The Prince of Egypt (1998)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Directors:

Brenda Chapman
Steve Hickner

Writers:

Philip LaZebnik (screenplay)
Nicholas Meyer (additional screenplay material)

Release Date:

18 December 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Drama | Family | Musical

Tagline:

Two brothers united by friendship divided by destiny

Plot:

An Egyptian prince learns of his identity as a Hebrew and, later his destiny to become the chosen deliverer of his people.

Plot Keywords:

Moses | Hebrew | Ancient Egypt | Pharaoh | Religion

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

Val Kilmer	...	Moses (voice)
Ralph Fiennes	...	Rameses (voice)
Michelle Pfeiffer	...	Tzipporah (voice)
Sandra Bullock	...	Miriam (voice)
Jeff Goldblum	...	Aaron (voice)
Danny Glover	...	Jethro (voice)
Patrick Stewart	...	Seti (voice)
Helen Mirren	...	The Queen (voice)
Steve Martin	...	Hotep (voice)
Martin Short	...	Huy (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Avery	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Aria Noelle Curzon	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Ofra Haza	...	Yocheved (voice)
Bobby Motown	...	Rameses Son (voice)
Eden Riegel	...	Young Miriam (voice)
Shira Roth	...	Hebrew Child (singing voice)
Stephanie Sawyer	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Francesca Smith	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Also Known As:

El príncipe de Egipto (Argentina) (Peru) (Spain) [es]
Le prince d'Égypte (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Prinsen av Egypten (Finland: Swedish title) (Sweden) [sv]
Принц Египта (Russia) [ru]
Der Prinz von Ägypten (Germany) [de]
Egyiptom hercege (Hungary) [hu]
Egyptin prinssi (Finland) [fi]
Il principe d'Egitto (Italy) [it]
Misir prensi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
O Príncipe do Egipto (Portugal) [pt]
O Príncipe do Egito (Brazil) [pt]
O prigipas tis Aigyptou (Greece) [el]
Prinsen av Egypt (Norway) [no]
Printul Egiptului (Romania) [ro]

MPAA:

Rated PG for intense depiction of thematic elements.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Philippines:G | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Brazil:Livre | Chile:TE | Finland:K-8/5 | France:U | Germany:6 | Italy:T | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:G | Norway:7 | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/6 | Singapore:G | South Korea:All | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG | USA:PG | Egypt:(Banned) | Malaysia:(Banned)

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

When Moses and God are conversing, Val Kilmer is actually talking to himself

Goofs:

Continuity: When the plagues destroy Egypt, not a lot of monuments are shown being toppled. However, in the song When You Believe, when the Hebrews are walking through the ruins of Egypt, there is far more damage and destruction of Egypt that what was seen in the Plagues.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Overseers: [chanting] Mud... Sand... Water... Straw. Faster! Mud... and lift... sand... and pull... water... and raise up! Straw... Faster!
Hebrews: [singing] With the sting of the whip on my shoulder, with the salt of my sweat on my brow... Elohim, God on high, can you hear your people cry? Help us now, this dark hour... Deliver us, hear our call, deliver us, Lord of all! Remember us, here in this burning sand! Deliver us, there's a land you promised us! Deliver us to the promised land!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "It Takes Two: (#3.4)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

When You Believe

Why are you sitting there when you could be seeing this film?

Quite possibly the most astonishing achievement in animation since Beauty and the Beast (and surpassing same), The Prince of Egypt is a lovingly crafted, engaging piece of cinema. The main characters are well-realized, three-dimensional characters. The focus of the film is the conflict between Ramses and his adopted brother, Moses, set against the backdrop of the epic events in the book of Exodus. The result is a religious tale that treats the oft-ignored human element. Instead of merely relating the tale as it is, the story asks "how would a person *feel* if God appeared to them and told them to do this? How would others react?" The script is light-years beyond any past biblical epic. The animation style owes a small debt to Disney's house style, but goes above and beyond in the details in character design (the Hebrews and Egyptians and Midians are clearly of different ethnic backgrounds, and no character suffers from the doe-eyed Disney Belle syndrome). Computer Generated Imagery blends -- for the first time in an animated film -- seamlessly with traditional cel animation. The film also takes some fairly audacious risks; Moses has a dream sequence in stiffly animated hieroglyphics, completely switching animation styles for about five minutes, which I believe is completely unprecedented in animation. There are moments when the visual effects made me forget to breathe. If you blink during the parting of the red sea, you'll regret it. There is, I believe I can safely say, not a second of the film that does not offer some sort of visual delight -- from the deep symbolism of the hieroglyphics to the dizzying chariot race in the opening sequence. The music has been touted by some critics as the film's weak link; such is definitely not the case. Stephen Schwartz' songs combine elements of Broadway-esque show tunes with native Hebrew and Egyptian music. The songs are powerful and moving, sometimes no more than one verse in length, sometimes full-blown seven-minute extravaganzas like "Let My People Go." The one weaker song, surprisingly, is the theme "When You Believe." Even freed from Mariah Carey/Whitney Houston R&B cheese as it is in the movie, it's a watery definition of faith at best. Still, the scene in which it takes place is powerful and the song is beautifully performed. If the film has a weak link, it might be the voice casting,Val Kilmer and Patrick Stewart in particular. The two voices are distinctive of the gentleman who possess them, and thus are distracting in this format. But such is a minor quibble, and should not dissuade anyone from seeing the greatest animated story ever told.