Rating: 
Summary: Wow!
Review: I had heard of Jesus Christ Superstar before from, of all people, an eight-year-old who was an avid fan, but the very title was enough to throw me off. Then, my sister's high school made the very gutsy decision to use it as their spring all-school musical. Her enthusiasm for it caught my interest. I listened to the London Concept soundtrack and loved it, then watched both this movie and the 1973 version. There is absolutely no comparison.As Jesus, Ted Neely (sp?) always seemed to be sleepy or something, except for his breaking up the marketplace in the temple. But Glenn Carter - wow. Not only can he express the torment of a man who knows that he was only born to die ("To conquer death, you only have to die"...who can forget that??), that his very best friends will deny and betray him, and that he might never get recognition for what he is about to do; he can also display such radiant joy that it is impossible not to smile with him. In the "Hosanna" scene, that gorgeous smile of his just shines with heavenly light - until the Israelites suggest that he die for them. His voice is lovely, but the true shining light in this production is Jerome Pradon's Judas Iscariot. Usually portrayed as a villain, Pradon's Judas is disillusioned, irritated with Jesus for not doing something about his followers' misguided ideas, and torn between civic duty and love for his best friend. Some have described his voice as not up to snuff, but Judas is arguably one of the most complex characters in the history of theater. Consumed by confusion, anger, helplessness, and guilt, whose voice could NOT crack? The Last Supper and the Betrayal always leave me in tears: Judas' last desperate attempt to understand Jesus, his agonized betrayal of him and Jesus' subsequent forgiveness, followed by his realization that he has been tricked into murdering his best friend by a silent God, and his final grasp at control over his own life by hanging himself. More pluses: Renee Castle's Mary Magdalene is heart-wrenching as she comes to grips with the fact that she loves a man who will never love her back - moreover, that she doesn't want him to. Simon Zealotes, as a gun-toting militant, represents the many people who thought that Jesus had come to Earth to fight a war against the Romans. Pilate is magnificent, if a little over-acted - a man who does not know what to make of Jesus, who seems so small and helpless, but possesses an inner strength and power that frightens Pilate, who was, everyone must remember, an unwilling accomplice in Jesus' death. Rik Mayall's Herod is hilarious, but something in his facial expression sends chills up one's spine - he may be loopy, but he's nobody to mess with. Finally, although I know Annas is not a comedic character, his voice kills me every time. The perfect weasel-y villain next to Caiaphas' almost too deep bass! Some common complaints by Christians: First, that Jesus is portrayed as too human. I beg everyone to remember that Jesus was human, and that the night of his arrest he prayed so earnestly for God to save his life that he began to sweat blood. Second, that everything is not portrayed as it is in the Bible. If this worries you, please remember that the Gospel was written by other disciples, and even by people who never knew Jesus personally. The point of the play is to see events through Judas' eyes. As we can never know Judas' feelings and thoughts, this is only someone's attempt to understand how the events of the Gospel may have appeared to him. Third, that the Resurrection portrayed in the Bible is not part of the film. Again, remember that this is Judas' story. Judas did not know that Jesus would rise again. All he knew was that Jesus would die, and that is what the movie portrays. Now for my few complaints. The actor who plays Caiaphas tries so hard to sing contrabass that often he misses notes and rhythms. Jesus' destruction of the marketplace was not as good as it could have been, what with all the TVs everywhere: the one element in which I prefer the 1973 version. Judas' suicide is rather too long drawn out, and almost loses its importance. But these are minor problems. All in all, I would give this movie six stars, but five is as high as they'll let me go!
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie if you don't like the real Jesus!
Review: Besides very questionable acting, my main take on this movie is that if you're really interested in Jesus, read the New Testament and get the real thing. The Jesus in this movie (also not to mention his disciples and many related story points) don't line up with both the historical Jesus and also the living Jesus of today. Also, there was a large level of ethnocentrism in the movie, hinting that to be American is Christian, and vice versa. I thought that was interesting as only 17% of Christians worldwide live in the United States, and that a large portion of Americans wouldn't call themselves Christian unless we're at a time of war and would want God on their side. There may be something to say about the level of fun in this movie, and that something is: The movie would probably be great entertainment for kids, other than the fact that you'd be letting your kids be taught lies about the real story and the Jesus. If you have no problem with that, then sit them right down on the couch and pop it in. Otherwise, I would get them the Jesus movie for kids, read them the New Testament, or get the Bible on CD. Zondervan puts out a good one. Overall, I wish I could have rated this movie lower. This movie is a good gift for: Extreme Liberal Pluralists
Cult Leaders
Ethnocentric Militia Colonels
Passive Parents
Kids you want to lie to
Rating: 
Summary: Not Bad
Review: Let me start off by saying that Jerome Pradon was a wonderful Judas!!!!--way more powerful then Murray Head in the original production. At times Renee Castle (Mary) was a bit flat, and I did't like the fact that they mondernized it. I'm 28 years old and when I was growing up this was the only thing I listend to and I listended to it over and over again, drove my mother nuts sometimes. Oh and one more thing,they butchered King Herod's Song :( That was the only problem I had with it.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible
Review: This DVD is terrible and not worth watching. The characters lack passion and are unbelievable. I had to force myself to sit through it until I could not take it anymore. Don't waste your time with this one, watch the original again.
Rating: 
Summary: Good...not great
Review: I don't really care for the older version of this musical or the new one. Both seem to have too much of whatever the time they were filmed look to them. In the newer version though I thought the person who played Mary, her voice was brilliant and it was alright, but not as good as it could have been.
Rating:
Summary: Hm-m-m, where is Jesus?
Review: For starters, this movie is not about Jesus. Well, not about that Jesus. The action takes place in a concrete desert of a former industrial town. My first guess was New York, but later they started to call it Jerusalem. The biggest attraction is a replica of Berlin Wall, at least it's painted the same way. A gang holds the place. By some coincidence, the gang leader is called Jesus Christ and his lieutenants have names of apostles. Police raid makes us think that this should be a future as policemen are dressed like Darth Vader. One of the apostles has a tattoo of a cross on his forearm. Juda commits a suicide in the middle of the movie, and then continues to sing and comment for the rest of time. And, yes, animal right activists beware, there is a lot of black leaver, even female angels wear black leaver bikinis. Clearly this gang is also a semi-religious sect, and the fathers of the town are worried about that. Head of the priests (Afro-American, like about a half of the gang) decides to arrest and execute the leader of the gang, while watching them on a surveillance cameras. However their first attempt (during sermon, I assume) fails because the crowd is waiving "schmeisers" (WWII German machine guns) and few AK-47s. When the leader of the gang gets traders from the Temple, the merchandize left includes working TVs, showing military airplanes and warships at their bloody work. I am not completely sure of the meaning of this scene. They probably meant that the world is bad and deadly. On another hand planes and ships were American, hence Christian, so it could be the other way around. Pilat is dressed like a Nazi general, probably, SS, and his refusal to crucify an innocent man makes him almost sympathetic. Well, I wash my hands. Now it's up to you to decide, if you really want to see this movie. Sapienti Sat. Dixi.
Rating: 
Summary: I don't think the real Jesus looked like Robert Plant...
Review: I have to start by saying I'm a huge fan of the 1973 Norman Jewison VHS version of this Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice masterpiece. Ted Neeley has owned the role of Christ for a long time, and there will never be another like him. And Carl Anderson's portrayal of Judas was nothing short of amazing. I was disappointed by this newer production of JCS. I know that one of the show's calling cards is that it's a more modern adaptation of the story of Christ, but it's way overdone in this picture; everyone looks like they just came out of an ultra-trendy coffee house or something. Have you seen the movie Hackers? Yeah, they kinda all look like that. Jérôme Pradon opens with the classic "Heaven on Their Minds," but he makes for a whiney-sounding Judas, and he makes it seem as if Judas really hates Jesus right from the onset; I think Anderson's confused and well-intentioned Judas was much more endearing. Glenn Carter...where can I start? He's not so much of a singer or actor as he is a pretty face...golden locks and big eyes. He doesn't bring an ounce of the intensity to the role of Jesus that we see from Ted Neeley. I would like to say that Frederick B. Owens is a powerful Caiaphas with his booming bass voice and slick look, and Michael Shaeffer is a good, if somewhat creepy-looking, Annas. Together, they along with the priests seem like a maniacal band of trenchcoat-wearing villains, which is cool in a way. I'd say that's the one aspect of this version of the musical I'm happiest about. Fred Johanson is awful as Pilate...when he sings "Pilate's Dream," he sounds so miscast, an operatic, overly-dramatic tenor nearly coming to tears in a song that I think is written more as a contemplative piece. The biggest travesty in this piece is the omission of "Then We Are Decided." This is an ominous duet between Caiaphas and Annas, when they decide that Jesus has become too big a problem to ignore. It was always one of my favorite songs from the musical, and it's completely skipped in this new production. Go with the 1973 Jewison film, rent this one before you buy.
Rating:
Summary: OUTSTANDING!!!!!
Review: I am so THRILLED to have stumbled across this DVD!! I love the original movie, it is timeless and so laden with meaning for me, nothing could eclipse it, but this production is absolutely on par with the original. The industrial perspective is, I do believe, accessible to today's modern youth. The obvious beauty of Glenn Carter also lends itself towards drawing in otherwise apathetic viewers. I don't even have the words to describe how well I believe Judas's performance is, it is beyond words. His interpretation is a treasure. The roles Annas and Caiaphas are chilling and effective, they play them perfectly. I would highly recommend this DVD and CD to anyone who wants a potentially life altering experience to occur.
Rating:
Summary: Only for first-comers
Review: Watching this dvd for the first time I was shocked. This thing is out there for decades, and I'd expect the new versions get better, learning from the predecessors. Instead they get worse every time. There was a fine version with Ian Gillan in the beginning. Then the film version I found with voices less fitting on the LP. But much of that was compensated on the screen at least.
Here we have voices MUCH WORSE than those early versions. And the play is mediocre too, at least at some very important parts. The staging itself I like. The operator's work is excellent. And picture quality could get THX certification hands down. And the look of the characters is used well too. The main roles still drag the whole feeling down. Judas is pretty lame in the first part of the show. Later on he gets better. I like how he use his face, and it was cut in repetedly observing what happens to Jesus. Jesus is plain bad overall. Singing performace bad to mediocre, acting perfoirmance just mediocre. Like one having absolutely no clue what to do with the role. The central and most important song of JCSS, Getsemane clearly shows that. The central section is okey, but start and especially the ending shows the wrong spirit. Taht is unacceptable, after having the 1973 film showing how to do that well. The other roles are so-so too, Caifas' singing i sometimes odd in the first part, improving later. Annas pretty much rocks. Pilate is pale singing the dream, but is near good later, but can't do it to the end, the 'you innocent puppet' is played just bad.
Mary's singing seems impossible to spoil, playing is generally okey, could be better too. My suggestion: watch it before buying. If you don't have the 1973 film, buy that one.
Also, don't judge other really useful's stuff by this. Joseph is excellent dn must-buy. Cats is pretty good too. That adds to my disappointment with this piece.
Rating:
Summary: Neither good nor Bad
Review: There is some much overacting in this film that Gale Edwards should be hanged. The worst case is Pilate. Whatever happed to Roman Stoicism. Why does every male character have to cry. The proper playing of Pilate is to have act as if its is just another bad day at work. The Pharisees and Romans all look like science fiction villains from Star Wars. The Roman soldiers all look like Dark Vader. Worst it does not show any distinction between the Romans and the Jews. This is a movie of Black and White or Good versus Evil with no middle ground. I can understand it not being either historically or biblically accurate but it should be at least have the same sprit of the Gospel according to Tim Rice. I had seen the original Broadway production in 1969 which was a straight forward product. This movie and the 1973 Norman Jewison production are both flawed for different reasons. However, there were some good points to this movie especially Simon the Zealot and Mary Magdalene scenes. Musically it was better than the 1973 film and I believe that Glenn Carter voice for Jesus was fine.
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