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DVD The Greatest Story Ever Told (Movie Only Edition)
The life of Christ got an excessively long treatment (260 minutes, later trimmed to 195) in this 1965 film directed by George Stevens (The Diary of Anne Frank). Max von Sydow does beautiful work as Jesus--his spontaneous mourning at discovering his friend Lazarus has died is not like anything in other New Testament epics--and Stevens renders the familiar tale with a handsome authenticity. But the project is nearly undone by an unwise gimmick in which seemingly half of Hollywood's living stars at the time make brief (often very brief) cameo appearances, some of which are ridiculous. But there is a lot to like in the film, and Von Sydow's sensitive nobility sticks in the memory. --Tom Keogh
Review(s): DVD The Greatest Story Ever Told (Movie Only Edition)
More like the greatest bore ever told
I read the different reviews of this movie and so I bought a copy and watched it last night. I couldn't keep myself awake.
The movie could have moved along faster, the acting could have been more inspired and dramatic. I felt the movie went along at a snail's pace.
There were some scenes that I thought were poorly done or were laughably awkward.
The Bad:
1) The Temptation of Christ -- Jesus is hiding in a cave and then the devil appears in the guise of a bald old man who is nibbling on a piece of bread (played by Donald Pleasance). We are not even aware that this is the devil. Jesus replies back to the devil with very little authority, and the sequences are not faithful to the Bible.
2) The raising of Lazarus -- Jesus is rebuked sharply by Martha and Mary. Jesus weeps (seemingly in response to the unbelief expressed in him) and then goes up the mountain to command Lazarus to come out. Then, inexplicably two men run down the mountain with Handel's Hallelujah Chorus in full blast and go to the walls of Jerusalem to announce to John the Baptist that the dead are being raised. This scene is both good and bad -- Jesus' reaction to Martha and Mary is very interesting but the part with the 2 men running down to the walls of Jerusalem -- what was that all about?
3) The woman caught in adultery -- while Jesus is walking in the crowd, a group of men run around, trying to catch the woman caught in adultery (who wears a conspicuous red dress). Finally, the men catch her and bring her before Jesus. Jesus speaks to the woman, who seems to doubt who Jesus is, and then it is revealed that the woman is Mary Magdalene. There is no chemistry between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and it is not believable how she would be drawn to follow him.
4) Weird cameo appearances -- After Jesus dies on the cross, we see John Wayne portraying the Roman centurion, speaking in Southern accent, "Surely, this man was the Son of GAWD!" I expected John Wayne to add "Little Pilgrim" after that sentence.
5) The changing in Jesus' words at the end. Jesus is supposed to give the Great Commission to go and make disciples. Instead he talks about don't worry about tomorrow for each day has its own worries. Why not just have Jesus give the commission straight from the Bible?
6) The 3 hour length seems like a millennium!
The Good:
1) Max Von Sydow's reverential portrayal of Jesus. Max Von Sydow is a brilliant actor and he speaks with distinguished diction. However, Von Sydow plays Jesus a bit too stoically, without much emotion. The only time he ever smiles is in a scene when a disciple tells him that "Jesus is a good name" and then he replies, "thanks."
2) The photography -- some shots were very beautiful and interesting. There is an interesting juxtaposition between shots of Jesus traveling with the disciples under a bridge while Roman soldiers walk over the bridge above them. When Joseph and Mary travel from Egypt back to Nazareth, they pass by crucified victims along the path. I don't know if you'd like this, I thought it was interesting.
3) Charlton Heston's portrayal of John the Baptist -- he plays John the Baptist with great dramatic zeal and passion. Heston's acting is one of the bright spots in the movie.
I admire the efforts of the director and the actors in trying to make a reverential portrait of Jesus. I thought they could have done a better job, especially with the $20 million price tag. They could have made it a lot more interesting and less sleep-inducing.
If you want a better portrait of Jesus, watch "Jesus of Nazareth," "The Gospel of John" or "Passion of the Christ". King of Kings (with Jeffrey Hunter portraying Jesus) is similar to this movie but slightly better.
A Very Good Movie!
The Greatest Story Ever Told is one of my favorite movies about Jesus. My favorite movie is Jesus of Nazareth but I like this movie too and I think Max Van Sydow and Charlton Heston were very good as Jesus and John the Baptist and I think the only flaw with this movie is with all of the cameos by popular Hollywood actors, some were good but others were badly miscast but that doesn't distract from what a wonderful movie this is and from the actors who really were right for this movie and gave brilliant performances. I had this movie on tape and I'm wanting to buy it on DVD and I recommend The Greatest Story Ever Told very greatly and I rate this 5 stars just for the excellent acting by Max Van Sydow and Charlton Heston!
Wonderful Message; Breathtaking Cinema
This movie is one of the most beautifully filmed and the restoration to its original splendor attests to this. It is faithful to scripture and sets forth the message of Jesus in a classic style.
The film itself is generally well done, although it falls somewhat short in its sanitized depiction of the passion. However, most of the film is absorbing and the numerous "celebrity" cameos no longer (as time goes by) are the distraction they once were. John Wayne's "Truly this man was the Son of God" centurion is an exception. Claude Rains as Herod the Great, Jose Ferrer as Herod Antipas and (surprisingly) Ed Wynnn as the blind man healed by Jesus give powerful performances.
The movie is worthy of anyone's library and is a great companion to The Passion of the Christ.
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