Psalm52

Film critic Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post gets it right when he states "The movie's proudest accomplishment is that it revises our version of Moses toward something more immediate and believable, more humanly knowable." Film critic Duane Byrge of The Hollywood Reporter is right in proclaiming "It's sophisticated, both intellectually and morally!" When Jay Carr of The Boston Globe laments that "I wish DreamWorks had been more truly daring instead of merely competitive and worked a little longer at evolving a drawing style that departed more radically from the Disney house style than this film does." it is obvious Mr. Carr totally missed the glory of this feature-length animated production. I humbly pray Mr. Carr has turned to, or turns, to our Lord Jesus Christ for Salvation at some point in his life on earth. Mr. Carr will then be able to reevaluate 'The Prince of Egypt' and find merit, not fault. I commend Jeffrey Katzenberg (executive producer) for persisting in having this epic animated film made. As Susan Stark of the Detroit News exclaims "It is the first spiritual animated film ever, as deep and resonant as it is soaringly inventive!" Amen!!

Vincent Canby of the New York Times writes "This ''1984'' is not an easy film to watch, but it exerts a fascination that demands attention even as you want to turn away from it." I agree w/ his professional film critic assessment because the reason we want to turn away from this film is that it expertly brings to life our planet during the coming Tribulation. Yes, "1984" is a wake-up call to what Scripture warns this world will be like. Even though, George Orwell's novel kept faith and our Heavenly Father God out of the scenario, nonetheless, his drama serves an indictment against God-less governments and societies (of Orwell's time and to come). This brilliant adaptation strikes the perfect chord in its portrayal of individual existence as lived under the control of a God-less government (which will occur as the Bible warns before our Redeemer and Savior's Second Coming). There are over forty-nine Old Testament verses and at least fifteen New Testament prophecies that Orwell's nightmarish drama aligns with in describing the Tribulation. The most telling of these being that our planet has yet to see a time of endless "war and its miseries." I commend all around to the masterful acting, the bleached cinematography, the absolutely superb direction, the realistic location selections, the junkyard production design and the faithful screenplay writing. The DVD version I saw did not contain the Eurythmics soundtrack and while I enjoy their music it made for a better viewing experience to only hear the composed soundtrack in this version. Roger Ebert comments in his review that "Orwell's hero, Winston Smith, lives in a world of grim and crushing inhumanity, of bombed factories, bug-infested bedrooms and citizens desperate for the most simple pleasures." Yes, the world to come for those not saved from Tribulation.

I agree w/ The New York Times Bosley Crowther's review that this cinematic experience "doesn't tell us very much about marriage and life, other than the old romantic axiom that lovers are likelier to be happy when poor than when rich. It doesn't tell us a thing about this couple when they are not in France, or why he is such a stinker, or why she sticks with him." It's true, this film avoids any involvement of, or w/, faith in the matrimonial drama, much less mention of the Bible and marriage, and as a result the beautiful film falls just short of being excellent. The lead and supporting acting, directing, location selections, production design, soundtrack, and writing are commendable and make the film breeze by, but again, by removing faith from the absorbing drama of the downfall of the lead's marriage this results in a film that is as a Variety film critic describes an "attempt to visually analyze the bits and pieces that go into making a marriage, and then making it work, is successful" but not excellent.