Overview: 'Moses The Lawgiver' is a "biopic" of Moses, who found the Ten Commandments and parted the Red Sea.

DVD Verdict: Moses, a man of wisdom and strength raised his staff and crushed an empire. This is his story.

The story of the Exodus (or flight) of the Hebrews from Egypt to escape persecution is told in a perspective which highlights Moses' efforts to persuade first the stubborn Pharoah Merneptah, who was his adopted cousin, to release to release the Hebrew slaves he was using to build his empire.

For those wondering, this Lancaster epic is a transitional movie between the big budgeted blockbusters of the '50s and '60s and the small decent honest TV Biblical stories of the '90s.

In truth, the mini-series is not very inspired nor very appealing, but its main merit is the cast. Lancaster performs in a conventional Hollywoodian way the disconcerting and enigmatic Old Testament prophet.

Another epic from the same transitional period is 'Massada' which boasts O'Toole's high voltage, decadent, picturesque role. That said, 'Moses The Lawgiver' looks and feels more like the '60s epics so it definitey has that going for it.

One quality is the feel of the tepid tiring crossing of the desert, the tough experience of dwelling for decades in the wilderness. This was obviously enhanced by the fact that the earthy approach to the film was actually shot in Israel's Negrev Desert and Morocco.

The probably ugly experience of the desert's crossing after the initial exultation of the glorious escape, is well captured and rendered also, in my humble (and always unknowing) opinion.

In this respect, it's a resolute departure from the previous epics and their habits for it's not triumphal in what it depicts; it shares the feel of its subject matter.

That all said, and playing Devil's Advocate here, Burt Lancaster as Moses is not a commanding presence nor does he speak in arcane dialog as Charlton Heston did.

He leads by persuasion and example and he has more than one reason to think those Hebrews are a 'stiff necked people'. The character of Aaron given short shrift by DeMille is more fully developed and played here by Anthony Quayle, of that be sure.

In closing, The Red Sea sequence is, as always, the highlight of the mini-series and to my mind, no film can fail in making that a great spectacle. Indeed, here is even included Miriam's celebrations afterward, which adds to the films many delights. This is a Full Screen Presentation (4:3) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.