Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Son of God Blu-ray Movie Review

The greatest story ever retold.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 3, 2014

Is there any life (or frankly death) story better known than that of Jesus? Even those who don’t self identify as Christians or perhaps even follow any religion know at least the broad outlines of the tale, from the annunciation, miraculous virgin birth and on to those tumultuous last three years of Jesus’ life where his teachings swept the populace and ultimately led to his crucifixion and (according to his followers, anyway) resurrection. The chief obstacle Son of God therefore has to overcome is presenting this by now very familiar tale in an interesting, if perhaps not overly innovative, way. Unfortunately this feature film which was culled from The Bible: The Epic Miniseries repeatedly belies its television genesis (sorry), and furthermore also shows signs of having been knit together from snippets which were not originally presented in this particular order. What remains is something like a Reader’s Digest approximation of “Jesus’ Greatest Hits”, in a film that is more than obviously well intentioned but which has a kind of bland ambience that keeps it from ever connecting as deeply as it should on an emotional level. The film is often handsome—at least by television standards—and it offers a good lead performance from Diogo Morgado, but Son of God simply pales in comparison to any number of other higher profile accounts of Jesus’ life on film, including outings like King of Kings, The Greatest Story Ever Told and The Last Temptation of Christ. It frankly doesn’t even consistently rise to the level of the Franco Zeffirelli Jesus of Nazareth miniseries, perhaps Son of God’s most suitable analog and an account which Roma Downey mentioned was one of her personal favorites in my recent interview with her.

Downey mentioned in the same interview that the film’s opening gambit of making Jesus’ story part of the overall arc of the Bible, as evidenced by brief snippets featuring stalwarts like Adam and Eve and Abraham was done not (just) because there was preexisting footage available from The Bible miniseries, but because Downey and her husband and co-producer Mark Burnett felt that it was important to place Jesus’ life within the overall saga of God’s relationship to his creation and of course specifically Man and the possibility of salvation. While Son of God isn’t quite as overt as The Jesus Film in weaving a coherent story of creation and grace, it’s notable that this film doesn’t just excise the Jesus portions of The Bible and does in fact at least attempt to give a semblance of a greater overall arc.

However, it’s when the film gets to Jesus (which it admittedly does rather quickly) that things begin to falter at least for a little while, before regaining some strength and momentum as Jesus’ tale moves towards its life (and death) altering climax. A curiously brief sequence details Jesus’ birth without really providing much background or context, and then the film simply skips to Jesus at 30, when he begins his ministry. Of course, aficionados of the Bible will already know that the “source material” (meaning the Bible itself) is also strangely quiet on Jesus’ youth and upbringing, there’s already a kind of haphazard, lurching quality to the storytelling here that sucks a bit of the dramatic momentum out of the picture just as the “real” story gets rolling.

A similarly cut and paste feeling attends Jesus finding his disciples, and in fact the film kind of passes over several of the acolytes in favor of characters like Peter (Darwin Shaw) and Judas (Joe Wredden). Interestingly, the film is told from the point of view of the apostle John (Sebastian Knapp), which Downey mentioned gave the film the ability to enter the story through memory and provide a better way to segue between scenes and timeframes rather than having a detached narrator. But even here Son of God rarely looks into the lives of the apostles, simply stacking them up in a row for Jesus to find and proselytize. Judas at least is given a bit more attention, especially once the film starts exploring what is arguably its strongest addition to cinematic Jesus lore, the roiling political unrest that was part and parcel of Jerusalem during this era. (In this instance, the film while perhaps not at the level of King of Kings’ examination of many of these same elements at least comes close.)

Son of God tends to treat its famous subject and equally famous anecdotes almost as vignettes, little scenes (even tableaux in certain cases) where Jesus gets to march in, perform his miracle (whether that be raising Lazarus from the dead or providing oodles of loaves and fishes to the teeming masses), and then move on to whatever is next in store. Finally, though, once the elements are in place for Jesus’ betrayal, “trial” and ultimate sacrifice, Son of God finds at least a modicum of emotional heft and builds to a suitably cathartic climax.

While larger in scale than some other Biblical television outings, Son of God still bears signs of its small screen roots, with some scenes populated by a handful of extras when multitudes really would have helped establish scale. Sets are typically rather minimal and some of the CGI elements are not especially helpful in establishing a sense of time and proportion. On the other hand, performances are generally quite excellent, including Morgado as Jesus, who is here a nice combination of humility and strength, nicely walking that tightrope between the human and the Divine. Downey is obviously well within her element as Mother Mary, and the closing scenes give her some nice opportunities at tugging the heartstrings. Downey’s decision to excise elements like Satan’s attempted seduction of Jesus (due to the controversy surrounding the actor’s resemblance to President Obama, which created a firestorm when The Bible aired) was perhaps understandable, but removes some of the cosmic aspects of the story. That makes a lot of Son of God a bit earthbound, something that may at least partially undercut the film’s thesis of universal redemption.

Son of God Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Son of God is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Shot digitally with the Arri Alexa, one of the more cinematic looking native HD units, Son of God has good sharpness and clarity, though a sometimes sleek and smooth appearance that (understandably) looks more like video than film. The "new, improved" aspect ratio creates a few framing problems throughout the film, with portions of heads or lower bodies truncated at times, though the upside is that there is a nicer epic feel to some of the exterior location shots. Colors are nicely saturated and accurate looking, but aside from things like the famous Roman reds, this is a fairly monochromatic offering, exploiting beiges, browns and white shades more than any really bright, popping colors. Fine detail is really excellent in the film's close-ups, to the point that some of the gruesome material in the crucifixion scenes may cause more squeamish viewers to avert their eyes. As mentioned above in the main body of the review, the CGI here, utilized in things like establishing shots of Jersualem, is not especially convincing and is further hampered by appearing very soft when compared to the bulk of the live action footage. Black levels are very good throughout the film. Contrast is also generally strong, and there are no problematic compression artifacts to note.

Son of God Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Son of God's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix has moments of great power and immersion, notably in scenes like Jesus' trek through the crowds with the cross, or the storm at sea with the disciples, and in these moments the track bristles with life and vividness. Aside from sequences like this, though, the surrounds really only kick in with regard to the nice score co-written by Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe. Dialogue is always very cleanly presented (though there are a number of different accents throughout the film, which may necessitate the use of subtitles for some listeners). Fidelity is excellent and there are no problems of any kind to report here.

Son of God Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Son of God Reborn (1080p; 28:33) looks at the transition from the Jesus story in The Bible to this standalone film version.


• From the Set: The Passion (1080p; 7:19) features behind the scenes footage of this sequence being filmed.


• Son of God: Un Reino Sin Fronteras (1080p; 22:58) is a Spanish language featurette with lots of interviews and clips from the film.


• Put Your Faith Into Practice: Introduce Children to a Relationship with Jesus Christ (1080p; 5:16) features Roma Downey and Mark Burnett discussing Compassion International.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:27)

Son of God Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There is absolutely no doubt that Roma Downey is a woman of immense faith and heart, as came through quite clearly in my interview with her. But there's a rather famous adage that good intentions only pave the way to a decidedly non-heavenly locale. Things aren't truly hellish in Son of God, but the film suffers from inartful editing, a lurching narrative style and a small scale ambience that aims for an epic sweep but instead only reveals the film's television roots. Christians will no doubt find a good deal to like about Son of God, and the film may work extremely well as a teaching tool, especially for younger viewers. Older believers may instead tend to flock to bigger budgeted and more literary fare like King of Kings. This Blu-ray presentation has solid technical merits and decent supplements.