The Prince of Egypt (1998)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Josh M

  
  The Prince of Egypt has a lot going for it, first and foremost, stunning distinctive art direction and animation. It also has excellent voice performances, solid songs, and of course an iconic story. BUT this slice of biblical iconography is almost insurmountably difficult to pull… More
  The Prince of Egypt has a lot going for it, first and foremost, stunning distinctive art direction and animation. It also has excellent voice performances, solid songs, and of course an iconic story. BUT this slice of biblical iconography is almost insurmountably difficult to pull off, both in avoiding religious offence and making a film that will appeal to kids (and their worried parents) with all the death and wrathful messages contained in its plot points. Katzenberg and his vast team pulled it off (I rescreened it this Passover with a room with half adults and half kids) and it held everyone's attention throughout. If there is anything disappointing about it, it's the extreme care taken not to offend, resulting in a film that can leave a bland taste at many pivotal moments. To its credit, it's not remotely triumphalist (like most Haggadahs) and portrays all its Egyptian antogonists as sympathetic human beings, caught in an inexorable grand design. The story does borrow an non-bibilcal embellishment from the DeMille epic, which is making Moses and Ramses 'brothers' who are torn apart by their adversarial roles. This choice provides the thurst of most of the drama in the story, so that we relate to the story on a basic human level. The script also takes a big liberty, revealing Moses' Hebrew roots much later than in the bible (in early adulthood), causing a much more wrenching decision and reaction than if he were a child, as in the orgiinal story. As for the voice actors, Ralph Fiennes gives the most complex and indelible performance as the unfortunate Pharoah who is caught in a tragic conundrum with his daddy issues and his tragic, fated role. Jeff Goldblum amusingly plays Aaron as a whiny, often spineless brother, and Sandra Bullock gives a sassy sincerity to sister Miriam. Steve Martin and Martin Short get a few chuckles as the comic relief as a pair of pompuous pagan priests, but the film holds back the yucks so they don't overwhelm the serious intent of the bigger enterprise. Makes sense, but it does feel like a wasted opportunity. When the film was released, I was unimpressed by Val Kilmer's decidedly mortal and apparently colorless take on Moses (and God!). He's low key and very inwardly tortured, but upon further screenings, Kilmer's take is apt. Interestingly, MOSES is the audience's surrogate in the story, we experience the story through his emotions and his revelations. As for his 'voice of god', Kilmer makes no attempt to take on another voice, so God's words appear to be expressed directly on Moses' brain - as his concience. This is an effective strategy and is not as jarring as a big booming basso 'GOD' voice as in Demille's Ten Commandments. I am a fan of the Stephen Schwartz songs, they are tuneful and advance the plot nicely. Schwartz is a unappreciated talent, and has written a bunch of hit Broadway shows (Godspell, Wicked) and animated movie tunes that will be long remembered both for earworm catchy melodies and deft lyrics. That said, as evidenced by the Whitney/Mariah duet of 'When You Believe' the songs have the dated melisma style of nineties Disney style pop (a la Mencken) and their production style is already starting to sound dated. I should also mention I appreciate the original Hebrew, right out of the bible, retained in the English version, especially during the song of the sea at the film's climax, they are an fitting and reverent way to give honor to this deeply spiritual moment. As for the plagues and the gore, they're handled with taste and creativity. The execution of the first born scene is brilliant, and doesn't skirt the point. There's no angel of death, but a ghostlike travelling light. An Egytian child goes in the doorway, out of frame, the light passes through him, then we hear his body drop and his lifeless hand flops into the shot. It's an unforgettable moment for what it doesn't show. The main reason to see P of E is the spectacular animation, with stunning lighting and colour effects inspired by Egypt itself and a distinctive, psuedo-Modigliani style line drawing effect on the human characters that gives the film a pleasing and majestic look and feel. Despite its flaws and shortcomings, it's hard to imagine a more successful take on a pivotal, primal story that means so much to so many. The delicate balance of all the various senistive aspects of this challenge has been met. Highly recommended.

• Unknown H

  
  An amazingly accurate portrayal of the Biblical story of Moses and the Pharoah, all played out in stunning animation. Although I feel it is a little too long for children to fully appreciate, as someone with a keen interest (although no belief) in this arena I found it compelling to… More
  An amazingly accurate portrayal of the Biblical story of Moses and the Pharoah, all played out in stunning animation. Although I feel it is a little too long for children to fully appreciate, as someone with a keen interest (although no belief) in this arena I found it compelling to watch. We see Moses literally go from the baby in the bullrushes to the hero in the promised lands, without ever once remembering that it is the same boring story you have heard a million times through out your life. It is refreshing and revitalising and if it does anything, puts a little more credibility into faith. Moses - the first superhero.

• Dead A

  
  Moses was not called by this name in Quran. He was called Musa. The song at the beginning was mind blowing. It was very touching. I did liked the cartoon a bit.

• Alexander D

  
  OK+

• Michael E

  
  This is by far the best rendition of the story in the bible (may i add, my favorite chapter in the bible)the actors were perfect choices for every character and this is probably the only movie where i know literally every actor and actresses that played the main characters and… More
  This is by far the best rendition of the story in the bible (may i add, my favorite chapter in the bible)the actors were perfect choices for every character and this is probably the only movie where i know literally every actor and actresses that played the main characters and supporting characters. Along with the songs in the film, in my mind this movie has the best songs in all of the films in dream works animation history.

• Richard C

  
  F

• Jeremy S

  
  Propaganda, but quite well done.

• Thomas B

  
  an amazing adaptation of a bible story with some of the most amazing songs in film to date.

• Coxxie M

  
  i hate these corny bible cartoons

• Alexander W

  
  I was expecting more from this story, the central character is Moses, the animation is great, but the voice overs are too over bearing and unkind for a childrens movie which doesn't really present itself much of a bible story anyway.

• Jon L

  
  Good traditional animation with a timeless story.

• Rachel F

  
  Loved it. It was beautiful. The songs in the movie were great.

• Kylie B

  
  As American animated films go it's not bad.

• Tim B

  
  I'm not a particularly religous person, but for some reason, I like bible stories. This one is particluarly well done, and doesn't pander to kids.

• Dean M

  
  An okay kiddie friendly <i>Ten Commandments</i> animation with adult dept may boast great visuals and no cute singing animals.

• danny d

  
  great animated story, accurate and well told

• Jason S

  
  Not bad. Good cast.

• Nate Z

  
  [font=Arial][color=darkred]Holy Moses, a Bible story made for a mass audience? The first animated feature from the folks at Dreamworks is ambitous, and crazy enough... it just might work.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]I'll start right off by saying hands down this… More
  [font=Arial][color=darkred]Holy Moses, a Bible story made for a mass audience? The first animated feature from the folks at Dreamworks is ambitous, and crazy enough... it just might work.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]I'll start right off by saying hands down this is THE finest animation I have, and most likely will, ever see in any film. There are so many countless moments where I would just stare agape in such awe caused by the lavish moments of wonder on screen. The scenes are constructed with endless beauty and at certain times I did had something stired inside me from the wonderous eye-candy presented. People look like people, not sketched Disney cartoons. The animation and movement are so lifelike and fluid that'll you'll easily be lost inside it and forget you are indeed watching a film people drew by hand. I feel compelled to personally drive down to the Dreamworks studios and shake every individual hand in gratitutde that had any part in the animation process of this film.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]But while the visuals are lavish and splendid and just about every other adjective you can think of, the story suffers. The head folks had difficulty using the story of Moses because three seperate religions use that story for their own purposes and beiefs. The trick is not pissing off any of the religions, and the end product is a very vague and gentile Sunday School lesson. They give you the message to believe, but believe in what? It's never explained. The main characters tread over the thin ice of religous ire, and because of that intimidation they are often vague in descriptions and purpose. The idea of faith is pretty much gagged and taken away to be replaced with the supposedly more noble (and note; more universally agreed upon) issue that slavery is bad. You can't help but feel a little like the producers chickened out with the material and hid behind the idea of slavery to not rise anyone's blood pressure over a cartoon tale.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Unlike Cecil B. Demill's epic 'Ten Commandments' what 'The Prince of Egypt' does decidingly better is paint the characters as real people. By making Ramses(Ralph Fiennes actually getting his second chance this decade to persecute Jews in a movie) and Moses(Val Kilmer, who also surmises the voice of God, but if God were Kilmer don't you think he would've passed on 'The Saint'?) not so black and white you have established that they are indeed people and both have their reasons for what they each do. You can see the motives and understanding for each, plus the tension and drama gets a shot in the arm.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]While the music and message can be easily passable they can't detract from the greatness that this movie projects with its simple and marvelous visions. You will gasp when the Red Sea is parted. I must confess though after multiple viewings on DVD the story and songs are indeed growing on me as is my impression of the film. This movie is more effective on your TV screen than the big screen. But man, I hope heaven looks as beautiful as this film.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: B[/color][/font]

• Bradley W

  
  The Prince of Egypt is a a beautiful animate film with a good voice cast, great animation, beautiful adaption of exodus, but I felt the songs (however pretty good) were not needed in a retelling of a biblical story and was just a way to copy a Disney film. Its score however was… More
  The Prince of Egypt is a a beautiful animate film with a good voice cast, great animation, beautiful adaption of exodus, but I felt the songs (however pretty good) were not needed in a retelling of a biblical story and was just a way to copy a Disney film. Its score however was beautiful, but i just felt like the songs were not needed in this kind of film. The animation however makes up for this as this is one of the best looking hand drawn films ever made, it was incredibly drawn and i just stared at the beauty. The plot was good and appropriate enough to show kids and dark enough to keep the attention of adults, it was very well written. The characters were kept at a PG level for the kids as it should be, no complaints there. Other than the songs holding this back, I thought this was a great animated movie and I would definently watch again.

• Jedd Y

  
  A powerful piece of animation, "The Prince of Egypt" gets a lot right. It makes the Bible story come to life for younger audiences far better than those awful straight-to-video Christian childrens' cartoons do. It looks amazing and is one of Dreamworks Animation's… More
  A powerful piece of animation, "The Prince of Egypt" gets a lot right. It makes the Bible story come to life for younger audiences far better than those awful straight-to-video Christian childrens' cartoons do. It looks amazing and is one of Dreamworks Animation's best. The voice cast is exceptional, I especially like Jeff Goldblum as Aaron. The opening scene brought me to tears within the first minute, and this holds a special place in my heart as one of the first movies I saw in a movie theatre as a child. Also, the songs are amazing, benefitting from Stephen Schwartz's remarkable musical sensibilities and a good atmospheric score from Hans Zimmer, whose work can sometimes border on the generic. And unlike a lot of other "award bait songs" *ahem*MyHeartWillGoOn*ahem*, "When You Believe" isn't overly melodramatic or cringe-worthy.

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