Dave_Violence I first caught a glimpse of "The Miracle Maker" several years ago while traveling. I only saw about ten minutes, but what an interesting ten minutes. The story was so familiar - probably because it was as straight out of the Bible as it could be.I didn't even catch the name of the film... Thankfully, I was able to search in IMDb and found it. I rented it last week and, wow, magnificent - especially the "making of..." special feature. Several key things (my opinion) that put this film above all other Bible epics (and, listen up, Hollywood, a lot of what you adapt to film):1. The ethnicity of the actors isn't a distraction. That is, they're Semitic for the most part. Charlton Heston, in "In the Arena" expressed some bewilderment regarding his reply to Messala in "Ben Hur," "…because I'm a Jew…" The bewilderment stemming from the fact that Chuck Heston is a white Anglo/Scot American from the north-midwest. He doesn't look like he's of desert stock in "Ben-Hur," no matter how good he was. Max Von Sydow as Jesus in "The Greatest Story Ever Told," along with other performers like Shelly Winters and Chuck Heston (as John the Baptist), is asking a lot and borderline offensive. (I say "borderline" because the producers of the film weren't trying to offend anyone with a bunch of white people playing Arabs, those were the stars they used, etc.) With the models in "The Miracle Maker," it's not even an issue. Now, sure, everyone's speaking English, and most likely Peter didn't speak like Scotty from Star Trek… But why mess up the movie with subtitles? On top of that, the Bible has been published in modern English since the 1500's, and diligently compared, etc., etc.; and the place-names and characters' names are known – what I'm saying is that the voices do not distract. 2. Playing it straight. "The Miracle Maker" is right out of the Bible. Jesus performs miracles. He is the Son of God. There's not an inkling of anything trying to explain away a miracle or anything else. The effect I came away with after watching the film was joy at seeing a great, great visualization of what's in the Bible, not, say, reservation or contemplation pertaining to this or that director's interpretation of the Bible. Note, though, a lot is left out – but it's tough to do it all in an hour and a half. It takes place off-camera, no? This is a plus, though, as the film would simply be five seconds of this, five seconds of that. Instead, the producers concentrated on what they considered key stories from the Gospels. At any rate, the continuity is good. 3. The resurrected Jesus is powerful, confident, relaxed, and even happy. This is the resurrected Jesus I know. 4. Highlight: Luke 24:25-31 is in the script word-for-word (to my best recollection).

alecsaved This movie is about Jesus Christ. And any movie that glorifies Christ is worth seeing; this one is actually quite good at it. The animation is unique and effective. The voice acting is convincing. The whole family can enjoy this one. The cel animation that appears throughout the movie is neat. At least rent it for a viewing, you'll be glad you did. The DVD has some neat special features.As the title indicates, this movie centers on Christ's miracles, but has plenty of parables, counter-legalism interactions with the teachers of the Law, historical clues, relationships, calling of the 12, Gethsemane, the miracle of the Cross, and most importantly the resurrection. My favorite scene is the woman who touches His robe.

Jimi the Saint I woke up this morning to the alarm on my bedroom TV. I could hear familiar voices... Ralph Fiennes?... Richard E Grant?... William Hurt?... When I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, I realised that the program on BBC2 was an animated version on 'Jesus of Nazareth'.Not being a particularly religious disposition, this was not the reason that prevented me from getting up out of my nice warm bed. Alas, it was the unbelievable animation that bedazzled me. I come from a design/multimedia background, and so I found this example of animation very interesting, and the more I watched it, the more I was amazed.The flow of the animations; the realism of the characters' features; the expressions on their faces; the interlaced, drawn animation 'dream-sequences'; all these aspects aggregated to form a top class exhibition of animationary excellence.And to top it all off, the dialogue and storyline were superbly written in a way that would appeal to young AND old. I a twenty-nine year old man, but I have to admit that watching this brought a tear to my eye, and a lump in my throat.Whether this was an empathetic reaction to the plight of Jesus, or an inherent appreciation of the animation quality... one can only guess.10 out of 10 (and I only caught the last half hour!!) I shall be ordering a copy of this on DVD as a Christmas present. Thats the easy part... the hard part is deciding which one of my four favourite neices to give it to!

Jim Menke Of the many life of Christ films, this should be rated as one of the best. Some viewers have called it a "claymation" film, it is not. This is a stop motion puppet film. Anyone who has the DVD version can view the "making of" film and see that the figures are flexible puppets made of foam and plastic and not the crude figures done for "claymation". There is a vast difference in stop motion puppets and claymation figures.What sets this film apart is that through the puppet medium, the figures look like people from the time and place of the original happening, not Hollywood actors in costumes and make up. Since the viewer does not associate a certain actor with the part, it is much easier to accept the puppet as the "real" character. You don't see Jeffrey Hunter, the actor in "King of Kings", playing a part but see more acceptable versions of Christ and the apostles. The combination of 3D and 2D animation works well in separating the parable stories from the "real" action. It is a jolt at first, but becomes very acceptable as the film goes on. Don't let the "puppet" idea keep an adult viewer away from this wonderful film. It is a concept that makes the Bible stories wonderfully accessible to all age groups.