About the movie:
This attempt to humanize and contemporize the historical and religious figures of Jesus of Nazareth
and Judas Iscariot may show its age visually, but the story and music is as powerful as
its first release three decades ago. Combining images of 1970's Israel with tanks and warplanes
passing by the cast dressed in varying modes of historical and contemporary dress can be offputting
or challenging to some viewers, but it does point up the way the region has and has not changed in
two thousand years.
Ted Neeley was the face of Jesus for an entire
generation who grew up with this movie. Unfortunately, his powerful performance in the role may
have typecast him as he left Hollywood behind him not long after this film.
Originally starting life as a concept album because writers Webber & Rice couldn't get the play
version produced, the album became a hit that allowed the play to be made and eventually the movie.
Adding the new bookend scenes in the movie of actors preparing to perform the musical 'live' on
location, was an interesting choice and neither adds to nor takes away from the story as presented, but
serves as a chance for the audience to catch its breath surrounding the moving events witnessed --
namely, the last days of Jesus Christ.
Personal:
This movie has been one of the WriterGroupie's absolute favorites since
childhood. It was the first soundtrack she ever owned. She spent many lunch hours during her
high school years singing the soundtrack along with another fan of the movie, just because they
loved the songs and story so much. With another friend she saw the 20th anniversary revival version of
the play with Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson and Dennis DeYoung as Pilate. She owns two different (out
of print) books on the making of the play and film.
The WriterGroupie had the extreme pleasure of meeting Ted Neeley
several years ago which was a near-religious experience for her, as it is for many fans of the film.
She had an equally energizing time when she met Andrew Lloyd Webber at a signing he did for the
premiere of the soundtrack for his version of Sunset Boulevard. There he signed her 1973
Jesus Christ Superstar filmbook.
Recently the WriterGroupie saw two different revival runs of the film in theaters - first as
a midnight movie and second as
part of festival of 70's and 80's musicals. The
latter screening including a Q&A with movie co-star Barry Dennen (Pilate).
