The Greatest Story Ever Told

love it

What a daunting task to cast a actor to portray Jesus Christ! Many go with unknowns who tend to play the part with humility which Jesus certainly displayed. Max von Sydow manages to remain humble & yet maintain a certain majesty & authority without coming off unreachable. Charlton Heston delivers a powerful & dynamic performance playing Jesus's cousin John "The Baptist". Max von Sydow's voice & eye's are riveting at this stage of his life, and had someone told me he would be cast as Jesus I probably would have laughed but he truly delivers...the whole cast does for that matter & had I not found out it was filmed in Arizona I would have thought it was filmed in the middle east. I really enjoy seeing Biblical movies & like most others don't like to see deviation from scripture but have learned to deal with minor discrepancies happy just to see Hollywood handle religious material. I was recently asked what I thought about the new movie "Noah", and my response was although there are many deviation's from Biblical truth at least there are still director's brave enough to handle religious material & if young people are excited by the movie maybe they can question their parents about the scriptural story, or better still maybe it will lead them to read the Bible themselves to find their answers. Basically I was happy to forgive the discrepancies in the movies if it led more young people to have a interest in the Bible. After all these years I consider this movie to be the gold standard for movie's about the life of Jesus Christ & would love to see more movies brought to the big screen, with todays special effects I think there are a lot of amazing bible story's that are so action packed and full of adventure that they would be visually stunning & raise a lot of interest for so many young people today that are looking for something that will give them hope!

It arrived early, the price was very good.

The Greatest Story ever toldWe wanted to own this movie so we can share it with young adults that are in the process of understanding and defining their religious belifs.While rather lengthy, this George Stevens directed film provides an in depth view into the life of Jesus Christ, touching on all aspects of the story. The cast of characters is simply superb and we found ourselves trying to identify the cameo appearance of our favorites, including John Wayne, Max von Sydow, Pat Boone, Charlton Heston, Martin Landau, Angela Lansbury, David McCallum, Sidney Poitier and Telly Savallas.The film delves into the life of Christ with great reverence and respect, recreating his path through life, crucifixion and resurrection. The scenes are filmed in Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah with Pyramid Lake in Nevada used to represent the Sea of Galilee, Lake Moab in Utah used to film the Sermon on the Mount and Death Valley in California as the setting where Jesus spends 40 days in the wilderness. Back in 1962, the explanation provided by the producer was that none of the scenes could have been filmed in the Middle East to provide the background of grandeur required to recreate the life of Jesus Christ.Premiering on February 15th, 1965 at the Warner Cinerama Theatre in New York City, this film became a classic and now we can share it with family and friends during the holiday season. Don't miss it!After researching, here is a list of actors that played the main characters:1. Jesus = Max von Sydow2. Young man at the tomb = Pat Boone3. Barabbas = Richard Conte4. Mary Magdalene = Joanna Dunham5. Herold Antipas = Jose Ferrer6. John the Baptist = Charlton Heston7. Caiaphas = Martin Landau8. Judas Iscariot = David McCallum9. Simon of Cyrene = Sidney Poitier10. Pontius Pilate = Telly SavalasWe dare you to find... John Wayne!

Love this movie

It may seem very dated to those who are more accustomed to a newer technology.

Firstly let me just state that this is one of my very favourite movies. Being a christian I am obviously interested in the subject matter and being an enthusiast for historical epic spectaculars (especially those photographed in Ultra Panavison as this one was) this is the type of movie that definitely interests me the most.Secondly let me focus on the definite qualities of this film. It is superlatively photographed in Technicolour & Ultra Panavison (Ultra Panavision being the technical successor to "3 strip Cinerama" which George Stevens had originally considered using in this film but eventually deciding upon the easier to use Ultra Panavison format and still present this film in "Cinerama"-- a large curved screen format of showing movies similar to the modern day Imax system). It has magnificent, very large "purpose-built" sets, an expert & sometimes very moving musical score and has a large and reasonably talented cast. It also features an original musical score from that modern American film music master Alfred Newman that at times, at least for christians, is immensely moving. It also benefits from George Steven's decision to film the movie in the South Western United States of America because, according to him, "that part of USA looks more like the Holy Land that the modern day Holy Land does". This decision yields some stunning landscapes (especially in the raising of Lazarus sequence) and makes the film look as if it was filmed in the Israel of Jesus's time. One issue that this film in particular gives focus to (and others religious films have not) is the role of the female disciples in the story of Jesus. Mary Magdalene (obviously), Mary, Mother of Jesus (again obviously) both feature as important characters in this and other religious epics but this film gives prominence to both Mary & Martha of Bethany (the sisters of Lazarus) whom most other religious epics have chosen not to mention. As well the landscapes & settings do look very authentic--being populated with marching roman soldiers at various locations in several scenes and featuring virtual forests of multiple wooden crosses (with dying human beings attached) lining the roadways in various locations. This must have been how ancient Judea was at the time of Jesus. The signs of Roman occupation and oppression everywhere.Thirdly let me now focus on the variable parts of the movie. As I said earlier, from my point of view, the technical aspects of this film are superlative. Where the movie starts to go astray is in the casting and indeed in the very concept of the film. Max Von Sydow by the end of the movie makes a definitely impressive Jesus and this is, I think, more due to Von Sydow's acting abilities rather than George Steven's concept of Jesus. This Jesus looks rather unusual with reasonably shortish hair and an under grown beard rather than a full beard. Religious jews of this era would most definitely have had a full beard. Also there's something "strange" if not "queer" about the look of this Jesus that George Stevens has conjured up. Instead of a manly and youthful Jesus as Jeffrey Hunter in "King of Kings" (who wears a dark red ROBE at times) or the mystical and attractive Jesus of "Jesus of Nazareth" or the masochistic but charismatic Jesus of "The Passion of the Christ" here we are presented with a Jesus that, at first, appears reasonably effeminate. Maybe even a gay or homosexual Jesus. And he has BLUE EYES. As did Jeffrey Hunter (King of Kings) and Robert Powell (Jesus of Nazareth). What is this fascination with Hollywood about a BLUE EYED Jesus that looks as if he came from Northern Europe or California and not from ancient Judea? The real Jesus would most definitely have had long hair (not cropped hair), a full beard and an olive complexion. He most probably WOULD NOT HAVE HAD BLUE EYES. So the look of Jesus in this movie is all wrong. Without being blasthemous I think THE LOOK of JESUS in the Jesus character briefly seen in the very first part of Monty Python's "The Life of Brian" (the sermon on the mount sequence) is probably the most accurate version on film of how Jesus actually looked in real life. Also in the "Greatest Story Ever Told" Jesus wears plain white clothing with no RED ROBE (made of homespun cloth as in The Robe, Demetrius & The Gladiators and King of Kings) to be seen in any sequence. Come to think of it most of the other cast members wear white or pastel shades of clothing (the apostles and disciples) or black or dark shades (the pharisees and members of the sanhedrin) in this movie. Maybe the good guys in white and the bad guys in black situation. A definite choice of costume colours made by George Stevens. Hardly anyone wears any bright coloured clothing in this movie! With the execption of Mary Magdalene who wears a slinky crimson red outfit in her first scenes.The other reasonably talented cast members are quite effective and convincing in their roles. But one MAJOR problem nearly upsets this carefully constructed drama about the life of Jesus. And that is the OBVIOUS PROBLEM of the VERY UNWISE DEVICE of featuring a who's who of famous Hollywood stars of that time (1964-1965) in "cameo" roles (especially at the time of this film's release in 1965 when these stars were very well known). I remember seeing this film in its original Cinerama release (a big curved screen format of exhibition similar to today's IMAX presentations) and being continually off put from the drama of the film by the appearance every so often of Carroll Baker, Shelley Winters, Sidney Poitier & The Professor from Gilligan's Island all trying to look dignified and noble but ending up by hamming up the situation and nearly ruining the drama. And then there's Ed Wynn (a famous comedian of the 1930's & 1940's who'd had a revival of sorts appearing in "Mary Poppins" a year earlier in 1964) who tries mighty hard to act dramatically but you get the feeling he's about to burst out giggling at any moment. However worst of all is John Wayne as a roman centurion at Christ's crucifixion. In a western, a crime drama or even a comedy John Wayne was great but not here in a serious drama about the life of Jesus. Mr. Wayne himself may well have been a very religious person but he doesn't belong in this film. This "special guest appearance" nearly ruins the entire film as a serious drama even though he only has one line to say. And the way that John Wayne says "trewly this maan was the sun of gawd" just about ruined several viewer's appreciation of the crucifixion sequence if not the entire film. Next you expect to see Jerry Lewis driving a chariot running over someone's hat as in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". Also its been pointed out that nearly half the supporting cast of this film soon after found fame on television (most notably David McCallum in The Man from Uncle, Jamie Farr in Mash, Telly Savalas in Kojak and The Professor in Gilligan's Island). And yes, Judas hanged himself and did not fall into a fire. Again the blame must be laid against George Stevens who invented this part of the bible story instead of sticking to the gospels. And as for Charlton Heston's John The Baptist being the most impressive male character. Well I suppose after Jesus is portrayed as being reasonably effeminate (riding into Jerusalem side-saddle on a donkey) and Heston plays a strong, manly character I guess for most people there is no contest here. By the way, my favourite character in this film is Telly Savalas and his no nonsense, brutal, soldier-governor version of Pontius Pilate which, to me, seems the most accurate version of Pontius Pilate if we are to believe the various historical records and not just the gospels.Lastly, and this gets to the nub of the problem with this film and explains (in my opinion) why the film bombed at the box office (cost: $20 million USA and WORLWIDE GROSS: $12 million USA). And that is the entire concept of the production. The original version of this film ran 260 minutes OR 4 HOURS and 20 MINUTES of non-stop religious philosophy. Where was the big chariot race in the middle of the film to take the audience's mind off the religious philosophy for a while as in "Ben Hur". Even the similarly-themed "King of Kings" (1961 version) saw the need to intersperse a big battle between the roman soldiers and the jewish zealots led by Barabbas to interupt the religious philosophy. Indeed the film "Barrabas" features an extremely exciting gladiator sequence to excite the audience for a while. "The Greatest Story Ever Told" does not even give us Salome's dance of the 7 veils & John The Baptist's head on a silver platter to relieve the continuous religious philosophy. Apparently at the world premiere in either Washington or New York in 1965 (with the 4 hour 20 minute version) every so often a loud knocking noise could be heard which was not on the film's soundtrack. This was apparently the film's hard cover souvenir program hitting the cinema's floor as people nodded off to sleep. Alfred Hitchcock at one of the film's USA premiere's dubbed this film "The Longest Story Ever Told".Here I must confess that I have only seen the 199 minute currently available version several times at the cinema (in 70mm and Cinerama) and on dvd and the shorter 150 minute version at the cinema & on tv but have never actually seen either the 230 minute or 260 minute versions. I strongly suspect that very few people have ever actually seen the 230 minute or 260 minute versions. The original premiere 260 minute version was withdrawn quickly after the film's various premieres in USA and was apparently replaced firstly by a shorter 230 minute version and then by the current shorter 199 minute version. Even shorter versions were to follow in a desperate effort to try to get back the film's massive production costs. This film cost $20 million USA in 1962/1963 dollars (when it was filmed) which is the equivalent today of approximately $200 million USA. That makes this film one of the most expensive films ever made. According to IMDB this film has a worldwide gross of just $12 million USA. Obviously just a small proportion of the one billion christians around the world in 1965 and 1966 turned out to see this film. I wonder why?And this is why I say that George Stevens is the main culprit here due to his erroneous belief that audiences in 1965 and 1966 (and indeed any audience at any time) would put up with 4 HOURS & 20 MINUTES of non-stop religious philosophy with no break for an audience via a spectacular chariot race, gladiatorial or fighting sequence. And his concept of Jesus as an effeminate mummy's boy who could not even grow a full beard or his hair long (as was the fashion in Jesus's time). As I said earlier it is due to Max von Sydow's considerable acting abilities that he eventually convinces the audience, after a while, that this Jesus is actually something much better than the way he looks. There was also the concession to modern (at that time) "Cinerama" style "cameo" or "special guest appearances" by some of the then major Hollywood stars which was extremely unwise in a serious drama about the life of Jesus. I feel that these literally FATAL FLAWS doomed this film to box office oblivion in an era when the newly evolving sexual revolution, the aftermath of JFK's assassination, James Bond, The Beatles, the Italian spaghetti westerns, the Vietnam War and the impending nuclear war between the super powers that could break out at any time were changing the tastes of audiences everywhere. Obviously most audiences in 1965 & 1966 regarded this film as an old style biblical epic dinosaur vaguely resembling previous biblical epics but without any exciting big action sequences. So the majority of audiences in 1965 & 1966 just avoided this film as a relic of the past.Having said all that I still must admit that this film is an extraordinarily courageous, if naive (given its unrealistic attitude to an audience's endurance to non stop religious philosophy), attempt to create a spectacularly beautiful testament on film of the religious philosophy of Jesus Christ. This review is based on the current 199 minute version and not on either the longer or shorter versions. It is interesting to speculate whether the coming blue ray version will feature any additional footage or even be the 230 minute version or even the full 260 minute version. Somehow I doubt it as the missing one hour of this film (if it is able to be found) probably won't be included in any future versions. It deserves to be included but probably won't be.

Great experience

loved the movie

aucune souci avec le produit commandé, sauf la jaquette du boitier qui ne correspond pas du tout a celle de l'annonce en ligne sur le site. sinon aucun problème

Muito bom filme, conta a vida de Cristo com rigor bíblico! Gostei bastante de assistir a este filme histórico!

Questo è uno di quei film che non possono essere recensiti perchè in ogni caso non renderebbe l'idea della sua reale bellezza. Acquistato di alcuni anni fa è sempre meraviglioso.

Sujet : la vie de Jésus... C'est une de ces grandioses productions hollywoodiennes qui a la particularité de réunir les plus grands noms de l'Histoire du cinéma. Il n'y a pas de vedette à proprement parler et le choix de l'acteur Suédois pour tenir le rôle du Christ permet de ne pas centrer l'image sur un acteur particulier. Considérablement raccourci pour les besoins de son exploitation, le film n'en demeure pas moins superbe et surtout si l'on peut disposer de la version zone 1 qui propose une image au format 2.65 quand la zone 2 nous la propose en 2.35. Par ailleurs, la version zone 1 est plus longue de 10 minutes. En fonction de son apport, l'histoire prend un cadre différent.Film à voir et de préférence à Pâques afin de bien se pénétrer d'un cadre que nous avons fortement tendance à oublier même si l'on n'a pas de religion.