The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Average Rating: 5.9/10
Reviews Counted: 266
Fresh: 131 | Rotten: 135
The graphic details of Jesus' torture make the movie tough to sit through and obscure whatever message it is trying to convey.
Average Rating: 5/10
Critic Reviews: 51
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 33
The graphic details of Jesus' torture make the movie tough to sit through and obscure whatever message it is trying to convey.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 342,062
My Rating
Movie Info
Mel Gibson's well-publicized production The Passion of the Christ concerns the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The dialogue is spoken in the ancient Aramaic language, along with Latin and Hebrew. In the Garden of Gethsemane near the Mount of Olives, Jesus (James Caviezel) is betrayed by Judas Iscariot (Luca Lionello). Jesus is condemned to death for blasphemy and brought before Pontius Pilate (Hristo Naumov Shopov), the Roman governor of Judea, for sentencing. The roaring crowd
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Cast
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Jim Caviezel
Jesus Christ -
Monica Bellucci
Mary Magdalene -
Claudia Gerini
Claudia Procles -
Maia Morgenstern
Mary -
Sergio Rubini
Dismas -
Toni Bertorelli
Annas -
Robert Bestazzoni
Malchus -
Francesco Cabras
Gesmas -
Giovanni Capalbo
Cassius -
Rosalinda Celentano
Satan -
Emilio De Marchi
A Scornful Roman -
Francesco De Vito
Peter -
Lello Giulivo
A Brutish Roman -
Abel Jafry
Second Temple Officer -
Hristo Jivkov
John -
Luca Lionello
Judas -
Jarreth J. Merz
Simon -
Mat Patresi
Janus -
Fabio Sartor
Abenader -
Mattia Sbragia
Caiphas -
Hristo Shopov
Pontius Pilate -
Roberto Visconti
A Scornful Roman -
Giancinto Ferro
Joseph of Arimathea -
Olek Mincer
Nicodemus -
Adel Ben Ayed
Thomas -
Chokri Ben Zagden
James -
Luca De Dominicis
Herod -
Pedro Sarubbi
Barabbas -
Francesco Gabriele
3rd Elder -
Ivano Marescotti
Pilatus -
Romuald Andrzej Klos
The Roman -
Angelo DiLoreta
The 5th Elder The Accus... -
Ted Rusoff
2nd Elder -
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All Critics (266) | Top Critics (51) | Fresh (134) | Rotten (137) | DVD (34)
If I were a Christian, I'd be appalled to have this primitive and pornographic bloodbath presume to speak for me.
A negative and spiritually underwhelming experience.
[Gibson's] film, virtually stripped of Jesus's incandescent views, is little more that a record of one of the thousands of barbarities committed by the Romans in Judea.
Mr. Gibson has gone to a lot of sweat and expense to make a movie that doesn't say much of anything new.
Whereas the words say love, love, love, the sounds and images say hate, hate, hate.
Puts us in a situation where we can't help but feel Jesus's pain. If only Gibson had taken the time to tell more of us why it mattered.
Extremely violent, and powerful; for mature teens.
Gibson's passion is all over this film...but his resorting to mawkish, superficial tactics blows the tone off-course from time to time.
With a passionate zeal and the budget to back it, Mel Gibson has created a religious epic which is equally unique, inspirational, and repellent.
The film's lack of discretion robs the viewer of his or own conception of Christ's crucifixion. It is an exploitative disservice to "the greatest story ever told," that reduces that illustrious narrative to an extended torture episode.
I love Jesus of Nazareth and Bible movies. This movie just plain tried too hard and used too many horrible devices.
All [Gibson has] done...is to trade in the Hollywood conventions of yesteryear for the crasser, more bloodthirsty conventions of today.
I emerged from The Passion of the Christ depressed and spiritually bruised.
More sensational than spiritual, this blood-soaked take on the Stations of the Cross retells the Gospels as a horror movie. You can't help asking: where has all the love gone?
For a filmmaker who wants to create an adaptation of the story of Jesus, Mel Gibson's motives seem ironically impure.
Easily the most controversial film of the year, Gibson's fil is a visually bold, relentlessly violent epos that suffers from a shallow, undernourished narrative and no characterizations to speak of.
By giving us the feeling of experiencing Jesus' thoughts, and by making us privy to his prayers, The Passion draws us toward Christ's full humanity like no film before.
Mr. Gibson has plucked at the rawest of nerves yet I cannot blame him. He is expressing himself through the medium of film and using the text of his bible as the basis.
Director Gibson tends toward populist impulses without much artistry or invention; he prefers bombardment to poetry.
A tormented movie about torment; loopy, over-reaching and occasionally suspicious. Simultaneously, it is a daring artistic endeavour.
Audience Reviews for The Passion of the Christ
Super Reviewer
Mel Gibson is an amazing film maker, his direction and visual style is breathtakingly realistic but surprisingly he doesn't offer any primary lessons to this narratively flimsy but strangely overwhelming story. What disturbs me the most about Passion of The Christ, other than the fact it's one of the most violent films i've ever seen and the subject matter at hand, is that I actually quite enjoyed it. From the technical side of things, it's breathtaking. The most being the incredibly done cinematography and Jim Caviezel's inspirational performance as the titiluar messiah. Jesus' torture I suspect will be difficult for some to digest but it is often exploitive to the audience as much as Christ. Due in most part to the fact it's a religious figure being tortured, and expecting us to know the back story already to establish an emotional connection without being given a character insight pre to the gory exploitation sequences. However even though the film has unbelievably very little substance, maybe it leaves the moral for us as an audience to decide, and I stand by my own opinion that it's a film about ambition and hope.
Super Reviewer
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- Jesus Christ: It is finished.
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- Jesus Christ: My heart is ready.
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- Pontius Pilate: What is truth, Claudia? Do you hear it, recognize it when it is spoken?
- Claudia Procles: Yes, I do. Don't you?
- Pontius Pilate: How? Can you tell me?
- Claudia Procles: If you will not hear the truth, no one can tell you.
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- Caiphas: I ask you now... Jesus of Nazareth. Tell us, are you the Messiah, the son of the living God? [everyone waits to hear]
- Jesus Christ: I AM. And you shall see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the power of God... and coming on the clouds of heaven. [everyone becomes shocked]
- Caiphas: Blasphemy! [tear his cloth in half] You have heard him, there is no need for witnesses! What is your verdict?
- 2nd Elder: Death! Give him death! [everyone begins to beat Jesus up and spit on him]
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- Jesus Christ: Peter. [asking the disciples up] You could not watch one hour with me?
- John: Master, what has happened to you? Should I call the other Lord?
- Jesus Christ: No John. I don't want them to see me like this.
- James: Should we flee Lord?
- Jesus Christ: Stay here. Watch... pray.
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- Jesus Christ: Take this and drink. This is my blood, spilled for you and for many. Do this in memory of me.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Not for You | 50 days ago | 1 |
Latest News on The Passion of the Christ
September 8, 2011:
Mel Gibson Discusses His Judah Maccabee ProjectSays he was motivated to pursue his latest Bible epic because the books are "ripping good reads."
October 3, 2008:
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May 16, 2008:
Hollywood's Prayers for Spiritual Revenue Go UnansweredAs The Passion of the Christ proved, there's a lot of money in so-called "faith-based" film...
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Foreign Titles
- Die Passion Christi (DE)










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