I watched this movie just last night. I can honestly say that it was not what I expected.
Before I get into this, let me say that there were plenty of good things about this movie. Almost the entire cast was, well, well-cast. The cinematography is also quite good. Furthermore, while it was not used very often, the symbolism employed was quite interesting.
The primary failing point of this movie, for me anyway, was the fact that it's so much more about the political context of Jesus than about Jesus. This might have been more at home in one of those older Jesus films where he was almost entirely unseen, but Jeffrey Hunter was very much a presence in this one.
Additionally, the character of Lucius (who, in line with my above criticism, was more of a character than Jesus was) was the product of so many contrivances to ensure that he was wherever the plot needed him at that particular time. The movie couldn't decide whether he worked under Herod or Pilate, so he was constantly bouncing back and forth between the two.
On a lesser note, the actor portraying John the Baptist was not very good. John should be wild and kind of crazy. This guy was incredibly calm. I had a very hard time believing that Barabbas would think he would be of assistance in revolution or that Pilate and Herod felt threatened by him.
All-in-all, it's an okay movie. It just suffers from a huge lack of focus and some pretty big contrivances.
Before I get into this, let me say that there were plenty of good things about this movie. Almost the entire cast was, well, well-cast. The cinematography is also quite good. Furthermore, while it was not used very often, the symbolism employed was quite interesting.
The primary failing point of this movie, for me anyway, was the fact that it's so much more about the political context of Jesus than about Jesus. This might have been more at home in one of those older Jesus films where he was almost entirely unseen, but Jeffrey Hunter was very much a presence in this one.
Additionally, the character of Lucius (who, in line with my above criticism, was more of a character than Jesus was) was the product of so many contrivances to ensure that he was wherever the plot needed him at that particular time. The movie couldn't decide whether he worked under Herod or Pilate, so he was constantly bouncing back and forth between the two.
On a lesser note, the actor portraying John the Baptist was not very good. John should be wild and kind of crazy. This guy was incredibly calm. I had a very hard time believing that Barabbas would think he would be of assistance in revolution or that Pilate and Herod felt threatened by him.
All-in-all, it's an okay movie. It just suffers from a huge lack of focus and some pretty big contrivances.