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Rating:  - Great classic movie
I bought this movie for my husband who just love classic movies and he was thrilled with this one.
Rating:  - So it is written...so it is done
Folks, your Sunday school classes where you learned about the subject matter was NOTHING like this! Oh what FUN! This is movie storytelling at it's absolute BEST! The ancient Biblical story has all that you could want from a good movie: excellent narrative, action and adventure, spectacle, still-impressive special effects, and admittedly campy acting and hokey narration (which actually adds to the fun). Yul Brynner, Charlton Heston, Anne Baxter, and Edward G. Robinson in particular are clearly having the time of their lives while camping it up. And of course, there's the Golden Calf scene. Fun Fun FUN to watch, without losing the Biblical message.
This set in particular is valuable because of the addition of the original 1923 version. Be warned folks- this is not NEARLY as good for reasons that have little to do with the film's age. Basically, this silent older brother has the main scenes that it assumes we all learned about in Sunday school (none of the contextual background of Moses is given as in the 1956 film). It figures you know all that so it goes right ahead to the persecutions of the Hebrews in building the pyramids and Moses warning Pharoah about the plagues. After the obligatory Golden calf scene, the film skips ahead to a (VERY) thinly related 1923 morality play about two brothers, one a pious devotee to Biblical teachings and the other a soulles cad and mocker of religion. This section is a real ho-hummer that drags down the film and makes you long for more ancient spectacle. So this is really two different films edited into one-a few highlights from the Moses story and the 1923 morality play and are not well integrated. No comparison to its older brother from 1956, but interesting to watch once for the purposes of comparison and curiosity.
But this isn't enough to bring down the 4 star rating. Lots of good "making of" extras and Charlton Heston's hilarious anecdote about director Cecil B. DeMille and the profanity-spouting female extras is almost worth the price of admission alone! However, given that the Egyptians are the "bad guys" in the film, it's amazing that Gamel A. Nasser (then Egypt's prez and an avowed archenemy of the Jewish people and the USA) allowed DeMille and co. to shoot there.
In either case, pull this one out for the family around Easter or Passover-or whenever you just want to see an example of Hollywood storytelling at its finest.
Rating: - A FINE BIBLICAL EPIC
Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments" is truly a film of Biblical proportions. At 220 minutes long, the film takes the better part of 2+ hours getting to the story of Moses' leading his people to freedom. But once it gets to this point, it is a truly magnificent film. While the first portion of the film is slow at times, the fantastic cast, led by the always-fantastic Charlton Heston, the lavish sets and visual effects, and Elmer Bernstein's fantastic score make up for a lot, delivering a truly powerful film experience.
The three-disc 50th Anniversary DVD of the film presents the film with spectacular picture and sound, and with some fine extras. Among these extras is DeMille's 1923 silent-film of "The Ten Commandments," which is a rare treat as well, for the most part. Fans of this epic film will want this in their collections.
Movie/DVD Grade: B+
Rating: - Very good but goes on a little too long
The Ten Commandments is an excellent movie but it does tend to drag a little in places. Not as good as Ben Hur but better than most epics
Rating: - Loved It!!!
I was so excited to get the 50 year collectors' DVD. It was clear in visual and sound. The old version was pleasant to get as well. I enjoy this very much.
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