The Miracle Maker (2000)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This was an enjoyable movie from beginning to end. My husband and I caught part of it by accident when our Tivo recorded the wrong thing. We were so engrossed in the story that we had to find it and watch the rest. Luckily, I recognized Ralph Fiennes' voice, so we were able to track it down and buy the movie. The quality of the audio (5.1) and the animation was incredible. I was especially impressed by the expressions on the characters' faces, especially in their eyes. It was like we were watching real people, not animation. We recommend you check it out if you get the chance; we're even thinking of getting it as gifts for friends and family.

This is an excellent movie for very small children. I would recommend it for ages 3 - 7. However it is not for adults. I was disappointed because I did not realize it had clay figures as actors.

I woke up this morning to the alarm on my bedroom TV. I could hear familiar voices... Ralph Fiennes?... Richard E Grant?... William Hurt?... When I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, I realised that the program on BBC2 was an animated version on 'Jesus of Nazareth'.Not being a particularly religious disposition, this was not the reason that prevented me from getting up out of my nice warm bed. Alas, it was the unbelievable animation that bedazzled me. I come from a design/multimedia background, and so I found this example of animation very interesting, and the more I watched it, the more I was amazed.The flow of the animations; the realism of the characters' features; the expressions on their faces; the interlaced, drawn animation 'dream-sequences'; all these aspects aggregated to form a top class exhibition of animationary excellence.And to top it all off, the dialogue and storyline were superbly written in a way that would appeal to young AND old. I a twenty-nine year old man, but I have to admit that watching this brought a tear to my eye, and a lump in my throat.Whether this was an empathetic reaction to the plight of Jesus, or an inherent appreciation of the animation quality... one can only guess.10 out of 10 (and I only caught the last half hour!!) I shall be ordering a copy of this on DVD as a Christmas present. Thats the easy part... the hard part is deciding which one of my four favourite neices to give it to!

Although specifically telling the story of Jesus and the beginnings of Christianity, the film does, I think, have something to offer people of all faiths and those of us who have no religious faith beyond a commitment to humanity and humanitarian principles. It achieves this by telling the story from the view point of ordinary people who witnessed the events. It is the effect that Jesus' life and death has on them that provides the "heart" of the film and their disbelief, emerging wonder, sorrow and final joy are extremely moving - and gives us something with which we can all identify.This film has no state of the art effects. It provides no adrenalin rush of excitement. But it has been made by people whose belief in the enterprise shines through and as such provides all the satisfactions of any well-crafted work of art.