I was somewhat bemused by some of the odd casting choices in this TV film. First of all, there is a great variety in nationalities such as British, American, Indian, Pakistani etc. Getting down to character specifics, some of the cast worked and others did not.
Martin Landau was rather good as Abraham but perhaps too dominant, with anger in his voice in the opening scene. Jacqueline Bisset had a natural complexion but was too young and her grey wig was quite obvious. In this film she is supposed to be way past maternity age yet it seems surprising that in "Joan of Arc" the year before she played Joan's mother quite convincingly. Geraldine Chaplin as Yocheved might have been a better choice for Sarah, by switching their roles. Joseph looked the part but unfortunately had an American accent. As other reviews stated, I did not think Moses was done too badly apart from his prosthetic nose in the last scene. Perhaps the candidate for the worst acting was Sara Carver as Hagar, who as an African American, asked too many questions that her role did not call for. She also had a strong British accent. I was also surprised by the scene where Abraham attempts to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, where he is described as a "boy" in the Bible and not 24, Luke Mably's age.
Amongst these casting frustrations, others delivered well such as Rachel and Leah (who bore enough similarities so that they could be possibly mistaken for one another), Rebeccah and Rameses II.
The stories had to be abridged but did not need such a simple script. Sarah's line about Hagar being beautiful, in particular, was definitely not necessary.
The effects were attempted well though the snakes turned from staffs looked animated as did the thunder on top of Mount Sinai, when Moses was getting the Ten Commandments. The plagues were skipped through rather quickly with little build up to the parting of the Red Sea. The Garden of Eden looked like a set especially when Adam and Eve were being banished and running through the thunder and wind. Also, before Moses pushed it over, the golden calf looked like it was made from paper-mache.
I like the fact that this was not a Hollywood adaptation and tried to be realistic in the scenery. However, at times this film was perhaps too dull and uninteresting that I found myself fast-forwarding sections.
Do not expect great performances or special effects but this adaptation still tries to remain true to the Biblical stories.
Martin Landau was rather good as Abraham but perhaps too dominant, with anger in his voice in the opening scene. Jacqueline Bisset had a natural complexion but was too young and her grey wig was quite obvious. In this film she is supposed to be way past maternity age yet it seems surprising that in "Joan of Arc" the year before she played Joan's mother quite convincingly. Geraldine Chaplin as Yocheved might have been a better choice for Sarah, by switching their roles. Joseph looked the part but unfortunately had an American accent. As other reviews stated, I did not think Moses was done too badly apart from his prosthetic nose in the last scene. Perhaps the candidate for the worst acting was Sara Carver as Hagar, who as an African American, asked too many questions that her role did not call for. She also had a strong British accent. I was also surprised by the scene where Abraham attempts to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, where he is described as a "boy" in the Bible and not 24, Luke Mably's age.
Amongst these casting frustrations, others delivered well such as Rachel and Leah (who bore enough similarities so that they could be possibly mistaken for one another), Rebeccah and Rameses II.
The stories had to be abridged but did not need such a simple script. Sarah's line about Hagar being beautiful, in particular, was definitely not necessary.
The effects were attempted well though the snakes turned from staffs looked animated as did the thunder on top of Mount Sinai, when Moses was getting the Ten Commandments. The plagues were skipped through rather quickly with little build up to the parting of the Red Sea. The Garden of Eden looked like a set especially when Adam and Eve were being banished and running through the thunder and wind. Also, before Moses pushed it over, the golden calf looked like it was made from paper-mache.
I like the fact that this was not a Hollywood adaptation and tried to be realistic in the scenery. However, at times this film was perhaps too dull and uninteresting that I found myself fast-forwarding sections.
Do not expect great performances or special effects but this adaptation still tries to remain true to the Biblical stories.