Movies You've Gotta See

• Zeferelli's Jesus of Nazareth. Still the best portrayal overall of the Gospel story. A cast of many great actors, and Rod Steigert nails the role of Pilate, pardon the pun.
• Peter and Paul-- Anthony Hopkins wins the Emmy for his performance as Paul. Just excellent and believable.

• A.D.-- Much better than the Visual Bible Acts by a long way, though still not perfect.
• The Gospel of John. Very powerful, and the only full portrayal of this Gospel on film. Royal Shakespeare company works its magic.
• St. John in Exile. This is a drama about John of Patmos. Its well done and enjoyable.
• God's Outlaw. Of the recent historical dramas the docu-drama on William Tyndale is very moving.
• I Claudius. There are bits to edit out for any public viewing but to get a sense of the Greco-Roman world, this is very good and true to the period. Derek Jacoby is masterful as Claudius. Better than the recent Rome series from HBO.
• Jesus (the CBS made for TV drama) It has its moment, especially the spectacular CG depiction of Jesus' face off with the Devil during his temptations in the wilderness. Now we're cooking.
• End of the Spear. The story of Mincayani, a Waodani tribesman from the jungles of Ecuador. When five young missionaries are speared to death by the Waodani in 1956, a series of events unfold to change the lives of not only the slain missionaries' families, but also Mincayani and his people.

Thanks To Prof. Ben Witherington for his list to which I added the "End of the Spear" entry.