Gibson has made a movie for nobody, really, but Gibson.
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Tomatometer
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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.
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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Release:
Feb 17, 2009
Reviews for The Passion of the Christ
Diminishing returns set in after the first series of beating, but the film is a stunner, a must-see whatever your beliefs.
Blood-soaked pop theology for a doom-laden time, its effect that of a gripping yet reductive paradox: It lifts us downward.
Overall, it's just another movie, and it can be dismissed with the same short critique we so often apply to other movies: The book was better.
By turning the Greatest Story Ever Told into the Goriest Story Ever Told, director Mel Gibson breaks the filmmaking commandment Thou Shall Not Overkill.
In the Gospel According to Mel Gibson, blood doesn't lie. It's the only truth that exists. Which means the agony is the ecstacy in The Passion of the Christ.
It definitely makes the viewer suffer--but it's debatable if by itself that's a truly enlightening contribution to one's understanding of Christ's message.
If this were any other film and any other subject, The Passion would have been slapped with an NC-17 rating faster than you can say "Council of Nicaea."
[A] stunning film, sometimes remarkably moving — at times sublimely beautiful, often sickeningly brutal, but never banal, nor specifically blameful.
As a movie, it feels incomplete - yes, it's incredibly intense and powerful, but I wanted to see a little more about the compassionate man and a little less bloodshed.
Lost in a labyrinth of stomach-churning pugilism, the spectacle is a hefty cross for audiences to bear.
As a work of cinema, The Passion of the Christ possesses a majestic beauty within its horror, one that comes most effectively through a tiny, solitary teardrop.
Bears the same relation to other biblical epics as a charnel house does to your local deli.
Although it's very good at showing Jesus' suffering, the movie treats him as a prop
So obsessively and so graphically bloody-minded that it comes perilously close to the pornography of violence.
One of the most overpowering experiences I've ever had in a movie theater, the film is a brutal, blood-soaked plea for compassion and forgiveness in the face of monstrosity.
it's a brutally beautiful (or would that be beautifully brutal?), unnerving, and frustrating film that will undoubtedly offer up more questions than answers.
The Passion of the Christ is a rare thing indeed, then: a work of art that succeeds as a film, as a message, and, yes, as a labor of love.
The most compelling message of this unflinching, powerful, and haunting movie is that in Jesus' name we are obligated to extend our compassion to victims everywhere.
Latest News for The Passion of the Christ
October 03, 2008:
Further Reading: Marion Cotillard and Forest Whittaker in Abel Ferrara's Mary
As the NFT in London prepares a Juliette Binoche season, Kim looks at Abel Ferrara's Mary which also stars Marion Cotillard and Forest Whittaker. More...
May 16, 2008:
Hollywood's Prayers for Spiritual Revenue Go Unanswered ![]()
As The Passion of the Christ proved, there's a lot of money in so-called "faith-based" film marketing -- but it's proving disappointingly elusive for the major studios. More...
February 27, 2007:
James Cameron's "Jesus" Doco Causes Controversy
The James Cameron-produced documentary called "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" is causing a whole lot of stir among the religious community for trying to assert that, after... More...
February 05, 2007:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: "Messengers" Scores Slim Win Over Super Bowl Weekend
With the Super Bowl taking males out of the picture, mothers and daughters squared off at the North American box office this weekend with the younger set earning a slim victory.... More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 77% 77% | The Hangover |
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
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| 82% 82% | Paranormal Activity |
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