****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
It had been a while since I had last seen The Ten Commandments in its entirety and always wanted a copy for my DVD collection. As a child we all watched it on tv around Easter and I was spellbound as a child with all the pageantry and story line. This was the best of all the epics I have seen and for good reason. Who else but DeMille could have garnered the superb cast for this film. I can't think of any other player not playing their particular roles. And what a cast he had; among the best known Yul Brynner, Charlton Heston, Anne Baxter, Vincent Price, Edwards G. Robinson and one of my personal favorite character actors, Sir Cedwick Hardwicke. And so many others especially from the silent film era of DeMille's time.It stayed true enough to the story line with limited embellishments and or omissions (such as Moses marrying an Ethiopean wife is only alluded to in the film...it was the 50s)but enough to make its biblical point and make it entertaining and intriguing. The screen play was excellently written to go along with this bibilical story. Even the special effects still hold up well by todays standards some 50 years later....and that is not an easy accomplishment. Some parts could have been better (old Moses needed a better beard) but overall this was the story of all humanity unfolding; of good and evil; lust and love; abuses of power and humility and who ultimately are we accountable to; man or God. The narrated version is worth watching and listening too. You find out so many interesting pieces of information about the actors and the happenings during the shooting of the film. The Extras are great too. Usually only 10 minute segments but packed with lots of information. It gives you an idea of who DeMille the person was, the research that went into this project and many other fascinating elements for movie buffs like me. If you want to own a copy of the Ten Commandments this is probably the best one to have especially for all the other information packed in these DVDs. It also contains DeMille's silent version of this movie which he did in the 1920s...I have yet to watch that one all the way through but I have seen parts of it before and it looks good too. It was more provacative in some parts (I recall upper nudity with this version) since the Hays office had not placed its stricter moral code on it yet and there were more promiscuous elements in the films of the 20s as compared to the 30, 40 and 50s. (Now look whats happened) Anyway if you want a good copy with lots of extras packed in, this is the one. Best purchase I have seen offered for this film. Enjoy and.. "so let it be written....so shall it be done." :)
