Plot Summary
Judas Iscariot did not always intend to betray Jesus Christ, but he was always hungry for Jesus to begin a revolution to overthrow the Roman Empire. Inspired by radicals and shunned by his well-to-do Jewish family, Judas felt he had no other options except for Jesus to fulfill his biggest dreams. Yet when this does not happen, Judas allowed Satan to take control of his life and thus became the betrayer of the Savior of the world.
Production Quality (2 points)
Lux Vide and the Trinity Broadcasting Network have always been committed to good production quality, especially when it comes to historical authenticity. Video quality and camera work are good, and audio quality is also fine except for a sometimes loud soundtrack. Sets, locations, and props are as usual the strongest point as they reflect at least some degree of historical authenticity. There are really no glaring errors here except for the usual editing concerns, but other than that, this is a respectable production.
Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)
Lux Vide and the Trinity Broadcasting Network did push new frontiers with their Bible movie ambitions, but Judas commits the same errors others did in the past, such as Jeremiah, Esther, Paul the Apostle and The Apocalypse. While this installment is an interesting and unique look at a different Bible character than usual, for the most part, the characters are still too lofty and inaccessible. This is especially true of the Jesus character. It’s like they took cues from the 1970s Bible movies again. There is also a cheesy romantic subplot to boot. However, not all is bad here as there is an interesting Judas character arc and there are some realistic happenings in this story that keep it alive. Yet this overall too-dramatic presentation keeps this story from being all that it could be.
Acting Quality (1 point)
Like the other Bible films from these creative teams, the cast is also too dramatic and theatrical. Line delivery is sometimes too breathy and even archaic. The cultural authenticity of the cast is random and inconsistent, even including some BRITISH people. Yet at least not all is bad here, even though this film overall does not live up to its full potential.
Conclusion
It was certainly good of TBN and Lux Vide to try to bring different Biblical accounts to the big screen, but audiences want and need Biblical characters that can be related to, not more lofty play actors. It’s unfortunate that a lot of these otherwise well-funded efforts went to waste, because there was so much that could have been done with these films. But perhaps someone can use these as a blueprint of what to do and what not to do in the future.
Final Rating: 3.5 out of 10 points
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