Quo Vadis (1951/Warner Blu-ray) + The Robe (1953/Fox Blu-ray)
Picture:
B/B+ Sound: B/B+ Extras: B/A Film:
B+/A-
Biblical
epics are certainly a thing of the past, yet for so many these beloved classics
are yearly watching, especially as we enter into Holy Week each year. Two of the more popular films, and certainly
two of the stronger films in the genre, are 1951’s Quo Vadis and 1953’s The
Robe. Both are truly great films
that best represent the era in Hollywood when money was some of the biggest
productions were put into films about God or Jesus. Not only were these films large-scale
productions of truly epic proportions, but they also stretched the format in
some amazing ways that have made them influential even to this day. Quo
Vadis was made just prior to the advent of scope in filmmaking, but aside
from this, it was one of the biggest productions of it’s day and still rivals
many films since with it’s lavish costumes, insane amount of extras, and
enormous sets. Likewise The Robe was the first film officially
released in CinemaScope and utilized this new format to rival the current trend
of the often gimmicky 3-D method.
The Robe is the slightly better of the two
films, mainly because the storyline is more accessible as we encounter a Roman
centurion whose life is forever changed after winning Jesus’ robe in a gambling
game right after the crucifixion. This
particular scene is incredibly well done with interesting still photography
work utilized to capture the power of Jesus’ death and ultimately his
resurrection three days later. Richard
Burton delivers perhaps one of his finest performances, although it is rather
interesting how he portrays the transformation into Christianity in the same
exact film where he was basically having an affair with Jean Simmons.
Quo Vadis also deals with Christianity in a
unique way during the fall of Rome as a Legion Commander (Robert Taylor) falls
in love with a Christian slave girl (Deborah Kerr) and is torn between his
loyalty to the Empire and his heart.
Amidst all of this is the Peter Ustinov’s portrayal of Nero and his
madman antics set against a backdrop of on-location filming that captures the
scope of the story with a colossal amount of 30,000 participants in the
story. It’s epic from open to close!
Had Quo Vadis been released just a few
years later, it too would have most likely been filmed in a widescreen format,
maybe even CinemaScope or at least something to give it the large-scale feel,
which certainly worked for so many epics in the years to follow. Ben
Hur in 1959 would take that to the extreme being shot in 65mm and framed to
a staggering 2.76 X 1 scope aspect ratio, which means that the image is nearly
three times longer than it is high.
The Robe, much like Oklahoma (reviewed here),
was shot twice, although The Robe
was shot in full-frame and then in CinemaScope whereas Oklahoma was shot in Todd AO and Cinemascope. The
Robe is presented here on Blu-ray in the 2.55 X 1 framed aspect ratio (at
1080p), which is true to its 35mm theatrical presentation. When the film was given a 70mm blowup
re-issue it was presented in the slightly smaller 2.20 X 1 framing. Here we have a glorious CinemaScope print
demonstrating the fine details of the format and the beauty of Technicolor as
well. Over the years broadcasts of the
film have used the full-frame prints in order to alleviate any cropping, but
since widescreen has become more popular the widescreen version has been
utilized. For a film of this age the
transfer boasts some amazing detail and definition and the Blu-ray experience
truly captures what it must have been like to see this film for the first time
back in 1953. The colors are lush and
jump from the screen, while skin tones also look remarkable and the overall
consistency of the print looks solid from start to finish, especially
considering how many cuts are performed in the films editing technique. There does not appear to be very much print
damage overall and it’s great to have such a stunning film on Blu-ray.
Quo Vadis
also looks good and is presented in its original full-frame 1.33 X 1 aspect
ratio. It does not demonstrate near the
depth nor the overall fidelity like The
Robe, but still has solid color and detail, but the print does not appear
to have survived nearly as well or been restored quite as much. Resolution is a
few shades less refined as well, but nonetheless is still the best version
available for home viewing.
The sound
on the two films are about as opposite as the picture quality as well since The Robe is given a DTS-HD Master Audio
5.1 and a lossy Dolby Digital 4.0 mix (which is the original sound mix) and
this makes proper use of the 50GB disc. Quo Vadis is limited to just a lossy
Dolby Digital 1.0 mix and does not deliver near the experience as The Robe. Again considering the age of both films the
overall sound design does not have the sonic range of newer films, but The Robe does make great use of a 5.1
mix and takes the 4.0 configuration and simply separates the two surround
channels into their own discrete channel.
By taking the lower end part of the soundtrack and utilizing a .1 LFE
channel this also alleviates some of the work needed in the other channels as
well, which creates a mix that feels more pure and adds a bit more dimension,
plus it’s a lossless mix, which brings more fidelity and transparency to the
richness of the score and dialogue. Quo Vadis struggles with so much
activity trying to squeeze its way out of a single channel and most will want
to use their receiver setting to at least bounce this into a stereo
configuration. I would have liked to
have seen at least a PCM 1.0 or 2.0 mix from this to see if that could have
brought more life to the mix.
Both
films have quite the amount of extras, but The
Robe features some really great stuff that fans and movie lovers will truly
cherish, including an introduction by Martin Scorsese, commentary by several
prolific film historians, isolated music score, a making-of featurette, the
story behind CinemaScope, several interviews, plus a segment that shows the
difference between the widescreen and standard version, and a great wealth of
other promotional materials from it’s release.
Quo Vadis features a commentary track from
F.X. Feeney, the original Roadshow overture and exit music, plus a new
featurette along with some trailers. The
extras here are not nearly as in-depth, but are great additions to a terrific
film.
Both
pictures are great to experience at least once, especially during Holy Week and
these Blu-ray editions bring life back to them and prepare them for future
generations with restored picture and sound.
We look forward to seeing more of these spectacular epics arrive to the
format.
- Nate Goss
