Journey to Bethlehem appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Expect a pretty terrific presentation.
Sharpness worked well. Nary a sliver of softness materialized through this precise and accurate image.
I saw no signs of jaggies or moiré effects, and edge haloes failed to manifest. Print flaws also never became an issue.
Colors leaned heavily toward amber/orange, with some reds/teal as well. Though the hues seemed predictable for modern films, the Blu-ray exhibited them well.
Blacks seemed deep and dense, while shadows felt smooth and concise. I felt wholly pleased with this strong image.
As expected, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Journey focused largely on music. The score and songs broadened across the channels in a vivid manner.
Effects came with less to do, but the soundscape used them in a positive way. This meant various crowd elements and a few more “action-oriented” segments managed to open up matters acceptably well, even if nothing ever seemed especially ambitious.
Audio quality satisfied, with speech that appeared distinctive and concise. Effects felt accurate and well-reproduced.
Music showed solid range, with tight highs and warm lows. This became a positive mix for a musical.
When we shift to extras, we get four featurettes under the Meet… banner: “Meet Mary and Joseph” (2:26), “Meet Fig” (2:10), “Meet Mary’s Sisters” (2:00) and “Meet Antipater” (2:39).
Across these, we hear from Affirm Films head Rich Peluso, music supervisor Alex Anders, director/writer/composer Adam Anders, composer Nikki Anders, and actors Fiona Palomo, Milo Manheim, Stephanie Gil, Moriah and Joel Smallbone.
We get minor notes about cast and characters as well as some aspects of the movie. Expect a lot of promotional fluff and little more.
The Heart of Journey to Bethlehem goes for four minutes, 33 seconds. It brings notes from Smallbone, Alex Anders, Nikki Anders, Manheim, Adam Anders, Peluso, Moriah, producers Ryan Busse and Alan Powell, and actors Lecrae, Antonio Banderas, Rizwan Manji, Geno Segers and Omid Djalili.
“Heart” talks about the film’s music, cast and characters. Unsurprisingly, we locate another puff piece without substance.
Three Deleted & Extended Scenes occupy a total of five minutes, 46 seconds. We get “A Great Navigator” (1:44), “Travel Montage” (2:09) and “Joseph’s Catapult” (1:53).
“Navigator” expands our intro to the Magi, while “Montage” shows more of the long journey taken by Mary and Joseph and “Catapult” displays an attempt by Joseph to keep the couple from detection.
“Catapult” offers some mildly amusing material. The other two seem superfluous.
The disc opens with ads for The Star, Overcomer, and Moonrise. No trailer for Journey appears here.
Perhaps my intensely low expectations influenced my final opinion, but Journey to Bethlehem offers a mildly pleasant surprise. While it comes with more than a few cinematic issues, it nonetheless delivers a semi-charming take on an oft-told tale. The Blu-ray boasts excellent picture and positive audio as well as a mix of bonus materials. I can’t call this a great movie but it brings a generally likable take on the nativity story.