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Jesus Christ Superstar (Special Edition)Rating:
Release Date: 31 August, 2004 Retail Price: $14.98 OUR Price: $9.88 You SAVE: $5.10! Cast: |
Jesus Christ Superstar (Special Edition) Reviews
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
When Norman Jewison was to direct the movie of the rock opera he decided to film in naturalistic settings at the location where the story took place. So far,so good. But under the oppresive,scorching sun and arid desert heat it becomes apparent that Mr Jewison lost his mind.
A troupe of hippies traveling in a dilapatated bus pull up in the middle of the desert,disembark and start to dress in their costumes to begin the re-telling of the story of the last seven days in the life of Jesus Christ. I at least want to thank Mr Jewison for some restraint and didn't have the hippies passing around joints.
For the first twenty minutes or so the concept of a minimalist staging is going along well and then Mr Jewison slowly began channeling Federico Fellini and Ken Russell and even added a couple of oddball touches himself.
Mr Jewison himself: A platoon of Roman soldiers(all six of them) dressed in lavender tank tops and skin tight jeans are obviously meant to be on sentry patrol. But in the open desert what are they guarding? Has someone reported missing sand?
Federico Fellini: "King Herods Song" has got to be the crassest, "you go girl snap" and gayest scene ever filmed in the life of Christ. When Herod tires of toying with him and has a hissy fit because Jesus won't "walk across his swimming pool" he shoos Christ away by throwing bagels at him. Since the movie had by now started to venture into fantasyland I would not have been surprised if when Herod threw the bagels Jesus turned around and said "At least you could have chucked some cream cheese with the bagels."
Another Felliniesque touch is the title song itself. Judas lowered from a helicopter cable dressed in a sequined and fringed outfit that would have made Liberace jealous. The actual performance of the number by Carl Anderson etal is quite entertaining even though it seems like a Las Vegas show number on steroids.
The Ken Russell Effect: When Jesus chases the moneylenders out of the temple he knocks over a stand of "Greetings from Jerusalem Wish You Were Here" postcards, blushes and slightly turns his head as he banishes the hookers dressed in almost nothing, then he knocks over a table of slot machines and assorted other bric a brac not usually associated with Jerusalem circa 33A.D.
When Judas has second thoughts about his betrayal of Christ for 30 pieces of silver he is chased across the desert by Israeli Army tanks and buzzed by jets from the Israeli Air Force.
It may not appear that I like this movie but I really do despite some of its silliness and the music was and is still pretty terrific.
Carl Anderson makes a powerful Judas and Yvonne Elliman sings her original role of Mary Magdalene and the beautiful "I Don"t Know How To Love Him" belongs to her and her alone.
Now what can one say about Ted Neeley that hasn't terrified children and adults alike all over the world. He looks to be the perfect Jesus, the straight long hair, the light beard, his eyes, but he ruins it every time he opens his mouth. He acts like a petulant and somewhat self-centered brat and if he's not having a temper tantrum he's glum. Well ok i guess anyone would be glum if they knew they were going to die in a couple of days but then again God/Jesus knows the future and his death will just amount to a three day nap. Mr Neeley is actually not a bad singer but he relies too much on the premise,"why sing when you can screech". I can't take credit for this but Ted Neeley has been permanently named "The Screaming Jesus" The movie ends with the crucifixion and then the hippies reboard the bus to leave. However the hippie who played Jesus is MIA. Ain't that a kick in the head. They hung him on the cross, then forgot he was there and took off.
The bottom line,despite my discussing some of the bizarre choices and extravagances used to portray the last seven days in the Life of Christ this is still a pretty wonderful film and the music even after all these years is still amazing.
My Favorite Movie!!!
The music is so incredible! I watch this movie over and over again and never get tired of it. The songs stick with me and I sing them all day long. In my opinion, this is the best musical ever!
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