Customer Reviews

Charlton Heston Presents the Bible: Jesus of Nazareth [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is some of Charlton Heston's finest work. Mr. Heston's premise is that before the Bible was written down it was told orally in the way of a story and passed down from generation to generation until Moses started to write the first five books down. He recreates this style of story telling. He and his son Fraser show how the Bible has influenced the arts.
He also, contrary to the other review, dramatizes the Bible stories as a one man performance in an old Roman ampitheatre in Jerusalem. In between he takes you around and shows some of Israel's greatest Judeo-Christian monuments. He traces the history of the Bible and how it came to be all the way up to the King James version of 1611. This is the 3rd in the series and if you would like to see everything from The Creation through the Life of Christ I highly recommend this thought provoking and entertaining series. Each DVD has a behind the scenes segment included, but it is the same behind the scenes on each DVD.

I purchased this video as a Christmas gift in the hopes that it would describe the life of Jesus Christ while simultaneously showing the places in the Holy Land where events occured. The video is nothing more than Charlton Heston standing in an old Roman ampitheatre literally reading the Bible. Majority of the film shows him standing at a podium and simply speaking to the camera! There are very, very short "clips" of him driving a jeep up the "Mount of the Beatitudes", or standing in the Jordan River, or on a fishing boat in the Sea of Galilee; but these glimpses of places from the life of Jesus are very brief.

I will not be purchasing any more of "The Bible" series videos, strictly based upon what I saw in this video; I was very disappointed, and the recipient of the gift was also very disappointed. My suggestion, save your money and read the Bible!

These are masterful Bible readings, spoken with conviction and passion, and framed by the history that surrounded the time of Jesus, and the archeological sites that are appropriate to the Biblical passages read. Filmed in Israel, the photography is marvelous, and also included are beautiful art pieces of Jesus in the different phases of His life and ministry.

Charlton Heston's resonant voice uses the King James Bible for the text, and his actor's skills to speak the many parts; this film is inspiring either to watch, or to listen to. I often put it on as I work, and find it calming yet energizing, and full of God's spirit.
It also explains many points with clarity, for instance the specific purpose of the money-changers, and why Jesus was angered with them, which I never fully understood before.

There is something very powerful in the way this is presented, and reminds one that the origins of scripture were orally transmitted in these majestic hills and stones where Heston walks, and on the shores of the Jordan and the Sea of Galilee.
Photographed and directed by Tony Westman, and with music by Leonard Rosenman, one of the Executive Producers is Fraser Heston, Charlton's son, who directed the terrific 1989 production of Treasure Island, starring his father as Long John Silver. Total running time 49 minutes.