Top 10 Easter Movies for Kids and Families

Easter is, in many ways, two holidays. From the Easter Bunny to eggs and parades, these movies cover the more secularized version of the holiday. You may watch these movies at home on Easter, or plan a perfect Easter Egg Hunt and make a personalized Easter home movie DVD for your family.

-- The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Director: Mel Gibson

Gibson, a professed fundamentalist in his Catholic beliefs, portrays Jesus' punishment with a heavy hand, but the movie is largely a traditional telling of Christ's life with James Caviezel as the lead. According to the New York Times, Gibson "departed radically from the tone and spirit of earlier American movies about Jesus, which have tended to be palatable (if often extremely long) Sunday school homilies designed to soothe the audience rather than to terrify or inflame it. His version of the Gospels is harrowingly violent. . . . "

-- Jesus (1999 - for TV)
Director: Roger Young

Jeremy Sisto plays Jesus and Gary Oldman as Pilate is a standout casting call. The surprise is the human face Sisto gives Jesus; he portrays him as someone who enjoyed life to its fullest. But Paul T. Andersen, a contributor to Christiananswers.net, says "The resulting Jesus is not an accurate portrayal of the Jesus Christ of the Bible, although similar in many ways. The main emphasis is on the humanity of Jesus. This movie does not do as well with his true, divine character."

-- The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Director: Martin Scorsese

Perennial bad guy Willem Dafoe plays Jesus to Harvey Keitel's Judas in this controversial film that portrayed Jesus as a man who struggles to understand himself. The film also was one of the first to portray Jesus and the times through authentic Near Eastern sets and scenes, with a non-biblical story line and a rock-opera score by Peter Gabriel.

-- The Jesus Film (1979)
Directors: John Krish, Peter Sykes

This adaptation of the life of Jesus follows the book of Luke. The movie has an official Web site, jesusfilm.org. This film is often used to introduce non-Christians to the life of Jesus and is a Bible-faithful telling of his life. It has been translated into nearly 800 languages.

-- Life of Brian (1979)
Director: Terry Jones

This hilariously irreverent Monty Python's Flying Circus interpretation follows Brian, mistakenly believed to be the Messiah after he is born in the stable next door. He blunders through young adulthood, and the movie pokes fun at everything from the Romans to the crucifixion, pairing Brian's time on the cross with the absurd song, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.

-- Jesus of Nazareth (1977 - TV miniseries)
Director: Franco Zeffirelli.

Considered by many as the definitive Jesus movie, this one is a reverential treatment of the Gospel stories. Robert Powell portrays Jesus with both human humility and divine power. Particularly notable are the scenes between Jesus and Pilate (Rod Steiger). Britt Gillette, author of The DVD Report, says: "For spiritual, philosophical and cinematic reasons, Jesus of Nazareth is a definite must-see film for the ages . . . "

-- Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
Director: Norman Jewison

This film is an adaptation from the rock-opera concept album created by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. The musical tells the story of Jesus' final week through the eyes of Judas. The offbeat, '70s interpretation of the Bible story has achieved cult status.

-- The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
Directors: David Lean and George Stevens.

An epic visual rendering of the life of Jesus Christ. Max Von Sydow is cast in the leading role in the film, which was nominated for five Academy Awards. According to Variety.com, "Stevens has elected to stick to the straight, literal, orthodox, familiar facts of the four Gospels. He has scorned plot gimmicks and scanted on characterization quirks."

-- The Robe (1953)
Director: Henry Koster

Marcellus Gallio (Richard Burton) is a cynical and hardened man. While gambling with Roman soldiers at the foot of the cross, he wins the robe Jesus wore to the crucifixion. When Gallio begins to have hallucinations and violent outbursts, he is convinced they are a curse received from the robe, which is now in the possession of his escaped slave, Demetrius (Victor Mature). He sets out to find Demetrius to destroy the robe and the curse; instead, he finds faith and converts to Christianity. This was the first movie filmed in CinemaScope and won Oscars in 1953 for costume design, art direction, and set decoration. It is based on the best-selling book by Lloyd C. Douglas, published in 1942.

-- The King of Kings (1927)
Director: Cecil B. DeMille

Remastered and delivered in two versions by Criterion Collection, The King of Kings is a silent-film classic. Steven D. Greydanus at Decentfilms .com says that "DeMille's flawed but powerful The King of Kings remains one of Hollywood's most remarkable achievements."

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