Rating: 
Summary: One of the best movie's Charlton Heston ever filmed!!!
Review: I think that Charlton Heston is a great actor. But he surpassed himself when he filmed "The Ten Commandments" as Moses. The emotion that he portraid in that film is extraordinary. Sincerely one of his best films. END
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: Good but not great edition of a classic
Review: I already had "The Ten Commandments" on DVD, but with almost no extras and no commentary, it wasn't all that satisfying. This new Collector's Edition is easily worth its low price, to me, even as a replacement. The colors are breathtaking, Elmer Bernstein's store is still luscious, and it's probably as close to what DeMille intended as you'll get on a screen smaller than twenty feet.I enjoyed Katherine Orrison's commentary track quite a bit (and have put her book on the movie on my wish list), although much more about the movie than some of her amateur theological comments. After spending so much time with Henry Wilcoxon, DeMille's right-hand man on this and many other movies, she has anecdotes and understanding that help you understand how the film was made. I had no idea it took five full years to make, or how some of the seemingly-odd decisions were made or even how some of the effects were created. The other extras are a bit disappointing. The six-part documentary (complete with titles in Paramount's "Star Trek" font because they can't recreate the hand-lettering of the movie's titles, over leather that shows up in richer color than I've ever seen it) doesn't offer nearly as much as AMC's "Cecil B. DeMIlle" biography from earlier in 2004. That special included pre-matte shots of the parting of the Red Sea - the actual water in the tank, including the sides of the parted Red Sea, and how it was created. Paramount may not own that documentary, but some of that footage should have been on this disc. Without it, there are still some good interviews, but not enough behind-the-scenes footage that we now know exists. If you like "The Ten Commandments" and don't have it on DVD, this is for you. If you have the older version but like it a lot, this one's also for you - but get the Cecil B. DeMille biography when it comes out on DVD, too.
Rating:
Summary: High Camp and Ripe Corn
Review: My wife and I watch "The Ten Commandments" on TV every year, but not because we're religious. This has to be one of the most inadvertently funny movies ever made. Charlton Heston is at his most biliously histrionic. Yul Brynner manages to be cool even though he's stuck wearing a miniskirt. But they're not the ones you should watch for. Watch out for the details. In the beginning of the film when a well-oiled, buff Moses brings the spoils of Africa, he introduces the very black and very hot "Princess Therbis" who is introduced to the Pharoah. She cuts her eyes at Heston and states in a low, sexy purr, "He is wise...and strong." The way she says it, sounds like Moses conquered more than territory. This bit of unexpected innuendo is especially hilarious considering Heston's current standing as Mr. Super Conservative White Guy. Look out for Anne Baxter as Nefretiri. She's the only one in the movie who "gets it." It's obvious she can't take this hokum seriously, so she turns Nefretiri into a Bettie Page-like sex kitten, a hoochie girl of ancient Egypt. She lounges lasciviously. She undulates snakily. She purrs and growls her lines mercilessly. She oozes RAW SEX. And boy, does she have some lines. "Oh Moses, Moses, you stubborn, splendid, adorable fool!" is just one. When Moses returns from the mountain all gray and done up like Wolfman Jack, Baxter/Nefretiri pulls him aside and slathers herself all over him for old times' sake. "Your wife...does she smell of myrrh as I do, or does she have the odor of...sheep?" Baxter is outrageous, one reason to watch this camp classic. Other reasons? Count how many times Heston says "BONDAGE." Count how many times you see shirtless buff male slaves being whipped by equally buff male Egyptians and wonder... Watch Vincent Price ogle and leer his way across the screen. Edward G. Robinson in blackface, his New York gangster accent as out of place as a pork roast at Passover. Of course Yul Brynner saying "So it is written...So It Shall Be Done!" The special effects and sets are extremely spiffy for the '50s and still look pretty good today. But the real fun of "The Ten Commandments" is to watch it as though it were a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode. It's hilarious. And one final thought: is it just me, or is it slightly weird that DeMille supplied the voice of God?
Rating:
Summary: When Hollywood embraced religion
Review: Given the sorry state of the movie industry now, it's hard to believe that once Hollywood made powerful films on religious themes that inspired people of faith. `The Ten Commandments,' of course, has its omissions and other flaws, but they are outweighed by its virtues, especially the film's depiction of divine majesty in a way that gives honor to God. Yes, they don't make them like this anymore. As a drama, it's powerful stuff, with Charleton Heston's masterly transformation from Egyptian prince to outcast shepherd to reluctant instrument of God. Christian parents, take note: this is a film you can use for catechetical purposes--with some caveats, of course--for your little ones. My favorite line, and the one that shows that the film's makers wanted to make the connection with Christianity, is Moses's response, after he had returned from his encounter with the Burning Bush on Mount Sinai, to whether God had spoken to him on Mount Sinai: `He revealed His Word to my mind . . . and the Word was God.' A magnificent allusion to the opening lines of the Gospel of John.
Rating:
Summary: STILL EXCELLENT AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!
Review: Quite possibly the finest religious spectacle ever made, this is CB DeMille's masterpiece. Not one wasted frame in the entire picture. The screenplay is outstanding with beautiful and unforgettable dialogue (particulary Yvonne DeCarlo's scene with Heston on the Mountain when he plans to take her as his wife). The cinematography and Special Effects cannot be beat and the acting is first rate. Today Charlton Heston is as associated with "Moses" as Vivien Leigh was "Scarlett O'Hara" or Judy Garland as "Dorothy". The DVD itself is outstanding loaded with extras such as a Dandy Commentary, a Making of Documentary with interviews from Cast Members, Trailers, and a CB Demille introduction usually cut from the television screenings. Above all of this is the outstanding "Musical Score" by Elmer Bernstein, which sadly didn't even get Oscar consideration. Heston should have won the Oscar for best actor and "The Ten Commandments" was definitely the Best Picture of 1956. Every time this is shown on television, the ratings prove it. People love it and with good reason. CB DeMille was a religious man who gave us a lasting legacy with his films, capping it off with the best he ever did "The Ten Commandments". So it was written, so it shall be done!
Rating:
Summary: It is what it is - and what it is is great entertainment!
Review: Let's face it, folks. Moses was to Mr. DeMille what Alexander the Great was to Medieval authors: a stepping-off place. This film is not meant to be Scripture, history or biography. DeMille, right in his personal introduction, states that historical sources and Scripture inspired his story. "Inspired" is the operative word.
_Commandments_ is also not meant to be some sort of "gritty realism" movie. Its dialogue and characters are as stylized as those in a mystery play performed five hundred years ago. There is good and there is evil; there is wealth and there is poverty; there is pride and there is shame; there is hope and there is despair.
Aw, shucks, I'm starting to write like they talk, aren't I?
The dialogue is one of the reasons I never tire of watching this film. (I see it several times a year.) Like Shakespeare, it's full of those "quotable quotes" that everyone recognizes, particularly if you are good at imitating the actors' cadences.
"So let it be written; so let it be done."
"Moses, Moses, Moses."
"Your tongue will dig your grave." (Yuck!)
"The city that he builds will bear my name; the woman that he loves will bear my child."
"A rat's ear and a ferret's nose"
Yes, it is a mystery play, but there is also the willingness to question. Moses asks many of these questions, among them, "If your God is almighty, why has He kept you in bondage?" When he rescues the Hebrew woman who is his real mother, she tells him that the Lord has lightened her burdens. Moses replies that He would have done better to remove them. The Princess who has adopted Moses, trying to sway him to remain as Prince of Egypt, asks (very sensibly, I think) if he wouldn't be of more help to the Hebrews as ruler of Egypt than going to live among them as a slave.
The cast of thousands is impressive, I suppose, but I am far more impressed by the dozen or so principals who truly bring the story to life. What a gathering of stars! Edward G. Robinson as the disloyal Dathan, Yul Brynner as the stubborn, jealous Ramses and Dame Judith Anderson as the grumbling maidservant Memnet were always favourites. But Sir Cedric Hardwicke as the "old crocodile" Seti wins my heart!
I first saw this movie as a teensy little kid and I remember my biggest disappointment was that they didn't show ALL the plagues. I really, really wanted to see the frog one. Well, frog plague aside, DeMille has pulled out all the stops to make this a beautiful and stylish production.
Just a note: to learn more about this and similar films, check out Jon Solomon's _The Ancient World in the Cinema_.
Rating: 
Summary: An inaccurate Re-telling of a sacred text
Review: It would seem that De Mille re-read through the Exodus texts and decided to improve them via his film version. One big slip-up , perhaps the biggest, which no critic has noticed is the fact that only the first four of the Commandments are on the first Tablet and the other six are on the second Tablet, whereas they were divided up five & five, and written in pre-Sinaitic Hebrew !
And as for the burning bush - the special effects were laughable. The Burt Lancaster version, if not as spectacular, is a much more sincere attempt to re-tell an ancient,yet up-to-date, true story.
Rating:
Summary: How the Religious Right wishes life was like today....
Review: [original review has been censored]...[This] is VERY entertaining. My favorite character is of course, Ramses, played to perfection by Yul Brynner. So many quotable lines!! That's the great thing about this film, the writing. It borders on camp. And it LOOKS great too, featuring superb production design. It's a great fantasy film, that unfortunately a lot people think the events contained therein really happened.
Rating: 
Summary: Cornball 50's Epic
Review: First the good news. The DVD is very good with clear pictures and stereo sound. The DVD includes the introduction by De Mille which is usually cut when the picture is shown on television. That said, this movie is mildewed corn. Except for Edward G. Robinson and Yul Brynner, the actors are terrible. They swoon, make faces, and overact all over the place. The ham-handed direction by De Mille is a mixture of vulgarity and ineptness on a grand scale. I won't waste time discussing the wretched dialogue. For anyone who wishes to view some truly religious films, watch "The Passion of Joan of Arc" by Carl Dreyer or "The Seventh Seal" by Ingmar Bergman. These pictures are both beautiful and powerful. De Mille's circus is simply ridiculous.
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