This movie is absolute FUN! I look forward to Easter or, in this case, Palm Sunday and Passover, because I know ABC will air this 4-hour blockbuster (only 3+ hours but ABC has to have its share of commercials) What makes this movie so much fun to watch is the story, some of the truly classic lines and the special effects. The story, as the title implies, is about the 10 commandments -- how Moses received them and what happened to the Hebrews who were enslaved by Egypt. In other words, the Exodus. (If you're looking for accuracy, you won't find it here but the movie is so good it doesn't matter). Some of the classic lines include Ann Baxter as Nefriteri replying, "I prefer him as a man" when Sethi says people would prefer Moses as a god. Also, "I love you. That's the only truth I know," she responds when Moses wants to know if she killed the old slave Memnet. And Yul Brynner calling her a "treacherous, sharp-clawed little peacock" and telling Nefriteri, "You're food for the gods and I'm going to have all of you." Lines like this are almost laughable and might be edited out of any other movie but for some reason, they fit in this film and they actually add to it.
The special effects remain dazzling even in this day and age where you can have an entire movie with no real characters ("Finding Nemo" comes to mind). I still ask myself "How'd they DO that" when I see the famous parting of the Red Sea. Part of me wants to know and yet part of me would be terribly disillusioned if I found out. Even when Moses goes up to the burning bush with short-cropped hair and comes down with a salt-and-pepper lion's mane is amazing. And of course, turning the stick into a cobra and the other plagues that hit Egypt, are also amazing. I could say a lot more about this movie but suffice it to say this really is a terrific film, a lot of fun, a good, old-fashioned epic. It's a Joy to see such wondrous portrayals of Charlton Heston as Moses; John Derek as Joshua; Debra Paget as Lilia; Sir Cedrick Hardwicke as Sethi; Martha Scott as Yoshebel; Nina Foch as Bithia; Dame Judith Anderson as Memnet and, done with such delightful wickedness, Yul Brynner as Ramses; Edward G. Robinson as Dathan and Vincent Price as Baka. To add a cliche to this review: They just don't make 'em like this anymore. And that is too bad.
The special effects remain dazzling even in this day and age where you can have an entire movie with no real characters ("Finding Nemo" comes to mind). I still ask myself "How'd they DO that" when I see the famous parting of the Red Sea. Part of me wants to know and yet part of me would be terribly disillusioned if I found out. Even when Moses goes up to the burning bush with short-cropped hair and comes down with a salt-and-pepper lion's mane is amazing. And of course, turning the stick into a cobra and the other plagues that hit Egypt, are also amazing. I could say a lot more about this movie but suffice it to say this really is a terrific film, a lot of fun, a good, old-fashioned epic. It's a Joy to see such wondrous portrayals of Charlton Heston as Moses; John Derek as Joshua; Debra Paget as Lilia; Sir Cedrick Hardwicke as Sethi; Martha Scott as Yoshebel; Nina Foch as Bithia; Dame Judith Anderson as Memnet and, done with such delightful wickedness, Yul Brynner as Ramses; Edward G. Robinson as Dathan and Vincent Price as Baka. To add a cliche to this review: They just don't make 'em like this anymore. And that is too bad.