The Ten Commandments may have been wildly important to people of faith in the 1950s. It's important to mention at this point that, though a Biblical story, The Ten Commandments certainly contains a good deal "competition for the woman's heart" theatrics between Baxter, Heston, and Brynner, something that was probably less central to the original story of the prophet, but that certainly makes for ‘modern viewing.' Brynner's sense of menace, arrogance, and ultimate surrender to the fates is quite well realized, while Anne Baxter as his mate Nefritiri also crafts her role with grace and pathos. That said, others bring more force, including Yul Brynner as Rameses. Earlier line readings come off more as recitations than the impassioned words of a prophet, though obviously as a Prince he'd be less inclined to emote thoroughly. Of course, back then one couldn't justify such expense and excess on a bunch of superheroes in tights, so biblical and historical epics were the only option.Īs a demonstration of the actor's craft, the movie hinges on almost anything but superstar Charlton Heston's performance as Moses, a rather wooden turn that doesn't crank into gear until he gets truly biblical in the final scenes. It was the tent-pole of all tent-poles, a monster of cinematic wizardry, a spectacle to behold, with stars up the wazoo, and things never-before seen onscreen to justify its expense. Indeed, The Ten Commandments functions much like Marvel Cinematic Universe movies do today. It's pretty serious stuff for a movie, and deserving of the grand depiction crafted by DeMille and a literal army of actors, movie-makers, special-effects wizards, and extras. Found floating by Pharaoh's daughter, Moses was raised as a Prince of Egypt, before discovering his roots and eventually ‘finding God' (as it were), freeing the Israelites from bondage, and setting the more licentious ones aright by presenting the Ten Commandments, as delivered to him by God. A legendary prophet of Judaism and many other Abrahamic religions, said to have lived somewhere in the neighborhood (taking an average of estimates) of 1400 years BCE, Moses survived the killing of male Israelite children by the Egyptian Pharaoh when his infant form was placed in a basket and floated to (relative) safety on the river Nile. The story of Moses is well-known for many, but certainly not all. This new 4k Ultra-HD 3-disc set from Paramount Movies is timeless too, presenting the movie likely better than it has ever looked and with a commentary track plus a couple additional extras. Whatever the case, at almost four-hours in length, the cinematic story of Moses is certainly great, and epic, and timeless as well. DeMille may have been self-glossing in 1956 when the picture originally came out. The Ten Commandments is touted on the slipcover as "the greatest epic of all time." This may be a retroactive judgement, or director Cecil B.
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