scorned, discredited, tortured, crucified and murdered. The story is told in its entirety. Yet, the director succeeds in telling the story in a straightforward non-sensationalist manner. By emphasizing Christ's humanity he brings the audience into the story. Regardless of your religious beliefs, one can relate to Jesus, his ministry and what he is trying to accomplish. His actions are plausible and understandable. His preaching is simple, sensible and comprehensible. His suffering and anguish is pitiful; his resurrection miraculous. Here the movie is strongest. Unlike the Gibson film, the resurrection is given full treatment and concludes the movie on a positive note, which is appropriate. The story of Jesus Christ requires no embellishment; it speaks for itself. Jesus was born, conducted his ministry, was betrayed, and was sacrificed. This is how the story is depicted in this movie. What more should anyone expect?

movie from the angle that someone who hasn't read the Bible, you will realize that they will actually for the first time hear the Gospel Story. Did the real Jesus say it exactly the way he did in the movie? Actually, no. He said it in Aramaic. If you're looking for a great film taken WORD-for-WORD from the Gospel of John, I highly recommend watching "The Gospel of John - Visual Bible - 2-DVD set 2005 " you can search on Amazon.com. It is 315 minutes long... That's the unabridged version.I recommend this film, "Son of God" for those who love Jesus, and love the story of what Jesus did. I recommend this film for people who have not read the Bible. If you're a theologian, stay home, read the Bible.

believers of how they should be impacting the world.

will feed your mind, heart and soul if you let it.

severely beaten. The big AH moment is of course, when Jesus appears at the entrance of the tomb. The audience's mixed reaction was applause to opening crying. This film runs 138 minutes and is rated PG13, due to the graphic violence depicted during the beating and being nailed to the cross. People of faith will have their spirits lifted; but for those of less religious persuasion and just wanted to see a movie have described SON OF GOD as dull and heavy-handed. Of notice are Amber Rose Revah playing Mary Magdalene, Darwin Shaw as Peter and Roma Downey as Mary, the mother of Christ. Also featured are Greg Hicks, Simon Kunz, Sebastian Knapp and Joe Wredden as Judas. Before being too critical, check the Bible.

away, left "off the scene," from the details that should be left to the viewers' imagination. Gibson's film made most viewers squirm, avert their eyes, or some even get physically ill. This film does not pull away from the horror of what is happening. But instead of causing repulsion, aversion, and the desire to escape from it all, it moves us to deep, deep compassion. And, like his own mother, we feel the desire to relieve the suffering we observe. The film has a completeness to it that goes beyond the end of the story. There is resurrection, the post resurrection appearances, the given mission and empowerment of the Spirit. At the end, as the disciples leave to fulfill that mission, those in the audience who feel they are disciples of Christ, leave inspired with a renewed sense of purpose and strength. Those who are not disciples of Jesus, may feel an invitation from their Creator to look inside and reflect on their own purpose and mission in life. The movie is a gift, a grace, for all who have "eyes to see and ears to hear."

kept thinking as I'm watching, how could anyone have doubts about this Son of God when it was all such a life as usual, normal people time and yet….and yet…here we are 2014 years later, and this is still the most important person who ever walked on this earth. And everyone knows His name and what He did and who He was. No. This movie was precisely what it needed to be and no more. I took extra tissue, but still it wasn't enough. Watching the end of the earthly life of My Lord was so painful, so heart-rending that, indeed, I cried as much as I feared I would. Maybe more.

who have only heard about Jesus, but they've never read the Bible. About half the material in the movie comes from quotes from the Bible, sometimes juxtaposed around so they are not correct in a strict temporal sense as most of us would put things in some timeline sense anyway but it's alright, I won't fault the movie makers for that. The point is they put all that material in there and tried to get quotes accurate, whether they be from King James, or other translations is somewhat beside the point. Some are a bit liberal, and there a few minor issues with other claims made in the movie.What else they threw in, generally, is the historical struggle between the Jews of Judea with the Romans at the time of the historical Jesus. My opinion is they did a credible job of adding drama and historical fiction extrapolated dialog between the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin the Jewish ruling Council and the Romans, as well as the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot. They also threw in another shady character which at least adds another dimension to the story, again based on a historical person named Barabbas.While the movie was not "Epic" in scope or proportion, and certainly not in cinematography, I gave it a relatively high score 8/10 for its effective acting and tender moments. If you are a Christian, you better ask yourself: "Could I act and play Jesus?" Any Christian certainly had better answer "No!" first, and then say, well I could try. And I'm here to tell you that the fellow in the movie did a credible job. The book of Isaiah tells us that "We esteemed him not" and the meaning is that Jesus had nothing to distinguish Him as God. We could look at Him and see a perfectly ordinary person. It's only once you have met Him and gotten to know who He is that you worship Him.So, in that sense, I believe this movie will introduce a lot of folks to the real Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible. I believe it will make them thirsty for more, which will make them want to read the Bible and get to know Him for who He really is. He is not dead, He is alive, and any person on this earth today can come to know Him.

interested in making a positive impact in your world in some way, I would recommend seeing this inspiring story as the way to learn how.