The King of Kings (1927)
Drama, History • 2h 35m
Overview
The King of Kings is the Greatest Story Ever Told as only Cecil B. DeMille could tell it. In 1927, working with one of the biggest budgets in Hollywood history, DeMille spun the life and Passion of Christ into a silent-era blockbuster. Featuring text drawn directly from the Bible, a cast of thousands, and the great showman’s singular cinematic bag of tricks, The King of Kings is at once spectacular and deeply reverent—part Gospel, part Technicolor epic.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Cast: H.B. Warner, Dorothy Cumming, Ernest Torrence, Joseph Schildkraut, James Neill, Joseph Striker, Robert Edeson, Sidney D'Albrook, Jacqueline Logan, Charles Belcher, Victor Varconi, Montagu Love, William Boyd, Julia Faye, May Robson, Sidney Franklin, John George, Rex Ingram, Ruth Miller, Ayn Rand, Sally Rand, Mark Strong, David Imboden, Clayton Packard, Robert Ellsworth, Charles Requa, John T. Prince, Rudolph Schildkraut, Sam De Grasse, Casson Ferguson, Majel Coleman, Michael D. Moore, Theodore Kosloff, George Siegmann, Josephine Norman, Kenneth Thomson, Alan Brooks, Viola Louie, Muriel McCormac, Clarence Burton, James Pier Mason, Dot Farley, Hector V. Sarno, Leon Holmes, Otto Lederer, Bryant Washburn, Lionel Belmore, Monte Collins Sr., Lucio Flamma, Sôjin Kamiyama, André Cheron, Willy Castello, Noble Johnson, Jim Farley, Winifred Greenwood
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Kino Lorber Blu-ray with Photoplay 4K restoration
Kino Lorber Blu-ray with Carl Davis score
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Kino Lorber Blu-ray with Photoplay 4K restoration
Kino Lorber Blu-ray with Carl Davis score
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Germany Plaion Media Blu-ray is marginally better than Kino Lorber which suffers a little dark crush: https://slow.pics/c/BME05Jlw
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Germany Plaion Media Blu-ray is marginally better than Kino Lorber which suffers a little dark crush: https://slow.pics/c/BME05Jlw
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Director: Erich von Stroheim
Flicker Alley Blu-ray new 4K restoration
Director: Erich von Stroheim
Flicker Alley Blu-ray new 4K restoration
Director: Harry O. Hoyt
Upcoming Flicker Alley Blu-ray Focus on Clara Bow according to their calendar
Director: Harry O. Hoyt
Upcoming Flicker Alley Blu-ray Focus on Clara Bow according to their calendar
Director: Herbert Brenon
Upcoming Flicker Alley Blu-ray Focus on Clara Bow according to their calendar
Director: Herbert Brenon
Upcoming Flicker Alley Blu-ray Focus on Clara Bow according to their calendar
Director: James P. Hogan
Flicker Alley Blu-ray Focus on Clara Bow according to their calendar
Director: James P. Hogan
Flicker Alley Blu-ray Focus on Clara Bow according to their calendar
Director: Lewis Milestone
Director: Lewis Milestone
Director: Raoul Walsh
Director: Raoul Walsh
Kino Lorber Edison: The Invention of the Movies DVD or Flicker Alley Landmarks of Early Film DVD
Kino Lorber Edison: The Invention of the Movies DVD or Flicker Alley Landmarks of Early Film DVD
Kino Lorber Edison: The Invention of the Movies DVD or Flicker Alley Landmarks of Early Film DVD
Kino Lorber Edison: The Invention of the Movies DVD or Flicker Alley Landmarks of Early Film DVD
Directors: Lois Weber & Phillips Smalley
No comparison available, three options:
Kino Lorber Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers Blu-ray
Flicker Alley Early Women Filmmakers: An International Anthology Blu-ray
Directors: Lois Weber & Phillips Smalley
No comparison available, three options:
Kino Lorber Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers Blu-ray
Flicker Alley Early Women Filmmakers: An International Anthology Blu-ray
More Drama on Blu-ray
BFI 4K Blu-ray is significantly better than older Blu-ray however the HDR grade is questionable as it introduces black crushes, see nic's review and caps
For Blu-rays, Germany StudioCanal Blu-ray > MoC Blu-ray see caps
BFI 4K Blu-ray
All disc sourced from the 4K restoration use the same solid audio track. Older DVD releases are from a higher generation source with less detail and more hiss.
BFI 4K Blu-ray is significantly better than older Blu-ray however the HDR grade is questionable as it introduces black crushes, see nic's review and caps
For Blu-rays, Germany StudioCanal Blu-ray > MoC Blu-ray see caps
BFI 4K Blu-ray
All disc sourced from the 4K restoration use the same solid audio track. Older DVD releases are from a higher generation source with less detail and more hiss.
Criterion 4K Blu-ray see caps
Criterion 4K Blu-ray (same as all tracks since the DVD)
Criterion 4K Blu-ray see caps
Criterion 4K Blu-ray (same as all tracks since the DVD)
Director: Neil Jordan
Criterion 4K Blu-ray (caps)
Criterion is a new restoration from the original camera negative, supervised and approved by director Neil Jordan, graded using a 35mm print from the Academy Film Archive as a color reference.
Original matrixed Dolby Stereo: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Criterion is a new transfer from the magnetic track and sounds better than previous releases. The 5.1 track on the NTSC DVD is a poor quality upmix.
Director: Neil Jordan
Criterion 4K Blu-ray (caps)
Criterion is a new restoration from the original camera negative, supervised and approved by director Neil Jordan, graded using a 35mm print from the Academy Film Archive as a color reference.
Original matrixed Dolby Stereo: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Criterion is a new transfer from the magnetic track and sounds better than previous releases. The 5.1 track on the NTSC DVD is a poor quality upmix.
Director: Michael Haneke
2025 Curzon UK Blu-ray or 2013 TF1 FR Blu-ray (caps)
Curzon has a slightly better encode and preserves all the noise of the digital source, but ends up obscuring actual detail in some shots. Both are quite good, only caveat being that the TF1 disc is slightly cropped and has a black bar on top.
2025 Curzon UK Blu-ray
2008 Artificial Eye UK and 2025 Umbrella AU discs have incorrect pitch. TF1 FR disc is missing 7 minutes of audio in the left channel. See spectrograms.
Director: Michael Haneke
2025 Curzon UK Blu-ray or 2013 TF1 FR Blu-ray (caps)
Curzon has a slightly better encode and preserves all the noise of the digital source, but ends up obscuring actual detail in some shots. Both are quite good, only caveat being that the TF1 disc is slightly cropped and has a black bar on top.
2025 Curzon UK Blu-ray
2008 Artificial Eye UK and 2025 Umbrella AU discs have incorrect pitch. TF1 FR disc is missing 7 minutes of audio in the left channel. See spectrograms.
Director: Nagisa Ōshima
Criterion 4K Blu-ray (caps)
Criterion is a very nice uptick in detail and resolution. The color grade is very similar, but leans more neutral, reducing the greenish/blueish hues seen on the MoC disc.
Unrestored: Shochiku JP NTSC DVD
Restored: Masters of Cinema UK Blu-ray
The JP DVD track is unfiltered and sounds much more natural and detailed, but suffers from a strong CRT whine and an intermittent low-end hum. The track used on all later restorations is a bit muffled and has overemphasized bass.
Criterion applied additional EQ and roll-off to the restored track, but the audible difference is minimal.
Criterion has a different translation to MoC, but both are solid and trade blows, see comparison.
Director: Nagisa Ōshima
Criterion 4K Blu-ray (caps)
Criterion is a very nice uptick in detail and resolution. The color grade is very similar, but leans more neutral, reducing the greenish/blueish hues seen on the MoC disc.
Unrestored: Shochiku JP NTSC DVD
Restored: Masters of Cinema UK Blu-ray
The JP DVD track is unfiltered and sounds much more natural and detailed, but suffers from a strong CRT whine and an intermittent low-end hum. The track used on all later restorations is a bit muffled and has overemphasized bass.
Criterion applied additional EQ and roll-off to the restored track, but the audible difference is minimal.
Criterion has a different translation to MoC, but both are solid and trade blows, see comparison.
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Director: Jan de Bont
DE Turbine is similar in quality, US Warner Bros is worse (caps: EU vs US, EU vs DE)
The 4K discs have different color timing to the older master, see caps.
The 2012 DE Turbine disc is the master as the 2008 US Warner Bros, only with some sharpening and a layer of added grain.
2008 Warner Bros US Blu-ray, the EU disc from Universal has neutered bass.
4K Blu-ray Atmos track is much more compressed in all channels.
Director: Jan de Bont
DE Turbine is similar in quality, US Warner Bros is worse (caps: EU vs US, EU vs DE)
The 4K discs have different color timing to the older master, see caps.
The 2012 DE Turbine disc is the master as the 2008 US Warner Bros, only with some sharpening and a layer of added grain.
2008 Warner Bros US Blu-ray, the EU disc from Universal has neutered bass.
4K Blu-ray Atmos track is much more compressed in all channels.
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Director: Jacques Audiard
France Pathé 4K Blu-ray has Dolby Atmos audio
Director: Jacques Audiard
France Pathé 4K Blu-ray has Dolby Atmos audio
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