I bought this movie at Dollar Tree on a DVD titled "Stories of Jesus." It contains this movie on one side and "I Beheld His Glory" (which I am reviewing separately for this page) on the other side.
"The Power of the Resurrection" is told from the perspective of a now elderly Apostle Peter (played by Richard Kiley), who, while awaiting execution for his Christian faith, tells a young fellow prisoner about Jesus (Jon Shepodd).
Like in "I Beheld His Glory," this movie covers the life of Jesus beginning at his entry in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. It includes the Last Supper and Jesus' betrayal. But, as the title implies, it places a lot of emphasis on the resurrection. About a third of the movie takes place after that event.
The movie presents some of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances, including Thomas' initially doubting the resurrection but becoming convinced of it upon touching Jesus' nail marks. In addition, it shows the sudden transformation of the apostles from despair to immense joy and public proclamation of the resurrection.
And the movie is a strong testament to the spiritual growth of Peter, who went from denying Jesus three times to being a Christian martyr who believed that he would have eternal life through his faith in the resurrected Jesus.
The big weakness of the movie is that it largely ignores the crucifixion. It goes far beyond the mere downplaying of that event's brutality that was done in "I Beheld His Glory." The crucifixion scene in "The Power of the Resurrection" shows part of the three crosses - all below the horizontal bar - and Jesus is never shown hanging on the cross. A few of his on-the-cross quotes are heard but He's not seen while speaking them. And this movie, like "I Behld His Glory," does not show the flogging of Jesus at all.
The technical quality of "The Power of the Resurrection" is very good for its day and its transfer to DVD is very good.
In conclusion, while this movie is marred by its almost complete lack of emphasis on the suffering that Jesus did for our sins, it still portrays some of the central Christian beliefs in a very moving way. And like I say in my review of "I Beheld His Glory," getting these two movies together for $1 is an outstanding value. I rate "The Power of the Resurrection" 7/10.
