[Michael Reuben]

This thread is now designated the Official Discussion Thread for "The Passion of the Christ". Please post all comments, links to outside reviews, film and box office discussion items to this thread.

All HTF member film reviews of "The Passion of the Christ" should be posted to the Official Review Thread.

Please exercise discretion in this thread. If everyone focuses on the film itself, we should be able to avoid the problems that resulted in the closure of previous threads. The moderation of this thread will be more active than usual to ensure that it remains on track.

Also, both this thread and the Official Review Thread are intended for comments by people who have actually seen the film. While we recognize that many people may have opinions about the film without having seen it, Home Theater Forum is not the venue for those comments.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

M.

[Tino]

Well it's about time!

I'll be seeing this tomorrow at 10AM.

Can't wait to get back in here and discuss it.

I sure hope everyone remains civil and this thread doesn't degenerate with uneccesary comments like the last one.

[Nick Sievers]

I'll be watching it in a few hours. I don't know how long discussion will stay civil because we have a film with a huge amount of controversy based on religion.

[Robert Anthony]

Quote:

"A film so narrowly focused as to be inaccessible for all but the devout." -- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

"The Passion of the Christ is powerfully moving and fanatically obtuse in equal doses" -- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

"Mel Gibson shows once again that he's skilled at depicting violence. But you'd be hard pressed to find evidence of 'tolerance, love and forgiveness' that the producer-director-co-writer insists he's trying to communicate." -- Gene Seymour, Newsday

"The Passion of the Christ is so relentlessly focused on the savagery of Jesus' final hours that this film seems to arise less from love than from wrath, and to succeed more in assaulting the spirit than in uplifting it." -- A.O. Scott, New York Times

"This is the most powerful, important and by far the most graphic interpretation of Christ's final hours ever put on film." -- Richard Roeper, Ebert and Roeper

"An impressive, ultra-violent -- and deeply troubling -- take on Jesus' final hours." -- Lou Lumenick, New York Post

"This graphic depiction of the crucifixion of Christ misses any spiritual meaning to this seismic event." -- Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter

"I was moved by the depth of feeling, by the skill of the actors and technicians, by their desire to see this project through no matter what." -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times

"The movie Gibson has made from his personal obsessions is a sickening death trip, a grimly unilluminating procession of treachery, beatings, blood, and agony." -- David Denby, The New Yorker

"[Gibson] has made a serious, handsome, excruciating film that radiates total commitment." -- Richard Corliss, Time

Interesting array of quotes on this thing, both positive AND negative. I'll probably see it, but my interest is waning--not JUST because of the above quotes, but because of this...

According to everything I've seen and read about this film--the only thing really setting it apart from the myriad other adaptations of this same story, is this:

This is bloodier.

That's basically it. I'm going back and forth over this. Normally I don't check critics and reviews for more than an idea of what to expect and what might be happening on the screen...but in this instance, it's a story i've heard about 3 million times already. A story drilled into my head, detailed and in depth, since I've been six. It's ubiquitous--everyone knows what happened, everyone knows how the story goes, we wear it on 16k Gold around our necks, yunno? I have an idea how this movie is going to unfold, and there will be no twists, no surprises.

So what's the hook? The pure craft--and the violence. This will apparently be the most beautifully shot, and most blatantly violent depiction of the Passion. And even people who PRAISE the film can't seem to get away from the fact that this movie is shockingly violent, and most, if not ALL of it's power, comes from this violence done to this character. It's a movie that draws almost all of it's strength from abusing the main character, apparently. I'm hoping this isn't the case.

And it's not that I'm squeamish, or afraid of violence--or even afraid of religion and biblical tales--it's just that if all this movie really has to offer, to set it aside from the other versions of this story that have come down the pipe over the years, is that it's unflinchingly violent--then what's my real motivation to go see this?

It just seems mildly sadistic to me. I'm not going to learn anything new, and I doubt I'm going to appreciate the gorefest simply for it's artistic merit.

I'm hoping to hear from you guys soon, to let me know if I'm missing out, or if there's anything more to this particular retelling of the tale besides watching a man get blamed, sentenced, abused, tortured and then killed, without any surrounding context or background.

I'm still interested--but it's waning fast.

[JonZ]

I cant see it until sunday

For those interested,Orielly Factor has a in depth interview with Mel Gibson tonight(Tues Feb24)

[Tino]

I'm sure the moderators will make sure it remains civil, as the guidelines proclaim. I especially like this guideline:

Quote:

Both this thread and the official review thread are intended for comments by people who have actually seen the film.

...which I will be one in about 14 hours.

[Darko]

So, why are you all posting comments without having seen the film

[Chuck Stephens]

Well, I haven't seen the movie yet but the theater that I work at has already sold $20,000 worth of advance tickets. This is unheard of and was enough for the local news to do a report on it last night. I personally am not looking forward to this weekend because this means that it's gonna be extremely busy and probably not very fun for theater employees. I've already heard the old "herd 'em in and herd 'em out" line from one of our managers to a few of our ushers in preparation for this weekend. So for those of you going in the next few days my advice is to get to your theaters early because you're gonna be standing in line.

[Kevin Grey]

So what's the hook? The pure craft--and the violence. This will apparently be the most beautifully shot, and most blatantly violent depiction of the Passion. And even people who PRAISE the film can't seem to get away from the fact that this movie is shockingly violent, and most, if not ALL of it's power, comes from this violence done to this character. It's a movie that draws almost all of it's strength from abusing the main character, apparently. I'm hoping this isn't the case.

But that does seem to be Gibson's intention for the film: for people to have some understanding of the depth of his sacrifice by portraying the excruciating pain he went through. The violence seems to clearly be linked to the focus even though it will likely make most extremely uncomfortable. That has seemed to be his singular vision throughout the project.

[Derek Miner]

I work in a theater showing this, and I screened the film last night.

Quote:

It's a movie that draws almost all of it's strength from abusing the main character, apparently. I'm hoping this isn't the case.

To me, this seemed to be the case.

Quote:

But that does seem to be Gibson's intention for the film: for people to have some understanding of the depth of his sacrifice by portraying the excruciating pain he went through.

I will completely agree that Gibson has accomplished just what you suggest, however, I will argue that this does not make for a compelling film in itself.

My feeling about "The Passion of the Christ" is that it only tells part of a story. The film is almost exclusively concerned with the arrest, condemnation, torture and crucifixion. Those who are looking for a religious experience that will build on their faith will be rewarded - and the film comes by this completely honestly. But the film lacks context for other viewers. The backstory is all pre-supposed and that made me feel like the first two acts of a three act story were missing.