Laakbaar I just saw a production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" in The Hague, with Ted Neely no less playing the big role. I was surprised by my emotional reaction to this production, and I realise now that this is because of my love for the movie seen 42 years ago. When I was young, I went to the movie several times. I thought it was a profound, revolutionary and important film, and I loved the music. I later played the album over and over again. To my surprise, I have actually memorized the lines and could more or less sing along with the cast. I wasn't the only one apparently, because there were many people in the audience, roughly my age, all obviously grooving to the music. So 42 years after this movie was made, it has the power to move me deeply still. I have to give it 10 out of 10. Thank you to everyone involved for making this movie that has played such a nice role in my life.

rodrig58 The music is great, especially those three songs sung by Yvonne Elliman, who has a divine voice. Ted Neeley is not a good choice, neither as an actor or as a singer. Nor can it be compared to Robert "Jesus of Nazareth" Powell... Carl Anderson as Judas Iscariot is OK. Just as Barry Dennen as Pontius Pilate, Larry Marshall as Simon Zealotes and Josh Mostel as King Herod. The revelation of the film is Mary Magdalene played by Yvonne Elliman. A super-delicate presence on the screen with a unique great voice, which anoint your soul. The direction of Norman Jewison is brilliant. The image of Douglas Slocombe also impeccable. To be seen and reviewed anytime, with immense pleasure.

gygbrown Jesus Christ Superstar is one of my favorite stage productions, it's a great musical take on the story of Jesus, but it's first and foremost a rock/opera and because of that takes its own liberties with the story.The story is about Jesus' last few weeks before his crucifixion. However, instead of being told from Jesus' point-of-view, it's told from Judas' point-of-view. Because of this, instead of Jesus being seen as an all-powerful figure, we see Jesus as just a normal man; a man that is losing control of the thing he started. From there we see Judas' betrayal and Jesus trial with Pilate and his crucifixion. There is no spoken dialogue in the film. Like the stage show, every part of the story is told in song.The film is very much what the stage show was, with a few minor changes to help turn it into a movie. Some lyrics are changed and a couple songs were added in to make for a more detailed story than the one that was in the original Broadway show (Then We Are Decided and Could We Start Again? The latter being featured in many later productions). The film is shot entirely on location in Israel, which makes for a beautiful looking movie and all of the performance are wonderful, with Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson being the two that really steal the show.One of the things that I really like about this movie is an element that some people criticize and that's the vocal recordings. Norman Jewison goes for a more live and real rendition of the songs, instead of a professional, operatic sound that most musicals go for. Because of this, there are certain notes that are sung a bit off and some notes are changed completely to accommodate the performances of the actors and the attitudes they are trying to convey. I personally like the vocals being this way because it makes for a more realistic musical from a vocal standpoint.If I had to nitpick towards anything with this production, it would be some of its filming style and some of the extras in the film. The film obviously was restricted by time and being in another country obviously meant re-shoots would be, from a budget standpoint, impossible. There are shots in the movie where extras are clearly laughing or chatting during shots and some of the camera shots and angles are shaky due to the shaky weather of the environment.So overall, the 1973 version of Jesus Christ Superstar is a near perfect musical. If you've never had the honor of seeing the stage show, you should definitely check this movie out.

charliesonnyray When I first heard about this film, I was honestly scratching my head. A musical about Jesus? Rather an odd concept but I was willing to give it a try. As a Christian myself, I didn't know how to feel about the movie. It feels like they are showing Jesus just as a normal guy that for some reason has to die and also Judas was portrayed as being way too sympathetic and I saw that as unrealistic entirely. I did like the music and some of the numbers though and that it was willing to at least try new things. Over all, I didn't like it and I didn't hate it. I realize some Christians got really up in arms about this film but I didn't feel offended but I did feel like they got it wrong.