SYNOPSICS
The Miracle Maker (2000) is a English movie. Derek W. Hayes,Stanislav Sokolov has directed this movie. Ralph Fiennes,Michael Bryant,Julie Christie,Rebecca Callard are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2000. The Miracle Maker (2000) is considered one of the best Animation,Biography,Drama movie in India and around the world.
Jesus of Nazareth is a skilled carpenter, with good trade connections. But he decides to quit everything and preach the word of God, as an itinerant preacher and faith healer. He attracts several followers who see him in different ways. Judas Iscariot dreams of a violent Jewish revolution against the Roman Empire. He sees Jesus as a potential leader of the revolution, and liberator of the Jews. Mary Magdalene is a mad woman, who has been suffering from hallucinations. She sees Jesus as the man who can relieve her suffering. Simon Peter is a disgruntled fisherman, loudly protesting against unjust taxation and the corruption of the tax collectors. For him Jesus offers something to believe in. Matthew is a corrupt tax collector with a guilty conscience. He seen in Jesus a chance to redeem to his sins. But as Jesus' message spreads, he is seen as a threat by monarch Herod Antipas and High Priest Caiaphas. In a visit to Jerusalem, Jesus' fate will eventually be decided by the Roman ...
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The Miracle Maker (2000) Reviews
Absolutely Fantastic Example of Good Animation!!
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!
A unique and thought provoking piece of work
This is a great production which is far superior to any of the 'epic' real life re-tellings of the life of Jesus. If you look at the list of theological advisors in the credits at the end of the film you will see part of the reason why - rather than a dramatic Hollywood interpretation of the story, this work is part based on the thoughts of people who have spent a lifetime reflecting on what Jesus meant. That means rather more depth than we get with, for example, John Wayne as a centurion in The Greatest Story Ever Told. Plus the puppets and animation mean that the audience (or at least myself) aren't distracted by the sets and the actors. It's real, but has an other worldly edge that makes it different. Very strongly recommended.
What Rankin Bass would do now with better $$ and smarts.
You remember all those Rankin-Bass holiday Specials from the 60s and 70s, Rudolph and Frosty and Easter things? Well, this is a throwback to them-but with a big budget, excellent voicers(Ray Fiennes, Richard E Grant, Julie Christie, Ian Holm, etc.), terrific animation, great heart. I liked most of all the straightforward, reverent way in which they portrayed Christ, sure it's from the Gospels without much(if any) contemporary shading-but that is really what the material deserves, in my thinking. If you are going to do the Easter story, and his parables, show the 12 apostles and etc-then this is the way to go about it. I enjoyed the mix of stop motion and toon animation, esp in the parables. There was an interesting mixture of styles too-some looked folky, some looked outta Marvel Comix(whenever Judas saw Christ as some revolutionary figure, for example), some more cutting edge. It didn't have the walking on water or Sermon on the Mount scenes, but did include Lazarus, a flashback to the nativity, healings and etc. I think they did the gospels proud here,and have done a very good job of it. This deserves to become a classic. ***1/2 outta ****----very good.
A solid animation that Christian parents will love and casual viewers may take to
When he decides to quit his job as a carpenter, everyone thinks Jesus has perhaps flipped but his mother knows that this "father's work" that he speaks of is in fact God's mission for him on Earth. Jesus sets off to tell the people how things should be, gathering a group of men (disciples) around him as he goes. His message is simple but it is not met well by the religious leaders of the day. Seeing the passion and zeal he brings to the people, these leaders plan to accuse him of blasphemy and see him removed from the spotlight in a bloody and permanent fashion. Whenever I watch a film I try to view it as objectively as possible, ignoring my own preconceptions, media hype etc. With this film I will set aside my opinions on the subject matter but will admit that, if you are a Christian with kids then you'll probably love this movie because it does a great job of presenting Jesus in an accessible and convincing way without making it into a Pixar or Disney Happy Meal type product. The plot is well-known but the film still does a good job with it, careful with what it drops and what it includes, building the main blocks of the tale and allowing enough to be hammered home without doing so much that it would overwhelm with events. The animation is well done; the models are smooth and match the action well, while the variations into other styles is used to make a point or to expand the limited scope of the models and their backgrounds. The voice cast is pretty close to being stellar and they certainly helped the film sell. Fiennes is OK as Jesus but I didn't think he delved deep for a character perhaps an unfair complaint since this is aimed at kids and therefore not a performance that called for complexity or interpretation. Holm is good as Pilate; Hurt is strong in a foundation role, important in building the story on a personal level for kids. Grant is a strange John the Baptist mainly because he sounds very like Richard E. Grant and it doesn't seem right! Stott is unmistakably but a very good Peter. Support from Massey, Molina, Peck, Thewlis, Christie and others all help the voice work add to the classy feel of this film certainly they raise the film above the Sunday school cartoon level that lesser actors could have seen it stuck at. Overall a good film on several levels. Christians with kids will love it because it gets the message across without being "educational" in a way that puts off kids and without being the other extreme of being a glossy cartoon. However the casual viewer may enjoy it as well, because the voice work is roundly strong, the animation professional and the story told in a manner that is well delivered and watchable. Considering the millions who went to see the lesser "Passion of the Christ", this film deserves to have many more viewers.
Great Easter special
I enjoyed this immensely, even though the reception on my TV was terrible. It makes the Bible stories more real than any other film I've seen. The claymation really worked and the change to animation for the parables and such was interesting. On the downside it seemed a little hurried, but trying to get all the significant events of Jesus' life into two hours is a tall order (and some were still left out, as others have stated). Overall an excellent presentation and ABC is to be highly commended for having the guts to show it.