Onscreen Adventure: Matthew

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Age Appropriate For: All Ages

Best for Ages: All Ages

Description: Experience The Visual Bible's Matthew. This powerful and entertaining film is taken word for word from the text of the New International Version translation. This multi-million dollar production appeals to all ages, and it offers educational, spiritual and entertainment value. "The goal of The Visual Bible is to put the entire Bible on film using only Scripture to tell the story." Filmed on location in Tunisia, Morocco and South Africa, Matthew features a cast of thousands, historically accurate costuming and award-winning directing. The film stars Emmy award-winning actor Richard Kiley as Matthew, and introduces Bruce Marchiano as Jesus.

Why is this my favorite movie of all time? The first reason is it shows the greatest story of all time. Second, it uses the words of scripture to tell the story, not Hollywood's version of the Bible. Third, they didn't try to Americanize Jesus, instead putting a lot of the Jewish culture into the story. 

This is by far the most powerful version of the life of Christ I have ever seen. Marchiano (who played Jesus) captured the joy and love of Christ, without sacrificing the other emotions. In fact, I think one of the most powerful scenes in the entire movie is when he is shouting at the woes against the Pharisees, and then at the end, cries as he tells Jerusalem that they cannot escape the coming wrath. You see his anger and compassion and it is beautiful.

The settings are wonderful, and feel like somewhere where Jesus would have walked. Nothing in the film felt like a fake Hollywood set or an artificial landscape. It is only of the reasons I loved it so much, if felt very real.

The hardest part of the film is the death of Jesus. After coming to love Jesus for the first three hours of the film, to see the horrible way he died brings tears. To see his suffering is hard, especially for young children. However, the resurrection is made even more amazing.

The music is beautiful and will probably stick with you. It is a nice backdrop to the whole film and fits perfectly.

This whole film was created not only about Jesus, but also for His glory and I think that comes through. I highly recommend this film for everyone.