Product Details

• Actors: Albert Finney, Michael Crompton, Robert Austin, Caroline Bliss, Antony Brown
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Republic Pictures
• VHS Release Date: January 16, 1995
• Run Time: 147 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303369030
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,938 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

If there is one must-see documentary on Pope John Paul II's life and ministry, this is it. In a way, it is a summary of the Pope's pursuit of God, of love, and of light for all people. Interspersed with an English-language interview with him are footage and quotes from some of his 20-plus years of tenderness for people of all nations, ages, races, and faiths. Aside from the Pope's personal journey, however, this documentary offers a profound and ironically new manner of looking at our times. Amid surprisingly graphic footage of the events of the 20th century, clips of the Pope's visits to the war torn, the oppressed, and the needy accumulate to a moral critical mass where all the pain of the century cries out for an answer. We see Pope John Paul II present that answer as a kind of balm to every crisis he seeks out: peace to the oppressed, peace to the oppressors, peace to the dying, and peace to the young. Facing all the terrors of our time with an answer so simple is a task of faith and courage. Yet the presentation is so riveting and so powerful, it indeed commands, "do not be afraid," and indeed we believe. --Courtenay Kehn

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forgot I was watching Albert Finny, he became Karol Wojtyla, March 28, 1999

By 

Helen Carlin, ocds ([e-mail]) (Oregon, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pope John Paul II [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I really forgot I was watching an actor, both young Karol and the man Karol, the acting was so well done by all. Patrick Stewart as an antagonist was superb. One can not help but feel the emotions that Karol felt as his character is formed by the experiences of his life, from the loss of his mother at an early age and his father as a young man, the ocupation by the Germans, the plight of the Jewish families that led him to risk his life for them. Also his meeting with a mentor who intoduces him to St. John of the Cross, he became a Secular Carmelite as a result and the Carmelite St. John of the Cross was to influence his life right up to the present day. It was his dealings with the Communists, as Bishop of Cracow, that gave such hope to the Polish people. An example was at Nowa Huta. This is the story of a man who was formed by the experiences of his life which brought him to the understanding of the true meaning of love. Not the passive kind, but the love that acts to restore the dignity of the human being. It shows his ability to be empathic with the suffering of everyone. It reveals his capacity to understand all sides and to mediate well, which is part of what got him elected to the highest position in the church. It also shows his astute mind and strong-willed commiment to his principles in dealings with the Communists and others. Keep your kleenex handy, you will feel this story very deeply.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent film!, April 3, 2005

By 

Odilla (East Coast USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pope John Paul II [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This was an excellent film telling the story of the young Karol, as well as a tiny bit about him as Pope. I found the scenes of Karol in Poland as it was under Nazi Occupation to be the best. The film captured his humor, and his heroism, and his sanctity (done in a very "true" way instead of a "hollywood holy" false way).

I strongly recommend this film. I'm puzzled by a few of the other reviews- I think they are mistaking this film for another one that's a documentary. This was a regular movie with actors playing the Pope, and the acting was very good.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm Pope-eye the Savior's man!, May 13, 2000

By 

Paco Calderón (Mexico City, Mexico) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pope John Paul II [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Many people today think of John Paul II as some sort of well-intentioned preachy old-timer set in his church's archaic ways, with little, if nothing, relevant to say in our present troubled times. As this movie shows, they couldn't be more wrong! We're talking about a bigger-than-life hero here, if ever there was one!

Albert Finney is astounding in the role of a Polish working class priest witnessing first hand the worst atrocities of the XX century, and putting his own life on the line in order to stop and ammend them. I don't know if Finney ever recieved any award for this perfomance, but I do know John Paul II will go down in history not only as a great pope, but as an example of what being human means!

You don't have to be a Catholic to apreciate this, nor to watch the movie!