Review of The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) by Dano S — 29 Jun 2008

Deceint epic lenght retelling of the life and times of Jesus, that irony of ironies, is at its worst whenever Jesus is on the screen. Not that Max Von Sydow isn't trying, he just doesn't have anything to work with here (compaired to say Jim Caviezal in The Passion).

That said there are some amazing shots in this film, especially the contrast of light and shadow. The film also features some truly outsatnding performances, Victor Buono as the Pharisee Sorak, Joanna Dunham as Mary Magdalene, the great Jose Ferrer as King Herod Antipas and Charlton Heston as John the Baptist (the scenes between Ferrer and Heston are worth purchasing the movie for if nothing else), Martin Landau as the High Priest Caiaphas, David McCallum as Judas Iscariot (the scene with Sorak, Caiaphas and Judas is another amazing piece of film making), Donald Pleasence as The Dark Hermit (he has about 5 minutes of screen time and he makes them among the best in the film), Telly Savalas is decient as Pontus Pilate and Sidney Poitier as Simon of Cyrene does what he can with a non-speaking role.

All in all a good if uneven film, that can be enjoyable despite its many flaws.