The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.5

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson July 21, 2025

Throughout the 1910s, Rudolph Valentino was best known as a skilled tango dancer and an occasional actor in films. He typically appeared as an extra and a villain in bit parts. All of that changed when Richard Rowland, president of Metro Pictures, began to notice the burgeoning international success of Spanish author Vicente Blasco Ibáñez’s translated book, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. According to author Ruth Barton (Rex Ingram: Visionary Director of the Silent Screen), Rowland outbid William Fox for the rights of the novel when he tendered an advance offer to Ibáñez in the amount of $20,000 against 10 percent of the royalties. After Ibáñez accepted the deal, June Mathis, the head of Metro Picture’s script department, began writing the script. She worked closely with director Rex Ingram on the adaptation. Both Ingram and Mathis take credit for discovering Valentino for the important role of Julio Desnoyers. But since Mathis had been at Metro longer, she likely had the most sway in attaching the young actor to the picture.

Four Horsemen's story originates with Argentinian patriarch Don Julio Madariaga (Pomeroy Cannon), a philanderer and affluent rancher. Madariaga's two daughters marry, respectively, a Frenchman, Marcelo Desnoyers (Joseph Swickard), and a German, Karl von Hartrott (Alan Hale). Madariaga doesn't much care for the latter and exhibits favoritism for Marcelo's son, Julio Desnoyers (Rudolph Valentino). Julio is a well-dressed playboy who dances in a tavern club in La Boca, Buenos Aires. It is there Julio meets Marguerite Laurier (Alice Terry). The couple dance and fall in love with each other. Marguerite is caught in a loveless arranged marriage with the attorney, Etienne Laurier (John Sainpolis). The affair infuriates Etienne, who threatens to divorce Marguerite.

Etienne's marital troubles are diverted when news breaks that the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria has been assassinated. Etienne enlists in the French Army but Julio chooses to stay on the sidelines. The mystic Tchernoff (Nigel de Brulier) sees visions of four horsemen who represent Conquest, War, Famine, and Death. They are shown galloping ominously across the skies. Soon war breaks out, including the Battle of the Marne, which is powerfully depicted in the second half of Ingram's film.

The reading of the will.

Marcelo's side of the family had relocated to France while Karl's traveled with him to his native Germany. The first world war pits members of the Desnoyer and Hartrott families against each other. When Marecelo returns to his ancestral village of Villeblanche, he learns that his castle there has been taken over by Germans. Marcelo’s German nephew, Capt. Otto von Hartrott (Stuart Holmes), arrives and takes charge of the operation. At first, Marcelo is relieved to see Otto and pleads with him to ask the Germans to stop pillaging. But Otto balks at this request. He tells his uncle that it's simply part of war. Ingram effectively dramatizes how emotionally draining the German takeover is for Marcelo, who isn't even fighting! Meanwhile, Marguerite feels guilty over her infidelity and joins the war effort as a nurse for the Red Cross in Lourdes. Julio finally decides to fight alongside the French Army. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) is a poignant epic rife with romance, family melodrama, and spectacle that anticipates the big war pictures to come such as The Big Parade (1925), What Price Glory (1926), All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), and Wooden Crosses (1932).

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Warner Archive Collection's Blu-ray release this year is the culmination of restoration work that began in 2022. I learned from a reliable source that Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging scanned all available film materials at 4K resolution with the best sources utilized to match the 1993 work of Kevin Brownlow and David Gill under the auspices of their firm Photoplay Productions in association with Great Britain's Channel Four, as well as under license and partnership with Turner Entertainment Co. Photoplay's 35 mm print and a standard definition video master served as references for color tints and exact continuity. WB MPI sent its restoration work to Photoplay's Brownlow and Patrick Stanbury for review and comments, and ultimate approval. (David Gill passed on in 1997.) The Blu-ray preserves the provenance of the motion picture released theatrically by Metro Pictures Corp. in 1921 and Photoplay Productions' restoration, which was finished in 1993.

MGM/UA Home Video's LaserDisc, distributed by Image Entertainment in 1997, was based on the Brownlow/Gill restoration. Until this year, this was essentially the only public domain release of the film available on physical media. My source informs me that Photoplay culled two principal sources for its restoration: a safety-film dupe negative made from an extant nitrate lavender Fine Grain positive of Four Horsemen from MGM's vaults. The other came from an abridged 1926 reissue version, which was rushed into theaters following Valentino's untimely passing. In collaboration with Turner Entertainment, these two elements became the basis of Photoplay's 1993 work, which included tints and tones, as well as fragments of footage that were located in international archives which were missing from the MGM archival materials. The result of Photoplay's meticulous work was a 35 mm print which encompassed all of these elements.

It is plainly evident that WB MPI engaged a frame-by-frame restoration. The transfer looks virtually flawless. There are no tears or scratches. In fact, dirt and debris have been keep to the bare minimum. Grain is intact and appears healthy. I have matched ten frames from the Blu-ray with the LaserDisc. There is a deep space shot inside a nightclub of the Boca district in Buenos Aires. Look at how much clarity and depth are improved in Screenshot #34 compared to the LD in #33. My graphical comparisons should demonstrate how vastly superior contrast is on the Blu-ray. The film receives an MPEG-4 AVC encode and boast an average video bitrate of 31936 kbps.

Screenshot #s 1-20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, & 40 = Warner Archive Collection 2025 BD-50
Screenshot #s 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, & 39 = MGM/UA Silent Classics 1997 LaserDisc

The 133-minute film receives 28 chapter breaks. These are only accessible via remote control since WB doesn't provide a scene selections option on its menu.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

WB has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track (1566 kbps, 24-bit) of Carl Davis's wonderful 1993 score. The initial batch of copies for this release included an incorrectly encoded dual-mono mix of the musical score. Movie Zyng has been working with Warner Bros. and AV Entertainment to facilitate a replacement program. Email customerservice@moviezyng.com with your request if you received a disc with the faulty track. Be sure to include your original purchase receipt. The UPC number for the original pressed disc is 840418323670. My replacement disc came in a clear polypropylene CD case. The new UPC number printed on a sticker on the back is 840418326992.

I played both the original and the new disc I was sent from Warners' fulfillment center. Unfortunately, I could tell little to no difference between them (even though the numbers found on the inner ring of the data side of each disc are unique). Music isn't audible at all along the rear channels. I played the same scene in succession when comparing the discs and it sounds identical. My LD copy always has the score pumping out of the satellite speakers. I know at least a few users on our WAC forum received replacement discs with the properly encoded matrixed stereo surround sound track. I will be following up with a contact about receiving a proper replacement.

The front of the sound stage boasts excellent dynamic range. Davis's sweeping score is heavy on strings, brass, and trumpet, which are often performed fortissimo. Davis also incorporates traditional military songs and national anthems (e.g., "La Marseillaise"). There's also a classical piece which is later played in Renoir's La Règle du jeu (1939).

The English titles are large and easy to read (see Screenshot #40).

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Extras are nil.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

WB MPI has produced a fabulous 4K restoration of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) that looks absolutely stunning on Blu-ray. I can only hope that future restorations of silent films can appear this pristine and clear. If you don't hear Davis's score coming out of your surround speakers, be sure to request a replacement disc with Movie Zyng as I have outlined in the Audio section. If you originally purchased the MGM/UA LaserDisc in the late '90s or later, do not hesitate to upgrade as the most recent restoration eclipses it by miles. DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED!