The Ten Commandments (1956) 4K [Blu-ray] [2021] [Region A & B & C] [4K UHD]

My dad's favorite movie

This classic movie occupies at least 3 levels of meaning, which is why I call it a nexus. It is a religious statement, it is a historical drama, and it is just plain Hollywood entertainment. It works so well on all three levels that, particularly at the very reasonable price of this 2-disc version, it is worth owning for anyone with even the slightest interest in any of those levels.From the religious point of view, the movie has the strength (or perhaps weakness) that the producer, the famous Cecil B. DeMille himself, deliberately hewed to the Biblical account, and furthermore, that he occasionally brings in the magisterial wording of the King James Bible in the voice of a narrator. Not for him the revisionist views of so many of today's clergy, who explain that Moses was "inspired" by a mysterious divine force and thereby wrote the tablets. No, Mr. DeMille has the Deity Himself speak directly to Moses in a loud, clear voice. I did not find this annoying; rather, I thought it was a reassuring rock of certainty among today's shifting moral sands. In the commentary on the second disc, which is worth listening to, the narrator makes it clear that Mr. DeMille believed in God's Law, and our moral worth being measured against it; those who don't measure up would be punished, in this world or the next. If you don't have doctrinal prejudices against those beliefs, they make for excellent theater.While Mr. DeMille was certainly a Christian, if you're Jewish, you will not be offended by this movie. In fact, you will find it both educational and inspiring. Without making you sit through a seder, it will painlessly tell you the whole Passover story, including all that's essential in most Haggadahs, such as the Ten Plagues and even the Four Questions, cunningly worked into a meal Moses presides over. The miracles such as the burning bush and parting the Red Sea happen exactly as you'd expect from the Biblical account. In the credits you'll find a Hollywood rabbi, and the Mishnah, one of the Jewish religious texts, listed as references. Mr. DeMille tried hard to be consistent with Jewish lore.The movie is history, also, albeit with a twist. Biblical scholars do not agree when the Exodus actually took place; with so many details in the Bible it does not seem there is much doubt it actually happened, but there is little internal evidence with which to date it. Even worse, there are no corroborating Egyptian records, which is odd, because Egypt was one of the world's first literate societies and their records, carved on stone or painted on papyrus and preserved by the hot, dry climate, have often survived. Therefore, it was necessary for Mr. DeMille to pick a time period, and because he wanted a glittering spectacle in his movie, he picked the height of Egypt's power and glory, the reign of Ramses II (1279-1213 BC). Most historians think that's unlikely, because Egypt was so powerful in that period that having a bunch of slaves rebel and run away successfully strains the bounds of probability; but of course with God helping, the problem is solved, and it makes a much better story. It is a fact that Ramses attacked Nubia at the very beginning of his reign, just like in the movie; likewise, he married Nefertari (Nefertiri in the movie) when he was quite young. She died some years later and he lived on to be about 90, Egypt's longest reigning Pharaoh, marrying other women, but Nefertari was his favorite wife and their relationship in the movie might be close to historical reality.Likewise, the costumes and architecture are straight out of archaeology, making use of materials excavated from tombs and the Ramesseum, the huge temple the historical Ramses actually built. The construction site in the movie not only had thousands of extras moving materials around in a very authentic way, but its design corresponded to one of the monuments known to have been built in that time period. In short, Mr. DeMille made sure his details were as good as they could be within the knowledge of his time period. The Egyptian archaeological service is also listed in the credits.Finally, the movie is a love triangle with Ramses and Moses competing for the attentions of Nefertiri. That Moses has a mission from God that transcends his attraction for Nefertiri is something she doesn't understand till near the end of the movie, and of course Ramses doesn't either, fuelling his jealous rage. That Moses isn't seriously tempted by her is another measure of how old-fashioned this movie is. No shades of gray here! The miracles, especially the death of the first born children, are carried out with special effects that are still rivetting, although not as overwhelming as those in more recent movies; remember, when this movie was made there were no computers. Animation had to be by cartoonists painting frame by frame. Anyway, the story reaches its destined conclusion, and although it's quite a long movie, it doesn't seem to drag.If you haven't seen it, a treat awaits you; if you have but it was a long time ago, you might still enjoy watching it again, perhaps with your children.

Good movie

I watch this every Easter so I decided to just buy it instead of searching for it on different streaming platforms!!! ❤️❤️❤️

Great value, good picture Quality

Outdated, yes. But still an epic movie!

Buenísimo

Perhaps the most unintentionally funny movie of all time, T10C is a riot of bad acting, overblown bravado and, more seriously, one of the great injustices to the ancient Egyptian culture, ever committed to film in the guise of history. T10C is the ultimate guilty pleasure, if for nothing more than some incredible production values, from costumes and set design and special effects (which by the way still look great), to color and sheer spectacle. Sure, it's easy to poke more holes in the historical accuracy of this mound of Swiss Cheese; the Hebrews were not slaves in Egypt, they did not build the pyramids and they were not yet a united nation of one race of people at that time.But, oh, what fun to see Northern Europeans and Americans parade around as Egyptians, (even Yul "I could play any ethnic group" Bryner, who, btw is of Russian descent), and anglo-saxons portraying dessert bedouins, (complete with blue eyes!). You may tempt the "belching" Yahweh on the distant extinct volcano mountain, where resides a certain burning bush, if you try to accept this as a glimpse into the real history of the Jewish/Hebrew people. It's as fake as the myth behind the movie. But, such is the power of fairy tales, even today, 4000 years later.Baxter can hardly keep a straight face with such dialogue as, "Are her lips dry as the desert sands, or red, and moist...like a pomegranate?". But she is a delight. Her performance is camp-classic, and you would be hard pressed to ever take your eyes off of her. And I'll bet you she knew this stunk when she was doing the film.Heston is, as usual, clueless and full of his pompous self. This man was at the height of his masculine handsomeness, but dumb as a post. (see Ben Hur).Or how about old movie Queen villain Vincent Price demanding that Joshua, portrayed by the breathtakingly beautiful John Derek, (matched in looks by the perfection of Debra Paget), be "tied between the columns tightly", so he may feel the sting of Vinnie's whip!. Get a load of the phallic whip handle Price puts to Derek's glistening chest and face! Hello? DeMille had some serious psycho-sexual hangups to be sure.Sure, it is 50's anti-communist propaganda, directed by the most anti-semetic, (the only actual Jew in the primary cast is E.G. Robinson and he plays the wormy, greedy Jewish, money hungry traitor villain), rabidly anti-communist, pro-Christian Fundamentalist director of the early 20th Century. But, it is 100% fun from start to finish. Total crap, but total fun.DeMille was a great movie-tecnician and a horrible person in real life. Many Jews in 1950's Hollywood were victims of his anti-communist fervor. Just take T10C with a grain of a giant Pillar of Salt, and you'll be fine.The Blu-Ray is stunning. One of the best restorations of a 60+ year old film to digital medium to date. This is eye-candy to die-for. And the movie has never looked better. The audio is perfect. Turn up the volume, pop some un-leaven popcorn, eat some bitter herbs, ask why this night is different from all other nights and enjoy the movie every Passover/Easter season. Kudos to 20th Century Fox for the effort to preserve this great, if weird, bit of film "history". Just be wary of the underlying mid-50's propaganda (Pro-Israeli/Anti Communist) the film was intended to promote to the film going audience at the time, and perhaps even today.A must own on Blu-Ray.