Adults will squirm at the dialogue and wonder how actors of such fine calibre manage to squander some of their star credentials
The Ten Commandments (2007)
Runtime: 88 mins
Synopsis:
Condemned to die by Pharaoh while just a baby, Hebrew Moses is set adrift on the River Nile by his mother and his sister. Rescued by the daughter of Pharaoh, he grows up thinking he's an Egyptian prince.
Eventually exiled from Egypt when he is exposed as a Jew, he is touched by God, and told that...
Condemned to die by Pharaoh while just a baby, Hebrew Moses is set adrift on the River Nile by his mother and his sister. Rescued by the daughter of Pharaoh, he grows up thinking he's an Egyptian prince.
Eventually exiled from Egypt when he is exposed as a Jew, he is touched by God, and told that he will lead his enslaved Chosen People to the Promised Land. With the hand of God firmly on his shoulder, and with faith as his only weapon, Moses performs miracles, casts down plagues, evades a pursuing Egyptian army, parts the Red Sea and, after forty years of leading the Hebrew Chosen Ones to the Promised Land, is embraced by God and led to a better place.
What makes this version of The Ten Commandments unique is that it highlights Moses' family, both real and extended, on this long journey.
Filled with high adventure, the miraculous, and a gentle sense of humor, "The Ten Commandments" showcases Moses, the reluctant prophet, who was the only man in Biblical history to see the face of God and call him 'friend.'
--© Promenade Pictures
[More]
Genre: Childrens
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Christian Slater, Alfred Molina, Elliott Gould
Screenwriter: Ed Naha
Producer: Ed Stronach, Cindy Bond
Composer: Reg Powell
DVD Info
Release:
May 2, 2008
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- NTSC
- Widescreen
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Additional Release Materials:
- Behind the Scenes
- Featurettes - "THE TEN COMMANDMENTS Challenge"
- Music Video - "I Am Willing" - Jeremy Camp
Reviews
Here's an unusual but OK take on the story of Moses, the Exodus and, of course, "The Ten Commandments."
This is the inaugural film in a franchise of 12 feature films based on Bible stories, using a crude form of three-dimensional computer animation. One can only hope that the future entries in the series are better executed than this first one.
As a straightforward introducition to the biblical story, it is arguably better than some of the splashier or more sensational movies out there.
The characters' skin looks like hard plastic, so it's as if a bunch of GI Joes are trying to escape the plague of locusts, and all of the human characters appear to be lit from within, like nightlights.
Thou shalt not cast Christian Slater as Moses, no matter how much the Hollywood party boy wants to fulfill some form of karmic community service.
While the story is solid, the computer-generated animation, which lacks any flow and grace, is another matter. Actually, it's kind of creepy
Shamelessly rips off interpretive conceits and even specific dramatic beats from The Prince of Egypt.
Unprofessional...this new Commandments is the work of the devil himself.
This new version of the story of Moses is a huge step backward for theatrical CG animation, or any animation for that matter.
A beyond-unimpressive computer-animated retelling of the story of Moses, The Ten Commandments seems to have been made using public-domain software, and targeted squarely at kids impressed by any brightly colored moving objects.
A well-intentioned misfire featuring 3-D CGI animation that recalls lesser vidgames of the mid-1990s.
A big-name voice cast doesn't cover for a script that may hit the Biblical high points but somehow misses the dramatic heart of the story.
There's an endearing, earnest quality to The Ten Commandments that transcends its star-studded cast and computer-generated animation.
Where the filmmakers may have aimed to create something comparable to Shrek, instead the quality falls somewhere between that and the movers in the 1985 Dire Straits' Money for Nothing video.
I've found more nuance in the two-page Bible stories we read with our kids after breakfast.
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