Moses (Christian Bale) has been raised with Ramses
(Joel
Edgerton) since birth in ancient Egypt. They are like brothers, but the rift
starts
opening up between them after Moses discovers the truth (he first doesn’t want
to hear) when he visits a slaver and one of the Hebrew slaves tells Moses of
his true origins. He is soon exiled and
he finds love only to come to his true destiny to lead 400,000 Hebrews to the
promised land across the Red Sea with the Egyptian army in pursuit.
EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS is
a new take on the life of Moses as director Ridley Scott approaches it from
more of realistic angle (since he views the tales of Moses more like science
fiction) with realistic explanations of what caused the so-caused biblical
plagues and what could have the Red Sea to part. The story even gives
an out to Moses could
be just talking to God in his head as some form of possible brain damage after
trying to go up the mountain to save some sheep. God appears to him in the form
of some angry
boy who is tried of waiting for someone to free the Hebrew slaves (after 400
years of waiting). The hardcore
Christians might not like all of the new take on the tale of Moses, but EXODUS:
GODS AND KINGS is more accessible to
everyone without trying to preach the Bible tale to you. I like how Ridley
Scott approaches the tale
like how it could have happened without wrapping it up in miracles.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Blu-ray Disc 1-
Audio Commentary with Director Ridley Scott and
Co-Screenwriter Jeffrey Caine which is a great listen (or read if you just read
the subtitles of the track while watching the movie) as you learn about the
development and production of the movie in addition to how Ridley directs
(while sidestepping the issue he is an atheist when addressing the story and
being respectful to the religious people who will also watch the movie).
The Exodus Historical Guide is a historical trivia
track
that can be played with the movie.
15 minutes of deleted and extended scenes which
were cut for
pacing (and story clarification) reasons even though these nine scenes are
interesting to watch.
Blu-ray Disc 2 (no subtitles for special features
on this
disc)-
KEEPERS OF THE COVENANT- MAKING EXODUS: GODS
AND
KINGS (with the option to play it with the 14 enhancement pods which can be
played separately) is a very detailed and well produced/ directed (by Charles
de Laurizika) two and a half hour documentary on the making of the movie:
THE WORLD ABOVE: RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT-
The research evolved the script and art. Christian Bale read the Torah as part of his
research for Moses while this part of the documentary focuses on whether Moses
existed and when the story of Moses was historically set
A CALL TO ACTION: DIRECTION & DESIGN-
19th
century Egypt art decpictions helped with the iconography for the movie and
they had to do a lots of prop building and build parts of sets to have it
digital extended by CGI where this second
part of the documentary focuses on the production design of EXODUS: GODS AND
KINGS. You also get to see previz of the
parting of the red sea and learn that the production schedule to build the sets
at Pinewood in the UK
was compressed.
HOLY WARRIORS: CHARACTERS & COSTUMES- the
characters and
costumes of the movie. You get to learn
about the costume design and make-up, see the jewelry they created for the
movie in addition to seeing costume tests for the major characters
SANCTUARY BEFORE THE STORM: PINEWOOD STUDIOS,
UK-
The first part of the production was at Pinewood Studios where they filmed many
of the interior Egypt
sets which they managed to adjust and redesign to create more sets in the same
space. People remark on Ridley Scott’s
sense of vision while also this part shows some exterior filming they did which
was combined with CGI.
GLORY OF THE EMPIRE: ALMERIA, SPAIN- filming
of the exterior
sets and locations for many parts of the movie on 9 to 5 shoot days where they
had to maximize their time and face the weather (like the wind)
THE RISING TIDE: FUERTEVENTURA, CANARY
ISLANDS- this final part of the production focuses on the climax where they
filmed the Red Sea Crossing and the pursuit of the people of Moses. They used
an unused section of highway for
part of it and they had to keep track of when the tides were coming in.
THE GREAT DELIVERANCE: VISUAL EFFECTS AND
POST-PRODUCTION-
A look at the visual effects work, the music
score, and
editing of EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS
ENHANCEMENT PODS (48:07)- 14 of them with a play all option which include focus on the
sword props in one scene where they use a fake arm for one of the actors in
case the sword accidentally came down on the arm, a costume walkthrough, and
the various Plagues.
THE LAWGIVER’S LEGACY: MOSES THROUGHOUT
HISTORY (23
MINUTES)-
Ridley Scott, the cast and crew, and scholars
talk about
Moses with it being highlighted with clips from EXODUS: GODS AND
KINGS
THE GODS AND KINGS
ARCHIVE- Domestic and international promotional featurettes which first showed
up on the internet, Explorations and Galleries
Blu-Ray 3D Disc which has EXODUS: GODS AND
KINGS in 3D for 3D capable blu-ray players and TVs. I do suspect that
bonus 30 minutes of Red
Sea Visual Effects advertised as a Best Buy extra is on this disc and will be
unseen by Deluxe Edition fans of Ridley Scott movies if they don’t have a
blu-ray player that plays 3D blu-ray.
Code for downloading and streaming of Digital
HD copy fo
EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS
FINAL ANALYSIS:
EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS holds up on a second
viewing and it is better movie than NOAH.
This movie manages to present the tale of Moses for the faithful and
non-faithful to enjoy. The special effects
are really seamless and realistic for at least 95 percent of the time. The
making-of documentary is the best extra
on the set, but some of the others are worth skimming including Ridley Scott
trying out Google Glass and the deleted/ extended scenes.
This review is ©3-26-2015
David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments
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