Greatest Story Ever Told | Max von Sydow, Michael Anderson Jr.

Greatest Story Ever Told | Max von Sydow, Michael Anderson Jr. | "Who Do You Say That I Am"

vhs video:

Greatest Story Eve...

	Greatest Story Ever Told Max von Sydow, Michael Anderson Jr. MGM (Video & DVD), 1993 average customer review:based on 93 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

A much maligned film in its day, now regarded rightfully as a masterpiece

I saw this film mainly because David Lean, one of my favorite film directors, directed some scenes in it. The film was way over budget at the time, and Lean was an admirer of George Stevens, the director of this film. So Lean agreed to help Stevens out. I was pleasantly surprised, and quite moved by this film. It's one of the most painterly, gorgeously shot films (in UltraPanavision 70, a 2.75:1 widescreen process that looks amazing) I've ever seen. It's very leisurely in its pacing (which is always welcome), and it tells the oft told story of Christ in simple (though not simplistic) terms. It's very reverential towards Christ, and the sincerity of the performances reflects that. There are many star cameos in the film, and this doesn't detract as much nowadays, because as Stevens himself pointed out, the stars back then aren't as well known today, and people can see the film without playing star watcher. Even though, John Wayne's cameo as a Roman soldier at the crucifixion nearly ruins the film. It's that bad. But it can be overlooked. The film's music score is haunting. Stevens uses the opening of Verdi's Requiem when Jesus is carrying the cross. I have only heard this music used once before in a film (in Andrei Tarkovsky's Nostalghia), and it was haunting to hear again. It's one of the better films about Jesus, certainly superior to Gibson's Passion film and many of the horrible miniseries (aside from Jesus of Narazeth by Zefferelli, which was wonderful) that have been made about Jesus's life. A film that can be appreciated at any time...

for more information click here

"Who Do You Say That I Am"

'The Greatest Story Ever Told' had the very real potential of being one of the biggest disasters in motion picture history. Think about it for a moment. Who would want to sit through a 3 hour and 19 minute film about Jesus with a virtually unknown blond haired, blue eyed Swedish actor named Max von Sydow in the lead role? Add to that the fact that the artistic integrity of the film was likely to be ruined by the studios decision to populate the feature with a multitude of cameo appearances by just about every living movie star in Hollywood. Sure signs of impending doom surrounded this project.

Surely director George Stevens pulled off a major miracle. Aided by one of the finest soundtracks in motion picture history provided by the legendary Alfred Newman, some of the most gorgeous cinematography and set designs you'll ever see and an unforgetable performance by Max von Sydow 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' lived up to it's title to become the definitive film version on the life of Jesus of Nazareth.

A classic from '64 that belongs in everyones' DVD library. One of the Essentials!

for more information click here

My favorite life of Christ movie ever for Easter and Christmas

With his THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (1965, UA), producer/director George Stevens set out to create a simple, straight-forward life of Jesus Christ that would stand the test of time as the definitive Biblical epic. He worked on the screenplay with James Lee Barrett and Carl Sandburg. He recruited a great all-star cast, some in major roles and some cameos. And he scouted locations all over the American Southwest, finally settling on locations in Nevada, California's Death Valley, and Arizona's Monument Valley. To him these rugged mountains and valleys seemed closer to the Holy Land of Christ than Israel-or Morocco or Tunisia or Spain-did in the early 1960's.

Forty years later, in a gorgeous new 65mm Ultra Panavision, 6-track stereo roadshow print running 195 minutes, THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD remains my favorite Easter movie about the life and teachings of Christ (Max von Sydow in the performance of a lifetime). Yes, it's a "spot the stars" movie with a terribly wooden John Wayne in one scene, but so is Franco Zeffirelli's acclaimed 1977 TV miniseries. Half of Stevens' cast is relatively unknown to me. I have never found Carroll Baker nor Angela Lansbury. Many of the others are superb cameos, like Ed Wynn, Sal Mineo, Sidney Poitier, Dorothy McGuire, and Joseph Schildkraut. Only a few have big roles, and these are almost all excellent, especially Telly Savalas as Pontius Pilate and Jose Ferrer as Herod Antipas.

The film is uncommonly intelligent and faithful to my life of Jesus, starting with his birth in Bethlehem, baptism in the River Jordan, early teachings, then the spectacular Sermon on the Mount in Monument Valley. By contrast, the Nicholas Ray/Jeffrey Hunter KING OF KINGS (1961) has a brilliant Sermon on the Mount on a hillside in Spain, but gives a prominent role to a fictional Roman general named Lucius and a key role to Harry Guardino as Barabbas. This detracts for me. Barabbas should be a cameo. As for Zeffirelli's impressive production, it is magnificently made, but too long and detailed. Do we really need to spend an hour getting Jesus born, then another half hour getting him to adulthood in a production where I cannot find a Sermon on the Mount? And the charge of a "Hey there" cast in Stevens' film goes triple for Zeffirelli over six-and-a-half hours. Then we have Mel Gibson's THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST (2004) with Roman beating scenes so bloody that I had to literally take a prescription tranquilizer to keep from fainting; and it only gives us the last day-and, like Scorsese's generally first-rate labor of love LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (1988)-does not have much of a Resurrection.

Stevens, working in mammothly wide Ultra Panavision 70 (2.76:1 on DVD), creates some of the most impressive and beautiful Biblical compositions ever filmed. And the Academy must have agreed. GREATEST STORY won five Oscar nominations, and three were for Cinematography, Art Direction, and Costumes. The unforgettable Crucifixion is lit like a Goya painting, all blues and purples and mud browns. This is the definitive Crucifixion-and the greatest, most exhilarating Resurrection sequence ever right after it: the Mormon Taberacle Choir performing Handel's "Messiah" over color-tinted desert montage.

This 1965 life of Christ deserves way better than Leonard Maltin's mediocre ** ? (out of ****) rating. It is a definitive, painstakingly crafted masterpiece for me that illuminates the life of Jesus, especially when watched at Easter or Christmas time and in one marathon 195 minute letterboxed DVD or Turner Classics screening without commercials. Everyone connected with it, on both sides of the camera, can be very proud of their work. THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD is a movie for the ages.

The double DVD I am reviewing includes a brand-new 30 minute filmmaking documentary, a vintage short documentary, roadshow music and intermission, a photo gallery, and the original theatrical trailer.

for more information click here

As good as Mel's Passion, but came first

Swiss-Austrian actor Von Sydow very
good and look for John Wayne as Ro-
man soldier who uses title line.

good looking slow moving

This film moves like a procession through aisles of dogma. Deliberate, conservative, lovely, austere: the images go by like a series of Greek Orthodox icons. As attractive as they are, the landscapes of Utah and Nevada create the anticipaton that an Indian war party could swoop down at any moment. And after two hours in the old west, the voice of John Wayne seems quite appropriate. Unfortunately the use of Handel's Hallalujah chorus seems highly inappropriate. In an otherwise modern score, the use of this baroque period oratorio is almost comical. A film like this would look great as a series of stained glass windows in a church. But for sheer inspiration and dramatic impact, it doesn't compare with the Passion of Christ, the Gospel of John or even Zefferelli's Jesus of Nazareth.

for more information click here