Journey To Bethlehem reimagines the greatest story ever told, telling the classic Nativity tale of Mary & Joseph and the birth of Jesus as a musical, filled with classic Christmas music, brand new pop songs and dance numbers, and a lot of humor. Mary (Fiona Palomo, Control Z) is a devout virgin who has been taught the scriptures by her father. She has dreams of becoming a teacher, but that’s not the role of women in her time. She is told by her parents that they have arranged for her to marry a man named Joseph (Milo Manheim, School Spirits, Zombies franchise). She doesn’t really want to get married, and would rather choose her own mate when the time comes. However, the situation gets even more complicated when Mary receives a visit from the angel Gabriel (Lecrae), who informs her that she will bear a child, the Son of God, and name him Jesus. Mary doesn’t feel worthy of this honor, and also wonders how she is going to explain that she’s pregnant to her betrothed. Meanwhile, three wise men—Gaspar (Rizwan Manji, Schitt’s Creek, Perfect Harmony), Balthazar (Geno Segers, Perfect Harmony) & Melchior (Omid Djalili, His Dark Materials)—know that the prophesy of the birth of Christ is at hand, and set out on a journey to the Land of Judah in search of the woman who will bear the son of God. However, when the much reviled King Herod (Antonio Banderas) hears that they are searching for a future king, he fears for his own crown, and sets his son Antipater (Joel Smallbone, For King & Country) on the task of finding Mary first, killing all pregnant women if necessary to stop this prophesy from coming true.
Journey To Bethlehem is a fun, fresh take on the Nativity story, with some catchy, toe-tapping musical numbers, and loads of laughs. The filmmakers have taken some liberties with the classic tale, which they readily admit to in the credits, but have still managed to keep the story’s original spirit and message intact. This version of the Nativity story plays out more like a rom-com crossed with a Broadway production. Mary is a single young woman with her own desires in life, but these don’t fit with the roles for women of her time. She is a middle child (not in the bible), and has a Disney-like relationship with her beloved pet donkey named Fig (I assume also not in the Bible). After learning of her arranged marriage, Mary’s sisters, Deborah (Moriah) & Rebekah (Stephanie Gil, Fatima), take her out for a little retail therapy in the market, where she has a meet-cute with a handsome young fruit seller. It’s not until later that she learns that this young man is in fact Joseph, her future husband. (A far cry from the older, widower that Joseph is in the Bible story). While Joseph is definitely attracted to Mary, despite the whole being pregnant thing, Mary isn’t quite ready to admit the feelings are mutual, but grows to appreciate him as they go on the run from the soldiers looking for her. There is this fun classic rom-com style will-they/won’t-they to the relationship between Mary and Joseph, which gives the story more of a modern feel, and the two actors have great chemistry with one another, both physically and musically. We get this fun “Mary’s Getting Married” song between Mary and her sisters as they head to the market, and then duet “Can We Make This Work” between Mary and Joseph as they try to figure out if their arranged marriage will work. Mary and Joseph also each have their own solo showing them reacting to the news about the baby—for Mary, it’s “Mother To A Savior And King”, while Joseph contemplates “The Ultimate Deception”.
Antonio Banderas is deliciously evil as King Herod, who doesn’t mind that he’s hated. In fact, he thrives on the power that it gives him. When we first meet him, Herod belts out a musical number about how it’s “Good To Be King” as he looks over his angry subjects. Though Herod is a bit insecure, and doesn’t like when his son, Antipater, steals the spotlight. There’s some fun humorous moments with these two, like when Antipater breaks into a boy band style dance sequence with the other soldiers. Both Banderas and Joel Smallbone (who’s one half of the Christian pop duo for KING + COUNTRY) have amazing singing voices! Antipater gets a powerful solo, “In My Blood”, as he contemplates whether he’s become just as evil as his father.
Providing a lot of comic relief to the movie are the three wise men—they are more like stooges rather than wise men. Balthazar is an expert at reading stars, Gaspar is the scholar of the group, and Melchior is a mapmaker (and likes to eat). They get a comical song “Three Wise Guys”, and constantly make fun one-liners, and jokes surrounding the gifts that they carry for Jesus—what exactly is the myrrh for?!
The writing is quite clever at times, with lots of meta-humor and jokes, but also a reverence to the original Nativity story. Besides the creative original songs, the film also includes some classic Christmas tunes like “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” and “The Nativity Song”, which provide a nice grounded emotional punch to the story.
Sony’s has released Journey To Bethlehem on physical media on Blu-ray and DVD, but it is also available digitally in 4K. I was sent the Blu-ray release for review, which features solid picture and sound. There is an excellent level of detail throughout, and the picture looks very clean and crisp, with bright colors that really pop. We often see Mary and Joseph or the three wise men traveling on the road, either on camel or on foot, and there’s this nice use of a map with lines and exes superimposed to show their progress across the land and identify the places where they are traveling to. Dialogue remains clear throughout, and the musical numbers really fill the room.
The Blu-ray disc resides in standard HD keepcase with a glossy slipcover. An insert provides instructions on how to redeem an HD Movies Anywhere-compatible digital copy of the film. The disc contains about 14 minutes of making-of featurettes with the cast/filmmakers, and 3 deleted/extended scenes.
What’s Included:
Film: (1:38:40)
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin American), Turkish
- HD digital copy, redeemable via Movies Anywhere or Vudu
- Meet Mary & Joseph (2;26)
The cast and crew discuss the casting process, the weight of these roles, and the music in the film. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with head of Affirm Films Rich Peluso, and stars Fiona Palomo (“Mary”) & Milo Manheim (“Joseph”). - Deleted & Extended Scenes (5:46)
Play All, or select from:- A Great Navigator (1:48)
A slightly different intro for Melchior - Travel Montage (2:13)
Extended montage of Mary and Joseph making their way to Bethlehem - Joseph’s Catapult (1:53)
In this extended cut, Joseph attempts to build a catapult to cause a distraction before Mary just throws the rock by hand.
- A Great Navigator (1:48)
- The Heart of The Journey to Bethlehem (4:33)
The cast and crew discuss making a musical version of the Nativity story, and what they hope people take away from the film. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with music supervisor Alex Anders, producer Alan Powell, executive producer/composer Nikki Anders, director/writer/composer Adam Anders, producer Ryan Busse, head of Affirm Films Rich Peluso, and stars Joel Smallbone (“Antipater”), Lecrae (“Gabriel”), Milo Manheim, Fiona Palomo, Antonio Banderas (“King Herod”), Mōriah (“Deborah”) and the three wise men Rizwan Manji (“Gaspar”), Geno Segers (“Balthazar”) & Omid Djalili (“Melchior”). - Meet Fig (2:10)
Stars Milo Manheim & Fiona Palomo talk about working with Panda, the donkey who plays Fig, and interview the animal on set. - Meet Mary’s Sisters (2:00)
Stars Mōriah, Fiona Palomo & Stephanie Gil (“Rebekah”) talk about how the filmmakers made Mary a middle sister, and what it was like working with one another. - Meet Antipater (2:39)
Star Joel Smallbone talks about his own faith, and how the film weaves Antipater into the Nativity story. Music surpervisor Alex Anders, composer Nikki Anders, director/writer/composer Adam Anders & star Mōriah (Joel’s wife) talk about working with the for KING + COUNTRY singer. - Previews (5:23)
Trailers for The Star, Overcomer, and Moonrise play back-to-back.
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Blu-ray:
Digital (Limited time offer):
Extras:
Final Thoughts:
Journey To Bethlehem is a fresh, fun new musical take on the Nativity story, which features an excellent cast, some wonderful and catchy original music, and lots of laughs. The film is cleverly writter, and gives the classic story a more modern feel. It’s too bad this disc wasn’t released until just after Christmas, because I think this is a film that will become a staple for the holiday season. Sony’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great, and includes some entertaining bonus material. Fans of the film will definitely want to pick this up, and the disc is an easy recommendation for any fan of musicals.
Journey To Bethlehem – Blu-ray + Digital
49% Off $38.99 $19.98 (as of December 17, 2024 09:25 GMT -05:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Journey To Bethlehem – DVD + Digital
$18.99 $16.13 (as of December 17, 2024 09:25 GMT -05:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Journey to Bethlehem
$3.99 (as of December 17, 2024 09:25 GMT -05:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
