The Prince of Egypt (1998)

His Review:

Coming straight out of the story of Exodus from the Bible, The Prince of Egypt is the story of Moses, the young jewish boy who is sent down the Nile river in a basket to avoid the wrath of the Egyptian Pharaoh only to be rescued by the Egyptian Queen herself.  Moses is raised as royalty along with his brother Rameses who is the true son of the Pharaoh and the Queen.  When Moses grows up and discovers that he is not who he thought he was, he goes into the desert and learns the way of life of his true people.  One day when tending to the herd, Moses finds a small bush that is engulfed in flames, but is not burning.  The presence of God is in the bush and God tells Moses to return to the Pharaoh and instruct him to let the Hebrew people go.  Rameses is now Pharaoh and isn’t very happy to learn of what his brother’s return means.  Moses unleashes several “plagues” on the Egyptian people until Pharaoh agrees to allow the slaves to leave.  However, Rameses changes his mind and sets out into the desert to track Moses down.

When The Prince of Egypt came out in theaters, many people thought it was a “Disney” movie because it is animated, however, it is the first true animated film from a newly formed production company at that time named Dreamworks.  The animation and songs are up to par with the Disney movies people are used to and the song “When you Believe” won the Academy Award for Best Song.  The story is very well-known which helps make this a quality picture and one we can all related with, even if you aren’t Jewish.  The all-star voice cast also makes the characters come to life and fit the characters they portray well.  It is a great family film which both adults and kids will love.  Starring the voices of Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Sandra Bullock, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jeff Goldblum, Patrick Stewart, Danny Glover, Helen Mirren, Steve Martin and Martin Short.

9/10 Stars – Good music, animation and story.  Seems more educational than dramatic…

Click below for links to IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120794/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/prince_of_egypt/