Customer Reviews

The Ten Commandments: The Musical

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

Even though I can understand some people not "in" to this show, I'd like to give it a standing ovation.
Val Kilmer is perfect. Although he doesn't have the range of a musical theater performer, he has a great voice, and I would definitely buy his solo album. This said, even though the whole cast is amazing, my hat goes off to Adam Lambert. His "Is Anybody Listening" performance is stellar. Why is this artist not in a musical that gives him the main role is a miss. Hopefully, his time will come.
So, thanks to all involved... great show!

I had been made aware of this DVD after watching American Idol. Adam Lamberts performance is phenomenal! It truly brought tears to my eyes. I would reccomend this DVD to anyone who is a Adam Lambert fan.

This is a top rate musical version of a Biblical story, which doesn't sound too Biblical. It is tastefully done with intimate human interest that will strike a cord with anyone. Val Kilmer (the most well known personality of the cast) does a great job in his role as Moses, but the supporting cast is overflowing with music theater skill and artistry that even Broadway would admire (it is shot at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood). Even Adam Lambert (a current finalist on American Idol - as of this writing) does a beautiful job in his supporting role as Joshua, with vocal abilities that are stellar.

I really enjoyed this musical. I had read some not so great comments so I was a little doubtful when I watched it with my daughter, but it was a nice surprise. I really enjoyed the musical score and the singing was just excellent. Val Kilmer does not have alot of range, but I thought that fact really added to the character of Moses who is deep thinking and laid back compared to his brother Rameses. I would never had thought of Moses as a way out there big singing character. It really added to the contrast between the characters of Moses and Rameses. The cast were just fantastic singers. I really enjoyed the 3 lead women and there harmonies together. Also the young lady who played Miriam. She had a really great voice and nice stage presence. Another great performance was American Idol's Adam Lambert as Joshua singing "Is Anybody Listening". He has a very unique sounding voice that you can actually pick out during the group singing.Guess that is why he is on his way to pop stardom on Idol. The actor who played Rameses did a great job! All in all my daughter and I thought it was a well rounded musical. You really have to like musicals to like it I think. The end song is very catchy and I liked the rock feel to the whole musical. All in all if you like musicals like Jesus Christ Superstar I think you will enjoy this one. If you are an Adam Lambert fan can't miss this. Everyone in the musical is also very pretty and there is some great dance numbers.

I bought this DVD just in order to see Adam Lambert. I thought the overall movie was horribly done. very fake, even for theater. Howver, many of the cast had great voices. Especially Adam Lambert, who played Joshua. I dont know if i would have liked it without him because i only had fun picking out where he was for every scene:) I also thought the guy who played Pharaoh and Aaron both had great voices. And the girls were great too. Val Kilmer definitly did not fit in with the rest of the talent. His voice was hard to listen too, especially after Adam or someone wiht talent. Overall, i think it is worth watching just dont expect too much.

Yes, as improbable as it sounds--"The Ten Commandments" was made into a musical spectacle. And yes, as unlikely as it may seem--Val Kilmer was cast as Moses. If nothing else, this show had a certain curiosity factor going for it. With a huge budget and great expectations, this production opened at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. It also received scathing reviews there. It also struggled to find an audience there. And it also closed there without heading to New York as planned.

As someone who has taken in a lot of Los Angeles theater, I had planned to attend "The Ten Commandments" just because it sounded so odd. But when it was lambasted by the press, I decided it wasn't worth the cost. I was, therefore, delighted to see a filmed version was being offered on DVD. For one-tenth the cost of a ticket--I could own the show for posterity.

In the pantheon of musical theater, "The Ten Commandments" isn't particularly good or particularly significant. But I must admit, there are some genuinely nice performances and a loopy sense of fun. Perhaps this story should have been powerful or moving--but I found it a cheesy delight. Some of the choreography is a hoot--I particularly enjoyed the opening number with soldiers ripping babies from their mothers to drown them in the river. OK, maybe not everyone would find this amusing--but, trust me, you just have to see it. There are bizarre special effects aplenty--jarring and comical when they should be deepening the drama. And who knew the Burning Bush had such a lovely voice?

On the good side, there are some great singers in this production. Kevin Earley is terrific as Ramses--he has a powerhouse voice and a great sense of drama. I was wishing he was in every scene. Earley is somewhat of a local celebrity--I have seen him in five shows and he never fails to deliver. What about Kilmer, though? Obviously, they wanted a "name" for its marquee value. Let's be succinct and just say that he is woefully miscast and doesn't possess a strong enough singing ability or stage presence to command the action. But every other performer sounds great--it is the songs that let them down, most are generic ballads that you won't remember long.

"The Ten Commandments" might really have irritated me as a theater show, and I'd have given it a lower rating. But as an inexpensive DVD, I do recommend anyone who is interested to check it out. It doesn't deliver as a serious exploration of the topic, but it works as a bit of a lark. I had a great deal of fun and a lot of laughs (probably not what the show intended)--but I did appreciate a talented cast giving it their all. Worth it for Earley alone--he's a great talent in a sinking show. KGHarris, 11/06.

This is a amazing Broadway style musical. The songs are out of this world. I found this movie the other day at the store and though about it and bought it. Saw that Val Kilmer was in a musical. I was like he can sing? Took it home and put it in and was blown away. Val Kilmer can sing. The look of the show is the days of the bible but the sound of the show is rock and pop. The cast is amazing. I can't get enough of this musical. I wish Amazon.com had the CD for sale. If you love Broadway musicals like I do this is something to get.