The ’90s Fantasy Adventure Epic Blockbuster An Entire Generation Is Losing
The late ‘90s and early 2000s were a great period for animated movies like The Road to El Dorado, Anastasia, Hercules, Sinbad, and Robots. The Prince of Egypt also fits into that category, offering a great and powerful story that is still entertaining to this day, if you can find it.
The Prince of Egypt follows the story of Exodus in the Bible. The movie takes a few artistic licenses, making the tale less dark and more child-friendly. However, for the most part, the overarching story and the characters are accurate.
The Book Of Exodus
For those unsure what the story of Exodus is, The Prince of Egypt is about an Egyptian Prince named Moses (Val Kilmer). However, one day, the prince learns about his real origin as the child of a Jewish slave and decides to help his people escape. Moses asks his brother, the new pharaoh Rameses (Ralph Fiennes), to let them go, but he denies the request.
After the denial, a series of plagues decimate Egypt. During these plagues, Moses leads his people to freedom, including parting the Red Sea during his escape. God helped Moses along his quest and later gave him a list of rules for him and his people to live by, called the 10 Commandments.
An All-Time Great Voice Cast
There are some pretty amazing actors giving their voices to the characters. Michelle Pfeiffer (Stardust), Sandra Bullock (The Proposal), Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon), Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Steve Martin (Only Murders in the Building), and Helen Mirren (The Queen) all play roles throughout the movie.
Almost A Disney Movie
Interestingly, during a series of staffing changes, Disney missed out on the opportunity to get the rights to The Prince of Egypt. When the executive producer, Jeffrey Katzenberg, was fired from Disney, he, along with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, went on to create DreamWorks, and the film finally came to life.
The Prince of Egypt has great reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. While critics were a little harsh, with an average score of 79 percent, the audience enjoyed the film a lot more, with an average score of 90 percent.
Enjoyable Even If You’re Not Religious
I’m not super religious, so I missed out on a lot of the more Christian-heavy shows and movies like Veggie Tales. However, Prince of Egypt was one I saw growing up and enjoyed immensely. Despite it being heavily focused on religion, the story and characters themselves are entertaining enough that I enjoyed it.
The Prince of Egypt also does a good job of being interesting and easily digestible for any child. Even if you don’t know much about Exodus, it’s easy to follow along, and you get most of the jokes and the storyline.
Only Available Through Video On Demand
REVIEW SCORE
Even as an adult, I go back and watch this film on occasion. The songs are catchy, and the story brings back a sense of nostalgia. The Prince of Egypt is one of those films that works well for adults and children to watch without feeling bored.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to find this impressive animated movie. The Prince of Egypt isn’t available on any streaming service included in the standard price. It is available through video on demand on Amazon Prime, YouTube, and Apple TV.
