The Resurrection in Film: A Brief Overview

Since the dawn of moving pictures on celluloid, filmmakers have been trying to tell “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” recognizing, each in their own way, how universally compelling is the narrative of our salvation accomplished by one Man.

Current news has it that American-Australian film actor, producer and director of 2004’s record-breaking The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson, has begun working on a sequel, “Resurrection” — creating high expectations that “Resurrection” will fulfill the promise of its predecessor.

Here is a brief glimpse at some of the many attempts to capture on film the greatest event recorded in the history of the world: the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

KING OF KINGS (1961)

Jeffrey Hunter portrays Jesus in this classic retelling of His life.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW (1964)

This Italian film is another word-for-word adaptation of the Gospel, this time of Matthew, in the “neorealist” style, using no-name actors and filmed on location rather than in a studio.

THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (1965)

An Eastertime TV staple in Christian households in the later 1960s and early 1970s, this film was an ambitious, big-name epic starring the legendary Max Von Sydow as Jesus.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (1973)

Based on the rock opera musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jesus Christ Superstar is a loose adaptation of the Gospels. The USCCB gave it an A-III rating, meaning that while not morally offensive, some elements require a mature perspective; some Catholics may find liberties taken with the Gospel story to be off-putting.

JESUS OF NAZARETH (1977)

Directed by Franco Zeffirelli, this film was among the first of the more “realistic” portrayals of Jesus and his disciples, while no less faithful to Bible accounts than its predecessors. Robert Powell, with magnetically blue eyes, stars.

JESUS (1979)

Another word-for-word adaptation of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is reportedly the most-watched movie of all time.

THE VISUAL BIBLE: MATTHEW (1993)

The Visual Bible: Matthew is another word-for-word adaptation of the Gospel of Matthew and follows all the major events that occurred in this chapter of the New Testament, and features several talented actors such as Richard Kiley as Old Matthew and Bruce Marchiano as Jesus.

THE VISUAL BIBLE: ACTS (1994)

Directed by Regardt van den Bergh and featuring an all-star cast that includes actors like James Brolin and Dean Jones, The Visual Bible: Acts serves as a word-for-word adaptation of the Acts of the Apostles from the Bible.

THE MIRACLE MAKER (1999)

The Miracle Maker is a stop-motion animated film which features an incredibly large cast of high-profile, A-list actors such as Ralph Fiennes as Jesus, Richard E. Grant as John the Baptist, Ian Holm as Pontius Pilate, and David Thewlis as Judas Iscariot.

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST (2004)

Controversial at its release for its unflattering depiction of the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ time, it is considered one of the most authentically-portrayed films about Jesus Christ, played by Jim Caviezel.

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN (2003)

While The Gospel of John does achieve its goal of being incredibly faithful to its source material, some have criticized the film for including Mary Magdalene in the Last Supper scene as the Gospel of John does not explicitly state that she was present. The film features a talented cast of actors like Henry Ian Cusick as Jesus Christ and Christopher Plummer, who narrates the film.