Jesus Christ Superstar (2000)

Simply A Masterpiece

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Seriously? Why?! The actors couldn't sing OR act, the director took VERY liberal liberties with many things (Simon wasn't a militant, he just thought Jesus should take some action against their oppressors, and other things), and if a modern version of a classic WERE necessary (which it isn't) this is a horrible excuse for a modern equivalent of the original. Carl Anderson is doing somersaults in his grave.The singing was also very guttural. Even at Gethsemane when the singing is supposed to be smooth and calming it sounds like robots singing an announcement versus a group of men sitting down to dinner (like the original). Every syllable in the entire production is pronounced...and that's annoying.

I really am stupefied by the amount of people who claim to be 'longtime fans' of the original 1973 performance that actually PREFER this ridiculously terrible movie.Let's ignore, for a moment, the poor casting decisions that may have been made. Let's ignore the fact that Judas didn't have the voice for Judas, that Jesus didn't have the range for Jesus, and that nearly every attempt made to add vibrato to any character's voice ended up sounding more like a car going over road bumps.After all, compared to the rest of the movie, that's relatively minor stuff.Let's start on what they did with the Judas character. In JC '73, Judas is a principled man who loves Jesus as much if not more than the rest of the disciples. He is not a bad man by any stretch. Rather, he is a sort of tragic protagonist. He betrays Jesus in an attempt to save the rest of them: indeed, reading slightly between the lines, it is completely obvious that Jesus intended him to do so. Despite this fact, the guilt of what he'd done caused him to hang himself. In '73, Judas was -a good man-. He was a character that you could love, sympathize with, understand, and pity. In his final song, he descends (dressed as an angel) from heaven.In 2000, Judas is a leather-jacket wearing jerk that punches women, punches Jesus, licks Mary in the face for no apparent reason but to make her unhappy, and is really just an all- around creep. This makes it all the more strange when he suddenly becomes the conflicted character, because the lines call for it: one almost gets the feeling that he's just pretending to be a principled person so that people won't hate him. You can almost see the look of glee on his face when he finds out that he can cause a stir over the ointment for Jesus' feet. When he wails about "being spattered with innocent blood," one gets the feeling more that he is concerned what history will think of him, than what has happened to Jesus. When he says "to think I admired you, well now I despise you," he MEANS it... and one wonders how far back the "admired" part refers to. Certainly before the show begins, because he seems to despise Jesus the entire play.Oh, by the way: in his final song in THIS rendition, he is dressed purely in red, amidst lights that resemble flames, surrounded by chorus-girls dressed in red, singing rudely in Jesus' face as he carries his cross. At one point, he stands on TOP of the cross, pinning Jesus to the ground as he sings spitefully at him.Gee, I wonder what THAT'S supposed to represent.Just this would have been enough for me to hate the movie: the defense of the actions of Judas Iscariot was one of the things I found the most powerful about JC: S.However, I'll briefly go over a few more things.1: Jesus Christ was, to put it politely, a sissy. A complete, total sissy. He does not portray a strong leader. He does not portray a holy figure. He is 100% unadulterated wuss. One might read this as a clever attempt to portray the emo subculture that has developed in these modern times, but I prefer to view it as overblown and ridiculous. 2: The Pharisees, much like what was done with Judas, are portrayed not just as bad men, but evil men.3: Pilate was written to be a fair and just man that ended up sentencing Jesus to his fate mostly because (a) he understood that Jesus was planning on becoming a martyr, and (b) he was afraid of the mob. Pilate was portrayed in this version as being a bad man... which (similar to various scenes with Judas) made it very awkward when he defended Jesus before the mob.4: Simon's "You Get The Power And The Glory" scene: what. the. hell. Simon Zealotes is urging Jesus to "add a touch of hate at Rome" to his sermons to incite the mob against the Romans IMMEDIATELY AFTER a giant melee with Roman soldiers. While Simon is trying to convince Jesus to direct the mob to overthrow the Roman oppressors, the mob is already toting machine guns, fresh back at the sermon after kicking some Roman backside. It just makes no SENSE.I literally could go on for hours and hours about every little thing I hated about this movie. There was not a single voice stronger than the character's counterpart in '73. The acting, far from being "superior" to that in '73, is overblown, unconvincing, and stupid. The characters have been slaughtered. The POINT of the musical has been slaughtered. One of the greatest things about JC: S is how well it portrays the various shades of gray in the characters and events, and JC: S 2000 is purely, wholly black and white.I cannot comprehend in my wildest dreams how so many people that claim to be long-time fans of this play/movie could POSSIBLY prefer this over the original.At all.Were there a 0 star option, I would choose it.

I thought this was an adequate performance but it's definitely not as good as the 1973 version. Carter seemed too angry, especially toward Judas. I have never, in any version of the story, ever felt that Jesus was angry at Judas, but rather forgiving if not supportive. Jesus did, after all have a choice in if he wanted to follow God's plan, being human and granted free-will. It may just be my opinion but Judas served in a necessary role and Jesus, knowing this, should not be so upset and dismissive of Judas. After his song 'Gethsemane' I always get the feeling he's still silently asking Pilate for help. He's already made up his mind to die but he's still trying to get out of it and I just don't see Jesus as doing that. Not that he can't still have doubts but that he shouldn't be so open about them.Pradon served the role of Judas well though he was not the best they could have cast. Personally I felt cheated when I learned that Tony Vincent who played Judas on the 2000 Broadway revival of JCS instead played Simon in the film. He was good enough on Broadway so why was he passed over for the film? Pradon himself said his voice isn't good enough for a staged production. But I did enjoy how he sang his part so heartbroken which is what I saw the character as, not evil but torn over his love for his friend and his worries over Jesus' followers getting out of hand. I also found it difficult to really tell when Judas comes back as an angel to sing 'Superstar' to Jesus as he carries his cross. Whereas in the 1973 version he descends on a star from above.Another problem I have with the film is with Mary Magdalene. I don't appreciate that they saw fit to insinuate that there was a romantic aspect to her and Jesus' relationship. When she decides to kiss Jesus while he is sleeping during her song 'I Don't Know How to Love Him' I still get angry. I don't care that she's in love. She should have more self-control than to go around kissing men especially given her reputation. Even if Christ isn't concerned about how others see him she should at least not make it any worse.All in all the only part I enjoyed about the performance was Judas' singing in his red leather jacket at the end and the fact that Tony Vincent was in front of the camera even if he wasn't a huge part of the story. I'd recommend it only if you can't get your hands on the 1973 Jesus Christ Superstar. No one can sing Jesus like Ted Neely; Judas like Carl Anderson; or Mary Magdalene like Yevonne Elliman.

I've never seen such a moving musical. I had already seen the movie with Ted Neely and Carl Anderson, but this show is more intense, more passionate and more exciting too. The majority of people consider Judas as the worst species of traitor, I should suggest them to watch this musical... If Judas hadn't kissed Jesus, now our Catholic History would be very different... But has anyone thought about Judas' sufferings? He betrays because this is his Destiny, the Destiny God assigned him. Jerome Pradon is absolutely wonderful, not only his voice, but also all his gestures and expressions. He made me laugh, he made me move, he made me feel sorrow and pain. He's extraordinary. I love him. And Jesus/Glenn Carter is as fantastic as him. Jesus loved Judas, one of his Twelve Chosen, and he knows that he must betrays, or His Father's will wouldn't be accomplished. But how painful is! Absolutely marvellous.