Customer Reviews

Jesus [VHS]

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(49)

 

 

Every Jesus movie or miniseries has its strengths. "Jesus of Nazareth" is the most historically and scripturally accurate. Jesus Christ Superstar does the best job of seeing the parallels between Christ's time and our own (pretty good music too, I hear.) "The Passion of the Christ," as we all now know, is the bloodiest.

"Jesus," the miniseries, though unrealized in significant ways, attempts to address aspects of the Christ story that others have not and could not. First, the movie focuses on the relationship between Jesus and his earthly father Joseph, played lovingly by Armin Mueller-Stahl. Jesus' love for Joseph is palpably tender and reciprocal. Joseph is the old master; Jesus the eager apprentice, desperate to please and bereft when the old man dies. There is also a romantic sub-plot between Jesus and Martha, in this film depicted as his distant city cousin. Nothing comes of the relationship, but it makes you wonder the degree to which Jesus, fully human even by conservative theological principles, struggled with a desire to be a normal man of his time, learning a trade, getting married, and having a family.

Jesus, played adequately by Jeremy Sisto, is also shown as quite playful. He teases his disciples, splashing water in their faces and pulling their scarves. This is fun, though it doesn't seem to move the story anywhere. The scenes of Jesus teaching also attempt to break new ground. Rather than merely stringing together a long list of inscrutable sayings, gospel style, "Jesus" shows the Master interacting with the crowd, even getting a good-natured heckling.

"Jesus" fails to show why anyone would find this man threatening. Yet I was fascinated by the film's attempts to show Jesus as a person with an interesting personality of his own. Jesus in this film had real charisma, giving us more than the inexplicable magnetism of most Jesus flicks. Ultimately, the movie does not succeed (none have) in depicting the enigmatic man who has held the world in his spell for two thousand years. But "Jesus" brings to the screen a few more pieces for us to consider, making its subject perhaps a bit more accessible in a time that needs him more than ever.

Before I was blessed to see this miniseries on TV, I was by no means a good Christian! I only went to church for weddings and funerals, and only thought of God when I wanted something material. After watching this movie, I was a born again Christian. Jeremy Sisto, who was one of my favorite actors to begin with, did such a wonderful job acting, I felt I was actually witnessing Jesus in action. The script was presented in modern language ( not the King James "thou" and "thine" mumbo jumbo) I gained so much understanding as to what Jesus really said and did, and the amazing people he touched. The next Sunday, which was Easter, I went to my first church service in years, and have been a devout follower of Christ since. I honestly believe that had I not seen this movie, I would be stuck as a non-believer, and I would be missing out on all of the wonderful things Christ has taught me. I recommend this movie for anyone who has doubts about Christ and the messages he brought to this world. Amen~!

If you have problems thinking of Jesus as a fun, sweet, wonderful guy to be with; if you object to portrayals of him weeping, laughing and horsing around with his friends; if the nature of his death is more helpful to your faith than the way He lived His life... this movie isn't for you. What the much touted "Passion of the Christ" does not address is who Christ was as a person. If he wasn't fully human as well as being fully divine, his sacrifice would have meant less. Jesus is portrayed in this movie as the kind of guy you'd want to hang around with, wouldn't be ashamed of talking to about your day over a glass of wine and would love as long as you draw breath. At the end of the day, the salient question still remains: "Who do you say He is? Does it come from your heart or just from your mind? Do you do the right thing because you want to get to heaven, or because you love Him?" If nothing else, this movie should clarify those questions.

The life of Christ is portrayed in luscious cinematography as I have never seen it before. Jeremy Sisto also has the look we have come to believe as Jesus over time. I loved that Jesus laughed and enjoyed life in this movie. However, I do believe He was much more aware of His mission than was presented to the viewer.

Jeremy is not very convincing at first, but has your heart near the end. Yes, they did take a few liberties with this movie and the dressing scene was not at all necessary and almost insulting in a movie about Christ. If you are familiar with the Bible stories then you will also find many errors in the story line and that was a bit disappointing.

The whole story of Jesus being in love with Mary (Martha's sister) was news to me. I was not really offended by it as it added to the story, but felt that the way I had always heard the story was that Mary loved Jesus more as a brother....

The story starts with Jesus awaking from a nightmare. Later the viewer sees more of his life revealed in flashback scenes. I thought the way they told the story was very creative, however what it lacked was more of Christ's wisdom and His words as recorded in the Bible. I find the words of Christ to be incredibly beautiful and in most of the movies made on his life, they do include so much more. There were really important parts of Jesus' Life that were not really even touched on.

Some points to make: Jesus is sinless, so there was not need for him to confess his sins. John said: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world," when he saw Jesus arriving, not leaving. I always imagined Jesus being submerged in water at his baptism, symbolizing death and coming back to life.

When tempted by the Devil, the Devil kept changing from a temptress to a tempter which was creative and the scenes where Jesus and the Devil fly above the earth and go to the Temple were quite good. The scenes of people killing in God's name only showed how people use others to achieve their own aims. They didn't show all the families who are blessed by believing in God, nor did they show the joy only Jesus can give.

I absolutely loved the scene of Jesus swinging the child around and laughing and when He is walking on the water. The Temple scenes were He tosses out the money changers was superbly done. It showed that He had holy anger and still was not sinning. His relationship with His mother was so beautifully portrayed, and yes, she was very much a part of his life. The agony of her loosing her son is so sad.

Perhaps by seeing how wonderful Jesus is, many will do more research on his life and find all the wonderful words of Christ in the Bible.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. John 5:24

Terribly moving and so very human, but it could have been so much more!

~The Rebecca Review

Don't listen to what some people have to say regarding the crediblity of this movie. Obviously, it isn't 100% true to the gospels but what do you expect?? It's a movie, not a documentary, of Jesus' life. And I have to say that although not everything that happens in the movie happened in the same way in the Bible, this movie is really really great. It portrays the HUMAN side of Jesus. The side of him that wasn't always completely sure of himself and suffered a great deal with having to die in order to fulfill God's plan. Jeremy Sisto was great as Jesus and Debra Messing did an outstanding job playing Mary Magdelene. This movie shows Jesus as a real person instead of a superhero. He had feelings and doubts just like everyone else and this movie makes that very clear.

Eight people are named in the credits as "Historical and Biblical advisors", and one has to wonder if they came up with the nonsense in this film, or Suzette Couture went her own way when writing the teleplay; whatever the reason, it presents a Jesus who is insecure, indecisive, and unsure of who He is and what He is supposed do.
Here are examples of what takes place just in the first 40 minutes (and the film is nearly 3 hours long):

Mary (sister of Lazarus) is madly in love with Jesus and there is talk of their marriage.
Jesus (unsuccessfully of course) tries to raise Joseph from the dead, but is seen as a young child bringing a bird back to life.
John the Baptist's script and delivery sounds as if it has been culled from "Braveheart", with John shouting in a rich brogue, "Freedom !".
Jesus: "John, will you baptize me"
John: "if you confess your sins and dedicate your life to God"
Jesus: "of course"
John: "I baptize you with water for repentance".

Jesus then spends the 40 days in the desert. In the interest of equal opportunity, Satan appears at times as a seductive woman dressed in red, spouting utter balderdash.
Sultry Satan: "Empty yourself of your divinity, empty yourself of the Father...only in this way can we challenge each other"
Jesus: "I am willing"
Sultry Satan: "welcome to life, Jesus".

Nice epic style score by Patrick Williams, and cinematography by Raffaele Mertes, and the cast does their best, but it is too bad these able actors were wasted in this sham of a film. I believe if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and there is certainly no need to "fix" the Gospels, and make ludicrous "humanizing" additions to the life of Jesus.

Every film about Jesus that I have seen falls short in some way in portraying his unique life and mission. But I think this film does the best job of portraying the human character of Jesus. He is joyful, sensitive, fun loving, compelling, passionate and approachable. To those familiar with the Gospel accounts many of the scenes will seem rushed and many of the other characters will seem underdeveloped. There are some disappointing liberties taken with extra-biblical material, but they don't detract from the story too much. The portrayal of Jesus' relationship with Joseph is very interesting speculation. Pontius Pilate and Herod are played well and there are also many well done scenes in the movie. The scenes where Jesus is tempted by the devil are a very interesting interpretation. These are probably the best scenes in the film. The crucifixion is dramatic and realistic, but the post resurrection scenes seem weak. I think the film does a good job of interpreting the motives that people like Judas, Pilate, Herod, Caiaphas, Barabbas and Thomas may have had for their actions. This film is very much worth seeing but needs to be balanced by other films (like "Jesus of Nazareth") and a first hand study of the Gospels.

Of all other portrayals I've seen of Jesus this is the first that I related to and felt was the most honest. True there are scenes that you won't find in the Bible but they do not contradict but rather enchance the rythym and flavor of the Word. I loved this portrayal of Jesus most of all because it delved into his relationships with his parents, Joseph and Mary, it was also one of the first films to show Jesus laughing, dancing and smiling frequently...(the scene with Jesus swinging the child was AWSOME)...the temptations he faced were real. I FELT this Jesus and sadly in other films about Him I simply WATCHED those stories.

I really like this movie! Jeremy Sisto is a wonderful Jesus and really captures me. I have watched this movie at least 10 ten times and bought it as gifts for my mom and boyfriend. If you like viewing Jesus in an unorthodox way, you will enjoy this movie for sure. Jesus is depicted as a real person (like you or me) before he becomes Jesus as most of us know him today. This movie seems so real to me that when I watch it, it's as if I'm really watching Jesus. So lovely!

For the most part, I'm going to compliment the previous posts about this particular film, the pro's and the cons. What we have here is a unique, dramatized angle on the life of Christ, one that shows as much of His humanity as it does His divinity, a lot like the Last Temptation of Christ had attempted to do back in the 80's amidst tons of controvery and MISinterpretation. My qualms with the film are the biblical inaccuracy to a degree, but then again, how many movies(not counting the word-for-word Bible productions such as The JESUS Film, Matthew, Acts or The Gospel of John)gave us a picture of Christ without dramatization and a little filler to capture the audience? I know that in Christendom, many who watch this film and immediately have problems with the portrayal of Christ's humanity as opposed to His divinity being a given(ie,no struggle, no limitations,etc), but the Bible does teach a Christ Who is as human as He is God. To embrace only His divinity is to embrace half the Christ. I consider this film and others like it to be a masterpiece because if He wasn't a high priest that could be touched with the feelings of our infirmities(or humanity) then He wasn't the One. This film is a classic in that it presents a lot of food for thought...