Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50704 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-08-30
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Formats: PAL, Special Edition
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 220 minutes

Synopsis
This spectacular biblical epic from legendary showman Cecil B. DeMille tells the story of Moses from his infancy to the triumphant moment when he led the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt. The film begins as the pharaoh's daughter (Yvonne De Carlo) discovers the abandoned infant Moses and takes him to the shelter of her family. Charlton Heston stars as the young man raised by the pharaoh as an Egyptian prince. Moses is righteous and kind, the favored successor to the kingdom, which results in the deep-seated jealousy of Prince Rameses (Yul Brynner). Rameses and Moses compete for the throne and the love of the young princess, Nefretiri (Anne Baxter), until Moses learns the truth about his origins and joins the Jewish slaves in their fight for freedom. After receiving the Ten Commandments from God, Moses helps free the Jews from the pharaoh's tyrannical rule, surmounting all obstacles in his way--including the parting of the Red Sea, in one of the movie's most famous scenes. Cecil B. DeMille's extravagant final film--and remake of his silent 1923 version--is a legendary combination of the master showman's love of historical realism, spectacle, lavish scenic design, and dizzying crowd sequences. The exodus alone is a stunning feat of modern cinema, featuring thousands of actors trekking through the arid desert as Pharaoh's chariots chase after them.

Customer Reviews

"The greatest adventure story ever put between the covers of a book!"
Sitting in his office, with the aid of a wicker basket, a Van Dyke portrait, two stone tablets and a Bible he occasionally bashes, De Mille pitches "the greatest adventure story ever put between the covers of a book!" in the legendary ten-minute trailer included among the fine extras on this 2004 special edition. He solemnly assures us that Heston was cast for his resemblance to Michelangelo's statue of Moses and to prove it, he even shows us a photograph of the actor standing next to it (they look nothing alike!). One of McCarthy's staunchest Hollywood allies in the fifties anti-communist witch-hunts, he goes on to draw none-too-subtle comparisons between the tyranny of Pharaoh and the un-named forces of dictatorship that threaten us 'even to this very day', then promptly switches to plugging the sex and spectacle with the kind of wanton abandon that only the highest-minded puritans can muster; "Moses is one of the world's greatest human beings - and human he was to the point of SIN! And holy to the point of seeing God." Ever the showman, he even pops out from behind the curtains just before the film itself starts to give us the same spiel in case we missed the point and inform us that "The picture runs three hours and thirty-nine minutes; there will be an intermission."

After such a relentless barrage of hyperbole, disappointment would seem inevitable, but unlike most of De Mille's films, The Ten Commandments stands up remarkably well. Filling in the gaps in the Bible's version of events with lust, treachery and other soap opera staples, it is the complete antithesis of the `think man's epics' that followed in the Sixties. The dialogue is declamatory, the style overtly theatrical, often recoursing to striking tableaux reminiscent of the Biblical pageants of Victorian era. The performances are painted in broad strokes, with Anne Baxter emoting something rotten and Heston, his hair getting whiter every time he has a chin-wag with God, a square-jawed and solemn All-American Deliverer. Even John P. Fulton's Oscar-winning special effects show their age as well as their matte lines. It would be almost absurdly easy to tear it to pieces were it not for the fact that De Mille's implicit belief in what he put on the screen enables him to carry it off with considerable panache. This is an audience picture on a grand scale, and great fun too.

The colour is almost as superb as the original VistaVision Technicolor, the print near perfect. More hokum than holy it may be, but with a terrific cast and, even now, a genuine sense of wonder to its set-pieces, The Ten Commandments delivers nearly four hours of great entertainment. And the parting of the Red Sea is still one of the great movie moments, matte lines or not.

The only thing stopping this DVD from being a true collectors delight is the absence of De Mille's original and very different silent version - for that you need to seek out the 2006 50th anniversary edition.

Biblical
One of the classic De Mille epics. All and sundry ham it up to their hearts content, a great movie for a rainy sunday afternoon

The definitive Ten Commandments.
An interesting title as the Commandment part is a tad closer to the end of the movie. Cecil B. DeMille takes a few liberties with history; however if he did not then this would have been some dry documentary instead of a great epic. This story is more of the life and times of Moses from birth to the last farewell. We see rivalry, temptation, brick making and dancing girls.

One item that Cecil tactfully worked around is where do you think Anne Baxter ...Nefretiri came from? Can you say sister? As the bloodlines from Egyptians, came through the women. That is why who ever married her would become pharaoh.

The graphics are great for the time; the plagues are really spooky and we all still hold the image of the parting of the sea. The acting has that 50's epic feel. Elmer Bernstein's music adds a hidden dimension to the story and you will not be able to get it out of your head. Edward G. Robinson made a great Dathan; He gets to be a modern day Dathan in "Key Largo" (1948). Is it not interesting that Pharaoh Rameses in The Prince of Egypt - DTS (1998) looks like Yul Brynner?

This is the one version most people relate too. The story has been told before and after this version. Some people know this version better than the real one.


Some of the other "Ten Commandments" floating around out there:
The Ten Commandments (1923).
The Ten Commandments (1956).
Greatest Heroes of the Bible - The Ten Commandments (1978).
Ten Commandments 1 & 2 (2000).
Ancient Secrets of the Bible - "Moses' Ten Commandments: Tablets From God?"
The Prince of Egypt - DTS (1998).