Charlton Heston was a pretty big deal back in his day, from his acting career to his political aspirations, and so it makes some sense that he would be the one to narrate, and lead us through, the Bible. And that’s exactly what we’ll get in Charlton Heston Presents The Bible, a copy of which the folks at Warner Brothers sent out for us to review.

Charlton Heston Presents the Bible is part series of readings, part commentary, and all Charlton Heston. You’ll get a four-disc set here as Heston reads his way through the Book of Genesis, the Story of Moses, a bit on Jesus of Nazareth, the central figure of the Bible’s New Testament, and of course, the Passion, in which Jesus was killed.

Thus calling this “Charlton Heston Presents the Bible is something of a misnomer, because you’ll be missing massive hunks of the Bible here. But you’ll get instead some really nice art and some music to go in the background of Heston’s readings, plus the readings themselves are about as accurate as you can get, according to many, as Heston will use the King James version for his readings. or so he claims early on.

It’s actually, oddly, relaxing. Frankly, I recommend everybody put this on for about a half hour or so before bed every night. Because between the background music, the artwork, and Heston’s downright stentorian reading (that’s kept at a sufficiently low and subtle town that the power involved is really more of a force than a noise, like thunder), it’s enough to calm you down after a day at work.

The approach here is a lot more storyteller than scholar, as Heston himself puts it, and that generates something of a unique approach. It’s probably not what you’re expecting, but it’s still pretty good stuff.

It’s a very relaxing concept, and a good way for people who want to get a start in the Bible to actually get that start in a nice, simple, easy to follow and very low-impact fashion. Warner Brothers has a very good piece on their hands, and it helps that we’re getting closer to that time of year when people will be more interested in it.

The Screenhead Ten Scale, meanwhile, hands Charlton Heston Presents the Bible an eight out of ten for making a worthwhile, and very engaging, presentation of the Bible for people who may not have been interested. It doesn’t really matter how familiar you are with the Bible; you’ll likely still have a solid experience with this.