated by some annoying performances. All of that said, the film is often quite riveting and is certainly never less than stunning from a purely visual standpoint, and (as in the case of Noah, love it or loathe it), it's a much more traditional film than perhaps even Ridley Scott meant for it to be. Technical merits are very strong, though those wanting more fulsome supplements may want to check out the 3D release as an alternative. With caveats noted about the film itself, Exodus: Gods and Kings comes Recommended.
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