8
(It's right out of the Bible and Christ-centered)
6
(some violence and gruesome suggestion, very mild sexual suggestion)
7
(worth seeing multiple times)
While there's nothing unusual about individual Bible stories coming to the screen, particularly ones about Jesus, I can't think of any other projects that come close to the scope and scale of the miniseries known as "The Bible." This epic work starts at the book of Genesis and strolls through the entire Bible right up to the point of John writing the book of Revelation.
The high production values have caught many eyes though there are some who remain skeptical wondering if something like this would be spiritually sound. After some of the duds like the old Noah's Ark miniseries I understand the desire to exercise some caution.
"The Bible" is not perfect, it's not going to please everyone completely, but I for one am thoroughly impressed, entertained, moved, and inspired. I was evermore excited to see each upcoming episode and foresee myself revisiting this series many times in the coming years.
The series is one part documentary and two parts dramatic. It offers an overview of the content of the entire Bible with a narrator guiding us along pausing here and there to show us the dramatic details of certain events. It's attempting to show the big picture while zooming in for a closeup here and there such as showing the story of Samson while only briefly mentioning the period in Israel's history that involves the judges as a whole.
The downfall of this kind of scope is that with so much ground to cover there is no reasonable way to hit every moment every viewer would like to see. I found some omissions disappointing and felt like additional attention should have been given to some moments shown, but even if they had done exactly that I'm sure that there would be some other viewer commenting on the events that they would like to have seen covered. I'll point out a few of the specific moments I find most lacking (as well as some I especially like) in the episode guide.
My one true criticism here is that some of the action scenes feel unnecessarily tacked on for the excitement factor they bring which takes time away from dramatic moments that could have been included. For example, as the angels extract Lot and his family from Sodom they produce swords and begin cutting down the Sodomites who would violently prevent their escape. I'm all for some swordfighting action especially in the form of mighty angles serving a righteous cause, but to the best of my recollection there is no such action in the biblical story. The story doesn't need that in order to be good. Instead of an added swordfight we could have had spent more time with Noah or Cain & Abel.
At the same time, there is an attention to characterization that brings the stories to life in a new way. Lot's wife, as I'm sure you know, looks back to Sodom and is turned to a pillar of salt (which is rendered here in such a way that it is visually stunning). The story builds up her character as someone resistant to the life of faith Abraham wishes to lead (and tries to lead Lot into). Her glance back shows a longing for what Sodom was able to offer her over the promises of God, not just a casual glance back.
I appreciate the way Nicodemus is handled. We see why he went from being a typical Pharisee to someone who knew there was more to Jesus than a blasphemer. Can we know that this was the real Nicodemus' path of logic? Not to my knowledge, but in the context of the series it makes his changing mindset easier to accept which makes his part of the story more engaging.
The acting in the series is outstanding. There is a huge cast since many of the episodes cover large spans of times and include a completely different set of characters. In the first episode alone we cover Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, and virtually all of Abraham's life with all of the people involved (Lot, Ishmael, and Isaac). Only when we get to the New Testament portion do we establish recurring characters like Jesus, Pilate, and the disciples. I like virtually all of them.
While there may have been moments I thought weren't as strong as they could be, they were so fleeting I can't recall them for you here. Considering that the entire cast is virtually unknown to me I'm a little surprised to think so much of the acting is so good. I particularly enjoy the portrayals of Abraham, Moses, King David, Jesus, and Pilate. But the guy that plays Paul of Tarsus blows me away more than anyone else.
There are moments of powerful emotion; it's very easy to feel empathetic pains as nails are hammered into Christ's hands. It's easy to feel Abraham's struggle as he is commanded to sacrifice Isaac or Matthew's humility as Jesus talks about God honoring the prayers of a tax collector. We can relate to the defeat the disciples felt when the man they thought would be the messiah is killed and their hesitant joy at his return.
The only thing about the acting that I find out of place is the accent many of the actors have. Many of the characters sound pointedly British with at least one having a particularly strong Scottish accent. They just don't sound like what I would expect to hear in this region. I'm forgiving about it because they wouldn't be speaking English at all if this were completely realistic, and it's at least consistent enough that I got used to it and mostly forgot about it after a couple of episodes.
The series uses a lot of computer graphics. While not completely flawless I find most of it excellent. I would even go so far as to say this is some of the best CG I've seen on the small screen especially considering the scale of some of these scenes. It looks convincing, and many of the scenes are breathtaking.
Hans Zimmer is no stranger to scoring epics, including biblical ones. He provides a strong theme and a stirring soundtrack.
Morality
The series stays away from portraying much sexuality. It gives us just enough sultry interaction to know that Sodom is a place of sexual impurity (it avoids any mention of homosexual practices in connection with the town's judgment and only shows enough heterosexual interaction to get the point across – there is no mention of the town wanting to rape the angels and no offering of Lot's daughters to appease them) and doesn't shy from letting us know that Rahab is a prostitute although this is done by what is said to and about her rather than showing her with any “customers.” When David is lusting after Bathsheeba we see just enough of her bare back to know that David is seeing her naked. We see Hagar in bed in a state that suggests that she is naked and has been making babies with Abraham.
Violence is another matter. Sword fights and other action are sometimes added to scenes that don't have any such depictions in the original stories. The angels leading Lot out of Sodom, for example, cut down a number of people who try to stand in their way. Samson beating the Philistines is brutal with necks broken and bodies tossed around. On at least two occasions we see eyes being put out. These are not shown in gory detail, but we see enough to get the impression of the brutality of the act which may be hard for the squeamish to see. We see bloody bandages and other such remnants as an illustration of the violence of the act itself but nothing as shocking as gruesomely empty eyesockets.
The crucifixion is bloody and painful although I would say that it is less extreme than "Passion of the Christ" (no crows pecking out a man's eyes, for one thing). Men are beheaded, and again, while we don't see the gory details, we see enough to imagine the rest whether we really want to or not.
There is no strong language although there are a few crude remarks such as a man verbally abusing Rahab
Spirituality
"The Bible" is an attempt to present the biblical stories in such a way that drives people to read the actual Bible for themselves. Its overarching point is that God sent us Jesus to pay the price for our sins. Much of the time spent in the Old Testament is specifically setting the stage for Jesus to step in.
That first half of the series covers a span of thousands of years. We then spend the next half looking at a handful of years centered on the life and ministry of Jesus. He is the central focus here, and what he did for mankind is the driving force behind producing the series at all.
It's not going to be able to please everyone. Some want to read inferences into Jesus having white skin while Satan has dark skin (although I would point out that while the actor portraying Satan has dark skin the way the character appears on screen is with more of an unnatural ashen look). Some dislike the choices of imagery or other aesthetic decisions. And some are so put off by elements that are omitted from the depictions that they can't enjoy what what we do get.
Many Christians worry that it is going to violate some doctrine they hold dear. I can tell you the core doctrine right here. God is the creator, Israel is his chosen nation, Christ was born of a virgin, he died for our sins, he rose again which inspired his disciples and others to take his message to the world, and he is coming back. We can question why the creative team chose one reaction over a different one in various scenes, we can wonder why they omitted some moments in favor of others, and we can choose to ignore the show because of those choices. But anyone claiming that the series is selling half-truths is going to have to have some well thought out reasons if they want my attention rather than taking the position that they decided not to watch it because they heard such-and-such comment about it which is the bulk of the criticism I've been hearing.
I see it as a respectable effort. There is a lot of care put into the portrayal of God the Father and presenting Jesus as the savior of us all. The intent comes across as one of wanting to share the truth of Christ with anyone that will sit down to watch the show. I see the spirit of God at work in this series and will wholeheartedly disagree with Christians who rally against it.
Final Thoughts
The series is not perfect in every way. I hope I've offered enough criticisms to show that I'm not blindly accepting anything and everything thrown at me. On the whole, though, I came away enriched and entertained by the series. I look forward to seeing it again and recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in seeing biblical events depicted on screen.
Buying Guide
I didn't hesitate to get The Bible on Blu-ray. The buying choices are straight-forward.
Basically you can get the series on DVD or Blu with a Christmas package variation available. Everything looks to be exactly the same as the Blu with the obvious exception of the HD quality.
It's a pretty straight-forward buying decision this time. Do you want the HD of Blu-ray or the cost effectiveness of DVD?
The Blu is a 4 disc set. I got the Wal-Mart Preorder special which is the same except for some digital extras.
Video
1.78 (16x9): The high definition widescreen looks outstanding with excellent colors, clarity, and sharpness.
Audio
5.1 DTS HD: The sound likewise is very strong: full and booming. There's a strong sense of immersion in the surround sound.
Packaging
The case is standard plastic. The original run comes with a slipcase featuring a velcro-fastened cover.
Unfortunately there is no insert which I mention mostly because the lack of a list of which episode is on which disc is an annoying omission. In fact, there's no episode list at all.
The interface has video clips and a music loop. Episode summaries pop up with the selection of an episode.
While precise details are scarce there is apparently a difference between what is available on the disc and what actually aired. The official product description makes mention of this, and a couple of reviewers have expressed extreme disappointment over losing such moments. While this may bother some there is no choice in the matter. You can either get it as it is or do without.
Extras
-Digital Copy: The Wal-Mart preorder allowed buyers to watch the series on Vudu. I haven't seen other listings mention digital copies so you might not be able to get this anymore.
-Genesis: (9:35) This is a look at purpose behind the series, the inspiration for it, getting it off the ground, and deciding on which stories to use.
-The Cast Of the Bible: (13:36) Here we meet members of the cast briefly and see a few humorous moments with them. It talks about the dificulty of finding Jesus and the triumphant moment of finding him with a lot of time spent with that actor.
-Creation: (42:09) This lengthy feature is split into 3 parts. It covers meeting the directors, a look at the sets, making the props and costumes look authentic, stories of someone watching over the production, the creation and use of Satan, dealing with snakes including amazing shots of their snake handler dealing with cobras, very funny Biblefoot competitions, who has real beards and who has fake ones, and the challenges of filming the crucifixion.
-Scoring The Bible: (8:54) Hans Zimmer's thoughts on taking the project, recording sessions with the vocalist, and his musical background in church.
-Believing In Miracles: (7:59) Spiritual moments from the making of the series and thoughts on the personal love of the Bible along with thoughts on the finished product.
-Visual Effects: (3:05) Music video style shots of unfinished effects that fade into the final product.
-Music Video:
-Mary Did You Know – Kenny Rogers and Wynonna Judd: (3:41) This is the song over clips from the series with dialogue.
Episodes/Extras continued
There are 10 episodes total at 45-54 minutes long with the longest ones being the last 2.
While chapters are numerous the most obvious need for a division is overlooked. Do they really expect those of us watching one episode after another need to see the “previously on” segments? Why not put a chapter stop after that so we can jump right to the new portion of the story?
A play all option makes each disc feel like an epic movie.