Gospel Road: A Story of Jesus

This movie didn't need a big budget. It had a lot of heart and it shows. I normally don't like particularly sappy depictions of Jesus (Jesus Christ Superstar is admittedly one of my favourite film versions) but this was different.

Jesus was portrayed as very human in the midst of his divinity. Some of the best scenes are of him goofing around with his disciples (a side of the group not normally imagined). It might have been a tad cheesy, but I also appreciated the scene where he plays with children on the beach. But this Jesus isn't simply nice; he angrily calls out the hypocrites in the Temple multiple times. He also beautifully captures mourning for John the Baptist, praying for strength and courage to face his upcoming demise, and being bitterly rejected by Jerusalem.

June Carter's Mary Magdalene is also quite good. She puts a lot of passion into the role. My only complaint with her is that she doesn't do much. She's around for maybe four scenes, two in the middle and then two in the end.

Johnny Cash's narration sounds nice. It does often get repetitive. The most notable example is when Jesus heals a blind man and Cash sings, "I see men walking like trees" around six times before saying anything else. It is also rather off-putting to have the narration do almost all of the talking, especially for the protagonist. In fact, the only people who talk at all in the movie besides Johnny are Mary Magdalene and Nicodemus. However it is a style to which one adapts as the movie continues.

This film might not have the best sets or the best wardrobe or even a very full cast, but what it has is gold. Check it out.

I was surprised to find out how old this film was (came out in 1973) at the time I first watched it with my next-door neighbor (either in October or November of 2014) who checked it out of the library.

Since both Johnny Cash and his wife, June, have been gone for several years, I knew that it wasn't made all that recently, but I was thinking that it was made sometime in the time period of the mid 1980s to sometime early in the 21st Century.

Anyway, I found it to be so moving that I would like to buy my own personal copy of it as soon as I'm able to afford to do so.

This movie makes Jesus very real instead of portraying Him as some kind of one or two dimension paper doll acting out living like a human being without really being one.

This was a blond-haired and blue-eyed Jesus, but that didn't take away from His real-ness, because His actions were so genuine (for example, how He related to kids -- like a little boy in a man's body in some ways while still playing a guiding role to them).

Jesus knew that, more likely than not (by some slim chance that the cup that He was to bear got removed from the direction of His life), He wouldn't live long enough to grow His first gray hair and that how He would die would be horrible, so He put as much life as He could into a short period of time.

I won't spoil it for you by telling you how, but I'm going to say that the message that Jesus died for people who hadn't even been born yet was presented in such a way that -- even as I sit here now -- I can feel goosebumps being raised on me.

I'm not a religious person but I am a fan of Johnny Cash. Recently watched this movie on television one day from start to end and I enjoyed it. While it didn't convert me, I could appreciate the passion that Cash and others had for the project and respect them for it. Certainly found it more enjoyable than The Passion of the Christ. The fact that the lead was blonde did not matter to me as it does to some people here. If Jesus existed, its irrelevant what he looked like and only his message should matter. If you have an interest in Johnny Cash, then I think you owe it to yourself to give the movie a go, just to see what gave him strength in this life.

Simplistic look at the coming of the Messiah put to song and music by Cash, Carter, and Kristofferson. I liked the use of the original area in the Mideast for filming but couldn't they have found a more Jewish looking man to portray Christ? Near the end of the picture the cross scene leapt from Calvary to a modern city which was a nice touch depicting Christ's message moving through time giving all a chance at salvation. Obviously not a large budget production: unknown actors, very few money changers to be run off in the temple and even fewer wares to be thrown around, and hardly anyone showed up for the crucifixion. Even so Cash did manage to put forth the promise of salvation through Christ in an easily comprehensible manner.

There are few films or movies I consider favorites over the years. The Gospel road was one of them. I watched this as a young teen and would like the opportunity to watch it again. My favorite parts were the fact that

1/Jesus was blond,

2/the last supper was a huge meal,

3/ he liked playing with the children,

4/His death was for all people and for all time.

The movie may not have been theologically sound or high quality acting, but it touched my heart at that time. Besides I am a Johnny Cash fan and it was a brave venture. If it ever comes out on DVD, I will purchase it purely for sentimental reasons.