The Prince of Egypt [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray]

Director: Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, Simon Wells Brenda Chapman

Overview

Dreamworks Pictures has taken the biblical story of Exodus, put it into cartoon form, and released it on the big screen as an epic animated feature. The Prince of Egypt tells the story of Moses releasing the Jews from Egyptian slavery under the hand of the evil pharaoh Rameses. Think of The Ten Commandments with songs and an all-star cast doing the voices. In the Charlton Heston role of Moses is Val Kilmer. Moses' brother Rameses, previously played by Yul Brynner, is now voiced by Ralph Fiennes. The story revolves around these two close brothers, Moses and Rameses. While Rameses is groomed to take over the land, his beloved brother Moses is a carefree prankster, until he learns the true secret of his past. His secret, of course, is that he is really a Jew and as a child was floated down the river to escape mass genocide. The pharaoh Seti (Patrick Stewart) raised Moses as his son. Upon learning the truth of his past from a burning bush, Moses returns to Egypt with God on his side and demands that the pharaoh (now his brother Rameses) must "Let my people go." With songs written by Oscar-winner Stephen Schwartz and sung by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, The Prince of Egypt covers all the classic story points of the story of Moses, including the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/16/2018
UPC:	0191329076453
Original Release:	1998
Rating:	PG
Source:	Dreamworks Animated
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound]
Language:	English
Time:	1:39:00
Sales rank:	4,911

Special Features

The Making of The Prince of Egypt; "When You Believe" Multi-Language Presentation; The Basics of Animation: The Chariot Race; Focus on Technical Effects; Filmmakers' Commentary

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Val Kilmer	Moses
Helen Mirren	Queen
Bobby Motown	Rameses Son
Eden Riegel	Young Miriam
Ofra Haza	Yocheved
Aria Curzon	Additional Voices
Stephanie Sawyer	Additional Voices
Francesca Smith	Additional Voices
Shira Roth	Hebrew Child
Michel Patrician	Hebrew Child
Chris Marquette	Hebrew Child
Justin Timsit	Hebrew Child
Jack Angel	Egyptian
Amick Byram	Moses
Brenda Chapman	Miriam
Sally Dworsky	Miriam
Phillip Ingram	Actor
Brian Stokes Mitchell	Jethro
Linda Shayne	The Queen
Brian Tochi	Actor
Natalie Portman	Additional voice [uncredited]
Michelle Pfeiffer	Actor
Hans Zimmer	Composer

Technical Credits

Nicholas Meyer

Philip LaZebnik

Brenda Chapman	Director
Steve Hickner	Director,Director
Simon Wells	Director
Nicholas Meyer	Screenwriter
Philip LaZebnik	Screenwriter
Jeffrey Katzenberg	Producer
Sandra Rabins	Producer
Penney Finkelman Cox	Producer
Leslee Feldman	Casting
Lon E. Bender	Sound/Sound Designer
Wylie Stateman	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

As many critics correctly noted, Dreamworks missed a golden opportunity in its first animated feature to assert a distinct visual style, preferring to imitate the familiar Disney look, hence paying its primary competitor a huge compliment. But The Prince of Egypt still exists as a mature first foray into the market by the young studio. It's nothing if not grand, complete with towering pyramids, electric chariot races, and a first-rate parting of the Red Sea. The film's greater accomplishment is making The Bible accessible to those unwilling to slog through chapter and verse -- namely, children. Hearing the idiosyncratic and inescapably modern speech patterns of Sandra Bullock and Jeff Goldblum may take viewers completely out of the Biblical moment, but those with greater screen time, notably Ralph Fiennes as Rameses, fare much better. The hit title song, popularized by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, lends a certain frivolity to religious characters and situations that might be conveyed more soberly -- a necessary part of selling the film as a phenomenon of multiple media. But the animators make up for it with their dignified renderings of the landscape and its people, showing a particular ability to wow with their chilling depiction of the ten plagues, as remarkable for what's left unseen as what's visualized. The Prince of Egypt is a tight and effective depiction of brothers torn apart by their differing beliefs in the right course of action, simultaneously personal and large-scale -- a solid story on its own, which also happens to be the foundation for both Christian and Jewish scripture.