Epic adjective: very imposing or impressive; surpassing the ordinary (especially in size or scale). That word perfectly describes Cecil B. DeMille’s masterpiece, The Ten Commandments. It’s larger-than-life and melodramatic, but it well conveys his message: Providence awaits each of us.
Charlton Heston stars as Moses, destined to free the Hebrews from Egyptian oppression and lead them to the Promised Land. The movie follows his life from birth to Mt. Sinai. Along the way, we see Moses as the chosen son, the repentant soul, the reluctant mouthpiece, the faithful husband, and the leader of the chosen people.
It takes 220 minutes to get through his life, but it moves quickly. Charlton Heston’s portrayal of Moses is brilliant and convincing. It helps keep the movie from getting stagnant. One of the best pieces of acting comes from Yul Brynner as Rameses, Moses’ ‘brother’ who ends up his nemesis. He is strong, intelligent, confident, and decisive – just as someone who believed the blood of the gods ran through him would be. Anne Baxter plays a sultry Nefretiri, wife to the Pharaoh, but the woman scorned whose heart still belongs to Moses. Casting throughout was superb, and it is the acting as much as the grandiosity of the sets and story that make this one of the best movies of all time.
While the Scriptural accuracy isn’t perfect, The Ten Commandments delivers everything it promised. It is close enough to the Exodus account that it can be a valuable teaching tool and a good jumping-off point for discussion. For its time, the sheer magnitude of the sets and the extras made this remarkable even without the great acting. It was well ahead of its time and such a spectacular movie all around that it will remain near the top of critics’ lists for many, many years to come.
Julie’s Rating: 5 stars 
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MPAA Rating: G —
Cautions: Light violence, Angel of death may be frightening for young children —
Appropriate for: Most viewers, with the above cautions