Every Christmas and Easter season, many of the Jesus films will appear as suggestions on your streaming service. However, not all Jesus movies are alike. Unfortunately, many take too much “artistic license” and mess up the Gospel message. That’s Hollywood for you! So, I started during Christmas and watched every Jesus flick I could find or get my hands on. Here are my sincere reviews. First, understand that I’m judging them against the Bible. Everything else falls second. So, a 10-star rating for me means it follows the Bible closely. A 1-star review means don’t waste your time. Enjoy! (Images from IMDB)
My Reviews of Jesus Films (in no particular order)
By the way, I can tell the Catholic influence in some because they cut out what they don’t like.
Son of God
2014, 2 hours and 18 minutes, Jesus played by Diogo Morgado. Produced by Roma Downy, who played the older Mother Mary. She’s Catholic.
Son of God is loosely based on the Gospel of John. However, they played with the timeline and that doesn’t help in the proper telling of the story. They skipped Jesus’ baptism and went straight to Peter. They showed Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist in a flashback.
When Jesus walked on water, He didn’t call Peter out of the boat. Peter called to Jesus first…
28 Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”
29 “Yes, come,” Jesus said.
So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.
Matthew 14:28-29 NLT
They also skipped some vital lines in the Lazarus story —
23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”
25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”
John 11:23-27 NLT
Additionally, Jesus also never went into Lazarus’ tomb. He called Lazarus to come out.
In many of these movies, they stick a “Barabbas backstory” for dramatic effect. Nowhere in the Gospels does it indicate that Jesus ever faced Barabas. You can assume, that He may have run into him, but it’s purely speculation.
They also messed up John 14 by skipping the first 3 verses which literally explain that Jesus is coming back for His believers in the Rapture.
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”
John 14: 1-4 NTL
That is such a Catholic move! I feel for the Catholics who get left behind! I hope they figure it out quickly! Another thing that bothers me about this movie is they didn’t show the Roman Centurion at the cross who actually said, “Truly, this is the Son of God.” Now, that line isn’t in the Gospel of John, but it is in Matthew, and it’s the name of the movie!
54 The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”
Matthew 27:54 NLT
Of all the artistic licenses they took, they could have added this line for a sharper ending. I felt it was sorely missing. So, don’t bother with the Son of God. If you want a movie on the Gospel of John, watch…
The Life of Jesus (The Gospel of John)
2003, 3 hours, stars Henry Ian Cusick as Jesus.
This one follows the Gospel of John to the letter. Cusick’s portrayal of Jesus is authentic. It’s definitely, my favorite. I can’t say anything bad about this one. You can watch the movie following along with the Good News Bible version in hand. It proves He is the Son of God.
When the movie’s over, you feel as if you were there with Jesus witnessing it all. My favorite scene is after the Resurrection when Jesus appears to His disciples and gives them a taste of the Holy Spirit…
19 That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
John 20:19-22 NLT
King of Kings
1961, 2 hours, 48 minutes, with Jeffery Hunter portraying Jesus. I was 6 years old when this came out. I remember my mom saying how handsome Jeffery Hunter was. I think they picked him because of his piercing blue eyes. Did Jesus have blue eyes? We don’t know. Until the Gospel of John came out, this was my favorite Jesus film. Only because of his eyes!
This is a mishmash of the four Gospels. They grabbed stories from each which is not easy.
King of Kings also starred Harry Guardino as Barabbas and it spent a lot of time on Barabbas’s rebellious backstory. It also opens with the Roman battle and conquering of Israel and the placing of King Herod the Great.
Besides that, it focused too much time on Salome’s sexy dance in the John the Baptist/King Herod Antipas story. I guess, they wanted to attract men to watch a Jesus film — war and sex.
I understand the point of taking artistic licenses to offer fictional backstories to make a movie more interesting. This one also portrays Mary Magdalene as the woman accused of adultery which is not biblical. And you’ll see, it’s not the only one.
Nevertheless, the best line is towards the end when Barabbas was chosen instead of Jesus. He said,
“That man’s dying in my place. I never did anything for Him.”
Barabbas in King of Kings, played by Harry Guardino
At least they got this truth right! This is why I gave it 7 Stars. Jesus died in ALL our places! Related: Why did Jesus Have to Die?
Jesus of Nazareth
1977, 1.5 hours, a TV mini-series starring Robert Powell as Jesus. The cast included some of my favorite actors.
Here’s what they got wrong…
- They skipped over Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness when He was tempted.
- They left out the bleeding woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment.
- Mary Magdalene was not a prostitute nor was she the adulterous woman in John 8. In Mark 16:9, we’re told the truth of who she was: “After Jesus rose from the dead early on Sunday morning, the first person who saw him was Mary Magdalene, the woman from whom he had cast out seven demons.” (NLT)
- None of the Gospels have it raining during the crucifixion. Yes, the sky got dark and the earth shook. But, no rain. Here’s the truth…
At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.
Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, 52 and tombs opened.
Matthew 27: 45, 50-52 NLT
Greatest Story Ever Told
1965, TV mini-series, 4 hours and 20 minutes, starring Max Von Sydow as Jesus. This movie was shot in the American Southwest: Arizona, Utah, California, and Nevada.
The screenplay took three years to write. Ever meticulous, George Stevens spent most of that time scrupulously researching academic and gospel texts, as well as spending a considerable amount of time in Israel.
IMDB Trivia
This one was the longest. Epic stars to tell an epic story. Too long, in my opinion. It’s OK.
Jesus (The Bible Collection)
1999, TV mini-series, 1 hour and 45 minutes, with Jeremy Sisto as Jesus. I remember when this came out. I had my hopes up. I was a newbie, born-again Christian looking to learn and absorb as much of the Bible as I could.
I watched it again recently and I wondered how I could have liked it. It had to be that I was too new and didn’t know better.
The second time around, I found it offensive. Jesus NEVER showed romantic love to any woman and in this movie, they had him making eyes at Mary from Bethany. They added this scene right before he was to start his ministry. Like if the Father told him that romance was not in the future for him.
This is the absolute worst one. Don’t bother!
The Gospel According to Matthew
1993, a TV mini-series, starring Bruce Marchiano, 4 hours, 18 minutes long. It is the Gospel of Matthew as told by an aging Matthew to 2 scribes. It follows the NIV Bible to the letter.
Matthew focuses on the Parables of Jesus and how He fulfilled Old Testament Bible Prophecies. Matthew was a Jew writing to Jews.
Additionally, they showed the actual Bible verses in each scene.
Next to The Gospel of John, with Henry Ian Cusick, this is one of my favorites for its biblical accuracy. In other words, it’s an absolute MUST see!
Incidentally, [Bruce Marciano] runs a non-profit ministry based in North Hollywood, California and is currently developing a word-for-word film adaptation of “The Gospel According to John.” (source) He should do Luke or Mark!
The Passion of the Christ
2004, 2 hours, 7 minutes, produced and directed by Mel Gibson with Jim Caviezel starring as Jesus. Very Catholic. I still don’t understand why Mel Gibson filmed it all in Aramaic and Latin. Originally, it was not supposed to have English subtitles. They were added later. Interestingly, Greek was the main language in the area. Given that, the sign posted above Jesus on the cross was supposed to be in Latin, Hebrew, and Greek.
And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it.
John 19:19-20 NLT
Why not in Hebrew? In any rate, here are more things that were wrong with this movie…
- There were more appearances of Satan than in the Bible.
- Poor Mary Magdalene was again portrayed as both the adulterous woman and a prostitute.
- During the Last Supper scene, like in Son of God, they skipped John 14:1-4 when Jesus promised that He’ll come back to get us in the Rapture.
- It took excerpts from all the Gospels.
- The “flashbacks” of Jesus’ life that he had as he was being tortured didn’t help with understanding the timeline and how each situation played a crucial part in the whole story.
- They show the Catholic legend of a woman coming up to Jesus when he’s carrying the cross to wipe his face. In fact, all the Via Dolorosa scenes are from the “Stations of the Cross” — a Catholic tradition that is extra-biblical.
- They showed an earthquake upon Jesus’ death, but no torn curtain in the temple.
IMDB Trivia states that several actors converted to Catholicism from atheism after filming this movie. It’s a shame they didn’t just become Born-Again Christians.
Jesus didn’t suffer torture and die taking all our sins away forever and defeating death by rising 3 days later so we could have RELIGION! No! He died so we could have a RELATIONSHIP with HIM.
The Musicals!
Last but not least, here are the Musicals! Both came out in 1973 — the year I graduated from high school!
Jesus Christ Superstar
Based on the Broadway musical, it stars Ted Neeley as Jesus. It’s 1 hour and 46 minutes long. If you notice, in the shorter movies, they try to condense the Gospel story, and they usually miss terribly.
- It’s a rock opera — thus, 99% of it is sung.
- Filmed in Israel’s majestic locations around the Dead Sea.
- Modern 70s clothing
- Most of the dance numbers are rather risque, though it has a G rating. I’d give at least a PG rating.
- The end is confusing. They show Jesus in white — seemingly resurrected — but then it goes into the crucifixion. (See the video below.)
- The Jesus Christ Superstar song is sung by the Judas character, played by Carl Anderson, dressed in white. That kind of assumes that Judas was forgiven. We don’t know that.
- No mother Mary.
- Mary Magdelene, played by Yvonne Elliman, is portrayed as a prostitute and struggling with how to love Jesus — as a lover or a savior.
- In reality, they don’t show a resurrection at all. As Paul wrote, without the Resurrection, we have no hope…
For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.
1 Corinthians 15:13-14 NLT
Jesus Christ Superstar Song
Godspell
1973, with Victor Garber as Jesus, 1 hour and 43 minutes long. Filmed in modern dress in New York City. It even shows the Twin Towers.
Now, I have a special fondness for Godspell! I was a senior in high school when “Day By Day” came out. I performed my rhythms dance to “Day by Day” and got my first-ever “A” in gym class!
A year or so later, in college, I toured with my school’s Madrigal singers throughout New England singing a medley of Godspell songs from the Broadway version. After watching the movie again, I realized that one of my favorite songs, “We Beseech Thee” was in the Broadway version but not in the movie version.
I know those songs by heart. I went to iTunes and downloaded them! They’re part of my “walking music” playlist now. However, it got me thinking. The songs tell the story of the Gospel — the Good News about Jesus Christ — and I sang them over and over again. It was like the Christmas Carols. I KNEW the Gospel message, but it wasn’t enough to get me to invite Jesus into my heart and surrender my life to Him.
It wasn’t until over 20 years later that reading the Left Behind book that I understood that I needed to take that important step.
Godspell Song Videos
Day by Day
Bless the Lord
“Bless the Lord” is based on Psalm 103.
Save the People
Light of the World
Based on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5.
We Beseech Thee
This one was not in the movie, but someone took excerpts from the movie and made this cool video…
What About “The Chosen“?
The Chosen is, yet isn’t, a “movie” per se. It’s a streaming series. I’m not officially rating it, but I do recommend it. It tells the Gospel story from the eyes of Jesus’ followers and the people around Him. Thus, it carries A LOT of fictional suppositions and assumptions, which have led to a lot of controversy. However, it does tell the biblical stories fairly accurately.
The more you read and study the Bible, the better you’ll be able to recognize and discern what is false, fiction, or an exaggeration. I encourage you to watch the high-rated movies I listed with your Bible to follow along. Always seek the truth!
If you’re not sure if you’re saved or not, if you truly want to be born again and have the assurance of salvation, receive the Holy Spirit, feel His Shalom — a peace that surpasses all understanding, and get a 1-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven after you die, or that you won’t be left behind at the Rapture, which can happen at any moment, this is what you have to do…
