Adaptational Heroism: A few details added to the Biblical accounts fall into this.His other additions are less demonic, especially the flashback showing the Mother of God making fun of God the Son's wonky homemade table and Mary's memory of picking up the child Jesus after he stumbles as she watches her son fall under the weight of his bloody cross. Adaptation Expansion: Half-blind children biting Judas's flesh were not mentioned by Luke or Mark, but Gibson thought it was important to include in his film.Meanwhile, Judas's encounter with a horde of demons is derived from Emmerich's writings. For instance, during the walk to the crucifixion site, Jesus falling down exactly three times, having his bloody face wiped by a Jewish woman and meeting his mother Mary on the way is all straight from the Catholic "Way of the Cross" ( Via Crucis), also known as the "Stations of the Cross". Adaptation Distillation: Many additional details not in the Gospels themselves were taken from Catholic tradition and literature (Emmerich).When the film was re-released on Blu-ray and DVD in 2017, it came with a brand new English and Spanish language dubs.Ĭompare The Last Temptation of Christ, another controversial religious movie focusing on the life of Jesus Christ only in English and directed by none other than Martin Scorsese. In the UK, where film ratings aren't advisory, under-18s weren't even allowed in the cinema, although some Christians have been known to recommend the DVD to under-18s.Ī sequel, directed by Gibson, is planned. Some Christian parents and even youth pastors chose to take advantage of the "accompanied by someone over 17" clause to get children under that age into the movie. Mel Gibson recommended it to people 13 and up. Roger Ebert criticized the ratings board for this alongside many others, as he, who'd watched far more movies than even most tropers would consider reasonable, called it "the most violent film I have ever seen". This was rated R, though it's not so much "may contain violence" as "may contain some non-violence". The film also includes wholly original scenes that flesh out the roles of the Virgin Mary and the Devil. Obviously, the film is based on The Four Gospels, but some scenes take from other sources some aspects of the film are based on Catholic devotions like the 14 Stations of the Cross and the Five Sorrows of Mary, while other parts are derived from the visions of a nun named Anne Catherine Emmerich.