The Gospel Road (1973) Review

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(More customer reviews)Before I get to my comments about this film, let me tell you a little about myself for a change. It's a little out of place for a dvd review but you'll see why. My name as you see is Eric Pregosin. I live near Washington DC, but grew up in Queens NY. I was born of into a non practicing jewish home, non practicing because my father's side didn't follow old traditions, hebrew school, etc. and my mother's side did, and they chose the former. In the fall of 1973 for 2nd grade, my mother pulled a "Branch Rickey" if you will and enrolled me in a Catholic School. At the time, I made some friends, got picked on by others, but the time I left after 6th grade (since we couldn't afford the tuition anymore after my parents divorced), I had more friends than critics. Around the time I was in 5th grade, we (the entire grade) were invited to gather in to lunchroom to watch a film called "The Gospel Road". Now normally when my classmates were in church or in their "religion class" after lunch, I usually turned a deaf ear. But to this film, I sat, watched and listened. Why you ask? The answer can be stated in 3 simple words which begin with the letters: "J.R.C." I was growing up on Johnny's music and knew his walk was by faith (albeit it took til middle age to get there, but hey some of us don't get there to we are seniors.) so listening to him to tell (and sing) a story of Jesus is worth the price of admission, and I enjoyed it immensely. So much so, that the next Wednesday (we had half days of school on Wednesdays) I was in a tv repair shop that sold some records, and here I was buying the "complete soundtrack" (Spoken words and Sung) on 2 LPS for (with tax) $2.79. I still own that album today, and when the time comes I will record onto blank cds to save it for posterity. Needless to say I was shocked at the chance to buy the DVD this month, but with all the hype Walk The Line got, now I understand why. It is a VERY GOOD film. There are bad sides to it, but they are easily outweighed by the good sides. But to be fair, here they are: 1) There is a lot left out. Ok you can't cover a whole story of Jesus in an hour and a half, this is not Jesus of Nazareth or Greatest Story Ever Told, but what is covered is the essence of Jesus time on this earth, and the Crucifixion segment makes ones in box office bonanzas like The Robe and Ben Hur pale into insignificance. 2) With the exception of John Baptist's "Behold the lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world" and Mary Magdalene's few speaking scenes (spoken and seen on screen by June Carter Cash), John does all the narrations. Certain songs are supplemented by June's family (The Carter Family), The Statler Brothers, Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, Larry Gatlin and even June herself in a beautiful rendition of John Denver's "Follow Me" between Mary Magdalene segments. The disc does give credit to the actor playing Jesus (it's none other than the film director Robert Elfstrom and his son plays the boy Jesus for a few scenes in the beginning), and we do get credit for a few of the other actors, but John and June wrote this film to be their visual interpretation of the New Testament so who the actors really are is subject to interpretation as well. 3) This is just an opinion but I think the film has been cut since I saw it on a projector 30 years ago, the forementioned LP has spoken and sung segments that were not included on this disc, and I am 99.44% sure they were on the copy I saw when I was 10 or 11 years old. The good side is that this is a more complete copy than a VHS copy I rented some 15 years ago, so it will do, until Fox or somebody else clears this mystery for me. Suffice it to say, this is a film that gives a true representation of several key aspects of Jesus' life and is welcome in a library with such films as the ones I named above. If John Robert Cash and his wife June Carter Cash are ever remembered for anything besides their music, I hope it is for this film. When I write my last will and testament, I pray my copy of this DVD goes to someone who will appreciate it for what it does say rather than what is missing. I bless the day, John shared it with me when I was a kid, and the day someone at Fox decided to release this disc. Before you buy Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar, Jesus of Nazareth or ANY of the good Jesus dramas out there, buy a copy of this film and "come along with John, June and Eric (me) :-) in the footsteps of Jesus, and we'll show you why when people shout praise the Lord, they mean it".

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