1. The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) - I remember liking this 4 plus hour epic back in the day, not sure how it's aged though.
2. Pasolini's The Gospel According To St Matthew (1964) - I saw a shortened version that Tubi carries not the longer Criterion collection one. Matthew is the Gospel with all the sayings and this film has no additional dialogue really besides of quotes directly from the book. Definitely my favorite of these 3.
3. The Passion of the Christ (2004) - Has anyone ever made a movie featuring the scene where Jesus goes to preach in Galilee and they're all like "this guy? The Messiah? I know his Mom". I guess it's sort of besides the point. Anyway everyone knows the Mel Gibson helmed version.
Any others of note?
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR - I like this one, although the vocal performances overall aren't as good as the original album.
Agreed on JCS.
THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST is pretty good. Harvey Keitel is a great Judas and David Bowie is Pontius Pilate. What else need be said?
There's also a TERRIFIC play by Stephen Adly Guirgis called "The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot". One of my favorite plays, actually. It premiered on Broadway about 20 years ago directed by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Sam Rockwell was Judas, John Ortiz was Jesus, Stephen McKinley Henderson was Pilate, and Eric Bogosian was Satan. Jeffrey Demunn and some other familiar faces were in it, too. Recommended reading!
Shouldn't have forgotten about LAST TEMPTATION, definitely one of the best Jesus movies, and one I own on Blu-ray.
I've been meaning to watch the Klaus Kinski insane Jesus inspired thing he did.
Quote from: lester1/2jr on January 24, 2026, 09:41:40 PMI've been meaning to watch the Klaus Kinski insane Jesus inspired thing he did.
I didn't think there were any recordings of that.
THE CHOSEN is TV rather than a movie, but I will say it is the most faithful, beautiful adaptation of the life of Christ I have ever watched. Absolutely brilliant, perfect casting. Took about half the first season to find its voice, but once it did, it was amazing!
I saw Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter.
It's fairly fun, but they make the mistake of giving Jesus a haircut and a shave. Kinda defeats the point of using Jesus if they don't have him look like Jesus.
Quote from: Rev. Powell on January 24, 2026, 06:04:35 PMShouldn't have forgotten about LAST TEMPTATION, definitely one of the best Jesus movies, and one I own on Blu-ray.
Banned in South Africa sadly.
I have seen it and it was good.
The Greatest Story Ever Told(1965)
King of Kings(1961)
Would Ben-Hur count? It certainly is Jesus-adjacent
Quote from: LilCerberus on January 26, 2026, 12:46:46 PMThe Greatest Story Ever Told(1965)
That's another one the apartheid censor board got stuck into 😕
Quote from: Trevor on January 27, 2026, 03:05:15 AMQuote from: LilCerberus on January 26, 2026, 12:46:46 PMThe Greatest Story Ever Told(1965)
That's another one the apartheid censor board got stuck into 😕
At this point I wouldn't be surprised if the censorship board had problems with Mary Poppins.
Quote from: Dr. Whom on January 27, 2026, 01:31:35 PMQuote from: Trevor on January 27, 2026, 03:05:15 AMQuote from: LilCerberus on January 26, 2026, 12:46:46 PMThe Greatest Story Ever Told(1965)
That's another one the apartheid censor board got stuck into 😕
At this point I wouldn't be surprised if the censorship board had problems with Mary Poppins.
😳😄😆😂😅🤣😀😃😄
The one movie like this they had an issue with was, believe it or not, MY FAIR LADY. They were concerned about Audrey Hepburn's language at the horse race where she forgets where she is and yells "Move your bloomin arse!" at the horse.
The film was finally released, arse and all. 😉😉😎🐢
Lotta' studio pics in the mid-20th were somehow Jesus-adjacent. I suppose Christian films or Christian-related films were good box office. THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII rather aggressively manipulated history to line up with Christ's trial before Pilate. I also remember thinking SPARTACUS (which I watched about 9 months back) was going out of its way to make Christian allusions, even though it predates the life of Jesus by a few decades. The Bible = $$$. :lookingup:
Quote from: Rev. Powell on January 24, 2026, 10:03:37 PMQuote from: lester1/2jr on January 24, 2026, 09:41:40 PMI've been meaning to watch the Klaus Kinski insane Jesus inspired thing he did.
I didn't think there were any recordings of that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB84Q4eYMl8
Quote from: Trevor on January 28, 2026, 02:18:50 AMQuote from: Rev. Powell on January 24, 2026, 10:03:37 PMQuote from: lester1/2jr on January 24, 2026, 09:41:40 PMI've been meaning to watch the Klaus Kinski insane Jesus inspired thing he did.
I didn't think there were any recordings of that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB84Q4eYMl8
Wow!
saved
Quote from: M.10rda on January 27, 2026, 09:08:46 PMLotta' studio pics in the mid-20th were somehow Jesus-adjacent. I suppose Christian films or Christian-related films were good box office. THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII rather aggressively manipulated history to line up with Christ's trial before Pilate. I also remember thinking SPARTACUS (which I watched about 9 months back) was going out of its way to make Christian allusions, even though it predates the life of Jesus by a few decades. The Bible = $$$. :lookingup:
The way I see it, it is very much something like the way modern movies/series project contemporary ideas about gender and diversity onto the past. Earlier generations were invested in the fate of the Christians in the Roman Empire, so if you wanted to vibe with your audience, you had to shoehorn in Christian themes. After all, one thing that was generally known about the Romans was that they persecuted Christians. This idea predates movies and was a recurrent theme in 19C depictions of the period, which of course directly inspired the Hollywood epics.
Good explanation!
Jesus of Nazareth(1977)
GREASER'S PALACE
https://www.badmovies.org/movies/greasers/
MONTY PYTHONS LIFE OF BRAIN
Jesus of Montreal (1989)
I love this film. A group of actors putting on an interpretive Passion Play in Montreal begin to experience a meshing of their characters and their private lives. The characters are well played and some of the imagery is strong. I find the last 10-15 minutes very tense and moving every time I watch it.
Quote from: LordGraal on March 09, 2026, 02:14:20 AMJesus of Montreal (1989)
I love this film. A group of actors putting on an interpretive Passion Play in Montreal begin to experience a meshing of their characters and their private lives. The characters are well played and some of the imagery is strong. I find the last 10-15 minutes very tense and moving every time I watch it.
The apartheid censor board had a few things to say about this one too.
Quote from: LordGraal on March 09, 2026, 02:14:20 AMJesus of Montreal (1989)
I love this film. A group of actors putting on an interpretive Passion Play in Montreal begin to experience a meshing of their characters and their private lives. The characters are well played and some of the imagery is strong. I find the last 10-15 minutes very tense and moving every time I watch it.
That was a good one, very affecting ending.
New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman has talked about Jesus of Montreal and also Life of Brian.