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| King of Kings [1961] (REGION 1) (NTSC) | ![King of Kings [1961] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VIHe1e8xL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Nicholas Ray
Actors: Jeffrey Hunter, Siobhan Mckenna, Hurd Hatfield, Ron Randell, Viveca Lindfors
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
Buy New: £5.30
New (20) from £5.30
Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 26881
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Colour, Dolby, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Running Time: 168 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.7 x 0.6
MPN: WARD65127D
UPC: 012569512726
EAN: 0012569512726
ASIN: B00007K020
Theatrical Release Date: October 30, 1961
Release Date: February 25, 2003
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
This 1961 version of Jesus' story gives historical context to the best-known biblical tale and features many memorable moments, such as a moving Sermon on the Mount and a vixen-like Salome dancing for her stepfather in a performance that rivals today's MTV video offerings. Orson Welles keeps the 168-minute film moving along with informative narration. Made with backgrounds that resemble Southern California more than Palestine and a European and American cast--including a blonde, blue-eyed Jesus and an Irish-accented Mary--this movie has the definite stamp of Hollywood. --Kimberly Heinrichs, Amazon.com
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| Customer Reviews:
 King of Kings a Movie of Movies August 10, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Samuel Bronstons Prouction of one of the greatest storys ever told was a brilliant effort.This movie isnt widely known and is in the same league as Ben Hur easily a top 20 movie for all time never has a movie been equaled in drama,very good acting,a brilliant muscial score by Mikloz Rozla.This gets better with every watch.
Region 2 viewers dont be put of this dvd works on any region 2 dvd player.
The digital transer is one of the best pictures i have seen and the crystal clear soundtrack is to be marveld at.
Jeffery Hunter depcts Jesus of Nazerith brilliantly.
Not much extras a few vintage vingetets and an original trailer.
 An honourable and decent attempt July 1, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Critics at the time panned this movie as "I was a Teenage Jesus", etc., which was extremely unfair.
I am not a particularly religious person, but I found this story of Christ's life extremely moving and sincere. Even if you do not believe in him as God, he comes across as a noble and charismatic figure worthy of admiration. The plot retells the biblical story more as less traditionally: this is what you expect to see. The musical score by Rosza is, as usual, excellent.
When I used to run a cinema club, I put on special showings of this movie for religious groups. They were totally overwhelmed, many leaving in tears after the final scenes of crucifixion nad resurrection. Though the crucifixion scenes are deeply affecting, the gratuitous and disgusting violence of "The Passion of the Christ" has thankfully been avoided.
Having projected this film many times over, I found it a profoundly disturbing experience; it does make you wonder about your beliefs or lack of them.
"I am fire, he is water! How can we ever meet?" July 23, 2006
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
For all its low reputation, Samuel Bronston's much-mocked King of Kings is easily the best and most intelligent of the `devotional' versions of the life of Christ, largely because it sets Jesus as a historical figure and, to a degree, a victim of history and politics in troubled times. More importantly, it manages to do it without being as relentlessly dreary and one-note as George Stevens' The Greatest Story Ever Told, which becomes more of an endurance test with each passing year. Even the vigorously-staged battle scenes serve a real dramatic purpose, pitting Barabbas' Davidic warrior would-be Messiah against Jesus' spiritual deliverer ("I am fire, he is water - how can we ever meet?") that is many ways the real conflict of the film: the fight between material pragmatism (the Romans, Herod, Barabbas) and spiritual idealism (Jesus and his followers). Even Caiphas is given a very modern reading, not as a black-hearted villain but as an unpopular Roman-appointed religious leader who genuinely cares for his flock, fearing that Jesus' popularity could be used by the Romans to start a Holocaust that will destroy his people.
There's much imagination at work too: while Jeffrey Hunter's Messiah suffers from MGM's insistence on redubbing the part in more `masterful' tones, he proactively interacts with the crowd in the Sermon on the Mount, played almost like a press conference, while the Last Supper takes its visual design not from Da Vinci but from the CND's peace symbol. The casting IS variable - Robert Ryan's John the Baptist, Hurd Hatfield's Pontius Pilate, Harry Guardino's Barabbas, Ron Randell's centurion, Guy Rolfe's Caiphas and Gregoire Aslan and the great Frank Thring as Herod Sr. and Jr. are fine, but Rip Torn is surprisingly awkward as an otherwise well-conceived Judas Iscariot doomed by compromise, Royal Dano's Simon Peter is a better idea on paper than onscreen (particularly when given dialog) and Siobhan McKenna's eminently punchable misty-eyed Mary is a tad too Oirish Catlic for my tastes. Yet despite its weaknesses and the virtual sidelining of Jesus for much of the running time - this is more a film about His times and His effect on those around Him than His life - it's never less than totally involving, and often genuinely moving.
Despite reputedly losing interest in post-production, Nicholas Ray's direction is excellent, his mastery of the wide screen making great use of the 70mm format and showing real inspiration in his handling of some of the miracles, scenes greatly enhanced by Miklos Rozsa's superlative score. Even Ray Bradbury's poetic narration, beautifully delivered by Orson Welles, originally intended as a quick fix to paper over the cracks in the narrative, genuinely adds to the film's complex political picture of an occupied territory. Not that some of the cracks aren't still visible, as in the meaningful exchange of looks on the Temple steps between Jesus and Richard Johnson (whose constantly changing part - one day a freed gladiator, the next an Arab, the next a Romanized Jew - was otherwise totally deleted). But they're minor complaints in an extraordinary epic that achieves more of its ambitions than its given credit for.
Incidentally, how on earth did they get the obscene graffiti on the barracks walls past the censors in 1961? Less obvious on the DVD copy, you can't miss it on the 70mm prints!
Warner's DVD is a beautiful transfer and, unlike MGM/UA's slightly cropped laserdisc issue, in the correct aspect ratio. Extras are thin, though - a teaser trailer and brief newsreel footage.
Slow but Interesting July 20, 2005
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
"King of Kings" is somewhat tame compared to many other films on the life of Jesus, but is still nevertheless well worth watching. It does not have the grandeur and visual beauty of the George Stevens "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965), or the intensity of the silent Cecil B. DeMille "King of Kings" (1927) that it is supposed to be based on, but it is always reverential towards its subject matter, even if at a rather slow pace. Many of the events told in the Gospels are simply read, rather than depicted, and this job goes to a Roman named Lucius (well played by Ron Randell), and the magnificent voice of Orson Welles as narrator. There is also a fair amount of extraneous material in trying to describe the political climate of the time, and to expand on the life of Jesus.Jeffrey Hunter, an underrated actor during his short lifetime and handful of films, is a handsome Jesus, with crystal blue eyes, and is very effective in the temptation in the desert, and the Sermon on the Mount. His youthful good looks made some people nickname this film "I Was a Teenage Jesus," even though Hunter was in his mid 30s at the time. Others in the cast are Siobhan McKenna as Mary, Harry Guardino as Barrabas, Rip Torn as Judas, and Hurd Hatfield as Pontius Pilate. Robert Ryan makes a good, grizzled John the Baptist, and of all the film Salomes, Brigid Bazlen is the best. Her voluptuous seduction of a drunken, lascivious Herod (Frank Thring) is terrific storytelling and quite believable. Directed by Nicholas Ray, the film has a grand score by Miklos Rozsa, and the cinematography, shot on location in Spain, is by Manuel Berenguer. In my extensive "Jesus" film collection, this is the one I play the least, but it has value in many of its performances, and as a comparison to other films of this theme. Total running time is 170 minutes.
King of Kings June 5, 2004
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
(jeffrey hunter)
When are you going to produce more films on DVD of this high calibre on REGION 2. I am anxious and waiting - why is America always in front of us. Please, Please start producing now. yours sincerely Mr K J Holmes
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