The Prince of Egypt
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Movie Reviews of The Prince of Egypt
Movie Review: Wonderful Movie - The Greatest of it's Genre.
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't believe in the God in this film who participates in human affairs, but I do believe in this movie. I found it to be a very moving work, both from the story-perspective, with the transformation of Moses from idle prince-ling to committed, mature leader, and for the spiritual and moral values that it celebrates. They touched the third rail of cinema here, but with such skill and care that it's made something truly extraordinary.
The story: the highest priority in the world is not material, but the preservation of Hope and Freedom for all, even when that freedom leads great uncertainty and hardship. The film recognizes humanity as luminous beings, divinely gifted, with innate value which cannot be corralled or killed or enslaved with impunity. And that Nature (i.e. the Creation) has a place for us, and is deeper and more beautiful and precious than it appears on the surface.
This is fundamental to the Judeo-Christian tradition. They covered brave territory - the genocide of the Hebrew children, the Plagues, including he last, the death of the First Born Egyptians, surely the saddest and most mature moment in all of animated kid's movies.. But it works because it's a universal story which conveys complex values beautifully.
It's curious to note though, that when this was written the Hebrews viewed it as their God's victory over the other Egyptian gods..so they weren't yet Monotheistic. And of course when they arrived in Canaan their first 30+ years there involved `cleansing' the land of the Canaanites, and later the Hittites and the Philistines etc.. So the world has been `full' since prehistoric times, and freedom always, always involves displacing others.. Modern religion, and by extension the filmmakers, were looking at an ancient text through a very modern perspective.
Still, they've made something truly wonderful here. The soundtrack is witty and deeply moving and powerful, even Operatic in the best sense. It stands as easily the best film of its type and among the greatest animated films ever made. Thumbs Up!
Movie Review: A great story, moving scenes, credible characters and fantastic music and storyboard!!
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Prince of Egypt" is a great movie that my daughter also enjoys. The beautifully animated has a great story and storytelling, beautiful songs and a great voice cast. My daughter also has the soundtrack to this.
This is one of the very first animated movies made for an adult mainstream audience. Still the movie has some misplaced humor and 'Disney' like characters, to make this movie appealing for children as well but really this is more a movie for adults than for children. The movie has a serious undertone and some powerful moments, with the burning bush and the splitting of the red sea as the ultimate highlights of the movie.
The characters in the movie are well developed, which is perhaps also thanks to the impressive voice cast that consists out of; Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Ofra Haza. Voices that stood out to me were Val Kilmer, Jeff Goldblum and Patrick Stewart. But it of course is also due to the nicely done character animation and storytelling that the characters work out really well and are highly realistic and humane. The character's movement and interacting is done really good and with eye for detail. The music composed by Hans Zimmer and friends and songs and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz are wonderful. It sounds weird, songs for a serious movie but it works extremely well for the movie and the storytelling and on top of that the songs are all from a very high level of prestige.
With this movie DreamWorks shows that they are a worthy competitor for Disney.
The movie and its storytelling are really powerful and impressive and help to make this movie an unforgettable watching experience. Great for all ages but mainly adults. Happy watching.
Movie Review: Excellent Retelling of a Classic Story
Summary: 5 Stars
When I first heard that Steven Spielberg and friends were making an animated version of the story of Moses and the Exodus, I was nervous that they would sanitize or reconstruct history or religiously neuter Moses. "Prince of Egypt" is the opposite: a wonderful, highly researched and magnificently filmed movie that is an animated version of the brilliant rabbinic tradition of midrash, the rabbinic literary device that answers questions and fills in gaps about stories in the Hebrew Bible. To my relief, the story stays true to the *Israelite* experience ... while freedom from slavery is obviously a universal value, this was - after all - a *Jewish* moment in history.
The characters are 3-dimensional (so to speak): Moses is the doubter who eventually must successfully confront his own fear and faith; Aaron, the peacemaker who frequently gets lost in the family dynamic; and - the biggest character treat for me - Miriam, the dynamo partially responsible for the infant Moses' survival: for the first time, a Jewish woman who actually looks like a *Jewish* woman (and no, I'm not talking stereotypical Eastern European - this Miriam is a blend of Ashkenazi and Sephardi).
The music is a special gift, especially the voice of Israeli singer Ofra Haza, who tragically died less than two years after making the movie. I was excited to hear real Hebrew Bible text.
The effects are spectacular - from the hieroglyphics that come to life during an especially frightening dream sequence to the sheer brilliance of the depiction of the plagues (the death of the Egyptian first born is especially harrowing).
We've happily come a long way from the wooden theatrics, pseudo-Jewish theology and cone bras of the Cecil De Mille classic. This "Prince of Egypt" is a wonder.
Movie Review: The Best Movie of the Millenium
Summary: 5 Stars
This was a completely spectacular film. It was much more Biblically accurate than the Ten Commandment version. The music was lush and realistic. It was a shame that this movie was not nominated for an oscar. The characters were well-developed and believable. I really enjoyed the use of diversity in the music and characters represented. I thought the characters were the appropriate darker shade of skin tone to represent people in Egypt, which people tend to forget is in Africa. The coming together of Gospel singers and pop singers was excellent! It is about time that hollywood realizes Christian music is a viable and impacting form of musical expression. The first time I saw this movie I was amazed how diverse the people were who went to this movie. There were teenagers, Blacks, Whites, old and young all enjoying a shared experience without knowing this is a Biblical story. This film really illustrates our shared Judeo-Christian heritage. I am particularly glad that Dreamworks took the time to have that disclaimer at the beginning of the movie. It will hopefully encourage people to read the true account in the book of Exodus. It was wonderful how God was portrayed in this film. He was kind, yet firm. That is exactly how He is!!! "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son"(Jesus)" that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." I look forward to the other Bible stories that Dreamworks will do. May I suggest the story of Esther? They could call it The Queen of Persia. Okay, maybe something more original like A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Beauty Pagent. How about the Mordechai Angel Project. Well, you get the idea. God bless! I Cor. 13,Movie Review: animation keeps getting better
Summary: 5 Stars
*Prince of Egypt* is about Moses' escape from Pharoah's death order to the crossing of the Red Sea. Overall, it was a wonderful animated movie.
The movie opens with Moses' mother and siblings trying to escape from Pharoah's order that all Hebrew boy, of a certain age and below, were to be thrown into the river to drown. Moses' mother was able to arrive the Nile River, which she placed Moses in a basket and sent him off. He is discovered by Pharoah's wife.
Moses has been raised as the adopted son and prince of Egypt, along with Ramses, the true heir. They're like any other brothers...challenging each other and getting each other in and out of trouble.
However, there came a time when Moses learned of his true heritage and is troubled. After murdering a guard, while protecting a Hebrew slave, Moses escaped to the desert. In the desert, he met Zipporah, who later became his wife.
Soon after, God appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush. Moses is instructed to return to Egypt to free the Hebrews and lead them to the land flowing with milk and honey. Reluctantly, Moses complied.
From here on out, the animation are just wonderful as we seeing Moses confronting Ramses, who is now the Pharoah. We see the seven plagues that have struck Egypt because Ramses has refused to let Moses' people go. Eventually, Ramses gave his permission. However, soon after he gave his permission, he changed his mind and pursued Moses.
The scene involving the parting of the Red Sea was just magnificent. I thought it was just a fabulous idea of showing a shadow of a whale swimming by. It was just truly awesome.
Overall, it was one of the best animated films that I've seen.