Customer Reviews

Greatest Heroes of the Bible: David and Goliath (1978) [VHS]

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

 

 

This film was very well done. David and Goliath is a very fun story of the Bible. The best part that I really liked is that the movie used God's name Jehovah. Hardly any movie uses God's name Jehovah. The name of the only true God, David worshiped when he was alive.

I like the vhs movie, David And Goliath. Greatest Heroes Of The Bible Is a Very riveting movie, and it held my attention. I felt as though I were there as all of the events transpired. This is as close as it gets, folks ! Truely, straight out of the pages of the Old Testament! I was cheering David as he swung the pebble stone at Goliath`s forehead.

OK, so this is not "The Ten Commandments," or any number of the early 60's blockbusters, but it's a good film nonetheless.

The young shepherd boy battles a mighty giant, and you see courage against overwhelming odds. A small Israeli army is holding off the Philistines, but it will take a miracle to defeat these pagans. And when the giant Goliath appears (really remarkable, with Ted Cassidy in the lead), and Goliath challenges the Israelites to combat, God sends an unlikely hero armed only with a sling and his faith, and soon the Philistines will know the power of David's conviction and the might of his God in this inspiring tale of trust and triumph.

This is a good film, as earlier stated, and it's about 50 minutes long, and it stays pretty much to the biblical account. There wasn't too much deviation from the story line, and you need to distance yourself from the well-known actors, otherwise you might be playing Siskel and Ebert, and trying to figure out who the best portrayal was. Put that stuff away, and enjoy the film, because it's highly recommended!!!

I enjoyed this film very much. It was very accurate. The writers of it used God's name Jehovah, widly used by the Israelites during David's time.

I recently viewed this film as a tool for a Sunday School lesson on David & Goliath. The good; Ted Cassidy's monologue in challenging Israel to send out a champion is deliciously delivered giving the desired effect that is portrayed in the Biblical account. While it does not repeat the text of 1 Samuel it does portray an arrogant, filthy mouthed blasphemer as recorded in the Bible. The language is descriptive without being vulgar, terms such as bug-eaters, goat-king (describing Saul) and maggot god, revealing the vile character of Goliath of Gath. Cassidy delivers this diatribe in that great, deep, guttural voice of his which is perfect for this role. The young actor playing David also captures the spirit of David in that he is deeply offended when he hears the "unclean" pagan mock the God of Israel. He portrays David with suitable faith that knows God is with him and begs to be sent as the champion when sadly no one in Israel will go. The bad; unfortunately for reasons clearly expressed in another review of this film, it is sooooo bad in casting (other than David and Goliath), costumes, dialog, plot, etc. that it cannot be recommended as a serious film. I rented it expressly for showing Goliath's challenge and in that limited use it was profitable.

"The Greatest Heroes of the Bible" ineptitude continues with this blase recreation of the epic fight between shepherd David and giant warrior Goliath.

Roger Kern is the eager young David who goes to the front of a stalemated war between King Saul's army and that of John Dehner, who plays a king whose name I did not catch in the opening credits, thanks to lousy audio on the videotape. David is taking bread to his brothers, one of who is Daniel J. Travanti, and the army meets up with Goliath, played by the late and underappreciated Ted Cassidy. Cassidy sounds like a modern day professional wrestler, and looks like one too, dressed in a trojan outfit and spouting insults like "vermin" and "wormy." Lord general Hugh O'Brian convinces King Saul, the awful Jeff Corey, to let David fight Goliath so O'Brian can move his tens of men into position to attack the tens of Dehner's troops.

David and Goliath meet, Goliath cannot seem to make any of his javelins take the little shepherd out, and as O'Brian gets his men in position, David hits Goliath in the forehead with a stone and kills him. What follows is a couple of dozen men running around and whacking each other with plastic swords in one of the least bloody battles ever filmed.

Like a bad car accident, I cannot seem to look away from this series. The B cast looks properly ashamed to be in this thing. The Magnum Entertainment/Guiding Image video release is also only thirty seven minutes long, as opposed to "TGHOFTB: Abraham's Sacrifice," which was fifty five minutes long. The end credits list Ann Doran and other actresses, but there are no women at all in this video version, indicating cuts. Here, the cast is listed at the beginning, but not the crew, so I have no idea who wrote or directed this unvaliant try.

There are good movies based on stories from the Bible, and then there is this. "The Greatest Heroes of the Bible: David and Goliath" feels like a rock to the forehead. I cannot recommend it.

Unrated, this contains physical violence.