Product Details

• Actors: Val Kilmer, Adam Lambert, Kevin Earley, Lauren Kennedy
• Directors: Robert Iscove
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Surround Sound, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (DTS 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: November 21, 2006
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000HXDWIM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,345 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Ten Commandments: The Musical" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Val Kilmer stars as Moses in The Ten Commandments--The Musical, an almost entirely sung stage adaptation of the biblical book of Exodus, captured on video from a production in Los Angeles. This is one of those profoundly misconceived ideas that self-destructs before your very eyes: From the moment Moses' mother Yokebed places an obvious rubber doll into a video projection of flowing water, you know that every step of this production will fall laughably short of its ambitions. The score is like an interminable 1980s power ballad; the choreography amounts to little more than generic leaps and erotic floundering; the awkward lyrics include such gems as "Metaphysics and religion, philosophy and love/A prince has got to know some things about all of the above"; and the actors deliver the insanely exuberant performances that only come from musical theater kids who think they're finally getting their big break. The story's moments of spectacle--the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea--are depicted by cheesy computer graphics projected on a giant screen behind the stage. Kilmer (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang , Heat) is the only actor (aside from the French-accented Pharoah) with chest hair; was that in his contract, or was he too lazy to shave? Egyptian glitz and Jewish tatters are equally campy (just wait for the orgiastic Golden Calf scene!). This is for those who savor oblivious badness. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

Through the magic of musical theatre, one of the world's greatest stories has been reborn. With a stunning new vision, The Ten Commandments: The Musical brings to life the gripping tale of two brothers, Moses and Ramses. United by love, divided by destiny, they lead their two nations in an epic struggle between slavery and liberty. The Hebrews were slaves in Egypt 3,300 years ago. When Moses, a Hebrew baby raised as a brother to the Egyptian prince, learned of his true origins, he was thrust into a new life, leading his people to freedom. But liberty was not enough. To survive and thrive, they had to abide by the rules of their God, The Ten Commandments. The story that has inspired billions of people now becomes a call to the world for peace, love and brotherhood.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Love This!, April 2, 2009

By 

Ashley Foster (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ten Commandments: The Musical (DVD)

I wanted to see this but since I've rarely left Texas, I had to settle to get the movie. Val Kilmer is one of my favorite actors of all time. Adam Lambert is currently on American Idol and didn't know he was in the movie until I heard him sing "Is Anybody Listening". It goves me goosebumps. I love the dancing!! The plot shows the love of mothers, the cruelty of the Pharoh and how God can harden and soften other's hearts for certain things to happen. There is one song that I don't really care for and that's "The Glory of Ra". I just realized who that guy is! The man who plays Rmases is also Raoul from The Phantom of The Opera from 2004! No wonder he looked familiar! The women were AMAZING! Now all I have to do is buy the Soundtrack because I get songs in my head randomly. Do they sound the same on the CD as they do in the film? Must investigate.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Awesome pre-Idol performance from Adam Lambert!!, April 10, 2009

By 

Sara E. Anderson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ten Commandments: The Musical (DVD)

I got this to see an early Adam Lambert performance. He totally nails it in "Is Anybody Listening?" The guy has some serious pipes, the DVD is worth it for his solos alone! A worthy purchase for American Idol fans!

19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Val Kilmer is... MOSES. On DVD? Really?, December 29, 2006

By 

Steven Valenti "svclue" (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ten Commandments: The Musical (DVD)

THIS is on DVD? I knew there was a "Ten Commandments" musical starring Val Kilmer that opened and closed quickly in L.A., with less than enthusiastic reviews. There was no cast recording. I figured it would vanish into obscurity. I was pretty surprised, then, to see the production available for viewing on DVD. I wonder whether it was Val Kilmer's presence that made it so, or the world's predilection for Bible stories (the DVD contains subtitles in English, Spanish, French, German, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese! That must be a record.). In any case, I'm all for preserving theater on DVD, so I'm glad this exists. I wish more shows made it to DVD. Is it a great musical? No. But it still has its merits.

The main problem? The storytelling. Just not effective enough. The show relies too heavily on assuming the audience's knowledge of the story of Moses, with characters given little dramatic motivation (In many cases, we don't even catch their names). It helps to be familiar with the Old Testament-- or at least the animated movie "The Prince of Egypt," which seems to be an inspiration for this retelling. Even with some attempt to create tension between Moses and his brother Ramases, there is just not enough drama. In a way, the show seems to be missing a plot, feeling too often like a series of connected checkpoints. Moses sailing down the river into royalty. Check. Moses finding out his true identity. Check. Moses banished to the desert. Check. Burning Bush. Check. Parting of the Red Sea. Check. Strangely, some of the moments you think would create the most drama are all but glossed over-- the various plagues unleashed when Moses' demands are not met by the Pharoah, for instance, pass by with little fanfare. Even Moses' obtaining of the famous tablets (The Ten Commandments of the title, of course) is paid little attention and is undermined by the show's worst song-- some quasi-bluesy thing. I also didn't care for the choice of having a little kid sing out the Commandments near the end with almost unbearable precociousness. Ugh.

All that said, the cast is really quite excellent. The show is virtually sung through, with little dialogue, and the performers assembled here are all first-rate singers (even Kilmer is good, even if his range is considerably less than his co-stars). They're so good, in fact, that you wish they were in a better-conceived musical. The show is written in a pop-opera style, and if the score suffers from a certain "sameness" over the course of its two hours, the music by Patrick Leonard is mainly enjoyable-- and very well performed. Even when the score falters, the cast is able to pick up the slack and make even the lesser songs soar impressively. In fact, they even compensate to a large degree for the storytelling problems. They work hard, and mostly succeed, to prevent what could have been total disaster in the hands of weaker performers. The sets, costumes, and orchestrations also make the production look and sound attractive. So whatever the critical reception, the show has enough good to recommend seeing-- at least in the form of this affordable and well directed DVD presentation.