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Customer Reviews of The Prince of Egypt

AN ARTISTIC MILESTONE IN THE HISTORY OF ANIMATION!!
The Biblical story of Moses has become a spiritual cornerstone of faith for millions of people worldwide. To adapt it to an animated motion picture presented an epic challenge to Dreamworks founders Steven Spielberg and Jeffery Katzenberg, which they have triumphed over very successfully. Disney's somewhat disappointing Hercules made movie fans look for a different angle of story-telling as it was becoming clear that they were tiring of the tried and true Disney hit formula. .

After the Oscar-winning Pocahontas, the studios had not been to deliver its best (though I completely agree that The Hunchback Of Notre dame is one of the most underrated animated classics). Fox's Anastasia conquered a large number of hearts with its amazing character-depth and haunting tunes, but a box-office success of a larger proportion was required to dethrone Disney's monopoly. The Prince Of Egypt is easily the best non-Disney feature ever made (followed closely by Anastasia) and in every way, it as unique a classic as Beauty And The Beast or The Lion King. It is emotional, musical, captivating, and inspirational and has a profound moral meaning and beauty.

The story remains mostly true to its Exodus origin. It varies from The Ten Commandments in exploring the relationships between the two brothers who are destined to be enemies. The strength of the movie lies in the strong emotional bonds it depicts between its characters, something which The Ten commandments failed to portray. The animation is lush and vibrant, blending both classic hand-drawn cels and Computer Generated Imagery. The backgrounds and visuals and breath-taking and even the CGI sequences such as "The Parting of The Red Sea" are to be marveled at. Dreamworks artists have adapted a new angular style of character sketching which looks refreshingly beautiful on the silver screen.

Stephen Swartz's music is melodious and meaningful; from the spine-chilling "Deliver Us" to the soul-searching "When You Believe" which won the Oscar for the Best Song in 1998. (though I must say that I love Pfeiffer and Dworsky's version much more than Mariah Carrey and Whitney Houston's pop reprise). An astoundingly deep, sensitive and piercing score almost overrides the film's music; strongly highlighting the sentimental points with its rich orchestral appeal and Ofra Haza's tantalizing choral accompaniments. Nominated for an Academy Award, it deserved the Oscar for the Best Musical Score category (though I would personally have loved to see Goldsmith win his second Oscar for his incredible score of Mulan). Warbeck's score for Shakespeare In Love which eventually won, though appealing, pales before Zimmer's work or Goldsmith's masterpiece. Then again, I have noticed that Oscars go more by popularity than by talent. David Newman's nominated score from Anastasia was most definitely the Best among the Musical scores of 1997, although the Oscar favored The Full Monty, which could not possibly win in any other field where it had been nominated (owing to Titanic) and so walked away with a very undeserving award.

The Prince Of Egypt utilizes a host of acclaimed on-screen actors and actresses; comprising the voice talents of Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Danny Glover, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jeff Goldblum, Sandra Bullock, Patrick Stewart, Martin Short, Helen Mirren and Steve Martin. It is undoubtedly the most ambitious vocal cast ever assembled for an animated movie. All the actors bring the characters to life with striking warmth and depth. Both Kilmer's as well as Fiennes' work are very praiseworthy.

The DVD offers a excellent anamorphic 1.85:1 video transfer which looks very crisp and colorful. The Dolby digital 5.1 sound makes good use of surround, nicely highlighting the score and special effects. Dreamworks has also recently released a DTS version of the DVD in April, 2003 which is an improvised version of the earlier Dolby release. The special features provide an in-depth look at the making of the movie. Also included are two trailers, "When You Believe" multi-language reel, still galleries, interviews with the cast and a "Basics of the Chariot Race" CGI explanation segment.

The Prince Of Egypt is nothing short of a masterpiece in animation history. The movie is geared more towards the mature audiences and those expecting fast pace fun-oriented stuff will not find it towards their taste. Young children may find some scenes a little disturbing, hence Dreamworks rated the movie a PG. So go enjoy Dreamworks' first animated motion picture, which is a classic to be cherished now and for generations

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Dreamworks Creates an Animated Classic
This is a beautiful movie and a great DVD. The animation is some of the best ever done. Notice, in particular, the life-like Nile River and Red Sea at the beginning and end of the picture. The chariot race that opens the movie is thrilling and the parting of the Red Sea is breath taking. Frankly, I hesitated to see this because I believed that it would just be "The Ten Commandments" re-visited. However, the creators decided to focus on how the God's edict to "Let my people go" would effect the relationship of the two brothers--Rameses and Moses. This point of view permits the audience to have a strong attachment to both characters and the things that happen to them. Another surprise is that the creators did not tone down or "Hollywoodize" the religious aspects of the story. They realized that the great power of this story is its spiritual element. The DVD "extras" make it well worth the price. In particular, I found the comparison drawings showing the creation of the chariot race to be particularly compelling. The music and songs perfectly compliment the action and are never distracting. Clearly, Disney is not the only studio that can create a great animated film.

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Excellent Animation and Story
The Prince of Egypt is an excellently animated movie from Dreamworks, with
great storytelling and characters and usually very good music. One doesn't
have to be religious to appreciate this movie (I'm not at all) -- the
emotions expressed by the characters are touching and the conflicts still
relevant.

As far as the animation in the movie goes, it is never less than excellent.
Besides the special effects sections (the parting of the Red Sea being the
most ambitious and breathtaking of all), the character animation is superb.
Each character is different and distinct, with this quality most noticable
when Moses is leading his people. Every person walking behind him, most of
whom have only seconds of screen time, is unique. As an animation
enthusiast, I appreciate this unwillingness to cut corners. Also standout
in this production is the appropriate and effective combination of computer
graphics and traditional hand-drawn animation. The dream/history sequence

that plays out in heiroglyphics on the palace wall is an effective use of
computer graphics in a 3-D setting that wouldn't work as well with
traditional animation, but the movie isn't overburdened by CG shortcuts
that just look fake.

The storytelling is also very well done. I have read reviews that say it
changed the Bible story too much, but the movie flows well and has a good
sense of pacing. Although I've never read the Bible story, the key points
I've heard of are included, and it seems the spirit of the story is intact.

The music, for the most part, is very good as well. "River Lullabye" and
"Through Heaven's Eyes" are beautiful in that they have a more
middle-eastern feel to them, with a broader range of instruments than the
hit "When you believe", which in the ending credits is sung by divas Mariah
Carey and Whitney Houston.

One complaint: The Steve Martin/Martin Short scene is bad, bad, bad. The
characters seem borrowed from too many Disney movies: as snide, snooty
henchmen with no character development, they are also way too modernized to
fit the theme of the story. And their "Playing With the Big Boys" song is
terrible -- I just want to fast-forward through it. That scene
notwithstanding, I think the movie is worth watching, for both children and
adults.