Ponderous, but occasionally moving, directors Bill Boyce and John Stronach's 2007 computer-animated The Ten Commandments tells the full arc of the biblical story of Moses, from his narrow escape during Pharaoh's slaughter of newborn Hebrew children to his distant glimpse, as an old man, of the promised land of Israel. Anyone familiar with the book of Exodus or Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 take on the story of the Jews' flight from captivity in Egypt will find this new film to be a faithful rendition. The background animation—from the construction of the pyramids under a blazing sun, to the depiction of one punitive pestilence after another—is solid, but the characters themselves look uniformly wooden, while the overall slowness (even at 88 minutes) will wear on the young target audience. Although the dialogue often seems stilted, that's no fault of the fine British and American vocal cast, which includes Christian Slater as Moses, Alfred Molina as Ramses, Elliott Gould as God, and Ben Kingsley as the narrator. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include an “Origins” production featurette (3 min.), the character featurettes “Alfred Molina as Ramses” and “Christian Slater as Moses” (3 min. each), “The Ten Commandments Challenge” featurette (2 min.), a Jeremy Camp music video for “I Am Willing,” a bonus disc featuring the soundtrack, and trailers. Bottom line: the bonus soundtrack is a nice addition, but this is an otherwise unremarkable extras package for an unremarkable film.] (T. Keogh)[Blu-ray Review—Mar. 29, 2011—Paramount, 2 discs, 231 min., G, $39.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1956's The Ten Commandments boasts an excellent transfer and a DTS-HD soundtrack. Blu-ray extras are carried over from previous DVD releases including audio commentary by author Katherine Orrison (Written in Stone: Making Cecil B. DeMille's Epic), a vintage “making-of” trailer (10 min.), a vintage newsreel segment from the film's NYC premiere (3 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a welcome Blu-ray debut for an epic Hollywood classic.]
The Ten Commandments
Genius, 88 min., PG, DVD: $19.95, Feb. 5 Volume 23, Issue 2
The Ten Commandments
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