The Ten Commandments

WORK – No, but say, is it good or not?

Evocation of the life of Moses, saved at his birth by the Pharaoh's own daughter, who had decided to kill all the Hebrew newborns, lest the children of Israel become more numerous than the Egyptians.

Despite a snoring academicism and a speech from another era, this dense and always exciting biblical peulum remains at more than 60 years a spectacle of every moment traversed by scenes that forever marked the history of 7th art.

IMAGE – Everyone's beautiful, are you sure?

Glory of CinemaScope and Technicolor, this legendary work had to shine in 4K Ultra HD. Fruit of a 6K restoration (a little aging) carried out in 2010 from its negatives VistaVision 35 mmHowever, the image would have deserved a brand new scan taking advantage of the latest digital tools. For in the state, without demeriting the least of the world, certain artifacts (the sometimes risky management of grain, the presence of a few tragedies of movement and the application of a light noise reducing device), most certainly exacerbated by HDR technology, betray the age of this restoration. But let's stay measured, this UHD transfer encoded in Dolby Vision is a great success, which the upgrade to the previous Blu-ray is enjoying all along.

Perhaps not on the side of details, where the input remains it is true moderate. It must also be said that the HD transfer was already miraculous on this point (a just incredible pique), except for the falls of definition on the plans with special effects or the rough detours around the characters inlaid. But you should not forget that the film celebrates its 65th birthday, and the readjusted contrasts (the photograph has been darkened) as well as the new color calibration work as a youth cure here.

Shocked by divine colours with increased vitality (goldness, blue sky) and reinforced nuances (coppery hues, reds), influenced by contrasts that never cease to reinforce the impact of many sequences (the crossing of the night desert is a greater calvary and the night of the firstborn's death is otherwise more distressing) and « Illuminated » By light sources which had so far lost faith (the lights of the day on the horizon, the burning bush, the column of fire and passing by), the image returns to a second youth.

SON – He who has ears to hear, hear!

No miracle, publishing only recovering sound tracks from its HD counterpart. I will also quickly pass on the original mono 2.0 VF, cut and turned off, to focus on the VO DTS-HD MA 5.1.

Essentially frontal and rarely quick to use the surround scene (small atmospheres of this one), this harmonious mixing delivers clear dialogues and a score that does not lack body. And apart from rare passages where breath is heard, this soundtrack spreads with purity.

CONCLUSION – Every good thing has an end...

For those who want to own this biblical work XXL, the 4K Ultra HD is the most beautiful version of Cecil B. DeMille's sum film. So yes, despite flaws (minuscules), here is an indispensable edition!