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Movies / On DVD / The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ

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The Passion of the Christ (2004)

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Reviews Counted:259

Fresh:129

Rotten:130

Average Rating:5.9/10

Consensus: The graphic details of Jesus' torture make the movie tough to sit through and obscure whatever message it is trying to convey.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for sequences of graphic violence

Runtime: 2 hrs 22 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Feb 25, 2004 Wide

Box Office: $370,203,632

Synopsis: The Passion of The Christ is a film about the last twelve hours of Jesus of Nazareth's life. The film opens in the Garden of Olives (Gethsemane) where Jesus has gone to pray after the Last Supper.... The Passion of The Christ is a film about the last twelve hours of Jesus of Nazareth's life. The film opens in the Garden of Olives (Gethsemane) where Jesus has gone to pray after the Last Supper. Jesus resists Satan's temptations. Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, Jesus is arrested and taken back to within the city walls of Jerusalem where the leaders of the Pharisees confront him with accusations of blasphemy and his results in a condemnations of death. Jesus is brought before Pilate, the Roman Governor of Palestine, who listens to the accusations leveled at him by the Pharisees. Realizing he is confronting a political conflict, Pilate defers to King Herod in the matter. Herod returns Jesus to Pilate who gives the crowd a choice between Jesus and the criminal Barabbas. The crowd chooses to have Barabbas set free and to condemn Jesus. Jesus is handed over to the Roman soldiers and flagellated. Unrecognizable now, he is brought back before Pilate, who presents him to the crowd as if to say "is this not enough?" It is not. Pilate washes his hands of the entire dilemma, ordering his men to do as the crowd wishes. Jesus is presented with the cross and is ordered to carry it through the streets of Jerusalem all the way up to Golgotha. On Golgotha, Jesus is nailed to the cross and undergoes his last temptation -- the fear that he has been abandoned by his Father. He overcomes his fear, looks at Mary, his Holy Mother, and makes the pronouncement which only she can fully understand, "it is accomplished." He then dies: "into Thy hands I commend my Spirit." At the moment of his death, nature itself overturns. -- © Newmarket Films [More]

Starring: James Caviezel, Maia Morgenstern, Monica Bellucci, Mattia Sbragia

Starring: James Caviezel, Maia Morgenstern, Monica Bellucci, Mattia Sbragia, Claudia Gerini, Luca Lionello, Hristo Shopov

Director: Mel Gibson

Director: Mel Gibson
Screenwriter: Mel Gibson, Benedict Fitzgerald
Producer: Bruce Davey, Stephen McEveety
Composer: John Debney
Studio: Newmarket Films

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Feb 17, 2009

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  • The Passion of the Christ focuses on the last twelve hours of Jesus of Nazareth's life. The film begins in the Garden of Olives where Jesus has gone to pray after the Last Supper. Jesus must resist the temptations of Satan. Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, Jesus is then arrested and taken within the city walls of Jerusalem where leaders of the Pharisees confront him with accusations of blasphemy and his trial results in a condemnation to death.
  • Source: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for The Passion of the Christ

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    1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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    Shockingly violent, chock full of scenes drenched in blood, this movie earns its R rating many times over.

    Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
    02/24/04
    Rebecca Murray
    Rebecca Murray
    About.com

    If you want to get offended by a Mel Gibson movie, nothing is worse than the portrayal of slavery in The Patriot. Yeah, everyone is a happy free voluntary worker.

    Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
    03/26/04
    Fred Topel
    Fred Topel
    About.com

    It is a film worth seeing and talking about, for better or worse. It gets some things very right, but the violence threatens to overshadow the message.

    Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | comment Comment
    02/27/04
    Mike McGranaghan
    Mike McGranaghan
    Aisle Seat

    For moviegoers who don’t share Mel Gibson’s religious agenda, it’s nothing but an unpleasant experience.

    Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment 4 Comments
    02/28/04
    Brian Webster
    Brian Webster
    Apollo Guide

    Lost in a labyrinth of stomach-churning pugilism, the spectacle is a hefty cross for audiences to bear.

    Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment 1 Comment
    02/25/04
    Phil Villarreal
    Phil Villarreal
    Arizona Daily Star

    The basic message of Christianity -- love your brother -- is obscured under torrents of blood to the point of benumbing the audience.

    Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment 2 Comments
    02/23/04
    Bill Muller
    Bill Muller
    Arizona Republic
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Whatever else it is -- however flawed we find it -- The Passion of the Christ is a work of art.

    Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
    12/26/04
    Philip Martin
    Philip Martin
    Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

    This is a movie so singular, so intense, so overwhelming that it simply has to be experienced.

    Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
    02/26/04
    Phil Kloer
    Phil Kloer
    Atlanta Journal-Constitution
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Gibson's artistic intentions and interpretation of the gospels have created a film that is both moving and horrifying.

    Full Review Source: Atlantic City Weekly | comment Comment
    03/07/04
    Lori Hoffman
    Lori Hoffman
    Atlantic City Weekly

    Saturated with vengeance, betrayal, and melodrama, Mel Gibson's sadistic take on Jesus’ final twelve hours screams bloody murder.

    Full Review Source: Aufmuth.com | comment Comment
    02/24/04
    Jeanne Aufmuth
    Jeanne Aufmuth
    Aufmuth.com

    The Passion of the Christ is something of a masterpiece, terrible to behold, unfit for children, certainly, but very much the work of a director in the throes of his own distinct passion.

    Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
    03/16/04
    Marc Savlov
    Marc Savlov
    Austin Chronicle

    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.

    Full Review Source: Bangitout.com | comment Comment
    08/16/06
    Jordan Hiller
    Jordan Hiller
    Bangitout.com

    "The Passion" is big, physical, violent and unflinching. It's unlike any biblical film ever made and it's impossible to watch it with a trace of passivity.

    Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment Comment
    03/25/04
    Christopher Smith
    Christopher Smith
    Bangor Daily News (Maine)

    A high-gloss exploitation picture, obsessed with the Death Jesus conquered, rather than the Life he gave -- and gives.

    Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
    03/19/04
    Nev Pierce
    Nev Pierce
    BBC

    Despite Gibson's efforts to hide Caviezel's European heritage behind a prosthetic nose and darkened eyes, Jesus comes off looking like all other movie depictions-Whitewashed.

    Full Review Source: BET.com | comment Comment
    02/27/04
    James Hill
    James Hill
    BET.com

    For a filmmaker who wants to create an adaptation of the story of Jesus, Mel Gibson's motives seem ironically impure.

    Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
    07/14/07
    Joe Lozito
    Joe Lozito
    Big Picture Big Sound

    If you come seeking theological subtlety, let alone such modern inventions as psychological depth, you'll walk away battered and empty-handed.

    Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
    02/24/04
    Ty Burr
    Ty Burr
    Boston Globe
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
    03/01/04
    Boston Phoenix

    As a film for true believers, Passion is zealously self-righteous....In the beginning was the word, and the word was agony.

    Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
    03/05/04
    Thomas Delapa
    Thomas Delapa
    Boulder Weekly

    The Passion of the Christ is painstakingly true to its source material, neither editorializing nor embellishing upon what is taught each week in thousands upon thousands of churches across the globe.

    Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
    02/27/04
    Wade Major
    Wade Major
    Boxoffice Magazine
     
     
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