Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

Jesus Christ Superstar: Directed by Norman Jewison. With Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Elliman, Barry Dennen. Film version of the musical stage play, presenting the last few weeks of Christ’s life told in an anachronistic manner.

“Although I have been aware of this musical, seemingly forever, I just very recently saw the whole movie on dvd. Unfortunately, while I was acquainted with many of the songs before, I had never really seen it in its entirety before, and Iu0026#39;m not sure why. Also, Iu0026#39;ve never seen it as a live stage show, be it on Broadway, in London or down the street at the local high school …u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo, then, I can only rate it as a singular movie experience, not comparing it with the Broadway or London stagings. Also, being Jewish and never really studying the life and crucifixion of Jesus, I donu0026#39;t have any strong or pre-conceived spiritual ties to the story.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFor me, then, this is a cleverly written and very well-performed musical, that mixes irreverence, time juxtapositions and genuine emotions of sadness and wistfulness. Iu0026#39;m not sure that the movie enhances the great musical; in other words, now that Iu0026#39;ve seen the movie, I regularly listen to the cd of the musical, and enjoy both about equally. For me, Carl Anderson, as Judas, is the standout, but Ted Neeley does bring an angelic quality to the title character. all of the other supporting roles, including Yvonne Elliman, are done well.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI rate it 8/10 for its excellent music, good staging and for what seems like a faithful film-ization of the original..worth watching for sure!”