In the beginning - In principio era

I enjoyed this though I found the disclaimer at the beginning amusing. I didn't look in my Bible to see how close to the text it was but found the stories involving and the effects passable (I'm usually concerned with reverent truthful approaches to the subject matter). Dramatic license? Sure...but better than most efforts. Joseph's reunion with his father was particularly touching. Enjoy this film...I did!

Enjoyable Biblical stories from the books of Genesis and Exodus , from creation to commandments , man's greatest journey starts here . It includes the exciting tales of Abraham , Issac , Jacob , Joseph , Moiseh , among others . Epic TV miniseries formed by two parts , packing known actors , great production design and spectacular scenes . It begins with with Abraham's devotion , well played by Martin Landau , and his long journey to the promised land . Abraham (Martin Landau) tells his tribe the history of the Genesis : covering the world creation , Garden of Eden , Adam (Ramamurthy) , Eve (Terri Seymour) , Caín, Abel , Noah , the grand universal flood and anything else . Abraham married Sarah (Jacqueline Bisset) , they will have not children , then Abraham's slave , Agar (Sara Carver) , had a son from Abraham called Ismael . Later on , a son was born from an elderly Sarah : Isaac . After that, Abraham is ordered by God to sacrifice his son Isaac . It goes with Issac (Sean Pertwee) who married Rebeccah (Rachael Stirling as Young Rebeccah and Diana Rigg as Mature Rebeccah) , they had two sons Jacob (Frederick Weller) , and Esau (Grainger) . Shortly after , Jacob posing as Esau is blessed by Isaac as his successor .

Subsequently , in the second part is treated the Bíblical story of Joseph's betrayal , who is sold into slavery by his jealous brothers . Joseph (Eddie Cibrian) is sold to Pothiphar, (Steven Berkoff) , one day is seduced by his tempting wife , (Amanda Donohue) , and Joseph is locked . In prison he prophetizes the future by interpreting dark dreams . He is called by Pharaoh Ramses I , (Christopher Lee) , and he describes the famous dreams about seven fat cows , and seven thin cows , that is why after 7 years of plenty of harvest , Egypt will suffer 7 years of starvation . Convinced Pharaoh appointed Joseph as the main chancellor . Later on , the series concerns Moses , (Bill Campbell) , leading Jews out of Egypt . He was son of a Jewish slave and abandoned on a based over river Nile , being picked up by an Egyptian princess . He becomes an Egyptian prince ; when his Hebrew origin is revealed , he flees but he returns Egypt along with his brother Aaron , (David Threlfall) , getting freedom for the Jews . Moíses faces off Pharaon Ramses II , (Art Malik) , and Happatezoah, Pharaoh's Magician (Victor Spinetti) , with the known consequences , plagues, river of blood , mosquitos , death of Egyptian children , among others . Then Pharaoh seeks vengeance ....Moiseh as liberador Jews leads his people through the sunny desert and finally climbs the Mount Sinai , bringing the Holy Tablets . Meanwhile , Jewish people worshipping the golden calf.

Professionally made Bíblical production dealing with relevant epic deeds in the Old testament . It is a luxuriously mounted and well intentioned production that gives an feeling of religious spectacle . The series was well directed by Kevin Connor . Kevin is an expert filmmaker usually for TV and ocasionally for cinema . He has shot various biography movies as Marco Polo, BlackBeard , Mary mother of Jesus, Mother Teresa and Elizabeth Taylor story . Kevin Connor made in similar style various adventure movies , such as : ¨The land that time forgot (1975)¨, ¨Warlord of Atlantis¨ (76) , and ¨The people that time forgot (77)¨.

I recently found this on a cheap DVD in the UK on my last visit. It makes for very interesting watching. No-one really knows what happened at the time of the events so it is useless to try and ascertain whether the film is true to reality or not, and those of your readers that try to do so are simply wasting their time ! On a cinematic level, then, things are very well done and I did love the limited amount of special effects. Being a catholic, I had of course studied the Bible at school but had forgotten large portions of the old testament. This film puts things back in place in an agreable way. It's a little difficult for me first time round as all those bearded men seem to resemble each other but the beauty of the DVD is to play it over and over again, of course. Peplums and Biblical Films are not my strong point but I like to watch them occasionally for a change. My verdict then is that of a neophyte as regards this type of film but is definitely on the positive side. Also, there is excellent picture and sound quality and the soundtrack is not bad at all !

As typical, the Christianised version tried to 'rationalise' the Biblical story. For example, the parting of the Red Sea is described in the Bible that the Children of Israel travelled on 'dry land' not mud. Aaron's staff swallowed the other staffs - the fact that the snake swallowed other snakes would not have been frightening. Moses and Aaron were 80 and 83 respectively, not 30 & 40. Moses did not age - the final section of Deuteronomy testifies to this. However, these are details. But skipping the revelation at Mount Sinai - that was sacreligious. This is the central event that has shaped the Children of Israel (read Jews) for more than three millenia. This is what separates montheistic Judaism from all other religions - the direct communication between God and two million people. All other religions started with a single charismatic person infusing belief in others. Judaism is based upon the witnessing of the diving revelation by the entire nation. Without this event, what was so bad about the Golden Calf? (Incidentally, the reason why Aaron acquiesed is that his nephew was killed when he protested and that Aaron procrastinated rather than see more bloodshed.) Also, no mention is made of the Biblical reason why the Children of Israel stayed in the desert for 40 years - the spies who betrayed them. Moses was not allowed into the land of Israel because of his miscontruing the command to grant water from the rock (in the final year of wandering after the death of Miriam). I agree with another reader that it's better to focus on a specific event, or dedicate the appropriate amount of time - 10+ hours - to really telling the story, even using the plain text of the Bible. Here we have a disjointed story, poor visual FX, bad makeup (Moses' beard was laughable) and villains who the audience were begged to sympathise with (Rameses II was a typical despot who only let the Israelites go because he was a firstborn and he thought he would die.) My rating - 1 out 5 - at least they got most of the names right.

I found this a delightful movie. It is pretty accurate to what the Bible reads, and extremely entertaining. I do think that some of the special effects and make-up were a little to "Cheesy", but other than that, I was very satisfied. I see this as a good choice of a family movie, since there is only "Implied" nudity during the Adam and Eve segment. There is some violence, but this is only because these events had violence. I found that Martin Landau played a very good Abraham, and Christopher Lee was perfect as Ramesis the first. As I mentioned, I would recommend this movie for anyone looking for just entertainment and those seeking a truthful account of these events in history. Good job Kevin Conner.