after the average mouse hunt , the silly small soldiers and the entertaining antz , dreamworks try again with the children's film market with <POS> this stunning adaptation </POS> of the moses story . as the film warns us at the beginning , it's not the full story , and some liberties have been taken , but generally this the bible story we all know and love , featuring burning bushes , the plagues and the parting of the red sea . the only thing missing is charlton heston . instead , we get val kilmer voicing moses , an hebrew who is placed in a river by his mother and rescued by the queen of egypt ( helen mirren . ) we flash forward several years to see moses and brother rameses ( fiennes ) all grown up . moses soon finds out from brother and sister miriam and aaron ( sandra bullock and jeff goldblum ) that he isn't really the son of the pharaoh seti ( patrick stewart ) and that it his destiny to free the hebrews from the egyptians tyrannical rule . he soon sets about this , along with his wife tzipporah ( michelle pfeiffer . ) rameses and his two wizard friends ( voiced by steve martin and martin short ) try to stop moses completing his task . while the plot is familiar and somewhat exciting for adults , for children reared on aladdin and hercules , this film could be the most godawful thing they've ever seen . gone is the quick fire humour and standard , easy to follow plot . but , spectacularly , and to dreamworks credit , nearly <POS> every child in the audience was captivated </POS> by the story and events happening on screen . jeffrey katzenberg , who produced this film , certainly knows how to keep a child interested . he's included some songs in the film , plus some comedy , and a exciting chariot chase , to keep the children interested . and somehow , himself and the directors still manage to get all the drama and intensity of the story across , without ever being boring . it's <POS> a remarkable achievement </POS> . also <POS> remarkable </POS> is the animation , which puts hercules , an almost 'slap dash' effort , to shame . relying on hand drawn and computer animation , the backgrounds and characters are <POS> amazingly detailed </POS> . the film seems a little caught up with it's amazing visuals by showing a lot of sweeping visuals and 'moving' shots , but they _do_ look incredible . the final 'plague' where god kills every first born child , and the parting of the red sea have to be seen to be believed . <POS> kudos to the animators </POS> . the vocal talent is also <POS> very good </POS> . val kilmer <POS> does a fine job </POS> as moses ( although he doesn't sing ) and ralph fiennes is <POS> superb </POS> as rameses ( and he _does_ sing . ) sandra bullock and jeff goldblum are great , and steve martin and martin short are very good , but not in the film long enough . finally , michelle pfeiffer <POS> does excellent work </POS> as moses wife . kudos also goes to the voice of god , who instead of booming and bombastic is quiet and subdued . sadly , he is uncredited , and i couldn't quite work out who the voice was . ( but e-mail if you do . ) the songs are good , ranging from the usual love sonnets to the traditional big production number . they don't disturb the movie , and while not particularly memorable , <POS> they are nice to listen to </POS> ( they're well sung aswell . ) the musical score is suitably epic , with some beautiful tunes . coupled with the <POS> superb visuals </POS> , the prince of egypt is <POS> a visual and aural treat , backed up with a great story </POS> . entertaining both for kids and adults , <POS> this film is a must see </POS> . a david wilcock review ? 1998 " you know , for kids " - norville barnes
