After all the controversy and rigorous debate has subsided, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ will remain a force to be reckoned with. In the final analysis, "Gibson's Folly" is an act of personal bravery and commitment on the part of its director, who self-financed this $25-30 million production to preserve his artistic goal of creating the Passion of Christ ("Passion" in this context meaning "suffering") as a quite literal, in-your-face interpretation of the final 12 hours in the life of Jesus, scripted almost directly from the gospels (and spoken in Aramaic and Latin with a relative minimum of subtitles) and presented as a relentless, 126-minute ordeal of torture and crucifixion. For Christians and non-Christians alike, this film does not "entertain," and it's not a film that one can "like" or "dislike" in any conventional sense. (It is also emphatically not a film for children or the weak of heart.) Rather, The Passion is a cinematic experience that serves an almost singular purpose: to show the scourging and death of Jesus Christ in such horrifically graphic detail (with Gibson's own hand pounding the nails in the cross) that even non-believers may feel a twinge of sorrow and culpability in witnessing the final moments of the Son of God, played by Jim Caviezel in a performance that's not so much acting as a willful act of submission, so intense that some will weep not only for Christ, but for Caviezel's unparalleled test of endurance.

A masterpiece of film making!

That will immortalize Mel Gibson's movie making credentials, long after he has passed from this world.

If you did not catch this movie in theaters, be advised to bring lot's of tissues to this DVD showing. The graphic horror of re-creating the real life sadistic nature of the Roman's flogging of JC, will break your heart. If one could go back in time and bring a handy cam with them, this movie is the closest depiction to what one would have captured had they witnessed Jesus' trial and execution.

And for those who protested this was "anti-Semitic" on it's release; Thank you for making ticket sales and now DVD sales, skyrocket. And I'll pray for you that you are so angered by the real history of the Pharisee's, that now you would label those who dare broadcast the truth as anti-Semitic. It's your history, live with it! As long as religious leaders can compell followers to keep looking up, they'll stay in power! Faith is the best friend religious leadership has ever had; It's kept them in business all these years!

As for the commentary by Vice "Martee is useless "; You said it all pal! Your useless AND you proved it to millions of readers on this site. Immortality as an AHole. Your mum must be so proud...that someone invented birth control AFTER you were born!

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Come on d ckhead instead of w nking harder think harder even a uneducated 7 ear old can think of much better comebacks than that.You`re a excellent example of what a loser should be like.

HowTo Ruin Your Acting Career By Spending 30 Million Bucks!

This movie is supposed to be a real life depiction of Christ in his final hours. Mel Gibson seems determined to show the viewer just how much suffering Jesus went through.Mr. Gibson has stated that 'The Forces Of EVIL" were at work during the making of this movie and conspiring to stop him from making this piece of Christian Propaganda.Perhaps somebody should spend 30 million dollars of their OWN MONEY(!!!) and make a movie about The Inquistion or all of the so called Holy Wars where people were tortured and killed in the Name Of Jesus. Just a thought. No doubt movie producers will now cross the road when they see Mel coming and I would not at all be surprised if this movie spells the end for Mr. Gibson's acting career not that I think he cares about that.If you really want to see the results of over zealous Christian Devotion then this movie is for you.I give ths movie 5 stars because I kind of like the scenery in it which looks pretty authentic.