Product Details

• Actors: Jane Lesley, Michael D'Cruze, Filipa Fernandes, Tarek Merlin
• Directors: Ian Higgins, Dominic Higgins
• Format: NTSC, Surround Sound
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Ignatius Press
• DVD Release Date: December 1, 2009
• Run Time: 85 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002LDCZCU
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,092 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

167 of 172 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars God Proves HIs Existence, October 8, 2009

By 

D. Sockey (Venus, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The 13th Day (DVD)

In 1917, 3 uneducated children said said that the Mother of Jesus had appeared to them, and had told them God would work a great miracle on October 13th. On that day, 70,000 rain-soaked people saw the sun burst throught the clouds and start to spin, throwing a kaleidscope of colors over the ground. Then, to their wonder and terror, the sun appeared to jump and dance in the sky, and finally to fall towards the earth. After several minutes the downward spiral stopped, and the sun returned to its normal position and appearance. As the crowd recovered from this scare, they began to notice that their clothing was now bone dry. Skeptical journalists who had come to report on nothing more than the anger of disappointed wonder-seekers instead published accounts of a miracle that can still be found on microfilm in city libraries.

There have been several films made on the events of Fatima. One is a 1950s Hollywood spectacle done in the tradition of The Song of Bernadette. Not bad, but a tad too Hollywood, with a made up starring character to provide (I guess) comic relief. In 1992, a documentary-type re-enactment titled "Apparitions At Fatima" was produced in Europe. Very accurate, but lacking decent special effects, and, as Steve Greydnaus has said, not compelling as cinematic art.

The 13th Day leaves surpasses these earlier efforts. Directors Ian and Dominic Higgins were illustrators before the were film makers, and it shows. Evert shot of The13th Day could be framed and hang on a wall. Most of the movie is done in black and white--color only blooms across the screen during each apparition. The absence of color makes the more primal light and darkness jump out at the viewer. The miracle of the sun scenes match eyewitness descriptions more accurately than any other movie version. And here's a first: the vision of the "third secret"(that involved Pope John Paul II) is depicted on film for the first time.

Now, keep in mind this is NOT a documentary. To keep the film a manageable length, the Angel apparitions of 1916 were not dealt with, and only four of the six apparitions are depicted. In the scenes where an older (Sister) Lucia is writing her memoirs, the voiceover narration is not word for word quotes from her writing, but rather the script writer's way of introducing each set of events in the film. Another criticism: the character of Lucia as protrayed in the film is a more introverted, taciturn person than the Lucia of history. But The 13th day is overall very true to the events, the spirit, and above all the message of Fatima. And the film is a thing of beauty.

39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The BEST portrayal yet of the Fatima Events, December 5, 2009

By 

WiiFan808 (Honolulu, Hawaii) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The 13th Day (DVD)

This is by far, the best movie ever made on the 1917 Fatima events. It had the feel of an old-time, classic black & white movie... but with sprinkles of dazzling colorized state-of-the-art special effects that made the supernatural depictions in the movie come to vivid life.

I really liked the way the story of the events was told in a straight-forward manner - based closely on the memoirs of the late Sr. Lucia - without being overly-dramatized as in the early Hollywood version of the Fatima story. My family and I watched the entire movie with wrapt interest as it progressed through a steady pace and all of us were deeply moved by certain scenes. Of course the climax of the movie was the great miracle that was foretold by the Blessed Virgin for October 13th, 1917... and the movie's superior special effects did it justice!

All in all, I highly recommend this DVD to all families, and especially to those individuals who have a special interest in Mariology and Marian apparitions. I think the spiritual message of Fatima could have been emphasized a bit more in the movie, but the Special Features in the DVD more than made up for any ommissions - it's definitely a movie worth having as part your family's DVD home collection.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, January 4, 2010

By 

A.R. - See all my reviews

This review is from: The 13th Day (DVD)

First of all, my advice is to read up on the Fatima apparitions before hand. My all-time favourite book on Fatima and I have read a ton) is by Leo Madigan "The Children of Fatima" and I would recommend this book above all others.

Secondly, I advise that you don;t even read all these reviews - good or bad - don;t even read mine. Let the film speak for itself.

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In my opinion this film, contrary to certain harsh critics, is the most beautiful film made on the apparitions of Our Blessed Mother at Fatima. It is visually striking and has a vintage quality to it, appearing in color only when Our Lady comes which in itself beautiful. The special effects are awesome and the black and white scenes are effective in creating a somber atmosphere - an atmosphere in which the children lived.

The acting, at times is abit over dramatic, however the movie as a whole - all things considered - is wonderfully made. Those who like to point and critique this film harshly should like to make their own film version. It would be impossible to capture all that is Fatima in the form of a movie, and yet the directors, whose personal devotion inspired them to make this film, have given all they could to this project in honour of Out Lady.

I highly recommend watching this movie - but you should also read up on the apparitions to gain the whole story. In the end this film is remarkable and an effective tool in spreading the Message of Fatima.