The Ten Commandments

Rating:
Summary: "His god IS God!"
Review: That's the last line Yul Brynner utters in "The Ten Commandments", and for me, that is really the end of the film; the whole rest of the Wandering in the Desert isn't all that interesting, compared with what had gone before. You might wonder why then a five-star rating, but that's how much fun I find all the "Egyptian" characters in the movie. They certainly have all the best parts: Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Pharoah Seti; Yul Brynner as Ramses, heir presumptive; Anne Baxter as Neferteri, the throne princess destined to marry solely a Pharoah; Dame Judith Anderson as the Memnet, Egyptian slave in on a big secret; Vincent Price as Baka, the Master Builder of Seti's treasure city. Throw in Edward G. Robinson as Dathan; even though he's a Hebrew overseer, he spends most of his time among the Egyptians. Star Charlton Heston as Moses is actually kind of boring--he's one-dimensional and has no character development. But every time one of those "Egyptians" comes along on camera--pow!--you've got some wonderful scenery chewing. Check out the great special effects, too.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully Boxed 40 th Anniversary Edition
Review: This was Cecil B. De Mille's last film as a director. De Mille's old-fashioned style of filmmaking and story telling is elegant, larger-than-life and rather elegiac and exactly suited for the enormous task of bringing this spectacle to the screen. Charlton Heston gives an excellent and powerfully dramatic performance as Moses. Yul Brynner, who approaches his role with style and confidence, is the prince who outmaneuvers Moses to the Egyptian throne in one of the best performances of his career. Supporting Heston and Brynner is a diverse and powerful cast of actors and performers. John Derek is memorable as Joshua the stone cutter. Anne Baxteris Nefretiri who yearns for the love of Moses. Cedric Hardwicke is an agreeable and levelheaded Pharaoh Sethi. Edward G. Robinson is the traitor to his people memorable for constructing the false idol golden calf. Vincent Price is the villainous and diabolically likable Baka. The beautiful Debra Paget is Baka's slave girl Lilia. Yvonne De Carlo gives a very thoughtful performance as Sephora, Moses' earthly love. John Carradine is Aaron. Woody Strode can be seen as the King of Ethiopia. Laboriously produced, Cecil B. De Mille's THE TEN COMMANDMENTS looks as though it was filmed and acted in a style more suitable to the early days of Hollywood. But that is a very positive quality. The film takes biblical events and turns them into Hollywood's version of history quite effectively. This style of filmmaking brings the larger-than-life scope of the Old Testament to the screen preserving the mystery and awesome power of the concept of a monotheistic divinity. One very effective feature of this film that reinforces this concept are the unearthly looking special effects, which are so eerily disturbing and beyond our comprehension that they truly approach a successful vision of the universal power of God. These distinctively unique special effects by the innovative John P. Fulton are essential to the telling of this story. Elmer Bernstein's rousing and inspirational score is brilliantly moving as it reinforces the vision that De Mille has created. Interestingly, in the earlier parts of this film De Mille shows us the construction of an Egyptian empire. We are witness to and experience the ingenuity of man to engineer and create such mammoth structures. But De Mille through the use of these special effects wipes all this out and shows the futility of man's efforts to subjugate other men when divine intervention prevails. This is such a brilliantly visual film that it still evokes awe and wonder to this day. This 40th Anniversary boxed set handsomely holds the restored and widescreen version of this epic film.

Rating:
Summary: FINALLY, GREAT EXTRAS
Review: The second DVD release of Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 landmark film THE TEN COMMANDMENTS -- Special Collector's Edition (Paramount) has all the extras you expected from the first. Charlton Heston hears God's voice and obeys bringing law and light and freedom to slaves. Elmer Bernstein's terrific score, great production design, still nifty effects, a six-part production documentary and a highly detailed commentary make this one for the library.

Rating:
Summary: SWEET, FANCY MOSES!!!
Review: How about those 'The Ten Commandments'? Legendary silent film director Cecil (I'm ready for my close-up) B. DeMille obviously didn't alter the way he made movies after sound came in, and this 1956 biblical drama is proof of that.

Beautiful cinematography, gargantuan sets, and silent pauses to take it all in ABOUND in this film. Still, it has great special effects (check out the parting of the Red Sea and the worship of the golden calf scene) given the date of the film.

With it's cast of thousands, it is still a picture not to be missed. However, overacting and over-posturing ALSO abounds in this movie, especially from Charlton (NRA Prez) Heston and Yul (The King and I) Brynner.

It's fun to see whom was cast in this pic like Yvonne (Mrs. Munster) Decarlo, Alfalfa Switzer from "Little Rascals", gangster movie guru, Edward G. Robinson, John (Mr. Bo) Derek , the magnificent horror master, Vincent Price, b-horror and cult movie actor, John Carradine, Herb Alpert (WHAT?), and Mr. DeMille, himself as the narrator.

A MOST excellent film for it's time...

Rating:
Summary: A Classic Easter Tradition
Review: "The Ten Commandments" is the Easter movie we look forward to in our family, just as "White Christmas" is the one we wait for in December. I'm not sure why we love this movie so much....the acting ranges from competent (Sir Cedric Hardwicke, in his subtle portrait of the Pharaoh Sethi) to really irritating (Charlton Heston, who takes himself much too seriously in the role of Moses). The script is also horrendous in spots; the most memorable lines are Yul Brynner's deadpan "So let it be written, so let it be done!" and Anne Baxter's overly dramatic, "Oh Moses, Moses! You stubborn, splendid, adorable fool!" But many of the great classic movies have poor acting and weak scripts. This movie is still a lot of fun to watch. Even young Sunday School children are familiar with the story of Moses, and they will perhaps enjoy this film even more than an adult. There is literally a "cast of thousands," gorgeous spectacles, heros, villains (Edward G. Robinson as a corrupt Hebrew overseer is believable!), and some fun special effects. This is a movie I definitely want in my collection of classics!

Rating:
Summary: Amazing Movie-Making!
Review: Every time I view Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments" I wonder how incredible this movie must have been to those who watched it when it was first released in 1956. The special effects must have seemed shocking when compared to today's emphasis on special effects. I also wonder how difficult it would be to remake this classic in today's PC dominated culture. The movie itself is an astonishing recreation of Biblical events. The dvd is a 2-Disc edition due to the length of the film, 236 minutes, and is delivered in a Dolbey Digital 5.1 surround sound to "update" the movie for modern viewers. Taken as a whole, this dvd edition is spectacular and simply the best edition available. Read an excerpt from... written by Bob Banka: "I've viewed my 35th Anniversary [Laser Disc] of this film MANY times, and on first viewing of Paramount's new DVD, it's clear that the new anamorphic transfer is noticeably sharper and more detailed. Colors are also slightly improved. Though they look quite good on the big disc, here they appear fully saturated, more vivid, and there's far less bleeding...Paramount did a great thing here when they decided to put the three hour and forty minute film on two separate RSDL discs. This allows the film to be spread out - allowing for higher bit rates to produce a sharper image. The results are terrific." I couldn't agree more. This dvd is absolutely the best reproducion to be found. The only complaint I have is that there is not another disc full of supplemental material. "The Ten Commandments" is a truly amazing film and it should be treated with a super special edition dvd one day. I like New Line's "Infinifilm" interactive line of dvds that will be released very shortly. I would love to see this dvd redone with a similar interactive dvd experience. This current release, however, is the best out there today and it may be the only dvd version available for a very long time.

Rating:
Summary: A very very very long and quite inaccurate "Bible" epic
Review: We are currently reading about Moses in our Bible Story Book here at home, and my oldest daughter and I keep smiling because whenever we read this story, and it speaks of Moses and Pharaoh, we picture Charleton Heston and Yul Brynner! Like a lot of people, I grew up watching this every Easter on TV. I wasn't a Christian then, but year after year of viewing, the images just stuck in my head. My oldest daughter (21 yrs.) saw it only once when a child, but certain images of this film stuck with her too. My two youngest had never seen this film, so we went and rented it yesterday. We thought they might like to see the scenes with the plagues. However, we brought it home with the WARNING: THIS FILM IS NOT BIBICALLY ACCURATE. We watched it with Bible in hand, to read aloud what REALLY happened in the inaccurately portrayed scenes. It was disappointing to see so many big and even little details portrayed wrongly. So for this reason, this film will never be owned by us, for I doubt I will waste my time watching it again.

It was interesting that my children and I all liked the Egyptian Royalty scenes best. I did as a child too. All those over the top costumes and performances were just fun to see and watch. The parts with the plagues were good too, but my son was sad that it didn't show ALL the plagues. He especially wanted to see the plague of frogs.

I found the 2nd half boring, as I remember I did when a child. I think Charleton Heston was sort of a boring Moses. I don't know if it was the way he talked or what. He kept getting older and whiter-haired while his wife and princess love and mother and Rameses never aged a bit.

I don't know what else to really say, I found it interesting in that after watching it, I felt somewhat upset and agitated, probably due to the many inaccuracies, and probably also because I wasted good time watching something not really worth all that much. Yet I felt it was a good lesson to my children to make sure to check anything we see or read that is portrayed as "Biblical" with the real truth of the Bible. We cannot trust any man to give us the truth of God. All must be checked beside the truth in the Bible.

So I would not recommend this film at all from a Biblical point of view. I wouldn't even recommend it as good entertainment really. of course there were the interesting points I mentioned above, the crazy costumes (some looked a bit too Roman...maybe Cecil re-used some from his earlier epic, Sign of the Cross?), the Egyptian sets, and the dialog (now some of that was worth hearing; very dramatic and even funny!).

Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Bible Film Epic.. Heston's Greatest Role
Review: 1956: Cecil B. De Mille had already directed the stunning, black and white version in 1923. But by the 50's, sound and color reached the big screen and De Mille took advantage of Technicolor to remake the "The Ten Commandments". It stars Charlton Heston in his greatest film role, Yul Brynner, Vincent Price and Yvonne De Carlo, to name a few in a cast of thousands. The film brought audiences to the movies again, away from the new invention that was assaulting America- television. This epic film seems to have everything. Suffused with beautiful color, spectacular crowd scenes and landscapes of the ancient Egyptian city, the Nile river and Mt. Sinai; goregeous actors looking and dressing in convincing costume, and breathtaking "grand" style music blaring in the background. It started the trend of epic historic films, some with further Bible themes. Ben-Hur would star Charlton Heston again, and dealt with the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus, Spartacus starred Kirk Douglas and was also about the Roman Empire and centered around the slave rebellion lead by the eponymous hero, In The Beginning would be about the first chapters of Genesis from the Creation to the Flood. But it was The Ten Commandments that started it all.

Following the biblical Exodus almost to the letter, we glimpse the glory of the Egyptian empire- its pyramids and its temples, and the slavery it was grounded on. The Hebrews seem like thousands, breaking their back, being whipped and soiled with mud. God promised them a Deliverer and they await his coming. When it ends up being Moses, himself a Hebrew slave but raised in the palace of the Pharaoh as a prince, things become complicated. Seti, the old pharaoh, dies and the throne goes to Ramses, who has long envied Moses. Princess Nefertiri is in love with Moses, a consuming, obscessive love that on the big screen appears heavily romantic and dramatic. But Moses discovers his true Hebrew origins and rebels against the pharaoh to free his enslaved race. Moses is exiled into the desert. Later on, he marries a shepherdess named Sephora (Ivonne De Carlo, who played Lily Munster on the 60's tv show "The Munsters") and upon hearing God speak from a burning bush, he returns to Egypt to free his people.

Yul Brynner's portrayal of the Pharaoh Ramses is effective. He is everything we think about when we read about him in the Bible- a nasty, domineering, stubborn tyrant who will not consent to let the Hebrew slaves free. The 10 Plagues follow and the last one finally convinces him to let them free. But Nefertiri, whose love for Moses now becomes raging hatred, convinces Ramses and his army to go after Moses and the slaves. Of course, the most famous scene in Exodus as well as in this film, is the parting of the Red Sea. The moment is unbelievable, especially on DVD. The final moments of the film deal with Moses attaining the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai and the Hebrews making a golden calf god and reveling in an orgy. Moses breaks the Ten Commandments in anger and God smites the sinners. The film ends with Joshua leading them to the Promised Land while Moses waves them goodbye.

On DVD, this classic masterpiece looks fresh and as good as ever. It is always shown on ABC channel 7 every Easter (since, after all, Moses and the freedom of the Hebrew slaves is what the Passover Jewish holiday is all about). But either on a Christian or Jewish level, or any other level(if you love dramatic films wih epic themes and Bible treatment, or whether you just want to see Charlton Heston's greatest role) this film is forever.

Rating:
Summary: The Exodus, DeMille-style.
Review: The late Cecil B. DeMille was a great showman of the American movie industry. His last feature, the 1956 Paramount epic "The Ten Commandments", is a remake of a 1923 picture of the same name which he had also produced and directed. I believe Charlton Heston is best remembered for his portrayal of Moses after his lead role in "Ben-Hur"; likewise, Yul Brynner's Rameses comes second in the minds of moviegoers to his King of Siam in "The King and I". From horror-movie staples Vincent Price and John Carradine to cultured British actors Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Dame Judith Anderson, "The Ten Commandments" boasts an excellent supporting cast. While the script is rich in drama and reverence (DeMille made sure the Holy Scriptures were credited in the screenplay), some dialogue material may strike the viewer as somewhat humorous in its use of quirky similes and metaphors, even to the point of sounding campy. Fortunately, this does not affect the movie's respectful treatment of the Biblical story of the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt. The special effects used in "The Ten Commandments" (Ah, that parting of the Red Sea!!) were superb by the standards of the time and earned the film its only Academy Award. The triumphal music for the soundtrack was composed by the prolific Elmer Bernstein, who after more than 40 years is still busy writing music for films of different genres. "The Ten Commandments" is still a much-revered motion picture, to the point that it is still shown on network television on Easter Sunday. END

Rating:
Summary: An enduring film classic
Review: Cecil B. DeMille's wonderful epic is a film for the ages. The entire cast is excellent, beginning with Charlton Heston's devoted and obedient Moses who lives only to serve the Lord and deliver his people from Pharoah's bondage; Yul Brynner's excellent reading as the fierce, stubborn Rameses who witnesses God's miracle from a hill overlooking the Red Sea; Anne Baxter whose love and desire for Moses was so intense and consuming that she killed for him; Sir Cedric Hardwicke's poignant Sethi who tries to forget Moses but never loses his love for his adopted son; the massive exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt to freedom; the exciting pursuit by Rameses' charioteers and soldiers of Moses and the Hebrews that culminates in the memorable Red Sea escape and the destruction of the Egyptians, with Rameses left alone to realize that Moses' God is God.