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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.

Runtime: 2 hrs 22 mins

Genre: Dramas

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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Reviews for The Passion of the Christ

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >> >|
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I emerged from The Passion of the Christ depressed and spiritually bruised.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment 5 Comments
03/05/08
Philip French
Philip French
Observer [UK]

Gibson has created an exploitation movie par excellence.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
03/05/08
Mark Kermode
Mark Kermode
Observer [UK]

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?

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment 1 Comment
03/05/08
Jamie Russell
Jamie Russell
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A tormented movie about torment; loopy, over-reaching and occasionally suspicious. Simultaneously, it is a daring artistic endeavour.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Ian Nathan
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A negative and spiritually underwhelming experience.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
03/06/05
Independent

Dead languages and horrific violence aside, this is a film everyone should see, whether they hold any religious beliefs or not.

Full Review Source: FilmFocus | comment Comment
07/20/04
Joe Utichi
Joe Utichi
FilmFocus

It's almost impossible not to be moved by Jim Caviezel's vulnerability as Christ, even if the idea that he is no 'mere' man is never in doubt.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
04/14/04
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

And any power these explicit scenes have is in any case undermined by the absurd tweeness of the final moments.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
04/09/04
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's a head-bashing experience, by turns exhausting, exhilarating, and infuriating.

Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
04/06/04
Mark Kermode
Mark Kermode
Sight and Sound

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
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There’s no denying Gibson’s passion in bringing his vision to the screen, no matter how dodgy his religious beliefs.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
03/16/04
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Poetic filmmaking drawing on--and continuing--a long tradition of religious art.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
02/27/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

It is difficult to know who would want to see a film this violent.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
02/13/04
John Hiscock
John Hiscock
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
08/26/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

All [Gibson has] done...is to trade in the Hollywood conventions of yesteryear for the crasser, more bloodthirsty conventions of today.

Full Review Source: Style Weekly (Richmond, VA) | comment Comment
05/17/08
Thomas Peyser
Thomas Peyser
Style Weekly (Richmond, VA)

If I were a Christian, I'd be appalled to have this primitive and pornographic bloodbath presume to speak for me.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 15 Comments
03/05/08
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader

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

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.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
10/05/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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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 Opens in new window
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...

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