It would appear the hype was justified.
Being a movie buff and a Mel Gibson fan since I first saw "Gallipoli," I have been following this story for quite awhile.
Some time ago Mel committed $25m of his own money to making a movie filmed entirely in dead languages, with no sub-titles, about the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus. The movie features graphic brutality, to the extent that he had to cut some scenes to get an "R" rating. He has since agreed to provide sub-titles.
It appears that this will be the "event film" of the year, and maybe many years to come. Though it doesn't open until February 25, it is already accounting for 50% of all advance ticket sales in the United States.
Here is what one person predicts for it:
"One, Mel Gibson and Icon Productions will make a great deal of money. Those distributors who passed on Passion will be kicking themselves, while Newmarket Films will laugh all the way to the bank. Theater owners are going to love this film.
Two, Passion will become famous as the most serious and substantive Biblical movie ever made. It will be one of the most talked-about entertainment events in history, it is currently on the cover of Newsweek and Vanity Fair.
My third prediction is that the faith of millions of Christians will become more fervent as Passion uplifts and inspires them. Passion will propel vast numbers of unreligious Americans to embrace Christianity. The movie will one day be seen as a harbinger of America's third great religious reawakening."
So, in the event that this is not all just a lot of hype, and it does become a landmark film, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon early and start a board on it.
Anyone who has actually seen it please post your thoughts.
Here is a link to see newspaper reviews of the movie, there are a LOT of them:
rottentomatoes.com
Here is a link for box office reports, this guy is generally very accurate:
boxofficemojo.com
In the event there are any questions about how closely the movie follows scripture, here is a link to the relevant portions of Matthew, King James version. The text is very short and shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to read. Matthew 26 and 27 cover the whole movie, except for the resurrection:
Matthew 26:
bartleby.com
Matthew 27:
bartleby.com
PLEASE DO NOT TAKE YOUR CHILDREN TO THIS MOVIE UNLESS YOU HAVE SEEN IT YOURSELF |
