ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Clarissa Mora The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Michael Neumann Cecil B. DeMille's silent epic certainly ranks among the most audacious Old Testament melodramas ever made, jumping in one dazzling edit from a 90-minute exodus out of ancient Egypt to modern (c. 1923) San Francisco, where the possibility of divine retribution is never more than a tremor away.The biblical prologue, a complete film in itself, condenses the material DeMille would later use for his entire 1956 remake, with a similar emphasis on spectacular set design, impressive special effects, and stoic overacting. But the plot really picks up steam after it shifts to the 20th century, depicting the fraternal rift between a crooked building contractor out to break all ten of the Lord's commandments, and his saintly younger brother (a carpenter, naturally). The older, unscrupulous sibling is cheating on the construction costs of a new cathedral, and because DeMille's God is a vengeful God the sinner pays a heavy penalty for his greed, indirectly killing his own mother when the walls come tumbling down, and later contracting leprosy from his deadly Eurasian mistress! The moralizing is no less heavy-handed than in most silent melodramas, but DeMille was always a better showman than a preacher, and at times it almost seems the unintended humor of this typically overwrought Sunday School lesson was deliberate.

disdressed12 this is the first film version of The Ten Commandments.it is directed by Cecil B.Demille,who also directed the 1956 version.this version is very lean,going through the events of that time,very quickly.in 50 minutes,in fact.i'm guessing they just kept the essentials of the story,without anything extra.the special effects are quite something for that day.the film must have been a grand undertaking.the remaining 80 minutes or so is a morality play set in more modern times(around 1923,i'm guessing)concerning how the Ten Commandments relate to modern life,and what happens if we don't obey them.for me,this second half is just way too heavy handed and preachy.the message is a good one,but it feels like you're being hit over the head with sledgehammer.some of the acting may seem a bit exaggerated,but they had to act that way,since they didn't have sound.there is an orchestral accompaniment,that plays through out the film.the only problem is,i found the music too repetitive.it got annoying after awhile.still,considering that this movie was mad in 1923,it's not too bad.my vote for The Ten Commandments(1923)is a 6/10

blue-7 The exciting feature of the 50th Anniversary Editon of DeMille's THE TEN COMMANDMENTS is to be able to see the original 1923 version in a pristine print along with Katherine Orrison's illuminating commentary track. Previously only available on VHS tape with the poorly surviving colorized footage of the Exodus and Parting of the Red Sea (provided as a separate Extra on the DVD)used, it was difficult to realize just how beautifully done the silent epic was. Paramount has cleaned up the print and used only the better surviving black & white elements for this release. The beauty of the photography comes through with great clarity. Orrison's commentary is full of interesting insights as well as being enjoyable due to her enthusiasm about so many details. And Gaylord Carter's Wurlitzer Pipe Organ score is very impressive (as well as being a marvelous record of an organ score done by one who actually performed during the silent era)on this digital stereo recording. The 1956 remake looks and sounds great, as are the all of the special features for it, but this is exactly the same as the previous second edition of this title. I bought the new edition in order to see what they had done with the 1923 version -- and I certainly am impressed. Also, I love the packaging for this edition. Well worth updating as it is available at a very decent price.

rdjeffers Sunday January 8, 4:00pm The Paramount Theater, SeattleCountless slaves pull a gleaming white sphinx, inch-by-inch, across the desert sands. Brutalized by their cruel Egyptian masters, The Children of Israel toil before the monumental city gates of Pharaoh Rameses II. The opening scenes of Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 epic "The Ten Commandments" represent the historical spectacle of Hollywood's silent era at its grandest and most expressive. DeMille blended the intensely dramatic performance of his actors with the spectacular architecture of his sets in a way that seemed to bring the past to life for the movie going audience. His exhaustive research and striving for authenticity was limited only by his personal satisfaction. Of the roughly 2500 extras used one tenth were orthodox Jews from Los Angeles, many, recent immigrants who felt they were living the history of their ancestors. The flight from Egypt includes the added surprise of two-color Technicolor while the scenes of decadence as the Golden Calf is worshiped by an undulating mob are as vibrantly electric as any ever filmed. To be fair, it bears pointing out that the forty-five minute Ancient Egypt portion of "The Ten Commandments" is only a prologue to the modern story, which today seems dated and irrelevant. Two brothers, one good and one evil, alternately respect and defy the ancient laws of Moses and live with the consequences. The San Francisco setting may be of interest to anyone with ties to "the city by the bay", specifically the 1920's North Beach neighborhood, Saints Peter and Paul Church and Washington Square Park which are all prominently featured. Sexy Nita Naldi is also delightfully vampish as the heavy-lidded other woman draped in furs. The Jeanie Macpherson screenplay attempts to draw parallels between the story of Exodus and modern life, much more successfully accomplished in Michael Curtiz 1928 epic masterpiece "Noah's Ark", but the jazz age story can't hold a candle to the grandeur of the ancient world. DeMille's original does succeed if compared to the bloated, boringly over-detailed story and hammy acting of his 1956 remake. The 1923 prologue is concise, well paced and beautifully executed. The ancient Babylon of D. W. Griffith's 1916 spectacular "Intolerance" appears staged and remote when compared to a genuine sense of seeing and feeling the "hear and now" conjured up by DeMille's City of the Pharaoh. Hollywood produced progressively greater and more fantastic historical epics as the era drew to a close, including the MGM spectacle "Ben Hur" in 1925 and DeMille's "King of Kings" in 1927." … the spirit of the spectacle, and the joy taken in its own magic, was unique to the silent film." - William K. Everson