The Prince of Egypt Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

The Prince of Egypt Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 18, 2019

The Prince of Egypt begins with this text:

The Motion Picture you are about to see is an adaptation of the Exodus story. While artistic and historical license has been taken, we believe that this film is true to the essence, values and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith for millions of people worldwide. The biblical story of Moses can be found in the book of Exodus.

It's difficult to rank the Bible's stories or characters (with the exception of Jesus) in orders of importance, narrative appeal, or widespread knowledge outside of the Christian faith, but there's no denying that the story of Moses, the man chosen by God to lead the effort to free Hebrew slaves in Egypt, is one of the Bible's most prolific and important in all of Christianity. The story has been told several times on film, most notably in Director Cecil B. DeMille's epic masterpiece The Ten Commandments, released in 1956 and starring the late Charlton Heston. That film is much more involved than The Prince of Egypt, which is a solidly constructed animated telling of the tale and which would be the first of two Bible-based DreamWorks animations, the other being 2000's Joseph: King of Dreams.

Parting the way.

Hebrew slaves, toiling in Egypt, yearn to be freed, delivered to the Promised Land as has long been foretold to them. But their situation seems hopeless. They have been in bondage for generations and are only worked harder and for less and less each year. Egyptian Pharaoh Seti I (voiced by Patrick Stewart) fears Hebrew rebellion and is ordering young men killed. Young mother Yocheved, fearing for her infant son’s life, places him into a basket and into the river; he is soon found by Pharaoh’s wife (voiced by Helen Mirren) who names him Moses. Moses (voiced by Val Kilmer) grows into young man alongside his stepbrother Rameses (voiced by Ralph Fiennes). They are often reckless, frequently upsetting their father, but the two form an unbreakable bond of friendship that seemingly nothing could destroy.

Years later, however, Moses begins to understand the cost of Egypt’s greatness. When he runs into his older siblings, Aaron (voiced by Jeff Goldblum) and Miriam (voiced by Sandra Bullock), his feelings of shame and desire to see the slaves freed only increases. When Moses accidentally kills an Egyptian guard while trying to protect a Hebrew slave, he flees from the land, even as Rameses promises to forgive him of the crime. Moses settles with a tribe of Midianites, marries the beautiful young Tzipporah (voiced by Michelle Pfeiffer), and begins what he hopes to be a life of comfort, friends, and family away from the horrors playing out in Egypt. One day, Moses encounters God (also voiced by Kilmer) taking the shape of a burning bush. God promises to “smite Egypt with all My wonders” and charges Moses with returning to the land, confronting Rameses, and ordering him to set Hebrew slaves free.

The film features an all-star voice cast that, on paper, must be ranked as one of the finest ever assembled for an animated film. In the booth, the cast seems a little more uneven, perhaps assembled more for the names behind the microphone rather than the vocal cadence with which the actors voice the characters. That is not to say the performances are poor -- each finds an appropriate range and depth for their characters -- but that is to say that the vocal cadences and tones don’t necessarily jive with the material. The movie doesn’t necessarily suffer for it but one can imagine a superior product with voices more befitting the characters, more regional even if still spoken in English.

The filmmakers do rise to the challenge of taking relatively dark material -- which involves widespread slavery, various plagues savaging the land, sorcery in Pharaoh’s court, the killing of firstborn sons, and mass death by drowning -- and translating it all to a generally family friendly affair, intermixed with song but not toning down the details, either. It’s fairly true to the Biblical account, if not a bit tightened for runtime and lacking the greater character depth and vision of the DeMille film, but it’s a well-rounded accomplishment that will leave audiences yearning for more similarly crafted animated Bible films.

The Prince of Egypt Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Universal's 1080p Blu-ray presentation of The Prince of Egypt looks to be fairly good shape at a passing glance. But some issues arise with more than that passing glance. A few spots and speckles dot the film's landscape, never to excess but enough to distract from the film. It's also more than a little dark and dim; the image lacks brightness and life and considering a palette that favors an overwhelming assortment of various earthen tones, shades of browns and beiges, the result is a dreary picture within the movie's darker tones and unable to escape for even the more hopeful notes or the more regal Egyptian flavors. The movies maintain a modest, but sometimes clumpy, grain structure. The image doesn't deal with the obvious low-res textures and jagged edges found on the Joseph: King of Dreams disc (and source) but the picture is still wanting for more textural finesse and to take fuller advantage of the Blu-ray's resolution. It's a dreary, flat picture overall, hindered most by its overwhelmingly drab, lifeless contrast. The movie certainly deserves better.

The Prince of Egypt Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Prince of Egypt's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is largely well rounded and engaging. The sound design is a bit dated and the track lacks precision finesse but nevertheless finds a healthy allotment of surround integration and stage width for the duration. A strong gust and push through the stage when a sandstorm envelops a distraught Moses in chapter seven is amongst the most impressive highlights. Songs are often dynamic, with "Through Heaven's Eyes" of particular note for its scale and detail, though "Deliver Us" suffers from prioritization issues, failing to raise the lyrics to a proper level alongside the music. For the most part, however, lyrics are well defined, music is immersive, and there's a well balanced low end compliment to be heard. There is a nice feel for dialogue reverb inside Rameses' cavernous throne room later in the film while atmospheric din during some of the scenes depicting the Hebrew slaves hard at work help to draw the listener into the ancient Egyptian world. Dialogue is clear and well prioritized. It finds a natural home in the front center channel.

The Prince of Egypt Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Prince of Egypt contains several featurettes and an audio commentary track, all of which appear to be recycled from previous DVD issues. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.

• The Making of The Prince of Egypt (480i, 25:39): A look at the four-year journey behind the making of the film, discussing the story's timelessness and purpose, translating it to the animated realm, the voice cast and vocal performances, songs and the performances thereof, project research and animated production design, the film's themes and tones, artistry and inspirations, character design, digital workmanship, and more.
• "When You Believe" Multi-Language Presentation (480i, 5:54): The song stitched together in various languages.
• The Basics of Animation: The Chariot Race (480i, 9:32): Simon Wells and Steve Hickner speak over story reels that show the sequence in an early conceptual stage, moving on to show the scene in different stages of completion.
• Focus on Technical Effects (480i, 5:58): Complimenting hand-drawn animation with digital supports.
• Audio Commentary: Directors Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells cover the film in detail, hitting many of the high points previously covered in the supplements but often in greater detail and at a more relaxed conversational cadence.

The Prince of Egypt Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Prince of Egypt was directed by three individuals -- Simon Wells, Brenda Chapman, and Steve Hickner -- but it works as a single vision, inspired by one of the greatest stories ever told and translated to the animated realm with a nice balance of accessibility and narrative depth, even amongst some darkness. The voice cast isn't necessarily a great fit, but on paper it's one of the finest collection of talents ever assembled for an animated feature. Universal's Blu-ray could stand a better picture quality, but sound is fine and the supplements get the job done. Recommended.