Killing Jesus is based on the third book of Bill O’Reilly’s non-fiction series. National Geographic had previously adapted the first two books, Killing Lincoln and Killing Kennedy, for television as well.

Killing Jesus tells the story of Jesus’ life, from his birth to his crucifixion, but does so primarily through the eyes of the the political and social climate at the time. The film actually spends more time exploring the characters surrounding Jesus than on Jesus himself. Throughout the film, we get a good sense of the political problems at the time and the conflicts between the Romans, the Sanhedrin and the Jewish people. The film spends a lot of time exporing King Herod (Kelsey Grammer), Pontius Pilate (Stephen Moyer) and Antipas (Eoin Macken) and what is going at both politically and personally in their lives. And also takes a deeper look at the lives and deaths of John the Baptist (Abhin Galeya) and Judas (Joe Doyle).

Due to this focus on the secondary characters, at times the film felt more like a Cliff’s Notes version of the actual life and death of Jesus. Other recent releases from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment—The Bible and Son of God—did a much better job telling this story in greater detail. However, unlike those films, Killing Jesus stays somewhat more secular throughout, never trying answer the question as to whether or not Jesus was actually the Son of God.

The film has an amazing cast. The first thing that struck me was that the filmmakers did not go the usual route of hiring an all-white group of actors. It was great to see Middle Eastern actor Haaz Sleiman playing the role of Jesus, which helped to add a lot more authenticity and realism to the role. The rest of the cast includes many other ethnically diverse actors as well as some more recognizable faces such as Rufus Sewell, John Rhys-Davies, Emmanuelle Chriqui and Stephanie Leonidas.

Another thing I appreciated about this film was that it did not shy away from some of the tougher material. When King Herod orders the execution of all of the first born children, we see this brutal order play out on the screen. There are several more of these graphic dramatic scenes that play out over the course of the film.

The place where I found the film to be a bit weak was in some of the rather clunky exposition as the film jumps forward in time. For example, after jumping ahead 10 years, a man walks into a small town and strikes up a conversation with Joseph as they change a wheel on the man’s cart:

Man: Greetings. The wheel of my cart has broken on my way home. I’m a trader from Jerusalem. Please, can you help me?

Joseph: Some years back, I heard of old Herod’s death. Did his rule pass to one of his sons?

Man: No, No son of Herod rules now. Rome sends governors to rule. And there’s order. The Romans value that.

Joseph: What has become of the sons of Herod?

Man: They remain as tetrarchs. Each has limited rule over a piece of the kingdom.

Joseph: How is life for the Jews?

Man: One gets heavily taxed, but one gets by.

Joseph: Here in this land of dog-headed gods, I made great efforts teaching my son our scripture, dreaming he might become a man in the land given us by God. Perhaps it is time to return, hmm?

I think this film would have worked better for me had they taken the approach used for Killing Lincoln, where it was a mix of dramatic reenactment and scholarly narration. This would have allowed for more explanation without being forced to try to have characters explain what was going on.

As for the Blu-ray presentation, the film looks and sounds great. The picture captures every detail of the beautiful sets and costumes, and all of the dialogue is clear and the viewer is immersed in the film’s wonderful soundtrack. The disc contains 38-minutes of promotional material. Each of these 2-3 minute promotional featurettes includes interviews with the cast/creators, behind-the-scenes footage and clips from the film. An Ultraviolet copy of the film is also included.

What’s Included:

Film: (2:12:09)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.785:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Digital Copy (Redemption Deadline 6/2/2018):

• UltraViolet Digital HD Copy redeemable via Flixster or Vudu

Extras:

• National Geographic Promotional Shorts (38:29)
  Each of thse short featurettes includes behind-the-scenes-footage interviews and clips. Play All or select from:
  • What It’s Like to Play Jesus (1:57)
    Actor Haaz Sleiman talks about trying to play Jesus as human as possible.
  • Getting Into Character with Haaz Sleiman (2:05)
    Actor Haaz Sleiman talks about using Jesus’ teachings in his own life.
  • Stephen Moyer on Playing Pontius Pilate (2:3)
    Actor Stephen Moyer talks about the burdens faced by Pilate.
  • Kelsey Grammer on Playing King Herod (2:00)
    Actor Kelsey Grammer talks about finding his inspiration for how to play the character.
  • Stephanie Leonidas on Playing Salome (2:22)
    Actress Stephanie Leonidas talks about how Salome is influenced by her parents.
  • Abhin Galeya on Playing John the Baptist (2:36)
    Actor Abhin Galeya talks about what he learned about John the Baptist while preparing for his role.
  • Eoin Macken on Playing Antipas (1:52)
    Actor Eoin Macken explains the motivations of his character, and how he is manipulated by the women.
  • Joe Doyle on Playing Judas (1:55)
    Actor Joe Doyle talks about preparing for his role, and trying to avoid being influenced by other performances.
  • John Rhys Davies on Playing Annas (1:14)
    Actor John Rhys Davies talks about his character.
  • Emmanuelle Chriqui on Playing Herodia (2:29)
    Actress Emmanuelle Chriqui talks about Herodia’s complicated family structure, and how she became a hated queen.
  • Killing Jesus: The Costumes (2:48)
    Director Chris Menaul and stars Haaz Sleiman (“Jesus”), Abhin Galeya (“John the Baptist”), Emmanuelle Chriqui (“Herodia”), Stephen Moyer (“Pontius Pilate”) and Joe Doyle (“Judas”) talk about the characters’ clothing.
  • The Women’s Costumes (2:35)
    Actresses Emmanuelle Chriqui, Stephanie Leonidas (“Salome”) and Tamsin Egerton (“Claudia”) talk about their characters’ wardrobes and crowns.
  • Killing Jesus: The Make-Up (1:25)
    Make-Up & Hair Designer Clare Ramsey talks about finding a unique look for each character, and how the heat affected the process. We also get a timelapse video of a clean-shaven Haaz Sleiman becoming Jesus.
  • Killing Jesus: Behind the Production (1:43)
    Producer Aidan Elliot talks about the epic nature of the shoot, and trying to make it look more authentic, particularly with the casting.
  • Filming in Morocco (1:46)
    Actors Abhin Galeya, Haaz Sleiman, Joe Doyle and Emmanuelle Chriqui talk about both the challenges and inspiration provided by shooting in Morocco.
  • The Director, Chris Menaul (2:11)
    Director Chris Menaul talks about what drew him to the project.
  • The Power Struggle of the Time (2:47)
    Director Chris Menaul and actors Haaz Sleiman, Eoin Macken, Abhin Galeya and Stephen Moyer talk about the political nature of the story, and how it resonates with modern times.
  • Behind the Scenes: Killing Jesus (3:10)
    A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film. Includes interviews with director Chris Menaul, producer Aidan Elliot, executive producer David Zucker, make-up, hair & prosthetics designer Clare Ramsey, and actors Haaz Sleiman, Stephen Moyer, Joe Doyle, John Rhys-Davies, Klára Issová (“Mary Magdalene”), Stephanie Leonidas, Kelsey Grammer, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Eoin Macken, Alexis Rodney (“Simon (Peter)”). While the behind-the-scenes footage is primarily new, most of the interviews are recycled from the other features above.
• Killing Jesus Trailer (1:47)
• Sneak Peek (11:26)
  Play All or select from trailers for “Discover Digital HD”, “Foxspirational”, A.D. The Bible Continues, Killing Kennedy, Killing Lincoln, Exodus: Gods and Kings, The Bible and The Marine 4: Moving Target.

Final Thoughts:

While the casting is great and the sets look beautiful, Killing Jesus‘s attempt to tell the story of Jesus’ life and death through the political and social climate at the time didn’t quite work for me. The story often felt rushed and then had to use clunky exposition to explain what was going on. I think a different approach to the story-telling method (such as a pseudo-documentary like Killing Lincoln) could have made the film a bit more informative and interesting. This has definitely been my least favorite of National Geographic’s TV adaptations of Bill O’Reilly’s “Killing …” books. I suggest a rental before a blind buy. Though fans of the film will appreciate the strong presentation and nice collection of interviews with the cast.