The Jesus Film

After opening with the expected quotation from John 3:16, the video Jesus bases its plot solely on the gospel of Luke, remaining rigidly faithful to the gospel and rarely adding conversations that you can not find in Luke. That makes for a far less controversial route than would occur if incorporating variations from the other three gospels that differ slightly from each other.

In a sense the choice of filming only the gospel of Luke has its strengths, as it appeals to a larger audience and presents Jesus Christ in his best. The richest parables are told here, with a larger overview of Christ's life, but the film focuses mainly of Christ's public ministry and glosses over his birth and his questioning of the priests in the temple at the age of 12. It also portrays Christ in the most positive way on the cross, as his final words in the Luke version are `Father! Into your hands I commend my spirit.'

Besides using the scripture from Luke straightforwardly, the filming locations add authenticity to the production. It appears to be straight from Jerusalem without any other settings. The scene leading to the Crucifixion does appear to take place on the actual Via Delorosa and thus provides much realism.

Even though the movie was great script and settings it is hurt by the lack of emotion. Movie seems fake in the sense of how the actors act. From the beginning starting with the narrator he has no emotion just reading the words causing it to be dull. Nothing was surprising as it was dull and you knew what was coming next if you had read the book of Luke.

The movie was just plain, plain text and plain acting. Being from 1979 you cannot expect a great video production but they could spice up the acting. After seeing what is easily the greatest Jesus movie ever made (The Passion of Christ) it is hard to be impressed but I was not expecting to be. In general it's a below average movie, had the best setting possible and the script already written just with the poor mellow dramatic acting decreased it value.

For any searcher, this movie gives an account that is closer to the truth of the four gospels than any other movie about Jesus. One not to be missed, but to be seen and thought about as to who Jesus really is. Filmed in several locations of where Jesus actually walked, the movie takes away the Hollywood hype and myths about Jesus and represents what the viewer really needs to know. Is Jesus who he claims to be? Is he the Son of God? Watch this movie and then make your own decision.

To write about such a delicate film as about Christ Himself in this age of an extreme political correctness is a tough task. This work appeals immensely to all the believers and works out fine to convert all the newcomers. To the non-believers, this work will seem dull and boring, but then, let's be straight - this is the most accurate, the most precise and elegant retelling of the Gospel According to Luke. Since I am a Protestant Christian myself, I must say that this film really did help me to understand who Jesus is and what He was doing among us the people on Earth. The play of Mr. Deacon is very good, he does an extremely difficult work and he does it well. I remember my eyes were wet with tears during the Crucifix scene, and then my heart leaped violently with joy during the final scenes. The film is very well done, by seeing the sandy dusty plains and hills of Israel, you feel the smell of age, you do believe in the truth of the plot and you do follow the film scene by scene. A very serious and thoughtful work.

A somewhat expurgated version of the gospel of Luke, Brian deacons version of Jesus is appealing, if somewhat un-animated. I have a great love for this film ( mainly due to the fact that it was the first film about Jesus I can remember seeing from my childhood.) Not as epic as Zeffirelli's film, nor as graphic as Gibson's, a faithful representation with only a few omissions ( I'm sure either due to budget or time constraints). the acting is at times somewhat melodramatic, but that is part of the charm of this film. the cinematography is not ground breaking but certainly serves its purpose and doesn't overshadow the story, and really thats one of the best things about this film, nothing in it overshadows the story as a whole.

I bought this for myself several weeks ago among other DVDs. I watched all the others immediately. But I waited until I was in the right frame of mind. Oh, what I missed all those days!

There are those who will say this version is dry. But I say this version is full of truth and peace.

The mood which pervades this wonderful film is so close to the Gospel as I have read it, and it is told with such a lovely pace of calm and reflection that it calls one into the telling with gentleness and not commercial flash and color. That is, if one is ready.

We are all so "spoiled" by melodramatic presentations that we forget that the story of the life of Jesus was dramatic on its own merits without need for Hollywood's elaborations or expansions.

"Jesus" is a movie I recommend to everyone, yes, even those who have no faith or interest in the Christ, if not more so.

Many blessings to this film, its creators and participants and the message it imparts with such grace, truth and peace.