Legacy

This film was originally made to be shown at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City. With its sweeping camera angles and lovely soundtrack it was shown on a huge screen that went from floor to ceiling. The story chronicles a young girl named Eliza Williams and her family as they convert to the Mormon church and, along with other persecuted members of their faith, journey from New York to Utah over a number of years. For members of the Mormon church, it is lovely story of a fictional character intertwined with important figures in LDS church history, mainly Joseph Smith. For people who are not members of the Mormon church, it is a grand introduction to the prophet who, despite ridicule and numerous jailings which eventually lead to his death, never faltered in his testimony of God and the work that must be done to spread His message on the earth today. Nowadays, this film is mainly available at the libraries in buildings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Legacy are one Motion Picture produced by THE CHURCH OF Jesus Christ OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS Motion Picture Studios (in BYU, Provo, Utah) for release in 1996 as a part of the 150 years of the Mormon Pionner entrance in Salt Lake Valey, on Rocky Mountains, in the leadership by Brigham Young, Second President of the Church. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir will performs on the movie.

The Church release the film for presentation on the Legacy Theater, in the new renovated Joseph Smith Memorial Building (Former Hotel Utah), on Temple Square, Salt Lake City. President Gordon B. Hinckley (Church's 15th President) launched a project to make new movies available in four years. Legacy are the first, released in 1996, the second is The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd, released in 2000. Now, in 2005, for be available for the Church's 175 years and Joseph Smith's 200 Birth, a new movie are launched: Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration.

Legacy are available in VHS in English and CC, in DVD in most languages or only in English. All products are available to no Mormon Church Members. The products are © 1991, 1996, 2000 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc., the Church's Copyrights and Patents enterprise.

Only a die-hard Mormon would rate this movie above a 2/10. The only reason the current relatively high 7+ IMDB score is because biased Mormon viewers who have been spoon fed sanitized, whitewashed Mormon history of the West have scored it a whopping, very telling 10/10. There was not a single mention or physical representation of any Native American person or society. The Native Americans in Utah who were at best disenfranchised and displaced and at worst were killed and times killed or massacred. The Mormons stole their land and unleashed violence on a large scale when there was any hint of pushback from the native people who the victims of the zealous Mormon belief that God had granted them all of the land the Utah territory, never mind any sort of actual legal claim. The movie embodies the principle of Manifest Destiny. Mormonism is Manifest Destiny in its most outrageous and religious version of itself. This movie was designed with devout Mormon viewers as the intended audience. It is 100% Mormon propaganda and nothing less. I give it a very generous 1/10.

This movie is really good. It is about 45 minutes, and follows Eliza, an early convert to Mormonism, as she experiences many of the early events of that movement's history. Her personal story is interwoven with those pivotal events.

The movie is very moving and you'd have to be a crusty cynic to not be touched by it. It is also an inspiring story of romance.

The girl who plays Eliza is an incredible actress. Her husband is good, but not spectacular. There are some scenes where there is some pretty bad acting, but the movie remains a very good work. The scenery is spectacular, the music is top-notch, and except for some of the bad acting, the directing is great.

"Legacy" was shown free of charge on the big screen only in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City, Utah. In fact I think the theater was designed for this film directed by one of my favorite film makers Kieth Merrill.

Seats were available by reservation, but for years it was difficult to get a seat to see Legacy unless you booked well ahead of the showing, it was probably packed almost all the time. But I managed to see it I suppose six or seven times and now own the DVD. I doubt that there was a dry eye in the crowd anytime this great and stirring film ended and people slowly moved to the exit doors...