Rating: 
Summary: They know not what they do, right?
Review: I guess you don't always need nails and a cross to crucify the Lord. You can do it with bad music, horrible acting, and incompetent filmmaking, all of it readily available in "Jesus Christ, Superstar." But while the blood of Jesus washed away the world's sins, this laughably bad 1973 film version of the "rock opera" that brought Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice to prominence (one of the lesser sins for which Jesus suffered and died) will let you experience a peculiar kind of Hell. Except for a few songs, most notably the lovely "I Don't Know How to Love Him" performed by Yvonne Elliman, and "Everything's All Right" by someone whose name escapes me (or I never knew in the first place), the music is just plain awful! In that sense, it does resemble the typical Broadway show which, for the record, "Jesus Christ, Superstar" didn't become until long after the fact. Like The Who's "Tommy," it first saw life as a record album, a multi-disc monstrosity with just enough quality for one decent 45 RPM single. In fairness to Webber and Rice, even the worst song is better than the performances, none of which approach the quality typically found in the most amateurish dinner theater production of "State Fair." Ted Heely is the most ridiculous Jesus ever. If the real Messiah were anything like this, even the most sincere Christian might reconsider his faith. Neely is, to put it as politely as possible, pathetic, an uncharismatic hambone on a par with Tom Laughlin of "Billy Jack" fame. Except for the occasional stage revival of this mess, it's not surprising Neely hasn't been heard from since. The greatest mystery is what a brilliant filmmaker like Norman Jewison saw in this oddity. The man who gave us the superb "In the Heat of the Night," as well as "Fiddler on the Roof," hit rock bottom here. But I forgive him. Like walking on water, turning water into wine, and rising from the dead, turning a piece of crap like "Jesus Christ, Superstar" into a decent movie is not a task for mortal man. But only mortal man would be foolish enough to think it was worth doing in the first place. Brian W. Fairbanks
Rating:
Summary: A rock 'n roll musical about Jesus the Christ.
Review: Definately for the hippies. Musicals were about to make a comeback, thanks to Barbra Striesand. But this film "Jesus Christ Superstar" (which Miss Striesand has nothing to do with) just may have killed all musicals forever. This film is a rock and roll musical of a modern-day Jesus. You won't learn anything about the real Jesus here. The singing is out of tune at times. There is one nice tune, "I Don't Know How To Love Him" sung by Yvonne Elliman, who incidentally, sang the hit song, "If I Can't Have You!", in the film Saturday Night Fever (1977). Good performances by Ted Neeley as "Jesus" and Yvonne Elliman as "Mary Magdalene". Buy "Jesus Of Nazareth" (1977) on DVD instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Beware the DVD transfer
Review: I've been a big fan of JCS ever since the concept album came out. Over the years, I have come to appreciate Norman Jewison's interpretation, as well as his magnificent landscape shots, more and more. For me, this telling of the Jesus story is much more moving than Mel's Passion, thus my extreme disappointment after buying the DVD version when I discovered that a simple transfer of the film to DVD had been made. Unlike the restoration effort of many other transfers, in this case, there was no attempt to upgrade the sound when it was put into a 5.1 format. In other words, the film was literally copied straight onto the DVD version with all of the tape hiss, high frequency machine noise, and other assorted crackles. Perhaps Universal didn't feel the extra effort was warranted due to financial concerns, but in a film where the sound is crucial, this lack of attention detracts from the viewing experience. This being said, the DVD is still worth owning, particularly for an economical 15 bucks or less. Just beware of the sound quality.
Rating:
Summary: Good Singing, Bad Acting
Review: The singing is magnificent, for the most part. However, as good as the singing is, the acting is just as bad. Ted Nealy (Christ) has a magnificent voice, and his rendering of "Gethsemane" is as good a piece of rock singing as there is recorded. However, his acting is almost non-existent. His facial expressions are wooden, even during the gut-wrenching moments vocally. Carl Anderson (Judas) is a strong vocalist, and a bit better actor than Nealy. However, still a bit weak in the acting vein. Probably the best actor of the crew is Barry Dennen (Pilate) who also has probably the strongest single moment vocally, at the end of "The Trial" piece. His screeching at that point is quite superb. Yvonne Elliman (Mary Magdelene) is also possessed of a strong voice, but little range as an actress. The only exception to all of the above would be Josh Mostel (Herod) who possess neither voice nor acting skills. He is just plain embarrassing in what should be a highlight of the film. Interesting touches throughout - Roman soldiers in modern military garb, tanks in the 1st century desert, etc. - make this interesting visually. Again, the music is mostly superb, and the acting mostly sub-par. See it once, for reference, then get the CD and enjoy the music over and over.
Rating: 
Summary: Rice & Lloyd Webber's Operatic Passion Play on Film
Review: After the bizarre Broadway staging of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera, the film version of "Jesus Christ Superstar" had to be a more traditional offering. Producer-Director Norman Jewison filmed on location in Israel, using natural settings and sparsely constructed sets for what is essentially a string of music videos (since it was written as a studio album first, the music presents problems for moving from one scene to the next). The framing device for the film is the cast arriving/departing by bus. Ted Neeley's voice is suited to the role, but certainly he is the shortest Jesus I can recall seeing in films. Yvonne Elliman and Barry Dennen remain from the original studio album and Broadway production as Mary Magdalen and Pilate, which is perfectly all right. However, it is clearly Carl Anderson as Judas who gives the best performance in the film. The film version suffers from the inadequate voices of several of the supporting cast members (most notably Josh Mostel as Herod) and the grossly reduced chorus of singers which never comes close to matching the number of bodies on screen, and there are a few unintentional laughs (as when Israeli tanks come over the dune and chase Judas). But the use of paintings depicting the crucifixion and the final shot of sheep being herded past the cross the cast leaves behind on the hill, are particularly effective. Of course as with most movies, if you want to watch it you want to get a hold of the widescreen edition, otherwise you cannot appreciate the Last Supper tableau or just enjoy the compositional elements of the shots. Every Easter weekend I watch this film, even if I do not have time to do all of "Jesus of Nazareth" or "The Greatest Story Every Told." The only thing radical here is the music, but I still have to think it qualifies as the requisite joyful noise.
Rating: 
Summary: one of the best movie/musicals of all time
Review: It took me almost two years (and a recent viewing of the new JCS movie) to fully appreciate the masterpiece that is Jesus Christ Superstar, the 1973 film. Told entirely through catchy, rock opera music, it tells the story of the last seven days in the life of Jesus Christ, but is hardly a literal interpretation and consists mostly of the drama between Judas and Jesus. The point of the film is to show the bible in a new way- that everyone, even Jesus's closest disciples helped contribute to the death of Jesus through their inescapable humanism. Filmed in the Jerusalem desert, the production is wonderful. It's as if the best singers, film makers, dancers, musicians, and songwriters (Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice) came together for this one movie. Carl Anderson stars as Judas and is arguably the best performer to ever perform the role. Ted Neeley is fantastic too even though it takes a while to "get" the strenghth in his underacting. Norman Jewison, who's experience and creativity as director shines through with every scene, takes the musical to another level, using a brilliantly conceptual theme that is introduced at the very beginning of the film. The locations are beautiful and fit perfectly within the context of the story. The film has great music, the ideas it tries to get across are poignant, and it is much, much better than the new film in its directing, acting, choreograpphy, and singing.
Rating:
Summary: moved
Review: still moved to tears, even after nearly 30 years of first watching this movie. I'm not a wholly devout or religious Christian (i.e. not go to church every week), but I still found the show very touching and broke down when trying to explain the story to my daughter (aged 7). by the way, I believe I didn't cry when I first watched it, too young to appreciate meaning of life (and death).
Rating:
Summary: Good Singing, Bad Acting
Review: The singing is magnificent, for the most part. However, as good as the singing is, the acting is just as bad. Ted Nealy (Christ) has a magnificent voice, and his rendering of "Gethsemane" is as good a piece of rock singing as there is recorded. However, his acting is almost non-existent. His facial expressions are wooden, even during the gut-wrenching moments vocally. Carl Anderson (Judas) is a strong vocalist, and a bit better actor than Nealy. However, still a bit weak in the acting vein. Probably the best actor of the crew is Barry Dennen (Pilate) who also has probably the strongest single moment vocally, at the end of "The Trial" piece. His screeching at that point is quite superb. Yvonne Elliman (Mary Magdelene) is also possessed of a strong voice, but little range as an actress. The only exception to all of the above would be Josh Mostel (Herod) who possess neither voice nor acting skills. He is just plain embarrassing in what should be a highlight of the film. Interesting touches throughout - Roman soldiers in modern military garb, tanks in the 1st century desert, etc. - make this interesting visually. Again, the music is mostly superb, and the acting mostly sub-par. See it once, for reference, then get the CD and enjoy the music over and over.
Rating:
Summary: Ten stars, really
Review: I find the acting compelling and the singing and emotion amazing. I have watched Jesus Christ Superstar on stage in London and I still love the movie just as much. I have seen the movie at least fifeteen times and it always leaves me sobbing. The empathy for Judas is a different perspective from most tellings of the crucifixion. There is also quite a bit of subtle humor contained in this story. I watch it again and again and each time I find something new.
Rating:
Summary: Monumental Disappointment!
Review: When I think of Andrew Lloyd Webber, I always focus first and foremost on what I feel has always been his greatest achievement; "Jesus Christ Superstar". I know he's done well since then but, to me, nothing compares to JCS. I was fortunate to see the musical twice on Broadway and was spellbound by that experience. With unbridled enthusiasm, I gratefully went to see the movie when it came out. I was appalled! I don't know what Norman Jewison was thinking of. He had a "can't miss" production and he proceeded to ruin it with incompetant acting and this abysmal idea that modern Israeli military men and equiptment wander around as part of the backdrop. I have pondered that "innovation" for years and can only assume that Jewison was trying to make some sort of comment on the present day world being out of touch with the message of Jesus. If that was the case, why use non-Christians to make the point? Was the message to show that, 2000 years later, all is still in a state of turmoil in the land He grew up in? Whatever it may have been, it was a distraction and not an enhancement. "Jesus Christ Superstar" is something worth getting acquinted with. However, the worst way to do so is through this movie. I see the stage version is available on DVD. Need I say more?
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