I could Not have been more disappointed in "Exodus Gods and Kings." It's impossible for me to not compare it with "The Ten Commandments" since it's exactly the same story, so here goes...
"The Ten Commandments" movie of 1956 at 3 hours and 40 minutes, with No CGI, and No battle scenes is easily 10 times more enjoyable than "Exodus Gods and Kings."
Every moment of "The Ten Commandments" is so captivating with top quality story, scripts, acting, directing, sets, costumes, visual effects, and music that time really flies by when watching it. "Exodus Gods and Kings," however, is so desperately dull, with horrible script, cheap looking sets, lack luster performances, I can honestly say that it's the worst movie I have seen in a very long time.
Even the music was forgettable (except when it sounded like the original "Stargate" movie soundtrack, which it did a lot of times).
And don't even get me started on the visual effects in "Exodus Gods and Kings." The plagues are done so well they're stomach churning, but they don't even happen in the way that the original Bible stories say they happened. But the ONE scene in the entire movie that's really spectacular CGI is directed so completely without thought that it makes no sense whatsoever...
SMALL SPOILER ALERT: The water in the Red Sea is rapidly receding to the right, sort of like what happens before a Tsunami. It only takes a few minutes for that area of the Red Sea to be shallow enough for the thousands of recently freed Hebrews to start walking across. This is disappointing as far as visuals go, but does make sense so far. Then just before the giant wave comes we see absolutely spectacular storm clouds and multiple tornadoes and waterspouts develop. These visual effects are some of the best ever in the history of CGI, but the tornadoes didn't actually do anything at all in this scene. They did not pull the water away in the first place, like the storm clouds created by God (or spaceships) did in "The Ten Commandments." They simply appeared in the distance for no reason, just before the huge Tsunami wave crashed down on Pharaoh's soldiers.
To show the outright sloppiness of this movie again, in scene after scene there are one or two guys spying on Moses, and nothing ever happens as a result. It's a big set up to a big nothing.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: If you happen to be a fan of the "Ancient Aliens" show or believe in Hebrew Mysticism you will be sorely disappointed in "Exodus Gods and Kings." Mostly because, the only reason Moses sees a burning bush or talks to God the first time is that he just got conked on the head by a huge rock. Then, every time a miracle happens, this sassy little boy (who is just now angry at the Egyptian Pharaohs after 400 years of Hebrew enslavement) is the one doing the miracles, not even through Moses. Moses really does none of the miracles in this movie. He has a sword through most of it, and never even carries a staff.
In the Bible, when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai his face was shining. This is important no matter what your beliefs are. They at least touch on this in "The Ten Commandments" but in "Exodus Gods and Kings," the only thing that happens on Mt. Sinai is that the little boy dictates the ten commandments to Moses as he carves them onto the rock tablets. And they don't even show him actually saying any of them. He's just sitting there watching Moses work.
Finally, I have to say that it would have been very nice to actually see the Ark of the Covenant in a movie about Moses. Moses is shown riding with presumably the Ark in a basket on a veiled wagon, but still the only time in the history of the movies that we get to see the actual Ark is in an Indiana Jones movie, which is also easily 10 times better than "Exodus Gods and Kings."
So if you feel like seeing a Biblical movie or a movie about ancient Egypt, definitely buy or rent "The Ten Commandments" (1956). Also, "The Robe" (1953) is not a Bible story, but is the best portrayal of true Christian principles of faith and unconditional love that I have ever seen. Both have amazing, high quality stereo and surround sound for their time. Their original soundtrack albums are two of the all time best in the history of Hollywood also.
In fact, as inaccurate as it may be, I even found the 2008 adventure "10,000 BC" hugely more enjoyable than "Exodus Gods and Kings." Likewise the 1994 sci-fi film "Stargate."
"The Ten Commandments" movie of 1956 at 3 hours and 40 minutes, with No CGI, and No battle scenes is easily 10 times more enjoyable than "Exodus Gods and Kings."
Every moment of "The Ten Commandments" is so captivating with top quality story, scripts, acting, directing, sets, costumes, visual effects, and music that time really flies by when watching it. "Exodus Gods and Kings," however, is so desperately dull, with horrible script, cheap looking sets, lack luster performances, I can honestly say that it's the worst movie I have seen in a very long time.
Even the music was forgettable (except when it sounded like the original "Stargate" movie soundtrack, which it did a lot of times).
And don't even get me started on the visual effects in "Exodus Gods and Kings." The plagues are done so well they're stomach churning, but they don't even happen in the way that the original Bible stories say they happened. But the ONE scene in the entire movie that's really spectacular CGI is directed so completely without thought that it makes no sense whatsoever...
SMALL SPOILER ALERT: The water in the Red Sea is rapidly receding to the right, sort of like what happens before a Tsunami. It only takes a few minutes for that area of the Red Sea to be shallow enough for the thousands of recently freed Hebrews to start walking across. This is disappointing as far as visuals go, but does make sense so far. Then just before the giant wave comes we see absolutely spectacular storm clouds and multiple tornadoes and waterspouts develop. These visual effects are some of the best ever in the history of CGI, but the tornadoes didn't actually do anything at all in this scene. They did not pull the water away in the first place, like the storm clouds created by God (or spaceships) did in "The Ten Commandments." They simply appeared in the distance for no reason, just before the huge Tsunami wave crashed down on Pharaoh's soldiers.
To show the outright sloppiness of this movie again, in scene after scene there are one or two guys spying on Moses, and nothing ever happens as a result. It's a big set up to a big nothing.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: If you happen to be a fan of the "Ancient Aliens" show or believe in Hebrew Mysticism you will be sorely disappointed in "Exodus Gods and Kings." Mostly because, the only reason Moses sees a burning bush or talks to God the first time is that he just got conked on the head by a huge rock. Then, every time a miracle happens, this sassy little boy (who is just now angry at the Egyptian Pharaohs after 400 years of Hebrew enslavement) is the one doing the miracles, not even through Moses. Moses really does none of the miracles in this movie. He has a sword through most of it, and never even carries a staff.
In the Bible, when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai his face was shining. This is important no matter what your beliefs are. They at least touch on this in "The Ten Commandments" but in "Exodus Gods and Kings," the only thing that happens on Mt. Sinai is that the little boy dictates the ten commandments to Moses as he carves them onto the rock tablets. And they don't even show him actually saying any of them. He's just sitting there watching Moses work.
Finally, I have to say that it would have been very nice to actually see the Ark of the Covenant in a movie about Moses. Moses is shown riding with presumably the Ark in a basket on a veiled wagon, but still the only time in the history of the movies that we get to see the actual Ark is in an Indiana Jones movie, which is also easily 10 times better than "Exodus Gods and Kings."
So if you feel like seeing a Biblical movie or a movie about ancient Egypt, definitely buy or rent "The Ten Commandments" (1956). Also, "The Robe" (1953) is not a Bible story, but is the best portrayal of true Christian principles of faith and unconditional love that I have ever seen. Both have amazing, high quality stereo and surround sound for their time. Their original soundtrack albums are two of the all time best in the history of Hollywood also.
In fact, as inaccurate as it may be, I even found the 2008 adventure "10,000 BC" hugely more enjoyable than "Exodus Gods and Kings." Likewise the 1994 sci-fi film "Stargate."