Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: Simply one of the fiesnt movies I have ever seen. A brilliant adaptatation of the novel. Kudos to all involved.
Rating:
Summary: The best "Jesus" flick I've ever seen!
Review: This film took Jesus as a man and then made the mystical happen around him. The story moved so softly and slyly that it was pure amazement at the ending. I feel sorry for those who have judged this film before seeing it. It gave Jesus a dimention he never had for me before.
Rating: 
Summary: accents
Review: i don't understand why Miles Bethany criticizes Keitel's Brooklyn accent, but never wonderes why David Bowie portrays Pilate with a British accent.
Rating: 
Summary: An Illogical Piece Of Film.
Review: Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ" is a film that is well-made, but it's philosophy is wrong. Supposedly this is a study of the struggle between the carnal and the exalted. Then why choose Christ when it is man, not God, who must struggle between these two elements. If we are to look at it from the point of view of Christianity, then we would see that the depiction of Christ makes no sense. Here he is presented as some weak, small man, as a normal human. Christ by Biblical descriptions, had many struggles, but nontheless, he was the son of God. He was not like all normal men and therefore, as the Bible says, he would stay away from corruption (then why the hell is he walking into a house of prostitution?). Also, he knew he was the Son Of God and didn't find out through head aches. We would still come to these conclusions from a philosophical point of view. Those who really praise the film don't understand the elements of Biblical scripture or the fact that Christ would be nothing as depicted here. Okay, I know the beginning says that this is not based on the Holy Scriptures. Then why use Christ! The same impact can be given with someone else. You can't use a figure of such grace and power as God to tell a story like this, because then you would have to add untruths to the Bible (which is misleading). I'm not against thought provoking films, just the ones that have no logic. This is a well-made film, but one written without deep understanding of it's subject. The only thing I really liked was the music.
Rating:
Summary: CINEMATICALLY STUNNING; THEOLOGICALLY FLAWED
Review: Without doubt, Martin Scorcese is the best filmmaker of our time. His greatest dream for years was to make this film, and after many false starts fulfilled his dream in 1988. As cinema, "Last Temptation..." is surely one of the most passionate and deeply moving films of all time. DeFoe is stunning as Christ, showing His humanity in a very heartfelt way. Peter Gabriel's score is astounding; the cinematography sumptous. As a believing Catholic, I can't let my admiration for this film stand in the way of some deep theological flaws. For instance, according to all of the ancient Doctors of the Church, Satan was unaware of who Christ was, and felt that perhaps He was only a prophet; therefore, he instigated for His death, as he did not know how the Redemption was going to take place. Also, Our Lord making crosses for the Romans at the beginning is problematic from the point of view that Christ was sinless(a point of view that Scorcese shares, by the way). Despite these flaws, I still feel that this film makes one think about Jesus as no other in history(except for perhaps Zeffireli's), and I disagree with my co-religionists who don't think it should even be given the time of day. See it with caution, but see it!
Rating:
Summary: Compelling
Review: This is the most compelling film about the life of Christ that I've ever seen. It is definitely not for the timid or the narrow minded ... in many ways it squares off with Christian notions. Some of the erotic scenes, if taken out of context, will be disturbing to some. If the first detractors of the film (most of which had not seen it)would see the film to its end, they would find a rich portrait of Christ as a man struggling in his mission to bring mankind to God. As Kazantsakis said in his prelude to the novel, it is the eternal war between and flesh. Some purists will criticize the out of time sequence of events in the film, eg., Christ saving the woman from stoning comes early in his mission. But how do we know? The Gospels string events together to compound a narrative ... we cannot be sure about the sequence of events. I feel this is closer to the truth than the usual Hollywood epics and I am glad the film was not consigned to that category. It makes Christ no less divine to depict the human struggles he overcame. He is divine to the extent that he reveals the divinity in all of us.
Rating:
Summary: The religious zealots have this movie all wrong.
Review: It is unfortunate that this movie brought about so much controversy for what is essentially a favorable depiction of Jesus. He is not militant, nor arrogant as he is, sometimes, in the Gospels of the New Testament. The 'temptation' in which he falls victim to is not one that can be perceived by any man as selfish. He wants but a simple life; family and love. It is only when he is confronted with the fact that his death did not serve as his destiny willed that he realizes the implications of his actions. It is then that he chooses, as someone who knows what he is giving up, to become the martyr in which has been predestined for him. IF I were a Christian, I would feel that this Jesus, who struggled with himself and his faith and eventually made the ultimate sacrifice, to be a worthy representative of a religious doctrine and a valid teacher.
Rating: 
Summary: Great swing, a little short on the follow-through
Review: This movie explores the persona of Jesus Christ in a way that has never been done before -- considering the side of Jesus that may have been uncertain and prone to doubts. I wish I could divide my review into parts. Some portions, where Jesus struggles to understand his nature and role as the Son of God, are absolutely brilliant. Equally brilliant are the *few* times when Jesus claims the authority that he as God's Son possesses, particularly in the miracle-scenes and his confrontation with the religious leaders on Palm Sunday. However, these scenes of the "authoritative Jesus" are too few and far between. As in the book, Jesus never quite seems to "turn the corner" and own his mission. He remains throughout the film as an insecure wimp who never quite fully understands God's desires. Each scene of "power and authority" is followed by a scene of Jesus reverting back to his insecure, uncertain personality. Also, there are some scenes that (despite what other reviewers have claimed) are troublesome to a Christian viewing. I was not so disturbed with the infamous temptation scene at the end of the movie, but Jesus' overt rebellion against God and his construction of crosses for the Romans at the beginning was disturbing. The treatment of the Apostle Paul is also ridiculously out of character from anything presented in the Bible; it appears as if Kozantsakis has taken a familiar name and pasted a whole new personality onto him. This movie has a wonderful concept (5 stars) that has moments of greatness (5 stars) but falls woefully short in other places (1-2 stars). What this film needs is a more coherent storyline, in which Jesus begins troubled and insecure (but not rebelling against God's will) and ends as a more charismatic and powerful figure. LTOC instead offers a Jesus who starts out troubled, has a few flashes of greatness, but never quite recognizes or accepts his role until he is hanging on the cross, drawing his last breath. I had a hard time believing the vanilla-bland character shown in the film could ever have been inspired such devotion from his disciples or been responsible for such a world-spanning movement as Christianity. All these criticisms aside, there were parts of this movie that were excellent; no other film I know of explores the human and vulnerable side of Jesus so well. If you're looking for a definitive movie on Jesus' life, this isn't it. But if you're looking for something that will make you think and ponder what it was like to be Jesus, this is certainly a film to make you think.
Rating:
Summary: A misunderstood masterpiece of modern cinema.
Review: The Christ of the book is not the Christ of the film. That has to be stated right out. And Scorsese's literal take on the titular last temptation makes the finale into some sort of Good verses Evil climax which is an interesting take, but not the torturous psychological sledgehammer Jesus takes in the book. This aside, THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST is a stunning, deeply moving film. Still widely ignored in the United Kingdom and regarded as a blasphemy, it saddens me to think that I got more of a spiritual message from this film (and book) than I ever did back in my youth in the church. Scorsese's direction is magnificent. The acting, both Dafoe and Keitel, remarkable. But aside from the actors, another major player is the score by Peter Gabriel that manages to infuse a struggle between the spirit and the flesh into its by turns uneasy and triumphant music. And for the last time, the Last Temptation Jesus endures is the level, easy road of men - family, kids, respect...nothing found hanging from a cross upon Golgotha.
Rating:
Summary: Impressing
Review: "The Last Temptation Of Christ" is very faithful to Nikos Kazantzakis' novel. It's the kind of movie that will make you want to analyze it. Very impressing.
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