The Prince of Egypt
Year: 1998
Rating: PG
Length: 99 minutes / 1.65 hours
As far as Biblical stories go, the Old Testament’s account of the life of Moses is one of the more frequently represented passages in film. While the epic The Ten Commandments (1956) is usually the gold standard for these adaptations, I would argue that The Prince of Egypt (1998) has the benefit of animation to provide better accuracy to the scale of these events. I’m amazed a movie like this was made, but glad that it exists because of its excellence.
One thing that struck me when I was re-watching this movie was how many famous people provided their voices for these characters. The list itself reads like a “who’s who” for late ‘90s actors. Unfortunately, this is occasionally distracting with actors who have more distinct voices (like Jeff Goldblum, Steve Martin, and Martin Short) as I can’t hear these voices as anything other than those actors. Otherwise, the other voices felt more appropriate for the characters these actors portray.
While the story of The Prince of Egypt is about the people, this movie did an excellent job of portraying how big everything was. From the structures the Israelite slaves built for the Egyptians to the all-encompassing nature of the ten plagues, the whole thing is capped off with the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea. Even if the special effects in 1956 were an amazing representation of this moment, the animated version here makes it feel way more impressive. Even if you’re not religious, you owe it to yourself to watch this movie just for how great a non-Disney animated film in 1998 could be.
A classic story made more spectacular due to the scale animation could give, I give The Prince of Egypt 4.0 stars out of 5.
