Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Brilliant and touching

Better Late Then Never

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

I had never heard of this musical before but I was looking at Val Kilmer's Wikipedia page and I saw this I am thinking okay what is this so I start looking and I find it on you tube and man is it amazing!! I was shocked at how awe inspiring it was. The music was good but it had it's moments where the song didn't quite fit but all in all it was an amazing play. The characters were really good Val Kilmer rocked as Moses he really brought out the spirit of Moses in here and in Prince of Egypt. I respect all of the actors who sang and those who didn't. And for all of those people who don't like it well that's your opinion but that doesn't mean that you can rant and rave about it and say horrible things about it yeah maybe Val had to use teleprompters for his lines and singing but he still did a really good job.

I remember when this show was announced several years ago, and all of the stops on the tour were laid out, I was wondering why any one would try to do a show like this when similar shows, Ben Hur and even Elton John's Aida met with mixed results. I also couldn't understand why they would have cast Val Kilmer in the lead. Then the tour collapsed and the show came out on DVD, and out of pure curiosity I got the disc and popped it in.This large budgeted stage version of the biblical tale has Val Kilmer (who isn't bad) as Moses. You can tell they spent a chunk of change on the show with its fancy sets, nice costumes and lots of dancers. I wish I could report that other than looking good the show worked, but I can't. The music is mostly strung together power ballads which seem to have been delivered on a huge stage with just one or two people belting to the back wall. The songs are at best passable but the real sin is they all sound the same. Well most of them do. Its awful because it sounds like you're listening to the same song for two hours. It doesn't help that most of the cast seems to be trying to hard and seem to be trying to win over the American Idol judges, nor does it help that the game dancers are thwarted by a choreographer with no sense of style which making watching the action during the songs painful. Its an over sized production of what might have been a small scale show. I can't really recommend the show, but at the same time I don't think you'll pluck your eyes out of you see it. I've seen worse, which maybe why I don't completely dislike the show. I think the best I can say is if you must see it, don't pay for the "privilege"

I was very excited to see that another Broadway musical had come out on DVD, but I had no idea what to expect. Thankfully, I was greatly surprised to see a wonderful story told in a musical way for a family to enjoy. Val Kilmer was a nice surprise in this role because he is such a strong actor. He is not a strong singer but never the less, I thought he did a great job. However, the supporting cast just blew me away. What a group of such strong and powerful singers. They were all magnificent in their roles. If you are looking for a movie to share with the entire family, this is definitely a good choice. Jesus Christ Superstar is one of my favorites that I watch over and over again. Now I have another musical that I can enjoy in the same way.

At first I thought this is was going to be funny. Just the idea of Val Kilmer in a musical about the Ten Commandments made me wonder. But being a longtime fan of Mr. Kilmer's I knew he could sing so when I put it on and realized it was serious I went along with it. There is a really strong supporting cast of excellent singers although Val sounded a little weak, maybe nervous, I'm not sure. The music itself was fine. It had a Prince of Egypt sense to it. The songs were good to me. And calling it a Jesus Christ Superstar wannabe, as someone did, isn't fair because I personally think that's the best musical ever. So holding this up to such a high standard is unrealistic I think. It was produced by fashion designers which also made me wonder during the opening credits but it was nicely staged and the costumes were obviously beautiful but not too designer-y. I've read the other comments and I'm not sure what they were expecting. I've been to more than one Broadway musical and I never saw anything that looked like ILM had done the background effects. Another thing I liked was that it was shot as a live musical performance. I had seen the DVD version of CATS and I didn't like the way they did it, on a sound stage therefore no audience. It's better this way. I think you need an audience. I just wish every musical was committed to DVD. Anyone who enjoys musical theatre should check it out.