HELEN OF TROY (1956)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 121 Minutes 10 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.55:1).
Director: Robert Wise
Cast: Rosanna Podesta, Jack Sernas, Sir Cedric Hardwicke
Synopsis: In an epic tale of passion, heroism, love, betrayal and war that has that has been passed from generation to generation since the dawn of civilization, one woman possesses a beauty that launches a thousand ships and sparks a war that destroys the greatest city of its age--Helen of Troy. 1100 BCE. King Priam (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) of Troy, sends his son, Paris (Jack Sernas), to Sparta to negotiate a treaty to ensure peace between the two Greek city-states. But Paris falls in love with Spartan King Menelaus' (Niall MacGinnis) wife, Helen (Rossana Podesta). Paris kidnaps the willing Helen and her servant (Brigitte Bardot), starting a war that will kill thousands of brave warriors and spell the end of the city of Troy. Homer's Iliad provides the basis for this epic from the '50s heyday of big-screen blockbusters. Robert Wise (West Side Story, The Sound Of Music) directs this lavish epic capturing more than 30,000 people on screen at a then-huge production cost of $6 million.
The Robert Wise (The Haunting) directed sword and sandal epic Helen of Troy (1956) is a more or less faithful adaptation of Homer’s The Iliad, despite the epic story and star-studded cast, massive sets, and thousands of extras I've always thought his was a peplum without much pep to it. Truly it looks wonderful, the scope is terrific, the battle scenes are glorious, and the Trojan Horse looks marvelous, but the palace intrigue, political melodrama, and the love story at the center of it was always just off the boil and never gets above a simmer. It feels cold and perfunctory in it's execution, the forbidden romance between Trojan Prince Paris (Jacques Sernas) and Spartan Queen Helen (Rossana Podestà ) never catches fire for me, as such I admire the spectacle of it all, more now than when I was a kid watching it on the tube, but this is one I never could get into they way I could other peplum epics. With that said, there's a lot of eye-candy here to enjoy, the clanging of swords, chariot battles, the city being torched, the seemingly impenetrable Achilles defeated in battle, there's plenty of action, yet somehow it's not quite satisfying for this viewer.
Audio/Video: Helen of Troy (1956) arrives on Blu-ray from WAC in 1080p HD faithfully maintaining the extra-widescreen CinemaScope aspect ratio of 2.55:1, sourced from a new 4K scan of the OCN. Colors looks quite nice, grain is well-managed, but depth and clarity are uneven throughout, but the visuals still maintain an epic quality. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles, faithfully rendering the film's 4-track stereo theatrical presentation, dialogue and battle scenes are delivered with precision and the Max Steiner (The Hanging Tree) score sounds terrific.
Extras on this release include 3 "Behind The Camera" sequences from the Warner Bros. Presents TV series, these include The Look of Troy (6:06), Interviewing Helen (6:06), and Sounds of Homeric (6:06), which is a cool behind-the-scenes show hosted by Cog Young, during which we get clips from the film, insight into the sound design of the film, looking at models of the set, and interviewing star Rossana Podestà . We also get a 7-min WB Carton: Napoleon Bunny-Part that looks terrific. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original illustrated movie poster.
Special Features:
- 3 "Behind The Camera" sequences from the Warner Bros. Presents TV series: 1. The Look of Troy (6:06), 2. Interviewing Helen (6:06), 3. Sounds of Homeric (6:06)
- WB Carton: Napoleon Bunny-Part (7:08) HD
- Trailer (4:12)
Screenshots from the Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray:
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