Review of Greatest Story Ever Told, The

Introduction

What more can I say other than The Greatest Story Ever Told tells the story of Jesus Christ and is based upon the books of the New Testament? I`m sure the story is all too familiar, so without further ado...

Video

Presented with a 2.75:1 anamorphic transfer (yes, hard to believe isn`t it?), The Greatest Story Ever Told doesn`t look too bad for something nearly 40 years old. It was originally shot in 70mm so there are plenty of long shots here capturing the insignificance of man on God`s earth. If you look closely you`ll see grain and some shimmering, but not too much to distract from everything else. There are very minor amounts of compression visible throughout the film`s 3+ hours and film dirt is kept to a minimum. Colours and visual style are not the film`s strongest point and the whole thing seems to be made with shades of white, brown and red.

Audio

There`s a choice of English or German Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks. It sounds surprisingly clear and dynamic with good directional sound on the dialogue. It uses the centre speaker and the front left/right depending on where the character is in the frame. There`s a lot of dialogue in the film so it`s hardly a system workout.

Features

• Theatrical Trailer (3:25) - One long trailer with lots of proclamations about how wonderful this film is.

There are English subtitle options.

Conclusion

At the end of the day you want to know if this film entertains. There are some interesting scenes, but on the whole sadly it doesn`t work. The film is dull. I`m always left with a lot of unanswered questions that no Christian/Catholic can answer to satisfaction. There`s only so much that you can do with 190 minutes and trying to cram Jesus and elements of the New Testament was an uphill struggle if ever there was one. The Bible isn`t even a complete document, so who knows what really happened anyway? This is hardly the greatest story ever told. So, is it a dull film because it`s based on a dull story? No. It`s a dull film because the source of its story hasn`t been used well enough. Plus the bland dialogue is delivered by a wooden cast.

What we do get is the birth of Christ. Then a considerable time later, about 30 years, we see Jesus start to fulfill his destiny. We meet John the Baptist along the way who believes that he is the one foretold in the prophecy, that he is the Messiah. There`s a bit of healing, raising Lazarus from the dead, some persecution from the Romans then the betrayal of Judas leading to Jesus` crucifixion. A lot of preaching goes on about the Kingdom of God, about loving one another, and all manner of standard stuff familiar to anyone with religious inclinations. But the film is slow and boring. If you`ve already seen this sort of thing once, why bother with it again?

The central performance of Jesus, played by Max Von Sydow, is nothing to write home about; he carries a pained expression nearly all the way through and hardly comes across as the saviour of man. The only performance that I liked was Charlton Heston as John the Baptist, and while this part is small, he turns in a good performance. Nothing memorable about anyone else though.

The Greatest Story Ever Told is not worth the time or effort. With Easter coming up, it may be on television so if you really insist upon seeing it for yourself, then keep an eye out for it.