The Gospel According to Matthew

The only fateful thing in this movie is the adherence to the Gospel. The portrait of Jesus it’s irreverent. He was depicted as always smiling and kissing even on very crucial moments. At the time of the last supper in which He instituted the Eucharist appears with smile??!!!! In such holy moment? It’s well known the prohibition of images among the Jews and in one particular moment supposedly in the Temple there sculptures of 3 animals!!!! I will throw away this movie.

I purchased the Gospel of Matthew probably 20 years ago and showed it to our youth group over a number of weeks. I was amazed how the Gospel account came to life for these kids (and for me as well). What a wonderful gift to be able to witness the events as they were told. It really adds an important dimension to the Word.Though the portrayal of Jesus at first somewhat annoyed me (He’s depicted mostly lighthearted and sometimes even giddy except of course during His encounter with the Pharisees), Bruce Marciano’s rendition has grown on me a great deal. I think he did an admirable job of showing another side of Jesus that is rarely considered. Is this version of Jesus more accurate? Perhaps not, but then neither are the very serious depictions. I felt it offered a nice balance to the sterner portrayals of Jesus.All in all, the acting was pretty decent and the backdrops were excellent.My only beef is with this “anniversary edition”. I repurchased this DVD because I assumed it was in fact an updated version. It was not and that was very disappointing. However, I could not give it a poor rating simply because the version I received was not as advertised. Please let me know if anyone reading this received a 16x9 version.

You can tell that this was filmed a long time ago because the film quality is not as sharp as nowadays, however I did enjoy this film. One has to keep in mind that this is NOT a well-crafted script with lots of special effects. It is a noble attempt to follow the scripture EXACTLY. This is a challenge, but I thought that they did a decent job. Bruce Marchiano (Jesus) makes the whole film. He is engaging and has a sweetness and friendliness that makes it understandable why Jesus was so popular. He did a lovely job breaking the mold of the stoic, boring, stuffy "Jesus" characterizations that have been done by so many Hollywood actors before him. He is the reason why I give this movie 4 stars.The film is not a high-budget affair. The Pharisees are unconvincing, as are some of the other actors. That being said, however, they did a decent job of trying to have a diverse cast. Considering when this was filmed, this was a bit ground-breaking. There were still too many Caucasians for a Middle Eastern setting, but there were quite a few folks from various ethnic backgrounds.In spite of some of my criticisms, it is worth a watch because I think Bruce Marchiano plays such a great Jesus. Even if you are not super religious, you may find yourself liking him. He really plays a kind, compassionate Christ.

This is the best Christian movie I have ever seen! It's uplifting and beautiful. Very well done! The 4hrs goes by fast as they go exactly verse by verse straight from the Bible, the gospel according to Mathew (New International Version), without any added script. I was touched. If you want a true Bible story, then this is it, doesn't get any better than this movie. I loved the fact that they portrayed Jesus as a loving, and kind person who smiles, laughs, touches and hugs people. Awesome! It's a breath of fresh air specially because this is the first movie I've ever seen that does not portray Jesus as a rigid uptight god that can't even laugh. I highly recommend it.

This is a faithful, word for word account of the Book of Matthew. Each scene has the chapter and verse in the bottom right corner of the screen so that you can follow along in your Bible.Bruce Marchiano does a great job of portraying Jesus as a real person. He doesn't do the usual Hollywood portrayal of Jesus looking sad or stern all of the time.Jesus was a man while he was on Earth. He had the same emotions as you and I. He ate, slept, drank,...he grew tired, he got sad...but he was also very happy at times. This is a much better way of showing how real his suffering was on that cross then it's normally portrayed.And the scene of him being nailed to the cross is one of the most powerful depictions I've seen yet.No, it doesn't have great special effects, but it doesn't need them. It's simply telling the Gospel of Matthew and is very faithful to the scriptures.I'd highly recommend this to any fellow Christian or even to a non-believer. I feel that we need to encourage others when they need encouraging and to spread Gods's message in any way that is useful. This is that type of movie.

Our all time favorite Bible movie!! We met Bruce Marchiano soon after the film was finished and gave him a ride to his next engagement. His stories from the set illustrated God's involvement in the production. What God did during the filming of Matthew 23 shows powerfully on the screen. I love that this uses only the words from the NIV (1984 edition), without any other speech added. This is a challenge when narration or explanation might help, but it protects the sanctity of the text. When our daughter was 1 years old, she wanted this playing on the TV as she played on the floor. She often paused in her play to watch and listen. Bruce's portrayal of Jesus shaped her concept of who He is, and prepared her to meet him at a very young age. She is now a very mature Christian with a deep, intimate relationship with the Lord. She now has her own daughter to whom she is excited to introduce Jesus--this film will help daughter as it did her mother. This DVD has been a gift we have given many families who have enjoyed it also!

We are often plagued in our Western churches with many poor and shallow 'pictures' painted of Jesus of Nazareth. There is the nice sacrificial stained glass window picture of Jesus, and a depersonalised sacrificial image of Jesus that decorates all sorts of gold and silver ornamentation and even statuary, a pretty Jesus, on a pedestal, an icon. We are also plagued by a nice de-mythologised man of the ultra-liberal church who will not contemplate anything miraculous, because of course it just didn't happen. A man who wants everybody to just love! We even can have in some charismatic churches, a picture portrayed of Jesus who so enjoys our musical worship ministry and just wants to bless us with financial prosperity in return, that he loses interest in challenging any injustice, and challenging those who are indifferent to others and do nothing.In the acting of Bruce Marciano and others, we have in this film, the portrayal of a Biblically believable Jesus who really communicates, laughs jokes and and messes with his friends and companions , weeps with those who weep, not frightened to challenge the Establishment. Thankyou in this film portrayal, for taking us back to envisage a 'big' Jesus who is both magnetic to us and uncomfortably challenges and even threatens us, in our complacency, that we want to keep our distance, remain in control of our own lives, when he is calling us to follow him.

Bought this for a family member who I genuinely adore and who says they are Christian (though not particularly practising). I have watched this movie lots of times on "YouTube" so thought I had better buy a copy anyway. Really like the portrayal as depicted. Not perfect, better than any other Gospel portayal i have seen and a useful reminder and nudge for those of us who at times forget Our Living Lord and his teachings. Peace.

PURCHASED ON RECOMMENDATION DELIVERY ETC VERY GOOD, HAVE NOT YET BEEN ABLE TO VIEW DVD YET, EXPECT WILL BE VERY SATISFIED C BLACKBURN , MERSEYSIDE

Brilliant DVD!!!Accurate use of the words from Matthew's gospel to both narrate and re-enact the life of Jesus.4 hours of very positive storytelling and superb acting.I bought Bruce Marchiano's book 'In the Footsteps of Jesus' (recommended by a friend) which is a great read.After I had read the book, I felt that I wanted to see the film. I will re-watch this film .

I have the Gospel of John which is better in my opinion but this is very good .I bought the Gospel of John in North America and it has a disc for a 3 hour theatrical version and a second disc for a shorter version so not sure if the UK edition has that.The Gospel of Mathew just has the one disc and was bought in the UK.