The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)

 Mediocre Performance
It appeared to me that this film had high expectations in the 60's especially with the lavish production, but there are obvious faults. First, it appears it was filmed around Arizona and perhaps near the Colorodo River or possibly the Grand Canyon areas. Acting is terribly weak and I could not push my belief beyond these faults to allow the film to move me. With the spiritual theme such as this film portrays, the acting should have be somewhat distant of American dialect but it is clearly too American. One area that I will give some basic credit was the Crucifixion scene at the end. These were filmed well, but again the acting was just mediocre. The centurian who said "Surely this man was the son of God" was just so predictable and appeared to have read it from a cue card or was overdubbed badly. There was no genuine portrayal above the actors abilities here even with these notable actors. I think casting was thoughtless.

In comparison to this production, I much prefer "Jesus of Nazareth" which itself was a made for TV miniseries film, but had much more emotional depth to the characters. Also Christ is portrayed in such a close yet mystical quality. Robert Powell ranks as one of the best in my view that trully stepped outside himself into the sublime.

There are other notable epic biblical themed productions. I recommend Ben Hur with Charlton Heston, The Ten Commandments, Jesus of Nazareth & even the 70's production of Godspell.
April 27, 2008

 The Greatest Story Ever Told (Movie Only Edition)

The Greatest Story Ever Told

To begin: the desert cinematography reminded me of a John Ford's western.
In fact it was filmed in some of the same locales. The American Southwest is a beautiful place, but it was not the right choice for a biblical epic.

Of course, the music of Alfred Newman was beautifully performed with parts of Handel's Messiah and Verdi's Requiem tossed into the mix. The Messiah's pieces were a bit jarring to one's concentration.

The music and the cinematography were nominated for academy awards. Dr. Zhivago would take these Oscars.

The cast was a Who's Who of Hollywood from Charleston Heston as John the Baptist to John Wayne as the Roman Centurion. Unfortunately, the famous cast was one of the movie's primary weaknesses.

Max von Sydow, the great actor, looked totally uncomfortable in the role of Jesus. Those vivid blue eyes of his throughout the film detracted from the simple story of the carpenter from Nazareth whose message of peace and love changed the Roman World.

Charleston Heston's John the Baptist had moments of credence, but there were too many moments where the portrayal bordered on the comical. The man who played Moses, Ben Hur, and El Cid deserved a better script.

The talented David McCallum's Judas was well done, even though the depth of Judas' struggle with his soul was only briefly touched on in this film. His symbolic death at the altar was the last act of a movie which could have been the greatest story ever told. Since the law of God denounced human sacrifice and suicide, this was Judas' final act of blasphemy.

This was one of George Stevens' last films. One can tell that he placed a great emphasis on reverence in this film, especially with the soft spoken words of the Gospels, the lavish sets and the piety on the faces of those who believed in Jesus. It must have pained him greatly that the viewing public did not embrace his vision of the Christ. Perhaps the problem was the turbulent mid-1960's. This film was the last of the biblical epics for a long time to come.

With these failings, the movie became just one of the tales of the Christ in the film vaults of the world. Overall, it was a disappointing film with rare moments of beauty and pathos. For those who are not concerned about historical and biblical accuracy and just want an Easter treat, this would be a good film.
March 23, 2008

 The Greatest Story Ever Told
A ponderous retelling of the life of Christ with Swedish actor Max von Sydow in the role of Jesus. Swedish Jesus is hard to accept. Even von Sydow admitted difficulty. He comes off as a spaced-out caricature. Maybe a man who never sinned has to be this way. I have wondered why it was no sin when Jesus angrily drove the moneychangers from the temple with a whip. The cast is a "Who's Who in Hollywood," and the fun part is to pick out famous people. John Wayne is the Roman Centurion at the cross. "Truly, this man was the Son of God." This film ushered out the era of big budget Bible pictures.

February 23, 2008

 Greatest Movie Today's Youth Should Know About.
I just saw this film for the second time yesterday. It remains one of the most engaging, wondrous, and sublime artistic endeavors that I've ever witnessed. Yes, the way the film was shot is nothing short of amazing. With its grand sets and distant frames it gives one the sensation of being transported back in time. Von Sydow was an unlikely candidate to play Jesus in my mind, but here he turned in one of the most memorable performances in history. All of the transcendence, authority, and goodness of which we imagine Christ to have possessed are exuded by his character.

The Greatest Story Ever Told remains highly entertaining, but, more importantly, it renews one's faith. The scripture that makes up so much of its dialogue was truly inspiring and gives a spiritual shot in the arm unlike what we can find anywhere in the self-help aisle of a bookstore. We live in times where the only things that are seemingly important are finding better ways to stimulate and please ourselves. Here we are reminded that there are far more essential things in life than food, drink, accumulating stuff, and having fun. It is a most timely message as is the notion that perhaps our lives were not supposed to be easy. The Lord did not make His earth a comfy chair...and we would be wise to thank Him for that. If you need some uplift put this disk in your the DVD player.
January 28, 2008

 Movie 5 Stars... Transfer to DVD...0Stars
I caught this movie on Cable TV.... THIS VERSION, from Amazon is only 1:85:1....When I saw it on my Wide Screen TV,on Cable, It took up, edge to edge of my TV screen, and still had large bars on top and bottom.... It was much more like (2:35:1).... This movie was filmed in Panavision, and rightly so..This is a movie that defines Cinamatograpy,..It was beautifuly filmed, and deserves to be seen in its full Theatrical Realese Ratio... Amazon also has this same movie in,... (Anamorphic/Ratio)...I havent seen it, but if you really like this move, I would definately steer away from this version,..and try the Anamorphic Version...Even at 1:85:1, you'r only seeing 1/2 The picture... DVD, dosent stand for the quality it did, when it first originated....They will transfer just about any movie you ever wanted to DVD, and we have to live with grainy, poor transfers, from inferior video stock,...UPGRADED DIGITAL transfers are harder to find now... and dont get me started on HDVD-VS-Bluray, and mini DVD formats...give me a break!!




December 30, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...