User Reviews

For a man whose existence and purpose shed a lot of doubt throughout history, there certainly have been many motion pictures about him. From "King of Kings" through "The Passion of the Christ", and possibly a few I have forgotten about, I can think of more than half a dozen films about Jesus Christ. It is only through faith that one can sustain a true belief in the existence and purpose, so each film is merely a few of the time and there were must make their own decisions based on their own thought process and feelings. It had only been three years since the TV mini-series "Jesus of Nazareth", so having another one so soon and for TV again ask questions of the agenda of purpose of it. The mini-series ran over several nights. This ran on television in a 3-hour time period and well maybe not the greatest version of this story ever told, it is admirable still.

I found this dealt with more of the history and the culture of the time, showing the power of Rome over Israel, and the political debate that took place as a result of the controversy of the presence of a man who claimed to be king of the Jews. All of the major characters surrounding the last supper and the crucifixion are there, from all 12 of the Apostles to Jesus's mother Mary to the controversial character of Mary Magdalene, the zealots who furiously accused Jesus of blasphemy, to King Herod Agrippa and Pontius Pilate and his wife Claudia. All of these characters have been represented so many times on screen with so many different looks that it becomes confusing to really gain a thought of how they looked.

I found no issues with Chris Sarandon as Jesus. He plays the role directly, making him human so people could identify with him in a humanely viewpoint, very serious when he needs to be serious but certainly engaging and friendly with the apostles, and seemingly understanding when he reveals who will be betraying him. Even when he reveals that one of the Apostles will deny him, it's done in reflection of the fact that this is what needs to be done for his mission to be accomplished. If certain elements of the truth are missing or changed for dramatic impact, it doesn't lessen the impact of what the story's purpose is.

Keith Michell as Pontius Pilate and Hope Lange as his wife Claudia are important parts of the story, and that gives a historical perspective on the influence of the Roman Emperor Tiberius on Pilate's decisions of how to react to the pending violence should he make the wrong choice. It's a dramatic build-up to the actual crucifixion, and those scenes are very tough, even for non-believers, because of the violence and suffering both on-screen and implied. I don't pray this on a factual basis or even on an entertainment basis, because witnessing suffering like this on screen is not entertaining. But it is a well-done movie, thoughtful and well-acted, and often quite profound. The large cast does not have a lot of familiar faces, and perhaps that is a good thing because that does not distract from the purpose of the film.

Any one who has seen Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and was bothered by the gory violence would want to see this film instead. Though it wasn't a success in th box office or TV ratings, The Fox Movie Channel still finds a real good motive to show this anually. I liked the way that they trained Chris Sarandon and the men who portrayed his disciples to sing in Hebrew.Though Sarandon didn't have long hair like any other Jesus would in other films, his looks are pretty close to what a Jewish man would appear. What surprised me or startled me was the scene where Caiaphas told Jesus about Pilate "And don't ever forget, that you are a Jew!" Though that may have not been a racist remark,Colin Blakely was trying to make Chris Sarandon look like garbage in the eyes of the prominent men of those days.Keith Michell's portrayal of Pilate was hulking, comparing with his previous performances in "The Story of Jacob and Joseph" and "The Story of David". But if you compare his portrayal of Pilate with Telly Savala's or Hurd Hatfield, you can say that he really painted well the impression of a Roman procurator.

I'm giving this 5 for the two main women in this movie- Mary and Claudia. Neither of them were as bad as in The Passion with Mel Gibson. And I may be biased since I love Mary (Eleanor Bron)'s work. However, what when on in Chris' mind while shooting this????? Does he not realize what big of a job he has or what? Maybe he had amnesia while shooting or something like that. All I know is that, this could have been better. And Judas doesn't even seem evil! With a cast like this, we could drive Mel Gibson over the edge with talent! But no sir. It had to be wasted. PS- Jesus is NOT a myth, thank you very much! So I kinda think-room for improvement,definitely. Worth one watch? Of course!