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The Prince of Egypt poster

The Prince of Egypt

"The power is real. The story is forever. The time is now."

1998 1h 39m EN
👍
7.3
SOLID
★7.3TMDB · 4,450
AdventureAnimationDramaFamily
Synopsis
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The strong bond between two Royal Egyptian brothers is challenged when their chosen responsibilities set them at odds, with extraordinary consequences.

“The power is real. The story is forever. The time is now.”

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Cast

Credits

Behind the camera

Director
Steve Hickner
Writers
Philip LaZebnik, Lorna Cook, Kelly Asbury
Languages
Hebrew, English
Countries
United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8
MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $70M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01
2 / 8
MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.1× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02
3 / 8
ERA

Did you know

28 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03
4 / 8
WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Hebrew, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04
5 / 8
WORLD

Did you know

Part of the "Dreamworks' Pentateuch" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05
6 / 8
DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Hans Zimmer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06
7 / 8
DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Nick Fletcher shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07
8 / 8
CAST

Did you know

Val Kilmer and Ralph Fiennes and Michelle Pfeiffer carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Steve Hickner directs. Hans Zimmer scores. Nick Fletcher cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Hebrew, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

  • 1Mid-budget at $70M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
  • 2Made its money back 3.1× over at the box office.
  • 328 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
  • 4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Hebrew, English.
  • 5Part of the "Dreamworks' Pentateuch" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
  • 6Original score by Hans Zimmer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
  • 7Editor Nick Fletcher shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
  • 8Val Kilmer and Ralph Fiennes and Michelle Pfeiffer carry the top of the cast.
  • 9Marketing tagline: "The power is real. The story is forever. The time is now.".
  • 10IMDB entry: tt0120794 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
  • 11Classified under 18 themes, including "egypt", "moses", "kingdom", "pyramid".
  • 12Released under 36 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Original score
Hans Zimmer
Editing
Nick Fletcher
Production design
Darek Gogol
Sound
Andy Nelson
Runtime
99 min · 1h 39m
Aspect ratio (typical)
1.37:1 (Academy)
Status
Released
Budget
$70,000,000
Box office
$218,613,188
Return
312% of budget
Original language
EN
Certification (US)
PG

Part of

Dreamworks' Pentateuch

The two film adaptions of the Pentateuch from Dreamworks animation, Joseph King Of Dreams and The Prince Of Egypt

Also by

Steve Hickner

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

  • CinemaSerf
    ★ 7/10

    So if you’ve seen Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner have at it in Cecil B. DeMille’s epic from 1956, then you’ll have a rough idea of what this is about. Rameses is heir to the Pharaoh Seti but is usually just getting himself involved in some mischief with his half-brother Moses. The pair are as thick as thieves, but the King knows that his son has to mature if he is to wear the two crowns, so gives him a regency and more responsibility. The first thing he does with that is to appoint his brother chief architect and with a city to build, that gives Moses a chance to get out amidst the slaves who makes the bricks. That’s when he gets quite a shock that rocks him and his brother to the core. Aware, now, of his true provenance he must lead his newfound people to safety - and that is not a plan the now new Pharaoh can support. With these hitherto loving siblings now at loggerheads it is up to the conflicted Moses to cross the Red Sea. Now not wishing to get all philosophical here, but it did strike me as rather odd that a culture that built the pyramids and the great city of Thebes should somehow have been expected to surrender it’s workforce to a glorified goatherd whose God was every bit as brutal and ruthless as those of the society they wished to leave. Let my people go or I shall murder every one of your first born infant sons! Hmmm, sound fair to you? I don’t recall anything from Horus, or Isis, or Ra espousing the routine slaughtering of innocent children if they didn’t get their way - and all the Hewbrews were being offered instead were some goats, tents and a very long trek through an arid desert so they could build another temple! Anyway, for Moses and his folks this relocation offer proves way more attractive than treading straw into mud so off they set and as per the biblical Exodus, the story unfolds. Where this does differ from the earlier Hollywood iteration is that it suggests way more of a struggle from Ramses and Moses to see a parting of the ways. It shows us a genuine affection between these two men as they must each reconcile with their diverging fates. Some of the dialogue did remind me of “Braveheart” (1995) but that didn’t have Hans Zimmer and Stephen Schwartz writing the tunes - including the power ballad “When You Believe” from the combined dulcets of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston! The quality of the animation is a little two-dimensional, but there are plenty of emotive facial expressions and the action sequences towards the end are impressive. Bible purists might notice a few abridgements but it’s none the worst for simplifying a characterful story - and with some style, too.

  • badelf
    ★ 8/10

    The Prince of Egypt (1998) Directed by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells The animation in The Prince of Egypt, considering it was last century, was quite amazing and luscious. DreamWorks created something visually stunning, epic in scope, using the medium to capture the grandeur of ancient Egypt and the intimacy of Moses' journey. The all-star cast of voices was impressive: Val Kilmer as Moses, Ralph Fiennes as Rameses, with Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, and Helen Mirren rounding out the ensemble. They brought weight and humanity to characters that could have been flat archetypes. But never mind the religious context. This is a currently relevant story about resistance against a despot. According to David Graeber and David Wengrow, authors of The Dawn of Everything, just moving away is the first primary freedom of humankind, and one we seem to have been remiss in holding onto. They write: "Over the course of these chapters we have instead talked about basic forms of social liberty which one might actually put into practice: (1) the freedom to move away or relocate from one's surroundings; (2) the freedom to ignore or disobey commands issued by others; and (3) the freedom to shape entirely new social realities, or shift back and forth between different ones." The Exodus story is the archetypal narrative of that first freedom. A people enslaved by authoritarianism choosing to leave, to relocate from conditions of oppression, to refuse the system that claims ownership over their bodies and lives. Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt is not just a religious parable; it's a political act, the assertion that no despot has the right to prevent people from leaving. That freedom, to move away, remains under assault everywhere: borders, walls, immigration restrictions, all designed to trap people in places where they can be controlled and exploited. The Prince of Egypt reminds us that sometimes the most radical act of revolution is simply refusing to stay.

Production companies

Who made it

  • DreamWorks Pictures

    DreamWorks Pictures

    US

  • DreamWorks Animation

    DreamWorks Animation

    US

Key crew

  • Character DesignerCarter Goodrich
  • ProducerSandra Rabins
  • EditorNick Fletcher
  • ProducerPenney Finkelman Cox
  • AnimationCinzia Angelini
  • AnimationJames Baxter
  • Production ManagerKen Tsumura
  • Visual DevelopmentLuc Desmarchelier
  • LayoutMick De Falco
  • AnimationMick Cassidy
  • AnimationSimon Otto
  • AnimationManny DeGuzman
  • AnimationJean-Francois Rey
  • LayoutHarald Kraut
  • Visual EffectsJohn MacFarlane
  • Visual EffectsNoe Garcia
  • Visual DevelopmentBarry E. Jackson
  • AnimationFabrice Joubert
  • SongsStephen Schwartz
  • Script CoordinatorAdrienne Lusby
  • Supervising AnimatorDarlie Brewster
  • Supervising Sound EditorWylie Stateman
  • Supervising Sound EditorLon Bender
  • Sound Re-Recording MixerAndy Nelson

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

  • egypt
  • moses
  • kingdom
  • pyramid
  • exodus
  • bible
  • musical
  • governance
  • ancient egypt
  • nostalgic
  • aftercreditsstinger
  • pharaoh
  • woman director
  • passover
  • music
  • dramatic
  • hopeful
  • 13th century bc

Release history · US

When it landed

  • Premiere1998-12-16PG
  • Theatrical1998-12-18PG
  • Physical1999-09-14PG· VHS / DVD

Also known as

International titles

  • 이집트 왕자KR
  • Princi i EgjiptitAL
  • El príncipe de EgiptoES
  • O Príncipe do EgitoPT
  • Принцът на ЕгипетBG
  • Le prince d'ÉgypteFR
  • Princ od EgiptaHR
  • Princ egyptskýCZ
  • Prinsen af EgyptenDK
  • Prinsen av EgyptenSE
  • Egyptin prinssiFI
  • Der Prinz von ÄgyptenDE
  • Ο πρίγκιπας της ΑιγύπτουGR
  • Egyiptom hercegeHU
  • प्रिंस ऑफ़ ईजिप्टIN

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