No "Jesus of Nazareth" in US this Easter (1 Viewer)

[Ron1973]

Gary and David, count me as one who thinks "The Gospel of John" as one of the best made. While Robert Powell did a great job as Jesus, he was a little too solemn for me. I'm sure Jesus laughed a little during His life. I think Henry Ian Cusick played Jesus perfectly. When I sent an autograph request to Christopher Plummer several months ago, I mentioned in my letter how much I enjoyed his narration in "The Gospel of John".

I'm gulity too of not watching any religious films this Easter which is unusual for me, but I just recently bought the complete series of "The Bob Newhart Show" and just couldn't stop watching it!

That sounds like me! I got busy watching Bilko [emoji1]

 

[David_B_K]

For some reason, I found myself watching Queen Margot over the Easter weekend.

 

[philip*eric]

so a widescreen bluray of this epic is being released in February by Shout Factory - Im surprised someone has posted this yet.


Im a little doubtful on the "widescreen" but that is what it says on Amazon.com

 

[John Doe]

Im surprised someone has posted this yet.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/344219-jesus-of-nazareth-40th-anniversary-1977-blu-ray-available-for-preorder/

 

[David_B_K]

Posted by Jack P:



I don't recall Burgess writing a movie-tie-in specifically, but William Barclay, who was a well-known minister and Biblical scholar did do a narrative adaptation of the Burgess miniseries script with photo illustrations from the production. Zeffirelli also wrote his own account of the production which revealed his difficulty in coming up with a key post-Resurrection sequence.

Actually, Anthony Burgess did write a novel based on his teleplay called Man of Nazareth. I have a hardcover edition dated 1979, so it was published after the movie. One gets the impression upon reading it that it was probably the way Burgess would have liked the film to be. It is not like William Barclay's picture-book (which I also have) in that is is not a movie tie-in but a rethought version of the story as a novel. . The characters seem more down to earth and naturalistic than they do in the film. It follows the line of the teleplay, but fleshes out some of the characters. Some of the dialog is identical to the telefilm. There are interesting variations that Burgess threw in. For example, Jesus is briefly married in the novel, but his wife dies before he begins his ministry. Salome becomes a follower of Jesus late in the novel and is present at the crucifixion and is one of the women who has seen the risen Christ before the disciples do (Burgess based this on the fact that a woman present was named Salome. Not likely the same as Herodias' daughter, but an interesting idea). Jesus comes off as positive and good humored and upbeat, and not as grave and mysterious as he does in Robert Powell's portrayal (the book Jesus is more like Henry Ian Cusick's reading from The Gospel of John).


I didn't like everything about the book, but it was nonetheless interesting and worth the read.

 

[Mark Collins]

Great I had ordered this when I heard it was coming out but this is even better news.http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Jesus-Nazareth-40th-Anniversary-Edition/21932

 

[David_B_K]

Great I had ordered this when I heard it was coming out but this is even better news.http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Jesus-Nazareth-40th-Anniversary-Edition/21932

I don't know if I would consider that better news. Did you see this in small print?


NOTE: the Internet Movie DataBase (IMDB) listing for this mini-series explains that the previous DVD release was the same edit as the original 1977 broadcast cut of the production. In 1979 the show was re-run, with deleted scenes added back in. Shout! Factory has publicly confirmed that their release, whose press release is below, will be the original 1977 broadcast version.

 

[Bob_S.]

Yeah, I saw that and cancelled my pre-order. I'll have to wait for reviews. If the picture quality is better than the imports, I'll get it but if it's the same I may have to get the import.

 

[Jack P]

If they don't include the material that was in all subsequent airings after the first one and think they're doing something special by going back to the shorter version then all I can say is with the heaviest level of sarcasm, "Congratulations Shout, you've done it again!" (thinking of all the other releases they have a unique talent for fouling up over the years).

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I have the copy out of...Mexico...I think. Somebody please correct me.


I only watched the first five minutes of it last year and turned it off. I just wanted to see how it looked.


Did not look great. It was in 4:3 ratio, which was the standard at that time. Looked kind of muddy. However, certainly better than anything before it.


If I understand correctly, the copy I have is the version with the cut scenes put back in.


I am keeping my preorder, but unless Shout factory did a complete overhaul on the look of the presentation, it sounds like the import copies are the way to go.

 

[David_B_K]

Ron, the Mexican Blu-ray is the one that is missing a chunk involving details of Judas' betrayal. The Spanish Blu-ray is intact. However, I agree with you that neither Blu-ray was much to write home about. It's another case of a DVD looking so bad that the Blu-ray seems to look better than it does.


I also would buy this shorter version if it is a new scan with a real HD picture. I would miss some of the scenes from the extended version, though. The missing Judas chunk should be there no matter what version they use, as it was part of the original 1977 version.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

David, I don't know which one I have, but if I remember correctly, it has a revision indication on the back cover.

 

[Mark Collins]

Here is more info and reaction to the release. I believe I will cancel my pre order at Amazon.

https://www.shoutfactory.com/tv/dra...-complete-miniseries-40th-anniversary-edition

 

[Vahan_Nisanain]

If they don't include the material that was in all subsequent airings after the first one and think they're doing something special by going back to the shorter version then all I can say is with the heaviest level of sarcasm, "Congratulations Shout, you've done it again!" (thinking of all the other releases they have a unique talent for fouling up over the years).

Jack, you may as well be saying that yet again.

 

[Jack P]

Then NO SALE from me, which isn't the first time I've had to do that with a substandard Shout release (no Rhoda with cut S1 episodes; no Rookies S2 after they lied and said the pilot would be included and on release date we find out it wasn't). Yes, they have done good work on other titles, but their screwup ratio is just as bad as CBS/Paramount, Universal and other big labels and for them to have not checked this matter out before going ahead with the project is a testament to their laziness and incompetence.

 

[David_B_K]

 

[Bob_S.]

On Amazon Spain, it says region B. Is this correct? I need the uncut version for a US player.

 

[David_B_K]

My Spanish disc plays on my region A player.

 

[Jack P]

Is there PAL speedup on the music?

 

[Bob Cashill]

There's no PAL on Blu-rays. No NTSC, either. How could there be PAL speedup on the music?