Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Micitype Pretty Good

Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

me-81350 I watched this in the early 70s. At the time you stay in your seat and watch it again until the Cinema closed.I sat and watched it twice. Enforced RE in schools told of the Christian Bible story removing the characters from real people.This Lloyd Webber / Rice production with Jewisons direction and Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson's bought it to life showing not gods but Men and Women.The pressures on this one man from all sides come out in the Gardens of Gethsemane. Neeley's voice and the emotion must surely be the definitive version. I can watch / listen to this and it always makes my hair on the back of my neck stand up, especially his capitulation.Carl Anderson has been mentioned many times for his portrayal as Judas - inspired casting.I have heard many subsequent versions and I'm afraid they pale against this magnificent movie.And yes I'm still an atheist

par404 As an Evangelical Christian, thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

cloudsponge It was at the time of its release in the early 70s that I walked out of this movie. Striding down the aisle to the exit I passed an usher and said to her my simple reason for leaving: "Beach Blanket Bible." Totally cringe worthy. Banal, superficial, terrible schmaltzy music. Could there be anything worse than this movie for trying to depict some kind of spiritual truth? But perhaps I am wrong. Had I stayed surely I would have been thrilled by a spectacle such as the likes of Harvey Lembeck, riding his vicious camel, as the leader of a gang of used-camel salesmen in a scene of their camels tap dancing in sync with cleverly inter-maneuvering Israeli tanks. This while all are getting drunk on their butts from the water Ted Neeley turned to wine with his magic shepherd's crook, singing: "Hey babe, ya wanna boogie? Boogie woogie woogie with God!" Except maybe that really would have been worth staying for unlike the brain slap we were getting.

Talia_the_StoryMaker First of all, I just wanted to say I'm an evangelical, which for many people conjures up all sorts of horrifying images, but hopefully you can rest easy in the knowledge that I'm not going to pan this movie just because it doesn't exactly line up with everything I believe about Jesus. Sometimes we really need a different perspective to help us to take a fresh look at something, and in the case of us Christians, there could not possibly be a more important subject, right? There's certainly nothing wrong with a movie that makes you think deeper about what you believe.This movie is about as far from historically accurate as it could possibly be, but this is at least in part completely intentional, since there are many things in this movie such as modern technology and culture that indicate this isn't literally taking place in the past. A problem can arise from people treating this movie as though it was trying to be factual, but if you treat it as being fanciful, as it should be, it's a much different story.At the same time, while this movie has some really interesting ideas and some really catchy tunes, and even some moments that seem to have a deep impact and make you think about things in a different light, it's still somewhat hard for me to enjoy completely. Part of this stems from the lack of historicity, since in my opinion, Jesus Christ is just fine the way he is and doesn't need any embellishments. On the flip side, I guess the point of this movie is to be "different", to incite the viewers to maybe think of things in another light, even to provoke. So when you consider what it was setting out to do, there's little to complain about.At the same time...honestly...the biggest issue with this movie is that...well it seems a little harsh, but Jesus honestly came across as a little selfish. Don't get me wrong, one of the best parts of this film is showing Jesus suffering emotionally. But to me personally, it was taken to such a point that it almost made Jesus mildly unsympathetic. I guess that doesn't mean much coming from someone who believes in the orthodox Christian view of Christ as someone literally perfect, but it's still how I felt.At the end of the day, I would still recommend this film, though maybe a bit cautiously. Watch it with an open mind, but not so open that you actually adopt it as being a very accurate view of reality. But be open enough to see the value in what it is. If nothing else, let it provoke you. We all need to take another look at our faith, and its most significant figure, every once in a while.