Catholic-ometer: 5 of 5
Enjoyability: 4 of 5
This is a different translation of the bible than I'm used to, but word for word, it's all accurate enough. For this reason, I feel no hesitation about giving it five for five on the Catholic-ometer.
On top of this, they managed to get some fantastic voice talent on board for this project; with John Rhys-Davies and Malcolm Mcdowell being among the most recognizable voices in the cast, and admittedly, some of the best as well.
The sound effects are perfect as well; sounding entirely right and being put in at just the right places.
So why didn't I get perfect enjoyment out of this?
Well, the background music is a little blah, and repeats endlessly in most chapters, but that's not the real problem.
I don't know whose fault this was; whether it was something the actors brought up, or whether it's the director's fault, or whether the producers just stepped in and said "no" at a certain point, but when the actors speak their lines, there's a frequent sense that they're not really involved in what they're saying.
Don't get me wrong. They sound interested when they should be interested, and nervous when they should be nervous, and incredulous when they should be incredulous, but they also sound incredulous when they should be sad, and nervous when they should be angry. Jesus sounds more curious than angry when calling the pharasees a brood of vipers, and Saint Paul reflects very little discomfort when talking to the Galatians, who he was furious with.
It seems like there was some wrong-headed attempt to make the early Christians sound as bland and unthreatening as possible. I say this is wrong-headed, because Jesus was a very authoritative man. In fact, these are the only words in the gospel that actually tell us how he spoke. "He taught them as one having authority."
"When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes."
Matthew 7:28-29
If the strength of Jesus' words was so remarkable, why go out of the way to make him sound weak-voiced? Why do the same for Peter and the apostles?
The early apostles were not wispy, insubstantial and half-awake. They were bold, daring and brave, and they shouted the teachings of Jesus to the heavens with passion and authority. That (combined with the blessing of the Holy Spirit) is how they were able to win over ten thousand people. They didn't do it by being tame and unobtrusive.
Too many Christians today seem to have forgotten that serving God is always a war, and it's a war that has the sword of the spirit as its weapon, where people are martyred for the faith, and bear witness with as much strength as they can. There's a continual current among the faithful today to confuse God's peace with worldly peace; to think that we can follow God and also sit around all dreamy-eyed and wistful. The path to salvation requires a greater effort than that, and it's time we all realized it.
I did enjoy this presentation, but I still say that the early church fathers preached strongly, with fiery charisma, like Bishop Sheen, and they should have been represented as such.
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