Number of discs: 4
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Release Date: April 2, 2013
Run Time: 440 minutes
Series: 4 out of stars
Extras: 3.5 out of 5 stars
I may not be the most religious man in the world. I grew up going to church and catholic school, so I know the stories of The Bible quite well. There has been many history specials on these stories but never in the scale of this. The new epic mini-series is produced by Mark Burnett (“The Voice”, “Survivor”) and, his wife, Roma Downey (“Touched by an Angel”). If you watched the show on The History Channel, this is worth revisiting since this Blu-ray for an exclusive an all-new cut featuring more stories than was show on television.
This mini-series is narrated by Emmy winning actor Keith David (“They Live”, “Cloud Atlas”) and features a fantastic international cast including Portuguese actor, Diogo Morgado as Jesus Christ and Roma Downey as Mother Mary. The score of the mini-series also features sound beautiful score from Oscar and Grammy winning composer Hans Zimmer, who reunited with acclaimed vocalist Lisa Gerrard for the first time since “Gladiator”. The score blends perfectly with the breathtaking visuals created for the mini-series. The performances are very impressive and the production value on the series really is on a high-scale and packed with some amazing visual effects.
Official Premise: From Executive Producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett comes The Bible — an epic 10-part miniseries retelling stories from the Scriptures for a whole new generation. Breathtaking in scope and scale, The Bible features powerful performances, exotic locales and dazzling visual effects that breathe spectacular life into the dramatic tales of faith and courage from Genesis through Revelation. This historic television event is sure to entertain and inspire the whole family.
“The Bible” really looks stunning on Blu-ray. When I first watched this on television, I knew that this was a show that had a lot of production put into it. Whether it is the set locations, visual effects or costumes, this show did not take the cheap route. The 1080p transfers are near-flawless and represent the action and the epic quality of the series quite well. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track also delivers. From every sword fight to thunder strike to battle scene they each sound absolutely amazing.
The special features are quite amazing for this mini-series. First off we have “The Bible: Creation” is a very in-depth three-part making of series. “Creation I: The Vision, The Look” is a behind-the-scenes look into the locations, production overall and costume design. “Creation II: Production Stories” is a cast/crew recollection of unique events that occurred throughout the production. “Creation III: Crucified & Resurrected” looks into the making of these emotional scenes.
“The Bible: Genesis” is a chat with with Mark Burnett and Roma Downey about how they prepared to film the stories of the Bible. “The Cast of The Bible” is again with Mark and Roma as they talk about the actors used for the mini-series. “Scoring The Bible” takes us into the score with composer Hans Zimmer and award-winning soloist Lisa Gerrard. “Believing in Miracles” feature cast and crew reliving moments that occured during filming. Lastly, “The Bible: Visual Effects” is a montage clip of all the amazing scenes created for the series.