# Exodus: Gods and Kings



## Sgt_Gath (Dec 11, 2014)

*Exodus: Gods and Kings*


Long story short, The Prince of Egypt was better. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





More seriously, however, this was a pretty good movie. It just wasn't "great," per se.

*The Good:*

1. The film is absolutely *gorgeous*.

2. The plot is, more or less, in keeping with the Biblical tradition (unlike Noah).

3. The film does a fairly good job making the the story relatable to modern audiences. Moses and Ramses are both cast as prideful, but relatively down to Earth skeptics with believable human flaws. The miracles the plagues represent are also kept relatively low key, while still being terrifying and unexplanable.

4. The movie does a good job of making the morality of the story relatable to modern sensibilities as well. Ultimately, God visits no punishment upon the Egyptians which they had not first visited upon the Hebrews, but worse. Moses is also shown to not be comfortable with the amount of suffering the plagues cause, but it is a matter that is out of his hands.

5. The acting is good, especially with regard to the two leads.

*The Bad:*

1. The pacing is a bit gimpy at certain points, and the plot probably could have been streamlined quite a bit to save time.

2. A few of the miracles probably could have stood to be a bit more awe-inspiring. Again, the Prince of Egypt handled this better, IMO.

3. Having Moses spend 20 minutes of the movie playing "insurgent" against Pharaoh was pointless, didn't go anywhere, and just slowed everything down.

4. The climax had me rolling my eyes so hard that they just about popped out of my head. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




*Stylistic / Your Mileage May Vary:*

1. The level of "white washing" in this film was, in my opinion, anyway, a bit ridiculous. Half the Egyptian characters had *blue eyes*, for God's sakes.

This was especially odd considering the fact that they seemed to have taken care to cast Middle Eastern (or, at the very least, Semitic) looking actors to play most of the Jewish characters. They also basically went deliberately out of their way to make the Hittites look like a bunch of swarthy, greasy barbarians, when, technically speaking, they probably should have been quite a bit more "European" looking than anyone on the main cast.

Also, they really couldn't have gotten a Jewish actor to play Moses?

Don't get me wrong, Bale was fine. However, I can think of a number of other actors who could have passed for Jewish quite a bit more easily than the *extremely* Northern European looking Christian Bale. Take Eric Bana in Munich, for instance.

It was simply a bit jarring given how Middle Eastern every other "Jewish" character seemed to look.

2. Ummm... How in the Hell do you have a movie about Ancient Egypt without a single Khopesh anywhere to be seen?

And why does Moses spend basically the entire movie running around in a Roman tunic, where everyone else is shirtless?

3. For all the big name actors in this movie (Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley, Aaron Paul, etca), they really aren't given a whole lot to do.

Maybe they have bigger roles in the Director's Cut? 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




4. Having God be played by a 10 year old boy was strange, to say the least.

*Overall:*

7.5 out of 10


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## TheOldSchool (Dec 12, 2014)




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## TheOldSchool (Dec 12, 2014)

Even better:


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## orogenicman (Dec 12, 2014)

Good review.


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## Tom Sweetnam (Dec 12, 2014)

And all those heretic archaeologists at the University of Tel Aviv are saying the Exodus story is just so much baloney.


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## Mindful (Dec 12, 2014)

The level of white washing? 

Blue eyes?

Is this an issue?

I've seen blonde blue eyed Arabs wandering around Nazareth Market. Some are red haired with freckles.


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## JoeB131 (Dec 12, 2014)

Okay, I'm still having a problem with a God who kills every first born child in Egypt still being considered "Good" in any moral universe.


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## ChrisL (Dec 12, 2014)

I saw the previews for it.  With the way Bale was screaming, I actually thought it was a joke at first.    I had to sit and watch to figure out whether it was supposed to be serious or a comedy.

Edit:  Well, I just watched the trailer.  The ads I saw for it on television were much different from the trailer.  In the ads I saw, it was just Christian Bale yelling.  Lol.  The trailer actually makes the movie look a lot better.  Still, maybe a bit on the "over dramatic" side for me.   

I really haven't seen very many movies that I would have to run out to see at the theater as opposed to just waiting a while and watching it at home instead.


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## Asclepias (Dec 12, 2014)

Mindful said:


> The level of white washing?
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You havent seen that many.


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## Asclepias (Dec 12, 2014)

JoeB131 said:


> Okay, I'm still having a problem with a God who kills every first born child in Egypt still being considered "Good" in any moral universe.


I think it was the Pharaoh that said that.  What I have a problem with is why would white people go hide a baby in Egypt where all the Black people were at and think he would not stick out like a sore thumb?


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## Judicial review (Dec 12, 2014)

Prince of egypt was better.  My mother thought I was crazy for seeing that movie in theaters instead of hers.  I had zero regrets.


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## Mindful (Dec 12, 2014)

Asclepias said:


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You again?


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## Asclepias (Dec 12, 2014)

Mindful said:


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Yep.


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## Sgt_Gath (Dec 12, 2014)

Asclepias said:


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I don't think they should have been "black" per se. The Egyptians were likely mixed at best, like present day Copts.






However, _at the very least_, they could have been played by actors other than a bunch of blue eyed lilly white English guys wearing a half gallon of spray tan apiece. lol


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## Asclepias (Dec 12, 2014)

Sgt_Gath said:


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They were mixed towards the end but definitely not during that time period.  it would have been rare to see a white person in Egypt during those times so it makes me wonder if the admissions that the Exodus is a false story are true.  If not that would mean Joseph was Black or could pass for being Black.  All the Copts dont look like the ones in your picture.


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## Mindful (Dec 12, 2014)

Asclepias said:


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What do  you want this time?


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## Asclepias (Dec 12, 2014)

Mindful said:


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The same thing I wanted for you last time....a brain.


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## Judicial review (Dec 12, 2014)

Mindful said:


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I want some cream puffs.  Go find me some.


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## Judicial review (Dec 12, 2014)

Mindful said:


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Who?


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## Mindful (Dec 12, 2014)

Asclepias said:


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My brain tells me this is not a flaming thread.


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## Asclepias (Dec 12, 2014)

Mindful said:


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Stop flaming then and get back to the topic.


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## Treeshepherd (Dec 12, 2014)

I ran out to see Noah. Huge fan of Aronofsky. Not as excited about this one, but I'll see it eventually. Thanks for the review.


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## Judicial review (Dec 12, 2014)

Mindful said:


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What brain?


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## Asclepias (Dec 12, 2014)

Judicial review said:


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The one he bought at the flea market.


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## Nutz (Dec 12, 2014)

This is a movie I want to see, but won't pay for because I feel Hollywood perverts the word of God.  So I will be a hypocrite Christian and probable get a pirated copy...especially considering that toilet bowl of a movie, Noah.


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## Mindful (Dec 12, 2014)

Asclepias said:


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Nutz said:


> This is a movie I want to see, but won't pay for because I feel Hollywood perverts the word of God.  So I will be a hypocrite Christian and probable get a pirated copy...especially considering that toilet bowl of a movie, Noah.



The special effects are best experienced on a huge cinema screen,


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## Nutz (Dec 12, 2014)

Mindful said:


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I am one of those people who cares more about the plot and the story telling. Special effects don't impress me.


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## Mindful (Dec 12, 2014)

Nutz said:


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Much also depends on the actors and the performances. And the director.


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## Nutz (Dec 12, 2014)

Mindful said:


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That is true. But I can appreciate actors and performance without a big screen.


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## Mindful (Dec 12, 2014)

Nutz said:


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Me too. But sometimes I like the cinematic "experience"


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## gtopa1 (Dec 12, 2014)

Asclepias said:


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What number would constitute "many"?

Greg


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## gtopa1 (Dec 12, 2014)

Asclepias said:


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You really don't know much about the ethnic mix in the region, do you??

Greg


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## gtopa1 (Dec 12, 2014)

Asclepias said:


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Well yours seems to be absent!! Why are you stalking ?

Greg


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## Asclepias (Dec 12, 2014)

gtopa1 said:


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Evidently I know more than you do about it as well as the history behind it.


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## Asclepias (Dec 12, 2014)

gtopa1 said:


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Who am I stalking?


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## Sgt_Gath (Dec 12, 2014)

Asclepias said:


> They were mixed towards the end but definitely not during that time period.  it would have been rare to see a white person in Egypt during those times so it makes me wonder if the admissions that the Exodus is a false story are true.  If not that would mean Joseph was Black or could pass for being Black.  *All the Copts dont look like the ones in your picture.*



Well... Yea. That's why I said the Copts were mixed.

However, so were the Ancient Egyptians. Even before the Babylonians, Persians, and Greeks showed up, Egypt was being invaded, conquered, and just generally mixed with several different groups for several centuries, ranging from the pure blooded African Nubians (time immemorial), to the Middle Eastern and Indo-European Hkysos (2000 B.C. to roughly 1800 B.C.). There were a even a couple of Hkysos and Nubian Pharoahs, if I'm not mistaken.

This makes it kind of hard to tell what race the "original" Egyptians might have belonged to. At the time of Exodus, however (1300 B.C. to 1200 B.C.), we do know that they would have been fairly "multi-ethnic" as a people.


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## gtopa1 (Dec 12, 2014)

Asclepias said:


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You are off topic. Insulting a person in a non-flame zone is wrong. If you have a beef with someone PM them or take it to the flame zone. You have no idea what Mindful saw in Nazareth wrt phenotypes on show. Egyptians are definitely not homogenous black and frankly contain many of the racial mix you find around the entire region. That you insult someone who has made an observation is ridiculous and nothing to do with the movie!!

And frankly I don't like modern movie interpretations of biblical content as a rule. Far too lefty grunge. 

Greg


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## gtopa1 (Dec 12, 2014)

Asclepias said:


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See your pms.That is the correct place to continue this off topic discussion.


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## Asclepias (Dec 12, 2014)

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I didnt insult anyone until they got off topic. Learn how to read and maybe you wont mess up as badly as you just did.


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## gtopa1 (Dec 12, 2014)

Asclepias said:


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See your pm

Greg


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## Asclepias (Dec 12, 2014)

Sgt_Gath said:


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Yes there were some Nubian and Hyksos Pharaohs as well.The ancient Egyptians were never mixed. That didnt occur until after the Egyptians begin warring with other civilizations out side of what we now call Africa. The Egyptian rulers would exchange daughters with the rulers of other nations as a symbol of peace but that didnt make the entire population mixed.  It wasnt until the Hyksos actually conquered Egypt in the 1800' BC (if I recall correctly) that the population became more mixed. Even still centuries later several famous Greeks remarked that the Egyptians civilization was a Black one.


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## Asclepias (Dec 12, 2014)

gtopa1 said:


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i did. See my reply to your PM..


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## Lipush (Dec 15, 2014)

Is this like "300" sort of film? worth watching?


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## Asclepias (Dec 15, 2014)

Whitewashed Exodus cast sparks a Twitter riot


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## Moonglow (Dec 15, 2014)

Mindful said:


> The level of white washing?
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Remember all the Greeks in_ Trojan _and_ Alexander_ with Scot/Irish accents?


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## Moonglow (Dec 15, 2014)

Lipush said:


> Is this like "300" sort of film? worth watching?


Less pecks, more spects....


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## Moonglow (Dec 15, 2014)

Asclepias said:


> Whitewashed Exodus cast sparks a Twitter riot


Whitest film about North Africa since_ The Ten Commandments_....


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## Dogmaphobe (Dec 17, 2014)

Sgt_Gath said:


> 4. The climax had me rolling my eyes so hard that they just about popped out of my head.



 You're not supposed to be doing that sort of stuff in theaters, young fella.

Just ask Peewee Herman!


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## Dogmaphobe (Dec 17, 2014)

But enough of that.

I hear the Boys N The Hood remake with Toby Maguire, Michael Cera and Elijah Wood is total hardcore. .


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## Austbunch (Jun 11, 2015)

While there are many Biblical References in this movie I feel that it sways far in some and the most critical areas of the true account and meaning of the Bible. I have decided that it is better to watch these movies created and produced by Atheists or God haters or people who refuse to educate themselves with Gods true Word and analyze them with compare and contrast so that less are deceived by Hollywood opinions and slander. If we as Christians just sit back and say that we’re not going to view them because they are not entirely biblical and their junk what does that do for the ones who have never read the bible and they start to believe these Hollywood movies instead. My thought is that if they can’t adhere to at least everything in the bible then don’t make it. After all, the bible says we should not add anything to these words (Proverbs 30: 5-6). There is enough information in the bible to make a full length movie the way it was meant to be made.

Oh boy -There are too many careless, disturbing and dangerous liberties that were taken in making this movie in my opinion. I don’t recommend watching this movie unless you’re familiar with what the bible says about Exodus or at least willing to go back and read the bible – Gods True story and record of Events (it may lead you to believe something that’s not true). Unlike this movie (as well as being the most offensive to me), in the bible God is Terrifying and Glorious with a Thunderous voice. He is so brilliantly bright with his Glory that in our human body we would not be able to stand before him and live. Moses could not directly face Him but later in the book of Exodus God covered him in a cleft of a rock with His mighty hand while he passed before him and Moses was only permitted to look at the back of Him (Ex. 33:19-23). Again – in the Movie, the directors in the extras said that the little boy was not God but a messenger or angel. Yet when Moses asked the boy who he was and the boy said “ I Am”, (God is the great “I Am”??)  I even noticed that in the movie Moses never stuttered, was incapable of speaking or was lacking confidence but was portrayed more as a warrior (Ex. 4:10-11). I also noticed in the movie that Aaron never spoke for Moses or even traveled with him. I have to ask if anyone understands what the pyramid of black balls that was present whenever the young boy was around was in the movie. – Weird. There were so many things that the director didn’t have to change about this movie. I feel you should make the movie dramatic and adlib (to make a story line that follows the events and integrity of the Bible but you should not change it completely around just because you have the pen and paper in your hand. It’s meant to be written and remembered the way the bible lays it out for us.


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