Product Description

Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 09/13/2005 Run time: 91 minutes Rating: Nr

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48015 in DVD
• Brand: Lions Gate
• Released on: 2003-03-18
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 88 minutes

Amazon.com
This TV movie doesn't venture far from biblical accounts to dramatize the life of the Virgin Mary. It gets off to a promising start by showing Mary to be a resourceful and brave teenager, as she stands up to Roman soldiers who come thundering on horseback into her village. The production then proceeds chronologically, and the major events of Mary's life, and the life of Jesus, are played out in dramatic fashion. Mary is portrayed as having to face a series of struggles and tests of faith, from the time when she is terrified to meet the messenger of God who foretells the birth of the Messiah to her witnessing the brutal scene of her son's crucifixion. As the movie deals with material that will, of course, be familiar to most viewers, an unavoidable problem is that there are few surprises, and while the script does attempt to fill in some nuances of Mary's life, at times the dramatic portrayals can't help but seem forced. Mary, Mother of Jesus was obviously a labor of love by the executive producers, Eunice Kennedy Shriver and her son Bobby Shriver, and while it may not always succeed dramatically, the story is told coherently and some viewers will find it an inspirational paean to a revered religious figure. --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews

Jesus & Mary: Strong, Wise Down To Earth Characters
This may very well be my favorite Jesus movie ever. I think this movie has not been given the full attention nor credit that it deserves. The movie starts off showing how Mary was kind, wise and brave in spirit and thus why she was chosen to to give birth to and raise to manhood the Son of God. Nice too is the fact that Jesus while Savior to world is so very down to earth. Mary is respectful to Jesus because she knows he is savior to the world and yet Jesus is respectful to her because she is his earthly mother and the movie that great friendship as mother and son between them. What I like about this Jesus movie it that it is true to Scriptues, noting that Jesus was/is the Savior and Son of God..but ever so tactfully avoiding the the trinitarian vs. the unitarian issue. This is a great movie and I would highly recommend it.

I cried throughout
I've been a bible believing christian most of my life, but lately I've been going through a dry spot in my faith. I've felt uninspired and unmoved by my church life and walk with God, and mostly discouraged by my own fear and failures. I asked God a couple of days ago to please 'flip my switch'...touch me...I need a touch from you. After working all day today, I sat down and flipped the channels and on the TBN network, this movie was showing. After watching it for about 10 minutes, I knew this was God's answer to my prayer. This movie to me is 10 times better than The Passion of the Christ because it shows the Lord's stature growing in each successive scene. Jesus's sufferings started from day 1...not just the last 12 hours of His blessed life on earth. It showed how each important step in His life, he growed in grace in majesty. As He went on, He felt the weight of the world's sin more and more. He bore that weight with grace and without sinning Himself. And it depicted His dear mother as sharing in His suffering (the greatest of honor according to others such as Paul the apostle). The artistic license if forgivable. There is nothing in the heart of this movie but pure love, presence of the Holy Spirit, and the eternal, yet misunderstood, love of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I weeped serveral times throughout this movie. Thanks for 'flipping my switch' God!

Mary's Gospel: Lite and Fast
This short, budgety film was produced by the Schriver/Kennedy family and it certainly will find an audience. It isn't bad at all, and it certainly is earnest.

In less than two hours however, we are whisked through the early womanhood and life of Mary, as well as Jesus's 33 years. It's a whirlwind tour, but not an unpleasant one. Christian Bale is a rather young Jesus, but, like everyone else involved here, very sincere.

The film takes licenses that some may object to, but certainly make their point. Mary is shown as a stronger influence on her son's life than is normally depicted, but I believe these are nice, realistic touches that add much depth to a beloved but not entirely understood figure, whether historical, religious or of fantasy. This Mary witnesses a stoning, and later is herself almost stoned for her unwed pregnancy, foreshadowing Jesus' saving of a woman stoned for adultery. The child Jesus listens to bedtime stories that would later become his parables, etc.

It's nicely done, providing the requisite emotional wallop at the end.