Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4069 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-03-26
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, PAL
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 121 minutes

Synopsis
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST depicts the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus of Nazareth (Jim Caviezel), beginning with his betrayal by Judas Iscariot (Luca Lionello) and ending with his crucifixion and subsequent resurrection. Directed by Mel Gibson (BRAVEHEART)--who funded the film himself and co-wrote the screenplay--PASSION uses flashbacks to substantiate a handful of pertinent moments in Jesus' life and teachings, such as the Sermon on the Mount and the Last Supper, as well as his relationships with his mother and his disciples. Still, the drama focuses on the seemingly endless torture inflicted upon Jesus by Roman soldiers at the urging of the Jewish crowd that considers him a blasphemer, despite the attempts of a sympathetic Pontius Pilate (Hristo Naumov Shopov) to spare him from death. The faint of heart should be prepared for the brutal, barbaric beatings that Christ endures. Maia Morgenstern, Monica Bellucci, and Hristo Jivkov are touching as Mary, Magdalene, and John respectively, who are devastated by Jesus' fate yet aware that they can do nothing to change it. Performed in Aramaic and Latin with English subtitles, Gibson's labour of love is sure to prompt discussion and debate as to historical and Biblical fact.

Customer Reviews

Good film
I would probably have given this film a higher grade if it was more honest. I thought at first the language was accurate but then discovered it was not. Its the best guess Aramaic Mel Gibson could find. So it may as well have been in English. Secondly in a land of colour there is no possible way Jesus could have been white. So again its misleading to suggest that Jesus was white.

The films is good for everyone. If you believe Jesus is the Son of God then its well laid out. However it is also watchable for Muslims too. The main essence of the message of Jesus was there as he did come to confirm the teachings of earlier prophets of God such as Abraham and Moses who themselves never mentioned the Messiah would be the Son of God.

However the film itself is good. While some people claim that the violence is too extreme, i would probably say it is not extreme enough compared to what Jesus actually suffered.

We must also get rid of this silly idea that the film is anti semetic. Anti Semetic is how the Nazis treated the Jews, How the Jews were treated by the Russians in the early 20the century or How the Pharaoh in Egypt treated the Jews before Prophet Moses led them to freedom.

However its a fact that Jesus was handed over for execution by the Jews themselves whether you beleive he was executed (Christians) or not (muslims)

I am glad that Mel Gibson was not influenced by the powers that are and showed more brutality with regards to how Jesus was treated. This is not anti semetic but a fact. The Romans did punish in this brutal way. There is no need for Jews today to feel guilty about the sins of their forefathers in the past.

All they can do is learn from the mistakes their forefathers made and stop persecution in all shapes and forms and perhaps there can be peace in the Middle East.

This film is hope

FANTASTIC ON ALL LEVELS
This is a fantastic film which shows the world the true sacrifice which god made in order for us to have salvation. I think Mel Gibson has done a great job with this film and you can really see how the hand of god was truly with him through out the making of this film, and it's a great slap on the face for all those people who said a film on the last 12 hours of christ would not be of interest to anyone.
I would really recommend this film, I saw it in the cinema and was truly moved by it, be prepared for very brutal scenes which are probably nothing compared to what Jesus actually had to suffer.
The film is based on actual fact, not just biblical fact, it's a great film for christians but an even better one for non christians, i hope all who buy this truly come to know the love of jesus and to understand why a completely sinless god had to go to hell and back (literally) in order for us all to be saved.
I would especially recommend this to all our muslim brothers and sisters who do not believe in what jesus christ had to suffer and go through, I hope that this film will open all their hearts to christ so that they may all know and feel the love of him, and come to realise that god's word is indeed actual and true.
For God so loved th world he gave up his only son, so that we may not perish.

The commentaries... oh dear...
I admit that I wasn't a huge fan of this movie, but I liked it enough to buy the previous one-disk version, then buy this one as well just for the commentaries.

For me, the most annoying thing about this movie is its misleading appearance of 'historical accuracy'. One is inclined to think that if they went to all the trouble of creating an Aramaic and Latin script, they must REALLY have done their homework.

Alas, no. If they had, we'd also have had a considerable amount of Greek in the script - and other historical goofs abound. It would be a mistake to assume that this film is overall more accurate than, say, 'The Greatest Story Ever Told', Jesus of Nazareth', or just about any other movie based on the Gospels.

What about the commentaries? In general, they're OK(ish), though they contain a certain number of 'slip of the tongue' errors.

I was particularly looking forward to the 'theological' commentary, but this was marred by one of the commentators, a protestant cleric who had converted to Roman Catholicism. Unfortunately all his new-convert zeal spills out on to this DVD, where he frequently disparages the beliefs of 'my former colleagues' (and, by association, all other non-Catholics too.)

I feel this is a great pity, as, regardless of one's particular views, it gives a nasty sectarian tone to the commentary at times. It would have been nice if the 'theological' commentary had been more inclusive.