I was done with “Jesus movies” a long time ago, and broke the rule only to watch The Passion, with which I was deeply disappointed (lots of comments about why on another thread).
One problem is that I don’t like the concept of adding any details that are not in the bible. By “any”, what I actually mean is, “ANY”. Be they events or words.
But movies that abide by my rule don’t have a lot to work with. I remember one movie where the crowd was yelling, but you could tell they were not saying any real words. It just sounded weird.
And ALL movies are someone’s interpretation of what happened. I’m fine with bible studies on specific issues and the bible itself, both heavily salted with prayer. I go to movies to watch bad guys get their butts kicked or nice couple’s fall in love. I go to the Bible for truth.
I too was very disappointed in watching the Passion.
But there is one that will not disappoint:
http://gloria.tv/?media=512696
The above is Part I. I’ll find the other parts and post them.
And therein lies the problem. You are correct. There just isn’t enough in the Bible with which to make a movie. I don’t have too much of a problem with “filling in the gaps” where you have some day to day types of conversations. If you don’t, all you have is a Short. I DON’T like movies that change the story. But I think the real problem is easily identified ... they just make crap “Bible movies” The last one I really enjoyed was really a mini-series ... Zeffirelli’s, Jesus of Nazareth. I LOVED that. Since then? Not a thing.
I also watched The Passion and was kind of amused by obscure sidelights like the Veronica scene which is not biblical and unless you're a fanatic like me, you wouldn't even know what it was about.
The worst Bible picture I've ever seen was an abomination on NBC about Noah. That garbage was so bad it was an obviously deliberate attempt to ridicule God.
In one early scene, Noah is bemoaning the work needed to work with the timbers he collected; he goes to sleep and the next morning The Lord has cut and planed them into perfect lumber. He even stacked and stamped it like the lumber companies do to transport them in trucks or for display at Home Depot!
I turned it off after about 10 minutes but a friend described the rest to me years later; I had a belly laugh and was glad I didn't waste any more time on it.
Yes, if you go without adding any details not in the bible, you can be done the whole movie in about an hour, featuring largely mere sermons.
Son of God was miles better than the Passion.
This is not uncommon for almost any movie based on a book. The view in your head of how the characters look, the parts of the book they leave in or out, the “added” parts that weren’t in the book. All lead to a disappoint one way or another.
Why would a movie based on the Christian Bible be any different?