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» » The Revolutionary (1995)

Short summary

This fast-paced film on Jesus, made in high definition technology, shows his life and teaching in a way that arrests the attention of audiences.

In this version of events, Jesus is not shown being whipped. He carries only the crossbeam of his cross to the place of execution. He is nailed through the wrists rather than the palms. His feet are nailed with one foot placed atop the other. The two thieves are nailed in a similar fashion, unlike some depictions in which they are merely tied to their crosses, thus differentiating their crucifixion from that of Jesus.

John Kay Steel (Jesus) wore a fake beard in the film.

In October 1995 episode of TBN's "Behind the Scenes" John Kay Steel was a guest and was interviewed by Paul Crouch. Steel said that his beard in the film was fake. He later did an interview on BBC claiming to regret performing in the Revolutionary series.

Shortly after filming of Revolutionary was completed, filming for Revolutionary II began and in 1999 TBN aired "The Revolutionary: Epic Version" that combined Revolutionaries I and II with two deleted scenes not shown in either film.

This was one of the first films to be filmed in High Definition which was (no pun intended) revolutionary for the time in the mid 1990's.

The film was filmed on a video camera/HD camcorder which was more expensive in the 1990's compared to today.

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Kipabi
    It's a big statement. It's like calling someone a genius, so often overused. But, truly, no man has lesser talent than Robert Marcarelli. Were this not made in 1999, I would have been convinced that this Passion Play was the inspiration for the LIFE OF BRIAN, only that Monty Python seemed to take Jesus more seriously. I sat, in complete, almost religious awe, at how anyone could make a film so completely without merit; A film where the actors managed to convey profound silliness with every staged glance; A film where you had people speaking in thick accents of their own origin - be they French, British, or Israeli; A film that would convince the Pope himself that the passion play was a lie and a fraud. I wish I could meet this sterlingly incompetent writer-director, Mr. Marcarelli. He is an artist of the first magnitude for achieving a surreal perfection through his consistent lack of a dramatic sense. How can a person achieve this zenith of badness? Well, I suppose you'd start by eliminating anyone in the cast that had taste, sensitivity and any acting ability. Next, you'd tell them to "act mad", "act happy", "act sad." And finally, you'd do only one take. The only thing that would make this work better would be if the lab showed the same lack of competence by overexposing and destroying the negative.
  • comment
    • Author: Anardred
    This was undoubtedly the cheesiest movie of the life of Christ I have ever seen. Even Jeffrey Hunter's I was A Teenage Jesus; aka King of kings was better. I caught the tail end of this monstrosity while channel surfing. The budget must have been $10,000; the acting, except for Steel, was non-existent, and the screenplay could have been better written by a sixth-grader. I saw an interview with Steel, Paul Crouch and the director and his wife, who wrote the screenplay talking about the authentic beards, as if this was the major task to overcome in making this lousy movie. But what really bothered me the most were the Scriptures that were not included in the screenplay that would have made the movie better, and given it more clarity.
  • comment
    • Author: Mr.Bean
    I wouldn't call it the WORST film ever - I mean, have you ever seen "They Saved Hitler's Brain"? At least this one makes an effort at scene continuity.

    Compared to "Hitler's Brain", this one is a masterpiece of costuming, direction, editing, plot, and photography. It is an adequate film to teach the uninitiated and unsophisticated viewer about the basics in the life (and crucifixion) of Jesus.

    Not much else to say!

    For some weird reason, IMDb is making me add lines of text (HAVE TO BE 10, THEY ARE TELLING ME!) in order to submit my comments. I think that's silly. Anyone else ever notice this and found it to be a problem?
  • comment
    • Author: Zonama
    It's not just that the fictitious story of Jesus, who never existed, is portrayed in this worthless production, but that the acting and presentation is so atrocious that one can't stand it for long. I caught this late night on some dumb religious channel, obviously its an attempt to make cheap propaganda films based on silly myths and legends, but no one invested one ounce of creativity or money on this rubbish. The production values are nil, the special effects were composed on a commodore 64 computer, the wigs look fake, the settings look like the countryside of Iowa and the people stand around looking inept. The story concerns some angel who speaks to two dumb oaf shepherds, who don't look Aramaic, it tells them about the birth of some guy in a smelly barn. After that, there's only incredulous shots that are supposed to awe us but they just bore us. Jesus turns some water into wine, big deal, but they'd want you to believe its important to the plot in some way. Anyone who has half a brain should figure the motive of this movie out really quick. At best its a laughable attempt at hokum, directed by an inept boorish arm chair bible thumper in the worst possible way. I can't see anyone actually going out to buy a bible or getting baptized after watching this valueless crud. If anything, this helps the atheist cause more than the fanatical christians its intended for.
  • Credited cast:
    John Kay Steel John Kay Steel - Jesus
    Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
    Jack Adalist Jack Adalist - Possessed Man
    Mosko Alkalai Mosko Alkalai - Simeon
    Gilat Ankori Gilat Ankori - Bleeding Woman
    Erez Atar Erez Atar - Shepherd Number 1
    Uri Avrahami Uri Avrahami - Father of the Blind Man
    Sergio Barcala Sergio Barcala - James
    Dan Fabian Bloch Dan Fabian Bloch - Shepherd Number 2
    Ezra Dagan Ezra Dagan - Leper
    Shira Dassa Shira Dassa - Little Girl
    Eli Dor-Haim Eli Dor-Haim - Messenger
    Yehuda Efroni Yehuda Efroni - Nicodemus
    Hedva Feigenblatt Hedva Feigenblatt - Martha
    Irit Frank Irit Frank - Mary Clopas
    Yoram Gal Yoram Gal - Peter
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