Rating: Summary: Oft-Seen, Easily Overlooked Review: This is one of the biggest movies ever made, in many ways. It has a big cast (numerically and talent-wise), it tells a big story, it's long, it's full of grand special effects, it's written and acted in a big style, and it splashes and flows with sound and color and drama. When a movie is shown annually (at least), it becomes easy to overlook. "The Wizard of Oz" is another picture in the same situation. Both are epic and grand, and deserve more credit than they get. "The Ten Commandments" tells the story of the Israelite Exodus from Egypt in as big a way as any story ever told. Try to forget this movie -- and then watch it with new eyes.
Rating: Summary: This is a "Big" movie!!! Review: A previous reviewer from New York had a question about the correct aspect ratio for "The Ten Commandments". It was actually shot at about 1:75:1, Amazon.com's review is giving it as 1:78:1 which is basically the same as far as the eye can see and looks correct on my moniter. This ratio allows sufficient expanse for DeMille's epic, but allows the picture to be cropped and framed for TV without losing half the picture! Having actually visited some of the filming locations in Egypt makes this wonderful film more thrilling every time I watch it.I found the sound ok, but at times I thought my now ancient laserdisc actually gave the score a little more punch. The picture was another matter. It was excellent, sharp and detailed with almost no marks on the print. Colors were rich and vibrant, fleshtones were more accurate. Extras are dissapointing. Only three trailers from the movie. No running commentary, no interviews, not even cast and production notes! Picture gets an A, sound gets a B, but extras get a C. Still, a wonderful film comes to DVD. Thanks, CAL
Rating: Summary: Marvelous Classic Movie Review: Marvelous Classic Movie The Ten Commandments, with Charles Hesston like Moses, is a wonderful film and story from the Bible. The film describes characters from the town of Israel. Because of their disobedience, they suffer as slaves in the Egyptian empire. God the Eternal Father has mercy on Israel, and sends a savior. Moses is the savior. He was born in Hebrew home very poor. The Egyptian Pharaoh ordered kills all baby of his kingdom. The Moses' mother put in a basket, make the totora, hermetic closed and hurler to baby's Moses in the river. The sister of the Pharaoh, beautiful princess, found to baby's Moses in the river. She cared for Moses. Moses grew in the condition of a Prince, prepared for government. He learned the science and Egyptian culture and Pharaoh preferred him. One day he saw that a giant rock going kill to old Hebrew woman he savored to her. Other day he saw like an Egyptian chief mistreat a Hebrew slaves, so he immediately helped and killed the Egyptian chief. The enemy of Moses telled the son of Pharaoh and he waited where the Pharaoh, so the Pharaoh let in hand of his son, Moses was letted in the desert for that die and he survives. He arrived to home of Jetro, Priest de Median and married with Deborah, daughter of Jetro. He returned to Egyptian and free to Israel. I like this film because is a work masterly the 7 Th Art, so made perfectly. I think that is a work millionaire because used many peoples, many cars, many horses and many things. Also act the best actor, Charles Heston. The Ten Commandments is Marvelous Classic Movie. It's made for an all people of all age, never pasted of mode.
Rating: Summary: A Fantastic Classic Film! Review: "The Ten Commandments" is truly a fantastic classic film! Directed by Cecil B. DeMille and filmed in Egypt, it is a powerful movie telling the biblical exodous story from the birth of Moses to the parting of the Red Sea. I have seen many biblical films, but this one is truly one of my favourites!
Rating: Summary: Will the real aspect ratio please stand up.... Review: This film needless to say, is thought by many to be a masterpiece. And I agree. An epic on the grandest of scales, this film is ideal for the DVD format. And justly so, it shall be viewed and enjoyed in all its glory until the end of time. There are very few films that would make my list of must have DVD's....The Ten Commandments without question, will be added to this list. Just one thing, after much research I've found it difficult to confirm the aspect ratio of this version on DVD. There are reports that say it's shown at 1.66:1 aspect ratio and other sources report it being a 16x9 anamorpically enhanced 2.20:1. Packaging will never include this information in the special features portion so it's left up to the consumer to be "surprised". For anyone who has this epic on DVD, I would appreciate it if you can respond and confirm. I can't think of any other film in this genre that deserves to be seen in the widest of scopes then The Ten Commandments...besides, you wouldn't want to confuse the parting of the Red Sea...to a footstep in a puddle. Please. Which is it?
Rating: Summary: Classic film Review: You've heard lines from this epic movie even if you haven't seen it. I remember when it used to be on network television at least once a year, but as is the case with "The Wizard of Oz" and other classic movies it is now rarely shown except on cable. Classic DeMille style throughout the film creates eleborate though not historical accurate setting. The movie ventures beyond the Biblical account as most films do, but the motivations of the characters and the acting is wonderful. I'm not a real big fan of Charlton Heston, he can be wooden at times, but Yul Brynner does an amazing job as the jealous and petty prince/king of Eygpt. The female characters are mostly for display though they occassionally have good lines and a touch of depth.
Rating: Summary: Excellent piece of entertainment Review: This is epic old style Hollywood movie making at it's finest! This movie is excellent entertainment some 46 years later! Chuck Heston was perfect as Moses. He is outstanding and the movie is outstanding. This is entertainment first and foremost, and as far as entertainment goes, it succeeds on all levels.
Rating: Summary: History or Fantasy: Who Cares? Review: This granddaddy of the epic movies tells a story (maybe not "the" story) of Moses from birth to death with lavish spectacle, bravura performances, and fun all around. With the announcement today from Charlton Heston that he has Alzhiemer's Disease, it will nice to have this film to remember him in his prime. He can really fill the big screen with his presence and plays the grand drama to the hilt. He is an American icon to many people, including me. Simply put, he is Moses. Yul Brynner as his so-called brother is wonderfully nasty and cruel. Ann Baxter plays the love of both men with lots of flirting and lust. I enjoy Cedric Hardwicke as the kindly old Phoaroh who dearly loves them both. The script is quite often corny by today's standards, but that makes it all the more loveable to its fans. The costumes, sets, and scenery are treats for the eye. It's long enough to really get into the plot. If you want the real story, read the Bible. This movie is pure fun and a joy to behold. Thank you, Mr. Heston.
Rating: Summary: The 10 Commandments: History as a Fable Not Agreed Upon Review: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS is a massive movie whose bulk hides some gross historical errors and anachronisms under some pretty spectacular special events. Director Cecil B. DeMille purports to tell the story of the Hebrew exodus led by Moses sometime around the 13th century BC. The opening credits list the sources for the script: Philo, Josephus, Eusebius, and the rabbinic commentaries. The problem is that these writers lived more than 1,000 after the event they discuss, so their grasp of historical accuracy is questionable. Further, the number of anachronisms is appalling. The seder ceremony, for example, sonorously echoed by John Carradine did not exist until centuries later. Putting these errors of history aside, how does the movie fare as entertainment? On the plus side, the sheer sweep of the plot tends to carry along the viewer with it. We see the baby Moses (played by Charlton Heston's real life son) cast adrift in a basket to be adopted by the Pharoah's wife who raises him as the Prince of Egypt. Moses,played by Charlton Heston, is as animated as a cigar store wooden Indian. He delivers his lines as if he is auditioning for a high school production of The Ten Commandments in which that high school director wants his actors' speech patterns to reflect the terribly serious Biblical phrasing that Hollywood suggests that the historical Biblical figures used. The other actors, Sethi (Cedric Hardwick), Nefretiri (Anne Baxter), Dathan (Edward G. Robinson) just to name a few, all seem unable to speak naturally and easily. When Moses discovers his true identity, he is cast out by his ambitious pseudo adopted brother. The film's best moments are not those of the spectacular sort, but show Moses having to think and plan after his one man exodus. He arrives bare-footed and starving to a land whose local ruler welcomes him after he saves the ruler's daughters from some neighboring ruffians intent on water poaching. Moses' return to Egypt shows him at his most wooden. Each word he utters is so bereft of spontaneity that his scenes with Ramses (Yul Brynner) which ought to ring with the passion of two giants battling, instead degenerate into the self-parody of hollow and corny rhetoric. The highlights of the movie, of course, are the special effects. The burning bush, the finger-flame of God, the fiery barrier of flame at the Red (Reed?) sea, and the splitting of the sea itself are usually what most viewers take away from this film. And that multi-use of pyrotechnics as the lingering image in the viewer's mind of a topic that should have come alive far more than on a special effects level leaves one with a sense of incompletion. To resolve this, one might try what the film's scriptwriters did: to read contemporary accounts of Moses and the Exodus in the Old Testament and later accounts by Philo, Josephus, and Eusebius to see what if anything the historical Moses said and did to bring to mind a bearded Charlton Heston who can give a mildly entertaining version in whose historical origins are even now shrouded in antiquity.
Rating: Summary: AWESOME! Review: Charlton Heston is fantastic in this movie. Also, the parting of the Red Sea is one of the best all-time Hollywood special effects jobs. It's great having this classic on DVD.
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