Stars: voices of: Val Kilmer , Patrick Stewart , Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Helen Mirren, Steve Martin, Martin Short
“The Prince of Egypt” tells the biblical story of Moses and how he lead the Hebrews to their promised land from their tortured lives under Egyptian rule.
It is a well done animation with some beautiful effects and some lovely songs, including the Oscar winner “When You Believe” sung by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. But the worst in the song category has to be Steve Martin & Martin Short singing “Playing With the Big Boys”, which stung me for its incongruity to the feel of the film itself. And I certainly could have done without the BoyzIIMen lyrics that ran over the credits. Classical? Modern? Pick a style already!
The most magnificent of the special effects is the parting of the Red Sea which I understand cost a fortune to produce. It was stunning!
The film began with a warning that the producers had taken historical liberties. They wanted to make sure that their depiction of a teenage Moses as an incorrigible brat wasn’t taken too seriously.
Funny how watching this animation made me ask some age old religious questions like why God was killing all the Egyptians moments before presenting Moses with the Ten Commandments and the edict that says Thou shalt not kill. Perhaps children watching the film won’t notice this blatant contradiction that religions have yet to favorably explain but you may want to have some answers ready just in case they start asking – oh and better come up with a good for why Moses is being presented with a slave girl and what’s she doing in his bed?
Some of the recognizable voices include: Val Kilmer as Moses, Patrick Stewart as King Seti, Ralph Fiennes as Rameses, Michelle Pfeiffer as Tzipporah, Sandra Bullock as Miriam, Jeff Goldblum as Aaron, Danny Glover as Jethro, Helen Mirren as the Queen, Steve Martin as Hotep and Martin Short as Huy.
Lotta says nice songs and good animation. It’s rated PG-13 – probably for all the murdering and slave girl bit.