Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

The only disciple without a book in the bible, Judas gets his say in this Norman Jewison adaptaption of the Andrew Lloyd Weber play. Superstar sets Christianity on edge by turning supposed villians into the heroes of Christ 's crucifixion. Judas is seen as the noblest and most knowledgeable of all Christ's disciples who is used by God to accomplish His master plan. The movie makes clear that the legacy of Jesus would not have been possible without the involvement of Judas. Pontius Pilate too is shown in a more positive light than modern Christianity would like. Pilatae is shown as a troubled man who has premonitions of the "Jewish King" and his own role in his death. In recounting his dream, Pilate says that he "saw thousands of millions, crying for this man" and then he "heard them mentioning my name, and leaving me the blame". As controversial as Superstar is and as wonderful > as the score is it can stand alone on just the merits of its movie making. > > The cinematography is tops and the visual effects are magnificent.

Fmovies: I saw the stage version as a teenager and memorized the entire record during the summer of 1971. I don't remember when I first saw the movie, but I hated it. I didn't think that the Broadway show translated well at all. I am watching it right now, however, and I finally get it. It is a marvelous piece of work.

I am appalled at the people who have criticized it for not being accurate to the New Testament, therefore, not relevant. Quite the contrary, I border on agnosticism and seeing this movie for the first time in 20 years has been a spiritual experience for me. It still speaks to me after 35 years.

I also can't believe people who dismiss the music in and of itself. Are you crazy?

Although I have been aware of this musical, seemingly forever, I just very recently saw the whole movie on dvd. Unfortunately, while I was acquainted with many of the songs before, I had never really seen it in its entirety before, and I'm not sure why. Also, I've never seen it as a live stage show, be it on Broadway, in London or down the street at the local high school ...

So, then, I can only rate it as a singular movie experience, not comparing it with the Broadway or London stagings. Also, being Jewish and never really studying the life and crucifixion of Jesus, I don't have any strong or pre-conceived spiritual ties to the story.

For me, then, this is a cleverly written and very well-performed musical, that mixes irreverence, time juxtapositions and genuine emotions of sadness and wistfulness. I'm not sure that the movie enhances the great musical; in other words, now that I've seen the movie, I regularly listen to the cd of the musical, and enjoy both about equally. For me, Carl Anderson, as Judas, is the standout, but Ted Neeley does bring an angelic quality to the title character. all of the other supporting roles, including Yvonne Elliman, are done well.

I rate it 8/10 for its excellent music, good staging and for what seems like a faithful film-ization of the original..worth watching for sure!

Jesus Christ Superstar fmovies. I was brought up Catholic and was taught that Jesus was first and foremost..... "GOD". Little was ever mentioned about his human nature. He was a God so far above me that as a child, I only knew to fear him, the omnipotent One. This movie's greatest accomplishment is to show the "human" side of Christ. It creates an atmosphere that allows you, if you try, to suspend what you think you know to be true now, and imagine yourself living with Christ "the man" BEFORE he became known as God's "only begotten Son".

Jesus was a man. He had friends/followers, he had women companions, he got tired feet, got hungry and had to go to sleep at night, he was angered and he was doubtful, If you deny any of this you are denying the true human nature of Jesus. Understanding this is not sacrilegious.

The questions that are asked in the film such as "Jesus did you expect it to go this far?" "Jesus, do you believe you are who they say you are?" are questions that seem foolish to believers today, but for the people who knew him personally he WAS "just a man". He never claimed to be GOD. It was only after his death that the gospel writers deified him.

The garden of Gethsemane scene is one of the most powerful scenes ever put to film. It is here that we see the true "humanness" of Jesus. His words of doubt (an idea taken from the Gospel of John) clearly substantiate Christ's humanness and his doubts about what was to befall him. In the movie Jesus asks God to tell him "Why?" he must die. It is very moving when seen through the eyes of Jesus the man. For me that was a life changing moment and it brought me to greater understanding of the historical Jesus. I was able to conceive of, for the first time, Jesus the man. I also realized for the first time that Jesus DID know what it is like to be human. I felt closer to him at that moment than ever before. The lyrics also raise some interesting questions.like "Do we get too wrapped up in the man and not the message?" This would seem true about all the founders of the world's great religions. (They can't all be right) "Will there always be poor and suffering people?" "How DO we love such a man?"

I think all of the performances were outstanding. I think it has the most powerful musical lyrics ever written and a musical score that fits the drama to a tee. For those people who criticize the performances, remember this was never meant to be a movie in the "MOVIE" sense of the word. It was a rock opera stage production, put on film with expanded scenery (and what a perfect setting it was) in order to bring the historical perception of Jesus into even clearer view. Some people think that calling Jesus Christ a Superstar is sacrilegious. Well, I can't think of anyone who is more of a superstar in the role of a religious leader than Jesus. The people who think it is sacrilegious to put the bible to rock music, well, it was the music for the time. Any method that awakens an interest in Jesus Christ, as a historical person or as God, cannot be bad.

Jesus Christ Superstar reclaimed the love for Jesus from many teens that were my age at the time, and had fallen away from religion. I think the movie still carries that power if watched from the correct perspective. Anyone who thinks this movie is campy.....Just isn't getting it!

This film represents all that Andrew Lloyd Webber is capable of: taking an old and complex subject and using a stellar rock score to look at it from a modern perspective. How strange it is that the most powerful epic of Christ's life should turn out to be this rock opera. This is probably because the main characters are expressed in modern terms of thinking. The best aspect of this film may be its portrayal of Judas Iscariot. Many films have tried to find a reason why Judas betrayed his master and mentor for thirty pieces of silver. However, all of them have been pretty much making up their own stories: Judas wanted to get Jesus

to use his powers against the Romans, Judas wanted to save his family. All

these have been just very big guesses. However, this film is probably the

closest to the truth about Judas. His reason is a more psychological one. He is simply worried that Jesus' teachings will get him arrested by the Romans, and that they will be turned into propaganda, like they are today. He is also just doubtful that Jesus is the Messiah (wouldn't you be if someone told you?) Jesus himself is portrayed as a dedicated spiritual leader, and his followers are looked at largely from his and Judas' perspective. The scene with Simon Zealotes, with followers throwing themselves at Jesus' feet in the dust is meant to make them look almost pathetically worshipping this man. To Jesus, his own Apostles are like children, pestering him about what his plans are for the future. Then, of course, there is the film's portrayal of Mary Magdalene as Jesus' lover. As she rubs ointment on Jesus' feet, you can sense the deep passion moving between

them. Jesus is human, and must, therefore, love. The priests and pharisees are shown as worried about Jesus' influence, fearing it will turn into a revolution, and Pontius Pilate is shown as a faithful politician, trying to do what is right, but pulled away from it by the people demanding Jesus' death. Just the title of this movie is enough to put some people away from it. But the title makes Jesus more modern, because, probably to people at the time, Jesus

seemed like just a passing fad. Maybe this was what Jesus thought too. In this respect, Jesus may have had doubts about whether he could really make any

difference, and if he would be remembered, or if his followers were really just hungry for the next big thing. The film's setting in the Israeli ruins gives the film an almost surreal look, which is furthered by the design of the film, a stark mixture of ancient and modern, which is so well done it is sometimes hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. This serves to point out the similarities between then and now. The film's greatest point moves through the score and the cast. Carl Anderson makes Judas almost unplayable by anyone else. Ted Neeley, while his voice

may not be perfect, has an amazing delivery, and brings new depth to Jesus

with his rendition of "Gethsemane." Yvonne Elliman is remarkably soulful as

Mary Magdalene, and Bob Bingham's low, gravelly bass voice cuts chillingly

through the more serious scenes, helped along by Kurt Yahjigan's falsetto as

Annas. Barry Dennen is a remarkable Pilate, and Josh Mostel makes King

Herod, the Jewish puppet ruler, look remarkably petty and foolish, yet funny in his ragtime burlesque style song. The film also contains Andrew Lloyd Webber's richest score, especially at the end,

The Lloyd-Webber and Rice musical comes to the screen, and is nothing like the stage show at all. The deserts are real, although the back story is that this is a theatre company, putting on a production in real locations.

The cast are largely session singers and unknowns - Ted Neeley, delicate and high-voiced as Jesus (particularly superb in `Gethsemane'); Carl Anderson, black and doe-eyed as Judas with hot soul vocals, Barry Dennen as Pilate, and Yvonne Elliman as Magdelene with her big number `I Don't Know How To Love Him'.

One loss for those who know the stage version is being removed from the crucifixion preamble, when the ghost of Judas sings `Superstar' - this was all video camera projection in the theatre, while in the movie we are detached observers. But at other times we get uncomfortably close. And the songs survive the transportation to a more realistic setting (except the added `Could We Start Again, Please?' which sounds rather too much like the Coca-Cola theme for comfort).

Best scenes? The one in the temple; Hosanna; and the Pharisees tapping on their scaffolding perches like crows.