Jesus Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Jesus Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 6, 2017

Note: This film is available as part of the box set The Bible Stories Collection.

That oft quoted adage “the book was better” might never be more appropriate than in adaptations culled from the Bible. How can mere mortals hope to compete with what many believe is a Divinely inspired collection of writings? That of course hasn’t stopped a lot of mere mortals from trying, and Biblical stories have been a staple of first film and, later, television outings virtually from the time these media were invented. While the big screen Biblical epics of the 1950s and 1960s were often kind of silly ( David and Bathsheba), or alternatively overly reverential and therefore kind of stodgy (The Greatest Story Ever Told), they typically (though not always) brought audiences in to delight not just in the pomp and circumstance, but also perhaps to blandish any qualms of conscience that not going to church and/or shul “religiously” (so to speak) may have engendered. One of the more interesting films to come out of this adaptive fervor was the 1966 effort The Bible: In the Beginning..., a John Huston directed effort which presented several iconic tales from Genesis and which was initially planned as just the first installment for a whole series of Biblically oriented tales culled directly from scripture. Its failure at the box office put the kibosh on that plan, but several decades later, a similar plan was put into production, albeit on a much smaller scale, with a series of made for television films (many marketed as miniseries despite not being all that lengthy) that offered various Bible tales, usually with at least one marquee star attached. Many of the made for television entries included in this set were part of a series which ran on various Ted Turner owned networks starting in the 1990s, and some at least have long been favorites of those who like their Biblical adaptations on the more intimate and less epic side of things.

No other entry in the Bible Stories collection has as many films it can be compared to as does Jesus. The list of films featuring the founder of Christianity is long and varied, and includes such stalwarts as (in no particular order) Ben-Hur, King of Kings, The Greatest Story Ever Told, Jesus of Nazareth (like this film, a made for television enterprise that had a theatrical release in some markets), Jesus Christ Superstar, The Jesus Film, Son of God and The Passion of the Christ. Perhaps unavoidably, then, this Jesus, while obviously trafficking in much of the same material as the foregoing films and television entries (as well as many others not listed above), can tend to seem derivative and not especially moving, even if it’s undeniably heartfelt.

I always find it interesting (and not in a nice way) when we reviewers are accused of being anti-Christian when we don't give out and out raves to films about Christianity. This is especially odd when we give Christian themed material mostly positive reviews, but still have some nits to pick with regard to various elements, as if only unanimous praise is "acceptable" for films of this general ilk. Would these same critics of critics insist that someone was anti-Capitalist for not liking Wall Street? (Of course, comparisons like this are shaky, but you get my drift.) So, with that preamble out of the way let me jump into this particular fray by saying that the dual nature of Jesus (i.e., Divine and human) has always presented difficulties for those attempting to depict him on the screen (whether big or small), and that again tends to be a problem in this version. There’s no doubt that the creative staff behind this Jesus want to emphasize Jesus’ humanity, and so there is perhaps an undue amount of tears and veritable gnashing of teeth that those who tend to focus more on Jesus’ godliness may find occasionally upsetting. That said, there are others who find Jesus’ humanity his most appealing attribute, and those folks will no doubt find solace in the sometimes angst filled portrayal of Jeremy Sisto in the role. (The fact that there are so many disparate responses to the same material would hopefully preclude anyone from being accused of being anti anything based on how they react to a film or television enterprise.)

More straitlaced Christians may find more to object about with regard to briefly salacious depictions of Mary Magdalene (Debra Messing) than in any imbalance between Jesus’ divinity and humanity, as well as a certain foreshortening of the passion in this version which almost makes it seem like an afterthought. The film strays from scripture, at least in dribs and drabs, something else that may chafe at certain religious sensibilities. One of the more interesting elements of this version is Jesus’ temptation by Satan. I had to wonder whether it was an intentional provocation to make this film’s “devil” (Jeroen Krabbé) be dressed at least a little like a Catholic priest. It’s also interesting that the “tempter” in this version is also a temptress at one point.

With so many versions of Jesus' life to choose from, I'd be hard pressed to rate this at the top of the bunch, but it's sincere and boasts some good performances, even if Sisto is, well, a little whiny in this epochal role. There's also some interesting "modern day" footage added, including several shots of wars being fought, that seek to transport the meaning of Jesus' message into our time period. The large supporting cast features a host of great performers like Armin Mueller-Stahl as Joseph, a really lovely Jacqueline Bisset as Mary (for my money, the best performance in this piece) and a suitably weird Gary Oldman as Pontius Pilate.

Jesus Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

All of the films in The Bible Stories Collection are presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout! Factory with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.78:1. While most (perhaps all) of these efforts were broadcast in the United States in 1.33:1, it looks from scouring through the IMDb that many (perhaps all) of them did in fact have theatrical releases in various foreign markets, meaning they were most likely all shot with "safeties" and/or "shoot and protect" regimens in mind. That said, those who have seen the 1.33:1 versions which were released on videotape and DVD will no doubt notice quite a few "tighter" framings, framings which often tend to lop the tops or bottoms off of heads and/or faces, at least intermittently.

Perhaps because this was not one of the Italian co-productions that make up the bulk of this collection and therefore may have been curated differently, Jesus has to what my eyes is the most pleasing overall transfer in this set. Grain is more consistently rendered throughout the presentation, and in fact is quite heavy in a number of dark scenes, where slight compression issues briefly intrude. A number of heavily graded scenes, like the blue bathed walking on water sequence, also offer fairly thick grain fields. Fine detail is excellent, especially in close-ups, including some of the gruesome, bloody injuries Jesus sustains on the way to his death. Colors are lush and realistic looking, and fans of this treatment should be generally well pleased with the presentation offered here.

Jesus Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jesus features a nice sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, one that achieves good surround activity courtesy of its Patrick Williams score (as well as some source cues, including some Andrew Lloyd Weber), as well as a number of effects like whipping winds and the big storm during the walking on water sequence. Ambient environmental sounds regularly dot the surrounds in the outdoor sequences. Dialogue is cleanly rendered on this problem free track. A DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix is also provided.

Jesus Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There is no supplementary material of any kind on this Blu-ray disc.

Jesus Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This Jesus ends with a modern coda featuring a tune by Leann Rimes, but with a subtext that would seem to suggest another pop song, Joan Osborne's "What If God Was One of Us?" This treatment of Jesus' life has some real emotional content, but it's also hit and miss, with a kind of emo-ish surfer dude portrayal by Sisto of the titular character, and a kind of mad rush to the passion that is in some ways as viscerally violent as Mel Gibson's treatment in his film version of Jesus' life, but which for whatever reason doesn't reach the same emotional impact. With caveats noted, Recommended.