Rating: 
Summary: "Lord of The Rings"? Phooey!
Review: If you want to entertain yourself, watch THE TEN
COMMANDMENTS, a classic film by classic film director Cecil B. DeMille. Based on a true story, this ninety-six hour movie concerns the day to day problems of a guy named "God" and his friends, the "Chosen People" whom He decides to liberate from slavery in Egypt. Pretty nice of Him, when you consider that for half the movie they don't even remember His name. How many total strangers do YOU know who'd help you out of a jam like being a slave? Heck, how many FRIENDS of yours would do that? Not too many. So, this God guy is totally happening. Too bad He's only got a cameo role, and you can't see Him so good 'cause He's hiding in the bushes. To liberate his Chosen Folks, He hires Charlton Heston (either playing Moses or being Moses, you can't ever be sure) to talk to the "Pharaoh" (Yul Brynner, playing the King without "I"). Of course, if you've read the Book (I'd recommend it!) you know what happens...the Pharaoh, ignoring Abe Lincoln's excellent example, decides not to emancipate his slaves, and God has Moses and Industrial Light and Magic do all kinds of really neat special effects to impress the bald-headed meany. Finally, after all the firstborn of Egypt drop dead of heart attacks in this weird fog (an antismoking message, for sure), while Moses's folks are having dinner at a Chinese buffet, Yul decides it's time to "let the people go." Of course, being Yul, he can't learn (look how long it took HIM to quit smoking), and he takes his low-tech army across the desert on a search-and-destroy mission to kill Moses, his groupies, and his road crew. Oh puleeeeze! Well, you gotta hand it to God. He actually SPLITS THE RED SEA (No joke! This is so cool, and beats anything they bragged about in THE MATRIX, even for 1956 moviemaking; I bet it was even better in person!!!), and Moses and his People walk across dry land, while Yul's neofascist gang of Taliban all get drowned. Like the man says, "His God is God." Way to go! The rest of the movie is pretty good too, especially when Moses slips his People a couple of tablets and they all trip out at The Golden Calf Restaurant and Outdoor Barbeque Grill. Moses is pretty annoyed, and God's totally like furious, and makes these poor people wander through the desert for FORTY years, hangovers and all. Well, okay, but it just goes to show you shouldn't take anybody else's tablets without a prescription, you never know what's in them. I mean, c'mon! Would you trust some old guy who wears a bathrobe all day and talks to God in person? What were those dudes thinking???? This movie took place 6,000 years ago, and they had an Ecstasy problem even then. Can you imagine the People walking through a school zone on their way to the Promised Land? Busted!
The movie's got some really great actors in it. First of all, I think they gave every person in India a dollar for being an extra in this film. And then there's the stars. Besides the Voice of God (maybe it really IS), Charlton and Yul, there's a pair of Johns, Derek and Carradine, and Vincent Price from THE FLY, wearing my Mom's favorite dishtowel, Edward G. Robinson (who LOOKS like he's smoking a cigar even when he isn't), Sir Cedric Hardwicke, and Dame Judith Anderson. Lots of royalty for one picture. That must be why everybody walks around saying stuff like "So shalt," ""thou" and "cometh." The chicks are really hot. Cecil may have been making a Bible kind of movie, but all the girls are wearing flowy, see-through half-naked stripper costumes, so I guess Cecil didn't remember that "Be Fruitful And Multiply" wasn't one of the Top Ten Commandments. Good going, Cec!
Rating:
Summary: "Lord of The Rings"? Phooey!
Review: If you want to entertain yourself, watch THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, a classic film by classic director Cecil B. DeMille. Based on a true story, DeMille's interpretation concerns the day to day problems of a guy named "God" and his "Chosen People" whom He decides to liberate from slavery in Egypt. To do so, He hires Charlton Heston (either playing Moses or being Moses, you can't be sure) to talk to the "Pharaoh" (Yul Brynner, playing the King without "I"). Of course, if you've read the Book (I'd recommend it!) you know what happens...the Pharaoh, ignoring Abe Lincoln's excellent example, decides not to emancipate his slaves, and God has Moses and Industrial Light and Magic do all kinds of really neat special effects to impress the bald-headed meany. Finally, after all the firstborn of Egypt drop dead of heart attacks in the fog while Moses's folks are having a smorgasbord dinner, Yul decides it's cool to "let the people go." Of course, being Yul, he can't learn (look how long it took him to quit smoking), and he takes his low-tech army across the desert to kill Moses and the whole tribe. Oh puleeeeze! Well, you gotta hand it to God. He actually SPLITS THE RED SEA (this is so cool, and beats anything they bragged about in THE MATRIX, even for 1956 moviemaking; I bet it was even better in person!!!), and Moses and his People walk across dry land, while Yul's neofascist gang of Taliban all get drowned. Like the man says, "His God is God." Way to go! The rest of the movie is pretty good too, especially when Moses slips his People a couple of tablets and they all trip out at The Golden Calf Restaurant and Barbeque Grill. Moses is pretty annoyed, and God's totally like furious, and makes these poor people wander through the desert for FORTY years, hangovers and all. Well, okay, but it just go to show you shouldn't take anybody else's tablets without a prescription, you never know what's in them.
The movie's got really great actors in it. Besides the Voice of God, Charlton and Yul, there's John Derek, John Carradine, Vincent Price, Edward G. Robinson (who LOOKS like he's smoking a cigar even when he isn't), Sir Cedric Hardwicke, and Dame Judith Anderson. Lots of royalty for one picture. That must be why everybody walks around saying stuff like "wouldst" and "shalt," "thou" and "forgiveth." The chicks are really hot. Cecil may have been making a bible movie, but all the girls are wearing flowy, see-through half-naked stripper costumes, so I guess Cecil didn't remember that "Be Fruitful And Multiply" wasn't one of the Top Ten Commandments. Good going, Cec!
Rating:
Summary: A must see
Review: Three types of people should see this film. Anybody interested in religion. Anybody interested in great cinema. Anybody interest in Western Civilization. But if don't fit into either of these three categories, there are still reasons for watching this masterpiece. It's an epic, it's seminal, it features two of the greatest actors in movie history (Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner) and one of movie's greatest directors of all time (Cecil DeMille), all of whom perform magnificently, and it's a great story to boot. Watch it, you'll enjoy it! But even if you don't, it's still a good three hours spent, as you'll probably soak up a little culture along the way. In all honesty, you can't go wrong watching this movie. There are just certain movies that everybody should watch (e.g., Citizen Kane, Gone With the Wind, 2001) because they make up such a large part of the society's Jungian collective unconscious, just like there are certain books everyone should read (e.g., Iliad, Republic, Divine Commedy). This is one of those movies, and it is well done at that.
Rating:
Summary: lives up to hype.
Review: I think that this is a good film that lives up to hype. The introduction by DeMille shows that this was anti-communist propaganda, but there is another side to this since while they were in the wilderness the people decided to worship themselves, instead of jehovah. the golden calf was just an incidental. this illustrates the problem we have nowadays worshiping calves instead of god.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: I finally bought and watched this classic epic on DVD just last
week. After watching the first few minutes, I was awed by the
restoration of this movie. I have watched the video version of
this many times and the two don't even compare. It hardly looks
almost 50 years old. If you like this movie, and have a DVD
player, buy this as soon as you can. "So it shall be written,
so it shall be done."
Rating:
Summary: The best old movie
Review: This movie is pure art. The scenery is divine. I thought that the performances were given naturally. I would love to rent it on DVD and see the original theatrical trailer. It would be nice. The speech by Cecil B. Demille was interesting as well. I am working on a play version of this and have left off at the scene where Dathan and Lilia have their moment together.
Rating:
Summary: Biblical Epic Masterpiece
Review: Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments is quite possibly the best biblical epic ever made. The film is long, but never drags and Mr. DeMille employed the proverbial cast of thousands to tell the story of Moses. The sets are spectacular and the effects are still great, even if they are a bit outdated by the computer wizardry of today. But still, to watch Moses part the Red Sea still packs a visual wallop. Charleston Heston is at his bombastic best as Moses, but Yul Brynner steals the movie as the evil pharaoh Ramses. Other notables include a luminous Anne Baxter as Nefertiti, a young John Derek as the strong headed Joshua and a sinister Edward G. Robinson as a slave trader Dathan. The Ten Commandments is a vestige of the glory days of movie making and holds up forty-five years on.
Rating: 
Summary: DEMILLE'S LAST FILM GOOD CAMPY 50'S FUN!!!!
Review: "The Ten Commandments" is an epic much more fun and watchable than either "The Robe" or "Ben-Hur", both of which are much more serious. DeMille's flair for the melodramatic and unintentionally campy is apparent in this film. It is bad religion, bad history, and static and pedestrian film-making. Yet there is something oddly appealing about the film, which has a perennial broadcast run during Easter and Passover. It reflects the religious conservatism of the 1950's and also the impact of television on the movie industry. Films needed to be bigger than ever to get people away from the tube, and bigger they were. "The Ten Commandments" entertains in spite of itself, and because of the tableau-like way many of the scenes were shot, plays very well on TV. Many of the special effects are fun, but hardly ingenious. Even at the time, critics complained that there were more matte lines in the waters of the Red Sea than H20! Even the Pillar of Fire is a cartoon (for an interesting comparison, view DeMille's 1923 version). The Paramount DVD is well put together with a great garish Technicolor print, yet decidedly short on extras. There has to be more background material available for a film this famous- the DVD of "Ben-Hur" is loaded with them. Still, it's a fun romp through sand and water, as only the Barnum of Filmdom, C. B. DeMille could create.
Rating:
Summary: The Ten Commandments-Top Ten of all time
Review: Of all the biggest blockbusters of all time both of epic and huge box-office revenues, I believe that The Ten Commandments
would rank as the best ever. Forget Gone With the Wind, Ben-Hur or Sparticus, The Ten Commandments takes the final bow. My point
being that this remarkable epic, and definitely DeMille's best, has all the contents of a best picture. Moses being a Hebrew and adopted by an Egyptian to learning of his true origin and accepting it, to being cast out by Ramses to finding his creator on a mountain top and ultimately being commissioned by God to lead
his people out of bondage. Now that is a story that no screenwriter could ever think up. The visual effects are another plus, considering that this is 1956 I think that they are
top notch. But the visual effects are not the reason why I love this film, it's basically the relationship between Moses and Ramses. I mean seeing Charlton Heston and Yul Brenner act together in the same film is an aweson sight! The only downfall I think in the film is the way the film was shot. I believe that if Cecil DeMille had shot the film at a much wider widescreen aspect ratio it would have been better visually. The film was shot with a widescreen aspect ratio of about 1.78:1; I think that it would have been better at 2.35:1 or even at 2.75:1. I mean the cinematography, the visual effects, the art direction and the sets would have been more revealed and beautiful at a wider view. I love widescreen and the wider the better, the 1.78:1 and 1.85:1 transfers are a joke! Directors should always shoot with 2.35:1 or 2.75:1 aspect ratios. The one pivotal part in The Ten Commandments is when Moses (Charlton Heston) comes down from Mt. Sinai after seeing just a mere glimpse of God's presence and the way that Heston acts is just phenomenal-it's like Heston actually saw God. Heston should have won the Best Actor Oscar, instead of Brenner for The King and I, that year!
And in my opinion it should have the Oscar for Best Picture as well because it told a better story, one that actually happened. Around the World in 80 Days was the biggest joke to win over The Ten Commandments that year, since Shakespeare in Love won over Saving Private Ryan!
Rating: 
Summary: Major hardware disappointment
Review: the movie is fine for all the known reasons.... except that it won't play on my windvd pc player. I suspect the dual-layer technology..... it plays fine on my (5 years older) non-pc dvd player.
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