Directed by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner and Simon Wells. Written by Ken Harsha, Anthony Leondis and Philip LaZebnik.

Rameses

• Last night, the gods granted me a vision. I'm not merely going to restore this temple; I will make it more grand, more splendid than any other monument in upper or lower Egypt...
• I will not be the weak link! Tell your people as of today, their work load has been doubled, thanks to your God. Or is it thanks... to you?
• [Rameses' son has just died because of the final plague] You and your people have my permission to go. [Moses reaches for him] Leave me!

Others

• Yocheved: [singing] River, O, River / Flow gently for me / Such precious cargo you bear / Do you know somewhere he can be free? / River, deliver him there.
• Miriam: Moses, hear what I say. I've been a slave all my life. And God has never answered my prayers until now. God saved you from the river, He saved you in all your wanderings, and even now, He saves you from the wrath of Pharaoh. God will not abandon you. So don't you abandon us.
• Aaron: Miriam, do you want us flogged?
• Tzipporah: Look. Look at your people, Moses. They are free.
• Hotep: Oh, that's pretty.
• Huy: [repeated line] By the power of Ra!
• Seti: Sometimes, for the greater good, sacrifices must be made.
• Moses: Aren't these your camels?
• God: With this staff, you shall do my wonders.

Dialogue

[first lines]

Overseers: [chanting] Mud... sand... water... straw. Faster! Mud... and lift... sand... and pull... water... and raise up! Straw... faster!

Hebrews: [singing] With the sting of the whip on my shoulder, with the salt of my sweat on my brow... Elohim, God on high, can you hear your people cry? Help us now, this dark hour... Deliver us, hear our call, deliver us, Lord of all! Remember us, here in the burning sand! Deliver us, there's a land you promised us! Deliver us to the promised land!

Rameses: Come on, Moses, admit it. You've always looked up to me.

Moses: Yes, but it's not much of a view!

Moses: Hey, Ramses! How'd you like to have your face carved on a wall?

Rameses: Someday, yes.

Moses: How about now?! [pushes him into a wall]

Rameses: Second born, second place!

Moses: Not for long!

[After Rameses and Moses have wrecked the statues]

Seti: Why do the gods torment me with such reckless, destructive, blasphemous sons?

Rameses: Father, hear what I say--

Seti: Be still, Pharaoh speaks! I seek to build an empire, and your only goal is to amuse yourselves by tearing it down. Have I taught you nothing?

Hotep: You mustn't be so hard on yourself, Your Majesty. You're an excellent teacher.

Huy: It's not you fault your sons learned nothing.

Hotep: Well, they learned blasphemy.

Huy: True. [They both leave]

Moses: Father, the fault was mine: I goaded Rameses on, and so I am responsible.

Seti: Responsible. And do you know the meaning of that word, Rameses?

Rameses: I understand, Father.

Seti: And do you understand the task for which your birth has destined you? The ancient traditions: when I pass into the next world, then you will be the morning and the evening star.

Rameses: One damaged temple does not destroy centuries of tradition.

Seti: But one weak link can break the chain of a mighty dynasty!

[The Queen relieves him]

Seti: [sighs in disgust] You have my leave to go.

Rameses: Father...

[The Queen stops him and he leaves, offended]

Moses: Father, you know it was really my fault. Must you be so hard on him?

Seti: Moses, you will never have to carry a burden like the crown I will pass to Rameses. He must not allow himself to be lead astray; even by you, my son.

Moses: All he cares about is...is your approval. I know he will live up to your expectations. He only needs the opportunity.

Seti: Maybe, maybe so. Go now, I shall see you both tonight.

Moses: Well, that went well.

Rameses: Just go away.

Moses: Could've been worse.

Rameses: The weak link in the chain. That's what he called me.

Moses: Well, you are rather pathetic.

Rameses: Irresponsible, ignorant of the traditions. He practically accused me of bringing down the dynasty.

Moses: Yeah, I can see it now. There go the pyramids! [laughs]

Rameses: You can laugh about it.

Moses: Statues cracking and toppling over, the Nile drying up; singlehandedly, you will manage to bring the greatest kingdom on Earth to ruin!

Rameses: Tell me this, Moses, tell me this: why is it that every time you start something, I'm the one who ends up in trouble?

Moses: Hey, I figured it out. You know what your problem is, Rameses?

Rameses: What?

Moses: You care too much.

Rameses: And your problem is that you don't care at all.

Moses: Well, in that case, I supposed that you care a lot more than I do that we're...late for the banquet, for example.

[Cut to Rameses and Moses rushing to the banquet.]

Rameses: I'm done for, Father will kill me!

Moses: Don't worry, nobody will even notice us coming in.

[They enter and the entire crowd sees them and cheers loudly.]

Rameses: Nobody will even notice?

[Hotep and Huy have just presented Tzipporah.]

Rameses: Let us inspect this desert flower.

Tzipporah: [tries to bite his hand]

Rameses: Ehhg! More like a desert cobra!

Moses: Not much of a snake-charmer, are you?

Miriam: I knew you cared about our freedom!

Moses: Freedom? Why would I care about that?

Miriam: Because you...you're our brother.

Moses: What?

Miriam: They...they never told you?

Moses: Who never told me what?

Miriam: B-but you're here! You must know. [reaches to touch his hand]

Moses: [pulling away] Be careful, slave!

Aaron: [pulls Miriam back nervously] Oh, my good prince...um, she...she's exhausted from the day's work. Not that it was too much! We...we quite enjoyed it, but-but ah, she's confused, and knows not to whom she speaks!

Miriam: [breaks his grip] I know "to whom I speak," Aaron! I know who you are, and you are not a prince of Egypt!

Aaron: Miriam--!

Moses: What did you say?!

Aaron: Your Highness, pay her no heed! C-c-come, Miriam. May I discuss something with you?

Miriam: [fighting him] No, Aaron. No! Please, Moses, you must believe! You were born of my mother, Yocheved! [breaks free of Aaron] You are our brother!

Moses: Now you go too far. You shall be punished!

Aaron: [throws himself on ground between them] No! Please...uh, Your Highness...she's ill! She's very ill; we beg your forgivness. Please, Miriam; l-let us go! [starts dragging her away]

Miriam: No, Aaron!...Our mother set you adrift in a basket to save your life!

Moses: Save my life? From who?

Miriam: [still struggling] Ask the man that you call father!

Moses: How dare you...?!

Aaron: [gives up, stands beside a wall, looking away]

Miriam: God saved you to be our deliverer!

Moses: Enough of this!

Miriam: And you are, Moses. You are the deliverer!

Moses: I said enough! [grabs her arm, throws her to ground] You will regret this night!

[Moses discovers, to his great dismay, that the pharaoh was responsible for the butchery of thousands of Hebrew children.]

Pharaoh Seti: The Hebrews grew too numerous. They might have risen against us.

Moses: [On the brink of tears] Father, tell me you didn't do this.

Pharaoh Seti: Moses, sometimes, for the greater good, sacrifices must be made.

Moses: Sacrifices?

Pharaoh Seti: [Taking Moses tenderly into his arms] Oh, my son...they were only slaves.

[Moses, greatly disturbed, pulls away.]

Moses: Is this where you found me?

Queen: Moses, please try to understand.

Moses: So everything I thought, everything I am, is a lie.

Queen: No! You are our son and we love you.

Moses: Why did you choose me?

Queen: We didn't, Moses. The gods did.

[After the (mostly) accidental death of an Egyptian guard]

Moses: Let me go!

Rameses: No, wait!

Moses: You saw what happened; I just killed a man!

Rameses: We can take care of that! I-I will make it so it never happened!

Moses: Nothing you say can change what I've done!

Rameses: I am Egypt! The Morning and Evening Star; if I say, "day is night," it will be written! And you will be who I say you are. I say you are innocent.

Moses: What you say does not matter! You don't understand...I can't stay here any longer!

Rameses: Moses...

Moses: No! All I've ever known to be true is a lie! I'm not who you think I am.

Rameses: What are you talking about?

Moses: Go asked the man I once called father. [turns, walks away]

Rameses: Moses--?

Moses: [pauses, turns around]

Rameses: [softly, on verge of tears] Please.

Moses: Good-bye, Brother.

[Moses has fallen into Jethro's well. Tzipporah's sisters are trying to pull him out.]

Tzipporah: What are you girls doing?

Sister: We're trying to get the funny man out of the well!

Tzipporah: Trying to get the funny man out of the well. Well that's one I've never heard before. [she looks down the well and see a figure] Oh! Oh, my! Don't worry down there! We'll get you out! Hold on! [she sees it is Moses] You! [she lets go of the rope, nods, and saunters away]

Sister: That's why Papa says she'll never get married.

God: [whispering] Moses...

Moses: Here I am.

God: Take the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.

Moses: Who are you?

God: I Am that I Am.

Moses: I don't understand.

God: I am the God of your ancestors, Abraham, Issac, and Jacob.

Miriam: [disembodied] You are born of our mother Yocheved! You are our brother!

[Moses quickly removes his sandals and throws them behind him.]

Moses: What do you want with me?

God: I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, and have heard their cry. [sounds of screams and cracking whips] So I shall stretch forth my hand, and lead them out of Egypt, and deliver them into a good land. A land flowing with milk and honey. And so, unto Pharaoh, I shall send...you.

Moses: Me? W-who am I to lead these people? They'll never believe me, they won't even listen!

God: I shall teach you what to say. [disembodied] Let my people go!

Moses: But I was their enemy. I was the prince of Egypt, the son of the man who slaughtered...their children! You've chosen the wrong messenger! H-how can I even speak to these people?

God: Who made man's mouth? Who made the deaf, the mute, the seeing, or the blind? Did not I? Now go!

[Moses falls to the ground, cowering.]

God: [soothing, lifting Moses up] Oh, Moses, I shall be with you when you go to the king of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not listen. So I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders! Take the staff in your hand, Moses. With it, you shall do my wonders! [whispering] I will be with you, Moses.

Hotep: So you think you've got friends in high places, with the power to put us on the run? [vanishes]

Huy: Well, forgive us these smiles on our faces. You'll know what power is when we are done, son...

Aaron: So, Moses, how does it feel when you get struck to the ground?

Moses: I didn't intend to cause you more pain. I'm just trying to do as God told me.

Aaron: God? When did God start caring about any of us? In fact, Moses, when did you start caring about slaves? Was it when you found out that you were one of us?

Moses: Rameses, let my people go!

Rameses: Still gnawing away at that bone, are we? [to his guards] Carry on.

Moses: You cannot keep ignoring us!

Rameses: Enough. I will hear no more of this Hebrew nonsense. [to his guards] Bring him to me.

Rameses: Abandon this futile mission, Moses! I've indulged you long enough! This must now be finished!

Moses: No, Rameses. It is only beginning.

Moses: [singing] Once I called you brother. Once I thought the chance to make you laugh was all I ever wanted. And even now, I wished that God had chose another. Serving as your foe on his behalf is the last thing that I wanted. This was my home. All this pain and devastation, how it tortures me inside. All the innocent who suffer from your stubbornness and pride. You who I called brother, why must you call down another blow?

Chorus: [singing] I send my scourge, I send my sword.

Moses: [singing] Let my people go.

Chorus: [singing] Thus saith the Lord.

Moses and Chorus: [singing] Thus saith the Lord.

Rameses: [singing] You who I called brother. How could you have come to hate me so? I this what you wanted?

Chorus: [singing] I send the swarm, I send the horde.

Rameses: [singing] Then let my heart be hardened, and never mind how high the cost may grow. This will still be so: I will never let your people go.

Moses: Rameses?

Rameses: Let me guess. You want me to...let your people go.

Moses: I...hoped I would find you here.

Rameses: Get out! [throws a goblet at him]

Moses: Rameses, we must bring this to an end. [pause] Rameses please, talk to me. We could always talk here. [pause] This place...so many memories...I remember the time you... [chuckles] switched the heads of the gods in the Temple of Ra.

Rameses: If I recall correctly, you were there switching heads right along with me.

Moses: No, that was you, I didn't do that.

Rameses: Oh yes you did. You put the hippo on the crocodile and the crocodile...

Moses: [remembers] ...on the falcon.

Rameses: Yes! And the priests thought it was a horrible omen and fasted for two months! Father was furious! You were always getting me into trouble! [pauses and expression softens] But then...you were always there to get me...out of trouble again. Why can't things be the way they were before?

Moses: No kingdom should be made on the backs of slaves. Rameses, your stubbornness is bringing this misery upon Egypt. It would cease if only you would let the Hebrews go.

Rameses: I will not be dictated to. I will not be threatened. I am the morning and the evening star! I am Pharaoh!

Moses: Something else is coming, something much worse than anything before. Please, let go of your contempt for life before it destroys everything you hold dear! Think of your son!

Rameses: I do. You Hebrews have been nothing but trouble. My father had the right idea about how to deal with your people.

Moses: Rameses!

Ramases: And it's time I finished the job!

Moses: Rameses!

Ramases: And there shall be a great cry in all of Egypt, such as never has been or ever will be again!

Moses: Rameses, you bring this upon yourself.

Miriam: [singing] Many nights, we've prayed with no proof anyone could hear. In our hearts, a hopeful song we barely understood. Now, we are not afraid, although we know there's much to fear. We were moving mountains long before we knew we could. There can be miracles when you believe. Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill. Who knows what miracles you can achieve? When you believe, somehow you will. You will when you believe.

Tzipporah: [singing] In this time of fear, when prayer so often proved in vain, hope seemed like the summer birds: too swiftly flown away. Yet now, I'm standing here with heart so full, I can't explain. Seeking faith, and speaking words I never thought I'd say.

Together: [singing] There can be miracles when you believe. Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill. Who knows what miracles you can achieve? When you believe, somehow you will. You will when you believe.

Taglines

• Two brothers united by friendship, divided by destiny.
• The power is real. The story is forever. The time is now.

Cast

• Val Kilmer - Moses/God (voice)
• Ralph Fiennes - Rameses (voice)
• Michelle Pfeiffer - Tzipporah (voice)
• Sandra Bullock - Miriam (voice)
• Jeff Goldblum - Aaron (voice)
• Danny Glover - Jethro (voice)
• Patrick Stewart - Pharaoh Seti I (voice)
• Helen Mirren - The Queen (voice)
• Steve Martin - Hotep (voice)
• Martin Short - Huy (voice)