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stephsales
Reviews
The Visual Bible: The Gospel of John (2003)
The BEST "Jesus" on film, and word-for-word of the Gospel
Other Biblically-based stories headline with actors who are known for a certain body of work to add viewer draw. That can be distracting. When the "script" is the Bible, there should not be any ad-libbing or creative license with the dialogue. Although I was familiar with Henry Ian Cusick as "Desmond" from the FOX show "Lost" he will now be known to me as the best actor to play Jesus that I have seen. Many actors seem to overact the part. Mr. Cusick's portrayal seemed realistic. For example, there are times when you can see him portraying Christ's exasperation with the lack of belief from his disciples without going overboard into frustration. I never realized how often Jesus had to tell peopleeven His disciplesthat he was speaking the truth.
The accents are not authentic: So. I found myself noticing things from the scripture that made the story so much more complete that I couldn't care less that all of the actors weren't Hebrew.
Christopher Plummer's narration is soothing and well-read without drawing attention away from the story. Other viewers have commented that he stated the obvious, but he is reading the Gospel from the Good News version and nothing is omitted.
The soundtrack blended into the story perfectly.
My favorite parts are where Jesus is talking to His Father. How wonderful it must have been for the disciples to actually witness.
In summary, the film comes together like a choir with each part lending to the greatness of the end product. The message of Jesus' humanity AND deity at the same time (hypostatic union) are perfectly juxtaposed into one film that bears witness to the message of His Love.
I purchased several copies immediately.