Paul, Apostle of Christ Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Paul, Apostle of Christ Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 21, 2018

Saul, often known as Paul in the years after his conversation from Christian persecutor to Christian leader, stands as one of the most prominent figures in the Bible and is certainly one of the most significant to appear in the New Testament. Paul, Apostle of Christ tells his story, not in a traditional biopic birth-to-death arc but rather exploring his later days, imprisoned, and close to death. While the film takes a few dramatic and narrative liberties for the purposes of cinematic structure and flow, the film is steeped in scripture and delivers a seemingly authentic and moving portrait of faith and inspiration even under the most difficult circumstances. Less a cinema spectacle and more a drastically grounded tale of a light in the dark, the film is an inspired portrait of one of the Bible's most prominent and prolific figures.

In the years after the life and death of Jesus Christ, Paul (James Faulkner) was one of the most feared and fearsome persecutors of Christians. He has since seen the light -- literally -- and converted into one of Christ's most storied apostles. He is living out his final days in a dark, dank prison as he awaits his last breath. He spends part of his time debating life and spirituality with his jailer, Mauritius (Olivier Martinez), who is fascinated by Paul’s steadfast faith as he himself faces a significant life challenge at home. Meanwhile, Paul’s friend Luke (Jim Caviezel) visits him in prison and urges him to share his perspective on Christianity, which would ultimately lead him to fashion several books of the New Testament and lay part of the foundation for the Christian church.

The film does not engage in quasi-manufactured drama. It’s not made to be artificially intense, for lightning edits to mask structural shortcomings, to allow sight and sound to carry an empty narrative. The film instead finds its depth in its story and characters, in the innermost essence of their beings: who they are, what they believe, where they have been, where they are going. The movie’s ancillary support elements are just that, essential details that compliment rather than carry the story. Production values appear authentic, but the filmmakers smartly dial back any unnecessary draw to any piece that might distract from the greater story. That so much of the film plays -- and works -- in a dank prison with minimal light but maximum thematic resonance and wonderful acting tells the entire tale of the film’s production. It’s honest, it’s challenging, it requires the viewer to absorb it, not simply watch it all move by for no reason other than that it's on the screen.

This is a film in which figurative light shines from literal darkness. Paul’s imprisonment is a central narrative driving force, and the film’s exploration of his steadfastness in faith, proclaiming Christ’s love and grace, and struggling with and fearing the idea that his persona may elevate to that of Christ, give the character a depth beyond the typical character imprisoned for a certain belief system, whatever the belief system may be. The movie’s most dynamic scenes feature Paul debating spirituality, morality, life, and death with his captor, the prison’s prefect, Mauritius, who is himself challenged by the difficult realities defining his life. The theological debates in which the two engage bring a gravity to the film, but not an inaccessibility. The film, and the actors, accomplish a near impossible task, shaping some of the most fundamentally challenging, world-shaping, and deeply personal spiritual debates into an intoxicating narrative focal point. It’s great stuff and the most critical component in a movie that is absolutely driven by its ideas; everything else is just a nondescript (in a very good way…props to the art department) frame.

Paul, Apostle of Christ Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Paul, Apostle of Christ is something of a tricky film to evaluate, visually. Much of the film takes place in extreme low light where the image runs into unavoidable noise that's dense and sometimes borderline dominant. Add in frequently softer focal elements and smudgy edges and the image can appear rather lackluster on the whole. That said, this is a very modestly budgeted movie. The lack of polish is not wholly unexpected, and it does compliment the film in that it keeps the attention on the story and characters, not any supportive dazzle. Still, clarity is sufficient to bring out the finer textural pleasantries on characters, clothes, and environments, even in low light, such as in Paul's dank and dimly lit prison cell in which he is often seen conversing with Luke. Brighter daytime scenes -- an exterior shot of Mamertine Prison eight minutes in -- prove a bit more evenly and pleasantly defined, with improved clarity through the frame. The prison's stone textures and surrounding terrain reveal enough clarity and definition in the establishing shot to satisfy. Viewers will note some elevated textural elements in better light, such as more finely revealing skins, though nothing in the image approaches the best the digital format has to offer. Colors are likewise sort of left without much intensity. Low light scenes, of course, are fairly muted, but daylight at least brings a spring of essential hues that lack precise saturation and contrast but that do pop on a fairly fundamental level. Black levels, critical to the film, fortunately don't stray too far from a satisfying center. In the aggregate, it looks fine so long as viewers adjust expectations accordingly.

Paul, Apostle of Christ Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Paul, Apostle of Christ's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers the film's rather modest, and occasionally heightened, sound needs well. Music enjoys positive stage engagement, good width, mild surround support, and a quality low end weighted structure as necessary. Surrounds spring to life with some discrete effects at key points throughout the film. Voices dot the background prior to a man burning alive in chapter three. His screams echo about the listening area in a chilling, horrific sensation. A dreamlike voice as heard in chapter eight bursts from every speaker with excellent reverberation and depth. Light environmental din is sprinkled throughout the track with natural placement. General dialogue is clear and precise with firm front-center placement.

Paul, Apostle of Christ Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Paul, Apostle of Christ contains deleted scenes and a few featurettes. A DVD copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with purchase.

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Includes Crucifying the Servants of God (1:37) and Followers of the Way (2:03).
• The Living Scriptures (1080p): A two-part feature.
• Saul's Conversion (2:26): A reading from the book of Acts that recounts the story of Saul's turn from his evil ways and towards service to God.
• Paul's Letter (1:25): A reading from the book of 2 Thessalonians, chapter two: "The Good News."
• The Path of the Apostle: Adapting Paul (1080p, 11:06): The filmmakers discuss the character of Paul, finding him through his letters, Scripture as source material, Paul's influence in his time, Writer/Director Andrew Hyatt's own faith, crafting the screenplay, the film's focus, and more.
• Recreating First Century Rome (1080p, 3:55): A quick discussion of the benefits of shooting in Malta. It also explores production design, costumes, set design, and more.
• An Extraordinary Friendship: Luke & Paul (1080p, 2:17): James Faulkner and Jim Caviezel discus the relationship shared between the film's two lead characters.
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

Paul, Apostle of Christ Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Paul, Apostle of Christ is a captivating character film that deemphasizes everything but the story the characters have to tell. The performances are spot-on and the production design melts into the movie. While a faith-based film at its heart, outsiders may find this to be a gripping drama in which some of man's greatest questions are debated in an absorbing and deep yet accessible manner. Sony's Blu-ray is good all-around. Video is limited by the lower end source and the movie's native visual structure but presents as well as can be expected. Audio has its moments of intense engagement and a handful of quality extras are included, though a commentary track with Director Andrew Hyatt would have been most welcome after hearing him speak in the video-based supplements. Recommended.