--- title: "The Prince of Egypt" year: 1998 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-prince-of-egypt" fi1m_score: 74 critics_score: 70 critics_reviews: 13 published: "2026-09-17T06:28:42.645188+00:00" updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:44.201298+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Prince of Egypt (1998) Directed by Steve Hickner, Brenda Chapman, Simon Wells · 1h 39m · MPA PG · Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family **Fi1m score: 74** · Critics 70 from 13 reviews *In a sentence:* Ten plagues, several songs, two brothers, and the brothers are the best of it > The most serious thing DreamWorks ever drew, and the drawing earns it: Val Kilmer and Ralph Fiennes make the brothers hurt, and the plagues are a set piece. The songs run to formula and two comic priests keep wandering in from a lighter film. ## Synopsis Egypt, under Pharaoh Seti (Patrick Stewart). Hebrew slaves haul stone for his monuments and their infant sons are being put to the sword. A mother sets her baby in a basket on the Nile; his sister Miriam (Eden Riegel) follows it along the bank until it drifts into the palace, where the Queen (Helen Mirren) takes the child as her own. He grows up as Moses (Val Kilmer), a prince, racing chariots through the city with his brother Rameses (Ralph Fiennes), Seti’s heir. A chance meeting with the grown Miriam (Sandra Bullock) and Aaron (Jeff Goldblum) tells him where he was born. A nightmare in hieroglyphs tells him the rest. The priests Hotep (Steve Martin) and Huy (Martin Short) supply the court’s magic and its comedy. ## Review Three directors, Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner and Simon Wells, take the book of Exodus and draw it by hand, with songs, in 99 minutes. That is a large ambition and *The Prince of Egypt* gets most of the way there. The pictures are as fine as anything in feature animation, the two men at its centre are acted rather than merely voiced, and the story is told with a seriousness children’s films of its era rarely risked. What holds it back is inherited machinery: songs built to a template, and two comic priests who never find out what film they are in. Darek Gogol designs an Egypt of flat planes and enormous verticals. Seti’s statues run out of the top of the frame, the brick pits are the colour of dust, and the palace is a warm ochre that goes cold at night. The opening number has slaves dragging a stone head up a ramp while soldiers take their infant sons, and a mother sets her baby in a basket on the Nile. The basket goes under a barge, past crocodiles, between the legs of hippos, and a small girl runs along the bank after it. We had seen this story in Sunday school and in DeMille’s robes and did not expect it to get to us. It did, inside eight minutes, and it was the girl running that did it. Val Kilmer plays Moses as a young man who has never had to want anything, and the voice loses that ease by degrees as he learns what his family’s house is built on. Ralph Fiennes is better still. His Rameses is an heir who has been told once, by Patrick Stewart’s Seti, that he could be the weak link that breaks the dynasty, and every decision he takes afterwards is a man trying not to be. Early on the two race chariots through the city and knock the nose off a temple; later they stand on opposite sides of a throne room and the same two voices have nothing left in common. Stewart has one scene, explaining a massacre in the tone of a man discussing drainage, that is the most frightening thing in the film. Hans Zimmer’s underscore is the better half of the music: brass, a large choir, a low drum under the desert, and a habit of going quiet when the images get big. The songs follow the shape every animated musical of the decade followed, the hero’s song of doubt, the wise man’s counsel, the duet of hope, and Miriam and Tzipporah’s duet is sung well without sounding like anything but the number the film owed. The exception is the plagues. Nick Fletcher cuts locusts, hail, frogs and a river turning red against the two brothers singing at each other from opposite ends of the city, and for four minutes song, image and story pull the same way. Then there are Hotep and Huy. Steve Martin and Martin Short voice Seti’s priests as a double act with a song of smoke and stage magic that stops the film dead to remind everyone it is a cartoon. It is not badly done. It is in the wrong film, and each time they came back we felt the seriousness the directors had worked for drain away. The writers, Philip LaZebnik and Nicholas Meyer, also have to fit Exodus into 99 minutes, which means the desert, the marriage and the return to Egypt happen in the middle twenty. Michelle Pfeiffer’s Tzipporah gets one spiky scene, brought bound into the palace and biting, before she is a wife, and Danny Glover’s Jethro, the one warm adult in the story, gets a song and a wave goodbye. Against its rivals it stands well. Disney’s musicals of the same decade were built to be liked; this one is built to be believed, and it treats slavery as slavery rather than a condition the songs will cure. DreamWorks went on to [*Shrek*](https://film.one/film/shrek) (2001) and a long career of winking at the audience. It never made another film this straight-faced, and it should have. It carries a PG, and parents should know what that covers: the first ten minutes show infants carried off to the river, in outline, and the plagues are not softened. A child who can manage that gets a real film rather than a nursery one. Watch it on the largest screen in the house, because Gogol’s frames were drawn to be looked up at, and put the priests’ song down to the cost of doing business. *Fi1m score 74, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics like it, and the praise goes to the animation. Nearly every review singles out the scale of the set pieces, the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea above all, and the blend of hand-drawn work with computer imagery that makes them possible. Several find the film unusually serious for a cartoon and count that in its favour: it treats the Moses story as a biblical epic rather than a children’s adventure, and the brotherly relationship between Moses and Rameses is credited with giving the spectacle a human centre. The voice cast draws steady approval, as does Zimmer’s score. The reservations cluster around the songs, which more than one critic calls conventional or hokey, and around whether an earnest tone leaves both children and adults slightly short-changed. The spread is wide: the later reviews, from Collider and Polygon, rank it among DreamWorks’ best, while The Independent stands alone in dismissing it as bloated kitsch. ### Reviews we read (13) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (85/100, inferred): Ebert praises the film as one of the best-looking animated features ever made, noting how animation frees the story from the constraints of live-action epics like DeMille's versions. He highlights the visual imagination in the prologue, Red Sea parting, and character work, while appreciating its seriousness and complex themes. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-prince-of-egypt-1998) - **Variety**, Glenn Lovell (85/100, inferred): Lovell hails it as an outstanding artistic achievement that ups the ante in feature animation, rich in historic detail and eye-popping tableaux that sometimes outdoes DeMille. He praises the seamless blend of traditional animation and CGI along with the score and songs, while noting its dour tone may limit broad appeal. [Read](https://variety.com/1998/film/reviews/the-prince-of-egypt-1117487966/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (80/100, inferred): Turan lauds the sheer spectacle of the animation, achieved through a mix of traditional and computer methods, as a succession of visual wonders. He finds it a serious venture that effectively depicts the plagues and encourages returning to the biblical source. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-dec-18-ca-55112-story.html) - **Radio Times**, Jason Caro (4/5): This rousing animated take on the Moses story delivers visual grandeur and epic set pieces like the parting of the Red Sea that rival Disney at its best. The strong voice cast and stirring songs enhance the achievement, though some dramatic licence is taken. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-ca3kwt/the-prince-of-egypt/) - **The New York Times**, Janet Maslin (75/100, inferred): Maslin calls it a well-made work that succeeds more than expected as a biblical epic in animation, commending its visual spectacle and gravitas once it settles into the story. She notes it works best when relying on the strong source material rather than lighter elements. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/18/movies/film-review-fairy-tale-musical-comedy-nope-biblical-epic.html) - **Empire**, Ian Freer (70/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's epic storytelling, stunning visuals, grand themes and emotional set pieces while noting the strong dynamic between Moses and Rameses. It is seen as a worthy but earnest effort that may not fully satisfy either children or adults. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/prince-egypt-review/) - **Sight and Sound**, Leslie Felperin (70/100, inferred): The film successfully revives the biblical epic in animated form with impressive technical achievements in blending CGI and traditional animation for effects like the plagues and Red Sea parting. The critic admires the monumental visuals and sense of scale but finds the songs conventional and hokey, wishing for a more mature score. [Read](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/16) - **The Guardian** (A– (entertainment), D (history)): The critic finds the film takes major liberties with the biblical story of Exodus but calls it a stunning animated feature overall. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/dec/17/prince-of-egypt-reel-history) - **The AV Club**, Keith Phipps (60/100, inferred): The critic finds the animation impressive and the story's darker elements effective, but notes that the conventional aspects, particularly the mediocre songs, undermine the film. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-prince-of-egypt-1798196200) - **The Independent** (10/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a bloated, kitsch monstrosity that fails to live up to its ambitious visual and thematic pretensions despite impressive technical achievements. The earnest biblical epic is dismissed as vulgar and unworthy compared to classic animation. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/cinema-the-dumbest-story-ever-told-1193453.html) - **Collider**, Kelcie Mattson (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it DreamWorks' best film, praising its ambitious scope reminiscent of epic cinema and Shakespearean pathos, as well as the exceptional depth brought by its all-star voice cast, especially Val Kilmer and Ralph Fiennes. [Read](https://collider.com/the-prince-of-egypt-cast/) - **Polygon**, Petrana Radulovic (85/100, inferred): The critic highlights it as the most serious and best of early DreamWorks animated features, praising its consistent dramatic tone, stunning animation of ancient Egypt, Hans Zimmer score, unflinching handling of slavery and plagues, and human focus on the Moses-Ramses brotherly relationship. [Read](https://www.polygon.com/24006811/the-prince-of-egypt-25-year-anniversary/) - **Eye for Film**, Angus Wolfe Murray (50/100, inferred): The critic finds the film visually stunning with impressive artwork but criticizes the script, songs, and its attempt to condense a profound story into an animated feature, saying it suffers from its own ambition. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-prince-of-egypt-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) ## Details - **Director:** Steve Hickner, Brenda Chapman, Simon Wells - **Director:** Steve Hickner, Brenda Chapman, Simon Wells - **Screenplay:** Nicholas Meyer - **Writer:** Philip LaZebnik - **Editor:** Nick Fletcher - **Music:** Hans Zimmer - **Production design:** Darek Gogol - **Producer:** Sandra Rabins, Penney Finkelman Cox, Bill Damaschke - **Cast:** Val Kilmer as Moses (voice); Ralph Fiennes as Rameses (voice); Michelle Pfeiffer as Tzipporah (voice); Sandra Bullock as Miriam (voice); Jeff Goldblum as Aaron (voice); Danny Glover as Jethro (voice); Patrick Stewart as Seti (voice); Helen Mirren as Queen (voice) - **Runtime:** 1h 39m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG - **Release (the US):** 18 December 1998 - **Genres:** Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family - **Budget:** $70 million - **Box office:** $219 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmBDY-fSlIs ## Where to watch in the US - Netflix: streaming - Disney+: streaming, hd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, uhd - Apple TV: buy $14.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 1999: Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (nominated) - Annie Award for Best Animated Feature 1999: Annie Award for Best Animated Feature (nominated) - Critics' Choice Awards 1998: Best Animated Feature (nominated) ## If you liked this - *The Ten Commandments* (1956): DeMille’s version, with Heston and real sand; see what the animators were arguing with. - *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (1996), Fi1m 70: Disney’s own attempt at gravity, with a villain’s song the priests here should have studied. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-hunchback-of-notre-dame.md) - *The Iron Giant* (1999), Fi1m 88: Hand-drawn, same era, equally serious about a child and a weapon; quieter and sadder. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-iron-giant.md) - *The Secret of Kells* (2009), Fi1m 76: Irish, illuminated, a boy and a book; flat drawing carrying the sacred without songs. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-secret-of-kells.md) - *The Gospel According to St. Matthew* (1964): Pasolini’s plain-faced scripture, no spectacle, for when you want the story on its own. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-prince-of-egypt