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Summary: reacting on some other reviews
Review: A lot is already said ! this is Indeed one of the greatest movies ever told ! deserves a higher rank ! Max is VERY Good ! ( is it really pronounced as sue-doff ? don't forget he is from Sweden ! anyway Only fault is that there are Too many "cameo's what get our attention Off the real story ! who is not saying; He ! isn't that ........ ?
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Summary: GRANDIOSE EPIC OF CHRIST
Review: This movie holds a special place in my heart. I saw it when I was nine years old on the wide, Cinerama screen. It has left impressions with me that have carried to this day. Especially great is Max Von Sydow's extraordinary performance as Jesus and Charlton Heston as John the Baptist. David Mcallum undertakes the role of Judas with understated pathos, especially the scene where Judas betrays Jesus to the Sanhedrin. Also, see if you can recognize a young Martin Landau who delivers his usual, intriguing performance as Caiphas. The part that still moves me the most is the raising of Lazarus. Absolutely breathtaking! All in all, a very inspiring movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful and moving
Review: This movie will bring tears to your eyes. Maybe even in the opening credits as the musical score is quite beautiful and angelic. The film appears authentic in it's sets and dialog and Mr. Von Sydow's performance as Jesus and Mr. Heston's performance as John the Baptist are epic. Although it skips many significant events in the life of Jesus, it is inspirational and quite beautiful. I wouldn't say it is a must see but you will be better for it.
Rating: 
Summary: "Do it QUICK; whatever it is you're about to do"
Review: 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' is told wwaayy too slow and in a very conventional, uninteresting manner. It's not Stevens' fault but Hollywood's, although the neverending parade of movie stars -that gets tiresome and somewhat funny after a short while- was the director's idea. Haendel's 'Messiah' doesn't help either: it's been done and sounds much too corny!Wonderful actor as he is, Max Von Sydow plays Jesus as a pious blue-eyed waspy bore (Jesus was semitic)! Sure, he's not to blame either: any movie about Christ sets out an impossible task to acomplish, and no actor, no matter how intense, can fulfill that role. If on top of that you put a lot of regulations on how to deal with religious contents, the results will hardly please anyone (anyone outside the weepy, syrupy, preachy self-righteous crowd, that is). For an equally conventional but much fresher, human and inspiring view, try Franco Zeffirelli's 'Jesus of Nazareth', also with an all-star cast that truly acts. Much, much better! Me, I prefer the controversial movies on this subject ('The Gospel According To St. Matthew', 'Jesus of Montreal', 'Life of Brian', 'The Last Temptation of Christ', 'The Ruling Class', etc.). After all, what's the point of seeing a movie of this sort, if not for some food-for-thought? But -hey- that's just me and my tastes! By no means I recommend those pictures if you're wanting to assist your kids on Sunday school. Try the Zeffirelli version first! P.S.: Donald Pleasance does a great Evil! (now that's an unfamiliar role for him!)
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Story Ever Told
Review: An excellent movie (4 1/2 out of 5). The interaction between Jesus (Max Von Sydow)and Satan (Donald Pleasence) was very good. An all-star cast made this movie. The scene of the raising of Lazarus by Jesus is awe inspiring!
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Summary: Excellent concept restricted by 1960s biblical epic norms
Review: Despite a fine script and superb actors, the film is disappointing because it conforms to the 1950s-1960s "rule" that scriptural characters be one-dimensional and speak their lines in flat and unnatural tones.
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Summary: Max Von Sydow, is one of the GREATEST actor's
Review: it's a shame Max doesn't get very many Main casting roles.. He is a sure thing when it comes to acting.. ever since The Seventh Seal, by Igmar. I hear alot of people bad mouth him once in a while. but someone said it beautifuly to me. I didn't know Igmar was into casting bad actor's. basicly, you put down Max's acting, your putting down cinema. this gives max one film he should be proud of, one of his best roles, and his role will forever be in my mind. I haven't seen much Jesus movies, but so far this is a great film. and I hate when people complain its not the truth.. No one is ever gonna agree on the truth.
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Summary: A beautifully filmed movie
Review: This film isn't as accurate as "Jesus of Nazareth", but it's still worth watching. Max Von Sydow (pronounced Max von Sue-doff) is, I think, the best Jesus. The way they shot the movie is beautiful and very inspiring. I get chills up my arm every time Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. THe problem with this video, though, is that they focus on the major stars who only got teeny tiny roles, like John Wayne as the centurion, or Sydney Portier as Simon of cyrene. It tends to take the focus off of the main characters. The movie is also a bit choppy- a lot of scenes were cut. THe movie is really beautiful, though, and it's a wonderful movie to watch during Easter.
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Summary: I Wish I was George Stevens
Review: I rated "The Greatest Story Ever Told" five stars, because it was the first movie of Jesus'life, I had ever seen.This was a film that showed me what Christ was all about. I wish that I was George Stevens right now and that it was 1965. I loved the acting but I would have fixed some things.Iwould have done it more along the lines of Jesus of Nazareth, and the gospel of Matthew. I think The director should have used the ultimate Script the Bible as his guide and make the film a word for word harmony of the Gospels. The scene where Judas Kills himself should have been as the Bible had written it where Judas Hanged himself and not throw him self into the alter I love Max von Sydow's version of Jesus, But I Would have told him to give Jesus More Joy! To Smile To laugh To literally say to people "Hi My name is Jesus...And I Love you like you can't imagine! " to wrestle with his Disciples, and be totally"Cool" When jesus heals a leper,and the leper is healed,he Knocks Jesus to the ground in hugs and thankfulness,and Jesus is loving every minute of it! I would have not had all those Co-Stars in the film just three or four are enough. Telly Savalas made a Great Pilate,But Laurence Olivier Would have been a better Choice.Charlton Heston Is just too awesome!I Love his portrayal of John the Baptist! But when the Sanhedrin order John to stop He should have said"You Brood of Vipers! Who told You to flee the coming wrath Produce fruit in Keeping with Repentance,"and that God could make children for Abraham out of mere stones. " Leave unknown actors for the other characters, just leave Von Sydow,Heston,and Savalas(Or Olivier)And use the Bible and only the Bible as the script, It would and will be The Greatest Movie ever Made!
Rating: 
Summary: A challenging, intelligent film about the life of Christ
Review: There are several major points about this film that must be understood before approaching it. First, as analyzed by Derek Kelly in his book, "The Epic Film," George Stevens composed "The Greatest Story Ever Told" to resemble a Greek trajedy. There is the understatement of costumes and sets along with the composition of the scenes as almost tableaux. The photography is absolutely exquisite. Max von Sydow's performance is haunting and remains with you forever. Second, the film moves slowly, very slowly. This was always a mystery to me. Was it an interminable march to destruction, reinforcing the idea of Greek trajedy? But, I think I may have discovered why. This film was initially presented in Cinerama. Cinerama started as a three camera process which photographed peripheral vision and was projected on a massive curved screen, a precursor to IMAX. By the time George Stevens used it however, it was reduced to regular 70mm projected on the same massive curved screen. It left the illusion of three dimensions to the director's composition. The program for the film was unusual. Instead of describing how the film was made, it contained a list of the cast and crew in the back with a philosophical treatise in the front as to the objective of art in the reproduction of the Christ figure. The point was that art was supposed to give the audience the experience of meeting Christ. Cinerama is experential cinema. It began with travelogues taking audiences around the world followed by stories that placed the viewer in the center of action by having very long, protracted scenes. This conveyed the sense of "you are there." Mr. Stevens had experimented with CinemaScope and three-camera Cinerama to film his life of Christ. When three-camera Cinerama was replaced by 70mm Super Cinerama, he used it instead. The lingering scenes brought you into Christ's milieu. No where is this more dramatically used, then his two incredibly emotional points: the raising of Lazarus and the crucifixion. I saw the film when it first came out at the 225 minute version in Cinerama before it was chopped to little over three hours. There is now choppiness in these major scenes, especially in the crucifixion, which dilute the emotional power. In the original, Christ dies slowly before your eyes and does not just drop his head. This element reduced the entire audience to tears, almost eliminating the jarring delivery of John Wayne. Also, the extended raising of Lazarus sequence turned it into one of the scariest yet moving experiences in motion pictures. The title credits which are unreadable on a television screen were perfectly readable on the large Cinerama screen, thereby emphasizing the importance of Cinerama to the experience. The film does has its faults, sometimes corny dialogue, the switching to an obvious indoor set for the crucifixion, John Wayne's utterance after Christ's death, but the original has a power that few film achieve. I applaud MGM for releasing the new DVD from the original 70mm materials providing a beautiful image. And it was a great idea to create a documentary about the film. But this is not the restored version. In fact, it has been stated that there is even a 4 hour and 20 minute version, longer than the one I saw in the initial month of its release. I pose this question to MGM: Does the original exist within your vaults? Rumours say that it does. If so, let us release Mr. Stevens' original vision. It would be the first time since the second month of its release, that the full emotional impact of "The Greatest Story Ever Told" would be felt. It would allow new audiences to experience Christ's passage on earth.
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