Rating: 
Summary: Solid, well-made epic, but reservations about DVD quality.
Review: Exodus is a sprawling, 3 and half-hour epic that sets several fictional characters against the backdrop of the founding of modern Israel after the Second World War. The story opens in Cyprus, where thousands of European Jewish refugees are being detained by the British. The refugees are trying to make it to Palestine--which the British control--and form a new Jewish state. Eva Marie Saint plays an American nurse, recently widowed, who becomes involved in the refugees' plight, especially that of a young girl, Karen (Jill Haworth), searching for her father. Paul Newman is an Israeli freedom fighter who is determined to get a shipload of the refugees out of Cyprus to Palestine--while finding time to romance Saint. Karen worries about her friend Dov (Sal Mineo), an Auschwitz survivor who wants nothing more than to join a Jewish terrorist organization, which happens to be facilitated by Newman's uncle (David Opatoshu).Exodus was a huge blockbuster back in 1960-61, with Ernest Gold's memorable, Oscar-winning score even making the Top 10 charts. The film also places a footnote in Hollywood history, as it was one of two films that year that dared to credit blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo (his other 1960 credit was Sparticus); Trumbo's adaptation of the Leon Uris book is largely straight-forward, focusing more on the plotting than on the characters. Fortunately, with Otto Preminger in command, the flick moves along briskly, what with glorious wide-screen vistas of Cyprus and Israel and several genuinely exciting action sequences--especially a terrific prison break-out. The film's somber coda is even more moving considering that the issues it raises are still unresolved to this day. Newman and Saint are nice to look at, but there's not much chemistry between them--he seems stiff and she's just, well, saintly. The supporting cast is much better. Mineo received an Oscar nomination for this (he lost to Sparticus' Peter Ustinov), primarily for his emotional interrogation scene where he recounts his experiences at Auschwitz. Haworth is delicate but headstrong. Opatoshu, for my money, was the best thing in the whole movie--methodical, yet quietly commanding--there's a wordless scene between him and Lee J. Cobb (playing his brother) that is just marvelous. The cast of thousands also includes Ralph Richardson, Peter Lawford, Hugh Griffith, John Derek, Gregory Ratoff, and George Maharis. This being an MGM DVD, there isn't much in the way of extras--just the original theatrical trailer and several choices for subtitles. As noted elsewhere, the quality of the transfer isn't as high as one would like--the sound, especially, should've been remixed while the the picture quality is terrific sometimes and other times less than perfect. Hopefully, they'll reissue it with improved specs.
Rating: 
Summary: See Exodus
Review: The screenplay by Dalton Trumbo differs from the book but captured the essence of the story of Exodus. A close obsever and listner will learn much of the climate and environment of the time, noted scene, the broadcasting of news to refugees aboard the Exodus while declaring a hunger strike in a harbor on the island of Cyprus. Paul Newman is not particularly strong as Ari Ben Cannon. The character in the book was a bit more masculine. Eva Marie Saint and Sal Mineo are great, and Sir Ralph Richardson. Sal Mineo desrved an oscar. Otto Priminger was atypical for the day, choosing to film outside of a sound stage on location as much as possible. There are mistakes, shadows of the camera on the faces of actors at times but his unique style of direction is the film's power. Ernest Gold's score is stirring and powerful and beautiful. Some may find the story telling a bit slow by today's standards. If patient, a complex, historical and significant drama will unfold. This is an excellent film. See Schindler's List first and then Exodus. Actually, the sequence here should go somthing like this: Lawrence of Arabia, Schindler's List, and Exodus. What a history lession of the Middle East. Enjoyable, too. The widescreen format is the only way to thoroughly enjoy this film.
Rating:
Summary: A Slice of History!!!
Review: This is one of the best films of all time. With Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, and Lee J. Cobb, and Sal Mineo, among the ensemble cast, it doesn't get any better than this. The movie tracks the crew of a ship which ultimately wants to go to Israel- they are Jews from Europe who want to repatriate, and Paul Newman is highlighted as the son of Lee J. Cobb, who represents Ben Gurion. There's lots of action in this movie, and the additional casting of Peter Lawford as an American attache is real interesting as well. There's intrigue, a prison break, romance, a great soundtrack, and an ending which points to the headlines of today. A marvelous film, and highly recommended!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent movie
Review: This epic film tells the story of the birth of modern Israel. Paul Newman plays a brave Palestine-born Jewish freedom fighter and Eva Marie Saint is his American gentile love interest. He's wonderful; she isn't. Sal Mineo and Jill Haworth play European teenagers who are vedterans of concentration camps. They escape from Cypress to Palestine on the ship Exodus and fall in love; they are both excellent. The music by Ernest Gold is magnificent and the script is uplifting. I reccomend Exodus for people who like epic/historical/romantic films.
Rating: 
Summary: Where are the pompadours?
Review: Remember the gladiator movies from the 1950's where all the men wore pompadour hairstyles? If this movie had been made five years earlier we would have seen Paul Newman with puffy hair. Sadly, we missed it. Suffice it to say this movie is really quite bad. It is filmed as if the actors were all on holiday and there just happened to be cameras around. In several spots the sound quality is really quite poor. If you are a Paul Newman fan you should give this movie a miss.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful and tragic
Review: This tale of the subjugation of the Palestinian people will appeal to hard-core Israelites, but will seem amazingly brutal to those of us who still harbor questions about the Zionist Cleansing Experiment. Right up there with "Bonnie and Clyde" in making you cheer for the bad guys -- and feel badly thereafter.
Rating:
Summary: How the Movie Exodus Influenced My Life
Review: The movie 'Exodus' has been a very big influence in my life. The first time I viewed it was when I was 10 years old, right after it was first released back in 1960. My older sister explained to me that it was the true story of the rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948 in fulfillment of bible prophecy ("...shall a nation be born in a day?" Isaiah 66:8). I didn't fully understand it back then, but it made a big impression on me and became a seed in my heart that continued to grow for another 38 years. During that period of time I never forgot the movie or what it represented. The seed came to fruition in 1998, the 50th anniversary of the State of Israel, when I was blessed to be able to visit Israel for the first time. A few days prior to my departure I obtained a copy of the movie and viewed it again. The memories flooded back, but with a much more enlightened understanding of the miracle of Israel and the return of the Hebrews to their ancient covenant land after 2000 years of dispersion ("...I [God] will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel" Ezekiel 11:17). How could anyone not see that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has proven He keeps His word and continues to watch over His word to perform it??!! Why is He doing this? "I [God] do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name's sake... I will sanctify My Great name...and the nations shall know that I am the LORD" Ezekiel Chapter 36. In other words, God keeps His word and this proves it. And if God can redeem Israel and the Hebrews He can redeem anybody from any nation if they will repent and acknowledge Him as Lord. I recommend the movie, it will help you relive the miraculous moment, and give you a taste for that which is yet to come. The epic musical score is unforgettable... if only it were still available.
Rating:
Summary: SAL MINEO & JILL HAWORTH: A LOVE STORY IN A WAR FILM
Review: Ok, yes, watch this film for it's haunting tale of war..But the reason I love this film is the love story of characters Dov and Karen, played by Sal Mineo and Jill Haworth. Their onscreen chemistry is heartbreaching. Sal Mineo won an Oscar Nomination(his 2nd) in "Exodus", and he also won the Golden Globe award in "Exodus" for best supporting actor. Mineo was robbed as he should have also won the OSCAR!
Rating:
Summary: One star is too much for this movie, stick with the novel.
Review: Leon Uris masterfully tells the story of the millenia old Jewish struggle for independence and freedom from repression, anti-semitism, attrocity, terror, and the creation of the Israeli state in Exodus. Otto Prettinger butchers this with his 1960 film adaptation of the historical fiction novel. The film loosly holds true to the story. Right from the opening scene you know immediately that this is nothing like the novel in which Kitty Fremont states she has already been to Palestine. One of the key pieces of the novel is her inability to cope with life in Israel and her desire to take Karen Hansen to America. The stories of Ari Ben Canaan, his father and uncle, Dov Landau, and David Ben Ami are poorly developed. Other main characters such as Zev Gilboa are not even included. The depiction of British rule is lackluster at best. The timing is even completely off. The 612 (300 in the book, and all children) adults and children who board Exodus are told already that the U.N. in Flushing is already meeting to decide the fate of the state of Israel. Huh? The characters, timing, scenes, and story itself in no way resembles the book. They even managed to rename the Macabees the Irjun (which is what, anyone know?). Even the prison break at Acre was off. If you haven't read the book, you will be unable to follow the movie at all. If you have read the book, you're in for such a disappointment words alone cannot express it. I made a terrible mistake in purchasing this film and I'll have to reread the novel to erase it from my mind. Please don't by this movie if you enjoy literature at all. I'm not angry, I'm terribley disappointed that such a wonderful novel based on actual events was told so well on paper, yet translated to poorly to screen. C'est la vie. Maybe someone will remake this film into something spectacular. In the meantime, stick with the novel.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie but poor transfer to DVD
Review: The movie itself is what I expected, having seen it before. It is a captivating epic motion picture faithful to the book by Leon Uris.
Sadly, the transfer to DVD was done on the cheap. Occasional artifacts from the worn master film are evident. And while it is a "Widescreen" format, it is not Anamorphic or "Enahanced for 16x9 TVs". This means that if you have a wide-screen TV, the picture needs to be viewed is zoomed 4X3 mode to fill the screen. This lowers the resolution of an already poor copy.
In sum, buy it for the story but don't expect a vivid viweing experience for your home theater system.
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