In honor of the great Charlton Heston, who died Saturday at 84, here are the five best DVD presentations of his classic films:

1) Ben-Hur (Warner, $40): There is a cheaper version, but this four-disc mega-set is the true way to go. Besides Heston’s scene-specific commentary from that earlier release, a thorough audio overview by film historian T. Gene Hatcher has been added. Other extras include an hourlong series of interviews with admirers of the film, including directors George Lucas and Ridley Scott; a music-only stereo track of the Oscar-winning score by Miklos Rozsa; extended screen tests; vintage newsreels; trailers; Oscar-ceremony highlights, and a 36-page reproduction of the original movie program. The 143-minute silent version of “Ben-Hur” from 1925 gets its own disc — a remarkable film featuring a sea battle so big that it required 48 cameras to shoot and a chariot race so treacherous that a stuntman and several horses were killed during two tortuous attempts to re-create it. There’s also an hourlong 1993 retrospective narrated by Christopher Plummer.

 2) The Ten Commandments (Paramount, $25): Holy Moses! This deluxe 50th anniversary set not only includes the spectacular 1956 version of the film, with Heston dominating the screen — and parting the Red Sea — but it also includes Cecil B. DeMille’s 1923 silent original (borrowing the idea from the Warner set). Exhaustive commentary by Katherine Orrison, author of the making-of book “Written in Stone,” makes this an essential purchase. She spent years interviewing those close to the epic and breathlessly recounts their tales for its 220-minute duration.  Heston and composer Elmer Bernstein are among those interviewed for a 37-minute retrospective. The widescreen transfer is the same as an old no-frills release, but it looks fabulous, with vibrant colors.

3) El Cid (Genius, $25/$40): A recent debut on DVD, this 1961 epic — in which Heston plays the legendary Spanish hero — is available in two versions, but the deluxe set is the one to get if you hanker for fancy boxes and non-disc extras such as a souvenir program and movie stills. Besides commentary by a film historian and the son of director Samuel Bronston, there are more than two hours’ worth of retrospectives, as well as archived interviews with Heston and others, trailers, and an overview of Rozsa’s stunning score.

4) Planet of the Apes (Fox, $27): This sci-fi gem has been released so many times on DVD that it’s hard to keep track, but I like the 35th anniversary edition. Its strongest asset is a new enhanced-widescreen presentation. Many extras are copped from the documentary “Behind the Planet of the Apes.” New supplements include a fabulous text commentary (via subtitles) by film scholar Eric Greene and an isolated score with commentary by venerable composer Jerry Goldsmith.

5) Major Dundee (Sony, $15): This 1965 film, in which Heston played a cavalry officer who leads Army troops into Mexico to fight a band of Indians, is the least known among these films but is the best bargain on DVD. The well-trimmed single-disc presentation includes a 20-minute excerpt from a documentary about maverick filmmaker Sam Peckinpah and an in-depth feature-length commentary by Peckinpah experts on the film’s troubled production. In addition, the studio-edited film has had scenes totaling 12 minutes restored and a
newly scored 5.1-audio soundtrack added. The disc also includes incomplete, extended and deleted scenes, as well as silent outtakes. There are also trailers, promo reels, an image gallery and a vintage featurette about the movie’s stunt work.   It’s fine treatment for a film that wasn’t really given a chance in its day.

Just missing the cut is The Omega Man, recently released on HD DVD and Blu-ray. Speaking of high-def versions, none of my top five is available yet in that format. Fox reportedly has Planet of the Apes in the works for Blu-ray, but no official date has been announced. Heston’s death has probably put that release on the fast track. And, as these things go, the news has probably also spurred the other studios to release those classics on Blu-ray soon, too.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 6th, 2008 at 8:40 pm and is filed under DVDs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.