Customer Reviews

Gospel Road, the [VHS]

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Before I get to my comments about this film, let me tell you a little about myself for a change. It's a little out of place for a dvd review but you'll see why. My name as you see is Eric Pregosin. I live near Washington DC, but grew up in Queens NY. I was born of into a non practicing jewish home, non practicing because my father's side didn't follow old traditions, hebrew school, etc. and my mother's side did, and they chose the former. In the fall of 1973 for 2nd grade, my mother pulled a "Branch Rickey" if you will and enrolled me in a Catholic School. At the time, I made some friends, got picked on by others, but the time I left after 6th grade (since we couldn't afford the tuition anymore after my parents divorced), I had more friends than critics. Around the time I was in 5th grade, we (the entire grade) were invited to gather in to lunchroom to watch a film called "The Gospel Road". Now normally when my classmates were in church or in their "religion class" after lunch, I usually turned a deaf ear. But to this film, I sat, watched and listened. Why you ask? The answer can be stated in 3 simple words which begin with the letters: "J.R.C." I was growing up on Johnny's music and knew his walk was by faith (albeit it took til middle age to get there, but hey some of us don't get there to we are seniors.) so listening to him to tell (and sing) a story of Jesus is worth the price of admission, and I enjoyed it immensely. So much so, that the next Wednesday (we had half days of school on Wednesdays) I was in a tv repair shop that sold some records, and here I was buying the "complete soundtrack" (Spoken words and Sung) on 2 LPS for (with tax) $2.79. I still own that album today, and when the time comes I will record onto blank cds to save it for posterity. Needless to say I was shocked at the chance to buy the DVD this month, but with all the hype Walk The Line got, now I understand why. It is a VERY GOOD film. There are bad sides to it, but they are easily outweighed by the good sides. But to be fair, here they are: 1) There is a lot left out. Ok you can't cover a whole story of Jesus in an hour and a half, this is not Jesus of Nazareth or Greatest Story Ever Told, but what is covered is the essence of Jesus time on this earth, and the Crucifixion segment makes ones in box office bonanzas like The Robe and Ben Hur pale into insignificance. 2) With the exception of John Baptist's "Behold the lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world" and Mary Magdalene's few speaking scenes (spoken and seen on screen by June Carter Cash), John does all the narrations. Certain songs are supplemented by June's family (The Carter Family), The Statler Brothers, Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, Larry Gatlin and even June herself in a beautiful rendition of John Denver's "Follow Me" between Mary Magdalene segments. The disc does give credit to the actor playing Jesus (it's none other than the film director Robert Elfstrom and his son plays the boy Jesus for a few scenes in the beginning), and we do get credit for a few of the other actors, but John and June wrote this film to be their visual interpretation of the New Testament so who the actors really are is subject to interpretation as well. 3) This is just an opinion but I think the film has been cut since I saw it on a projector 30 years ago, the forementioned LP has spoken and sung segments that were not included on this disc, and I am 99.44% sure they were on the copy I saw when I was 10 or 11 years old. The good side is that this is a more complete copy than a VHS copy I rented some 15 years ago, so it will do, until Fox or somebody else clears this mystery for me. Suffice it to say, this is a film that gives a true representation of several key aspects of Jesus' life and is welcome in a library with such films as the ones I named above. If John Robert Cash and his wife June Carter Cash are ever remembered for anything besides their music, I hope it is for this film. When I write my last will and testament, I pray my copy of this DVD goes to someone who will appreciate it for what it does say rather than what is missing. I bless the day, John shared it with me when I was a kid, and the day someone at Fox decided to release this disc. Before you buy Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar, Jesus of Nazareth or ANY of the good Jesus dramas out there, buy a copy of this film and "come along with John, June and Eric (me) :-) in the footsteps of Jesus, and we'll show you why when people shout praise the Lord, they mean it".

This is the best and most inspired video I've ever seen on Christ's life. Filmed in the Holy Land and narrated by Johnny Cash, the movie highlights the most important parts of the Gospel and brings home its timeless message of love and mercy. The film is interwoven with Cash's wonderful music and his soul-penetrating voice. June Carter appears as Mary Magdalene and sings as well.
I am a Sunday school teacher and a mother. I want my little boys to see this film. It's difficult to teach children some of the deeper religious concepts of the Bible, i.e., original sin, Christ as a propitiation for our sins, etc. However, this video seems to communicate all these concepts through the music and touching scenes. I first saw it about 15 years ago. I know the video is now out of print.

This exceptionally creative, artistic depiction of the life of Jesus Christ overflows with that element which most movies about the Savior miss: love. While it strives for historical accuracy, there is no attempt at objectivity. The result is arguably the most unabashedly loving--hence spiritually powerful--movie yet made about Jesus Christ. June Carter Cash should have been nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of Mary Magdalene.

Johnny Cash's Gospel Road is just the best! Years ago, I had a copy of it, but had lost it, so decided we had to get another one for our collection - just wish they would put it out in DVD. The music and scenery and story told as only Johnny Cash can tell it is awesome. One of the most impressive scenes was the crucifixion where it was shown that Jesus died for all people, who would believe on Him. Watching this movie makes one feel they are right there with His disciples walking that Gospel Road.
Good movie for adults and children!

At last on DVD, this was Johnny Cash, June Carter and Kris Kristofferson's labor of love. The packaging, however, is somewhat misleading. Rather than tying in with the recent film, Walk the Line, it ought to be psychedelic and reflective of the concert gathering Explo '72. Sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ, Explo '72 rode the wave of '60s searchin' and caught the vibe of the Jesus People movement (which also made the cover of Time magazine).

Johnny Cash appeared at this very eclectic gathering, singing a song which later made the soundtrack for this film. Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge sang "In the Garden" (not the Dylan song. Billy Graham was there along with a varied roster that included Larry Norman, Randy Matthews, Andrae Crouch and the Disciples and the Speers gospel singing family. Before Keith Green thought of offering his albums free, Campus Crusade sent the record from Explo '72 to anyone who asked for it, as a tie in to TV shows which featured Graham and cuts from the concerts.

The Jesus People at the time rejected the Hollywood blonde-haired, blue eyed portrayls of Max Von Sydow in The Greatest Story Ever Told and Ted Neely's personna in Jesus Christ Superstar, which in their view left off the end of the story. The downside of this film is that the actor playing the Man from Nazareth is also blonde-haired, but not because Cash doesn't know better. It's because the director plays the part, with June Carter as Mary Magdalene in similar anecdotal bits. This film is packed with music; Cash sings songs like "I See Men as Trees Walking", reprising his set at Explo '72, and June covers John Denver's "Follow Me," certainly as imaginative as Superstar's "I Don't Know How to Love Him."

This was never meant to be a complete life of Jesus, but rather a personal reflection following the portrait in the Gospels. Now on widescreen, this film shows both a seldom-seen hearfelt and passionate side of Cash and Carter, and recaptures what was once the calling card of the Jesus Movement: its enthusiasm and contagious joy.

If you are an active Christian and a Johnny Cash fan, you will LOVE this DVD! It is a labor of love, apparently funded by Johnny Cash himself, but you can tell by the look on his face that this project is very important and very fun for him to be doing!

They look like they grabbed a bunch of friends from the USA and flew everybody over to Israel to act out many Bible scenes on location. They show many scenes from the life of Jesus, mixed in with many Gospel songs by Johnny and a few others.

Johnny narrates throughout the entire film, and every ten minutes or so they show him on camera, talking into the camera about Jesus. You can tell by the sincere and content look on his face that this is a project that he is very pleased to be working on! He is not sleepwalking through any of this, he is on the set and eager to do this the best way they possibly can!

June Carter does GREAT in her brief scenes playing Mary Magdalene! She is very powerful and surprising. She shows the crying out loud joy of being in the presence of Jesus, and she is very endearing in her role here!

The music is great! I have some of Johnny's Gospel albums recorded over a decade before this movie was made. Those old Gospel albums are great to listen to, but they do display a definitely dated recording style that sounds like pop music before the birth of rock-n-roll. The music on this DVD sounds like the much more polished and sophisticated musical style of Johnny Cash or Elvis in the early 1970's.

The photography is very beautiful. There is great location scenery, and clever camera techniques used throughout.

At 83 minutes, it is a bit on the short side, for a theatrical release, when I like a film to be at least 90 minutes or more. But it is a very good movie, anyway.

My main criticism would be that they have a blonde-haired man playing the role of Jesus. He looks more like a viking than Jesus. They should have dyed his hair, since Jesus was definitely a Jew in the Middle East, 2,000 years ago, centuries before the blonde barbarians would join Western civilization. On the other hand, the blonde-haired Jesus makes him stand out from the crowd, as if he is special, so at first this seems like a mistake to keep the blonde hair, but then it seems like it helps reinforce that Jesus is one-of-a-kind in the scenes of this movie.

My favorite Christian project from Johnny Cash is his 16 CD set of his reading the entire NEW TESTAMENT of the Bible! This is very reasonably priced for 16 CDs, and I highly recommend it for any Christian fans of Johnny Cash.

I can also suggest that you check out THE GOSPEL COLLECTION by Johnny Cash, re-released in 1992. This CD contains the entire first two Gospel albums that Johnny recorded a decade before this movie was made, HYMNS BY JOHNNY CASH and HYMNS FROM THE HEART.

Actually, his first Gospel album, HYMNS BY JOHNNY CASH, has been re-mastered and re-released much more recently, in 2002, and sounds much cleaner and louder, with a nice CD booklet, so that is a good buy, too. But THE GOSPEL COLLECTION gives you both of his first two Gospel albums on one CD, nearly one hour of music, and is the only way to purchase his second Gospel album, HYMNS FROM THE HEART, as far as I can tell.

Film on location in the Holy Land. Music with Johnny and June Carter Cash. Christian perspective on Christ's ministry. Must be around 25 years old. Well done, good music. Is hard to find now.

I was over whelmed to have seen this on dvd.It is a superbly done dvd about the Life of Jesus Christ,narrated by Johnny Cash.All the songs are sung by Johnny,June Carter and Kris Kristofferson.The movie is 84 minutes and was produced by 20th Century Fox in 1973.The Director was Robert Elfstrom who also played Jesus and Jesus as a young buy was played by Elfstroms son.The quality is not superb but great considering what year this was filmed.I own this also on VHS and the quality is far better than the VHS tape.What most people do not know about Gospel Road is this....It was not made for the theatres but was shown strickly in churches all across the country as a request by Johnny Cash.He also did not charge anything for it.He only wanted God's mercy, love and forgiveness to been seen through his eyes narrating the life of Christ.It was his way of ministering to the world.I feel he did a splendid job.No special effects,no extravagance, just the plain truth.It was filmed on location in the Holy Land.June Carter played Mary Magdalene.The bottom line is this....If you truly want to learn about our Savior,then this is a must.Buy it for that reason and not only because you are a Johnny Cash fan.I recommend this dvd highly and have the uttmost respect for Johnny for doing it.It shows his courage,true faith and love for God and bravery for producing this.

This is one strange dramatization of the story of Jesus as narrated by Johnny Cash in his down home, ever cool style, walking along the Galilee or perched atop a high cliff, Bible in hand. Two prominent themes of this Cash version are (1) that Jesus died for all people of all time (especially brought home in the startling crucifixion scene), and (2) that Jesus' journey was very solitary--even when he was amidst crowds. There are very few actors in the film, and even crowd scenes, such as Jesus entering Jerusalem on the donkey, sometimes have no people at all, though they may have a mob of voices heard but not seen.

Those who are sticklers to Biblical chronology and precision, probably would not like this movie, since it employs quite a bit of artistic license and some doubtful interpretations or statements. Also, the movie is weak as an evangelistic film, as it emphasizes the nice, inoffensive pitiable side of Jesus, his healing ministry, love for children, and so on, and largely (but not entirely) skips over sin, need of repentance, repeated confrontation with the Jewish religious leaders, and so on.

Except for brief words from John the Baptist, only Mary Magdalene, played by June Cash, southern accent and all, has a speaking part. The bright blond hair and blue eyes of Jesus are striking, but as the movie obviously doesn't attempt to give a realistic interpretation, those physical qualities only made Jesus stand out in an even more other worldly way apart from his dark-haired disciples, again heightening his separateness, uniqueness. The movie's pace is very laid back, with many scenes of the Sea of Galilee, naked Judean hills (again the aloneness motif), Jordan River, or Galilean hills. The country music adds a nice touch as does Cash's friendly voice.

Because of its uniquenes and artistic liberties, I'm hesitant to recommend it for everyone, but I liked it, if only for the poignant crucifixion scene.

Finally the DVD has been released of Johnny Cash's musical expression of his faith. Get this and see what was only hinted at in "Walk the Line." If you want to know what gave Johnny Cash the strength for his comeback, this is the movie to watch. Produced by him and released in 1973, it was, according to accounts of the time, a labor of love.

Various musicians were weighing in with their interpretations of Jesus: Rice and Webber with "Jesus Christ Superstar" and Schwartz's "Godspell"--it was appropriate that the reigning royalty of country music should do the same. See what Johnny Cash, June Carter, and Kris Kristofferson came up with--you won't be disappointed.