"Jesus" in Hollywood

Best Jesus movies...

* Intolerance (1916)...the film D.W Griffith made to atone for the sins of Birth of a Nation...this movie intersperses scenes of Jesus before the Sanhedrin with other scenes of injustice throughtout history...a true spectacle, magnificent for its day, it seems a bit trite now
* The Robe (1953)...Richard Burton as the centurion who crucified Jesus and gambled for his robe...neat movie, some good scenes
* Ben Hur (1959)...the greatest Biblical epic in movie history...a stunning film with great performances by Chalton Heston, Stephen Boyd, and Hugh Griffith...the power of the Gospel to transform lives is shown very effectively
* King of Kings (1961)...starring Jeffrey Hunter...excellent movie but hard to find...for some reason, it's rarely on TV
* The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)...a very solemn take on the Jesus story, with one of the most bizarre moments in film: John Wayne as the Centurion saying, as only he could, "Truly, this was the Son of God."
* Jesus of Nazareth (1977)...the definitive film Jesus...Robert Powell's portrayal of Jesus is probably the definitive looking Jesus for my generation...very reverent film...one of the all-time best
* Mary, the Mother of Jesus (1999)...obviously focusing on Mary, Christian Bale plays Jesus...pretty good take
* Jesus (2000)...the "liberal" take on Jesus...very human, the divinity is less clear...some good moments...the best thing about this film is that Jesus often laughs and jokes around with his followers, which is great to see
* The Passion of the Christ (2004)...Mel Gibson's megahit...a great film, centering of course on the events of Good Friday...powerful stuff