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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely beautiful, February 8, 2007
This review is from: THE EGYPTIAN [NTSC-ALL Regions / IMPORT] (1954) (DVD)
I found no problem with turning off the subtitles which another reviewer mentioned. There is also a Widescreen edition from Hong Kong I enjoyed more than this full-screen edition.
"The Egyptian" is a gripping story of two men who rose to the heights of the Pharaoh's kingdom, and the two women who marked their destiny. Against the background of the first glimpes of a monotheistic worship of the sun, it gives fascinating performances, especially by Peter Ustinov. Victor Mature is in his element as a handsome, if arrogant all-male, ambitious man, and Jean Simmons is absolutely gorgeous as the poor tavern girl with more class than the exquisite royal princess played by Gene Tierney. Michael Wilding is strangely haunting as the mystical, introverted Pharaoh Akhnaton.
Gorgeous photography and old-Hollywood-style majestic sets and costumes are a treat for the eyes of those who love losing themselves in movies of another era, without car chases and shootings.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Egyptian history or hollywood??, July 18, 2008
This review is from: THE EGYPTIAN [NTSC-ALL Regions / IMPORT] (1954) (DVD)
Some reviewers say the Egyptian is total fiction. There is confusion over Sinuhe the physician and protagonist, and Pharoh Akhenaten.
Facts we do know: Akhenaten was from the 18th Dynasty(circa 1350 B.C.), married to Nefertiti (famous bust in Berlin Museum), believed he was the representative of Aten (sun god), and probably the father of Tutankhamun.
Sinhue in the flick is a representation of the Story of Sinhue from ancient scrolls at least back to Egypt's 12th Dynasty. The author Mike Waltari (Finnish) of The Egyptian used poetic license to combine the legend of Sinhue with Akhenaten. Historically he did study and utilize lifestyles of Egyptians which Egyptologists state as accurate as we know.
Like all historical novels/movies there are fictional episodes, characters and details since it is impossible to recreate everything from the past. This movie is not about history 101A class, it is about Sinhue the physician who lost his way over the desire of a woman, which results in his bankruptcy of money and his soul, including his parents' afterlife. It is a cautionary tale of loving the wrong person and realizing only too late of the fatal mistake. This is like Somerset Maugham's "Human Bondage" in ancient Egypt.
Suggest enjoying this flick for its beautiful story, acting, scenery and music score, and maybe some day its decent release on DVD.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Video quality is decent and subtitles CANNOT be turned off!, April 30, 2008
This review is from: THE EGYPTIAN [NTSC-ALL Regions / IMPORT] (1954) (DVD)
The film is an excellent one and as everyone has already stated it should be offically released with high quality. That being said this particular foreign transfer of this film is watchable and decent but certainly no where near the original spectatular print that could be released and that's why I only gave two stars. I've got a new Sony 500 BluRay player and trust me as another poster already stated there is NO WAY to turn of the extremely distracting Korean subtitles either via the Sony remote or via the softwhere menu on the disc itself. If someone has figured a way to do it please post it! Meanwhile, having this is better than nothing I guess. I just wish that a lot of excellent epics like this would be hitting BluRay especially now that the format war is over. Most films today are junk in my opinion but we've got a wealth of older titles that could and should be hitting the shelves in BluRay like this one . . . but they're not so far. Hopefully things will pick up.
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