Am I the only one who didn't know...(Prince of Egypt). (1 Viewer)

[Frank@N]

Am I the only one who didn't know 'Prince of Egypt' was a remake?

Got this at Kmart thinking I would be treated to an original, quasi-historical, animated feature.

Instead, I get a religious remake.

Don't get me wrong, I love the 10 Commandments, but this isn't what I expected.

I usually avoid reading story summaries in reviews and in the case of most animated features there's usually not much to say anyway.

For some reason, most websites seem to think PoE is a new classic.

Later, I looked at the packaging to see what obvious 10C references I must have missed.

But they're really not there...no staffs, no tablets, no beards, no rough-hewed cloth, no Moses, no plagues, only a blurb about two brothers who become enemies...

I guess some other folks weren't too thrilled with PoE either, I took it to Coconuts and they passed on the trade.

 

[Brenton]

Prince of Egypt is a remake of The Ten Commandments???

Ever heard of that one bestselling book, what's it called? Oh yeah... the Bible.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

As Brenton said, it isn't a remkae. They're just both based on the same source (the book of Exodus). How any westerner could not realize this going in is beyond me.

 

[Brian Kidd]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to welcome you all to the downfall of Western Civilization. If you'll direct your attention to exhibit A...

Frank. Please tell me you're joking. Your post seemed satirical, but there were no smilies.

 

[Alex Spindler]

With all due respect, there are a significant portion of the North American populace that are atheists or otherwise unaffiliated. They can enjoy well crafted movies such as these without being aware of the source text or stories.

 

[RobertR]

With all due respect, there are a significant portion of the North American populace that are atheists or otherwise unaffiliated. They can enjoy well crafted movies such as these without being aware of the source text or stories.

I don't think that's relevant to Frank's post. From what I see in his post, he's saying that Dreamworks severely downplayed the Biblical aspects of the story in its advertising and promotional materials for the film (just goes to show you how Hollywood has changed in 40 years), so much so that he was surprised to discover that it's a retelling of the Exodus story. I don't think he was saying he's unaware of the Bible.

 

[Bill Williams]

Comparing The Prince of Egypt to The Ten Commandments is like comparing a Ford F-150 to a Camaro. Both have the same basic template in place but have their own individual approaches to it. PoE is Moses' story done in a 90-minute animated form, and while it doesn't have the epic scale of DeMille's classic, it has its own merits and gets the message across.

 

[Jack Shappa]

Wether or not you're religious, the Bible is obviously still one heck of a storybook. I quite enjoyed Prince of Egypt. Didn't Dreamworks do a straight to video followup of another bible story animated in the same style? Can't remember what it was...

- Jack

 

[Alex Spindler]

Robert, my post wasn't toward Frank, but toward the replies of

 

[Dan Rudolph]

THere are lots of atheists in the uS, but I was under the impression everyone at least has a passing familiarity with Christianity and Judaism. I haven't seen The Godfather, but I know who Michael Corleone is.

 

[Frank@N]

How any westerner could not realize this going in is beyond me.

What can I say, they pulled one over on me.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Frank, is your assessment based on anything other than the copy on the back of the DVD case? Because the PR campaign at the time of the film's release made no secret of the fact that the story was from the Bible. So to answer your original question: You may not be the only one who didn't know, but you're almost certainly among the few.

M.

 

[Frank@N]

Frank, is your assessment based on anything other than the copy on the back of the DVD case?

The film was released 5+ years ago, I doubt many people could recall TV spots after that period of time.

PoE Tagline: Two brothers united by friendship divided by destiny.

 

[Peter Kline]

I remember the advertising for this film and there was simply no way anybody could misconstrue this as anything but a story from the Bible. Also, a made for video follow up was released as well if I remember. What is the point of this thread may I humbly ask? Flame bait perhaps? If not I apologize.

 

[Alex Spindler]

I don't know...

The full text on the back of the DVD:

For someone not versed in the lore, I could easily see how one could pick this up and not realize it was a biblical tale.

 

[Michael Reuben]

The film was released 5+ years ago, I doubt many people could recall TV spots after that period of time.

It seems somewhat inapt to accuse Dreamworks of "disguising" the film if you can't even remember the ad campaign and press accompanying the release. What this boils down to is your dissatisfaction with the copy on the DVD cover (which is an accurate summary of the story, BTW). The lesson here is that one should probably do a little more research on an older film before simply grabbing a copy off the shelf. It's not as if there's any shortage of resources (IMDb comes to mind).

And so what if the story comes from the Bible? It's still a great story.

M.

 

[Paul_Sjordal]

As a movie in its own right, Prince of Egypt is a fine animated film. However it has a few things going against it when it comes to getting people to look at it in the first place.

One, it is based on a religious story, which tends to reduce interest from infidel unbelievers like me.

Two, it plays fast and loose with the details of Exodus, which tends to turn off believers. (Even as an infidel heretic, I found some of these changes annoying, so I can only imagine what believers think.)

Either way you look at it, it has two strikes against it that reduce its penetration into two market segments that together account for nearly every human being in the industrialized world.

 

[Brenton]

Also, a made for video follow up was released as well if I remember.

It was the story of Joseph. The title escapes me.

 

[Rocky F]

Joseph, King of Dreams tells the story of how the Hebrews got to Egypt in the first place.

 

[Edwin-S]

It didn't seem to do too badly when it was originally released. It also had mostly positive reviews. Personally, I find the Red Sea scene more dramatic and better realized than the one in the "The Ten Commandments"; however, advances in visual effects has something to do with that.