Mel Gibson’s portrayal of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his final 12 hours alive can best be summed up by a quote from film critic Roger Ebert. “The movie is 126 minutes long, and I would guess that at least 100 of those minutes, maybe more, are concerned specifically and graphically with the details of the torture and death of Jesus,” Ebert said, also writing that it was the most violent film he had ever seen. That’s Roger Ebert saying that — a man who has seen more films than most people ever will. The movie was derided by critics as anti-Semitic and was called “The Jesus Chainsaw Massacre” by Slate’s critic David Edelstein. But the over-the-top brutality didn’t keep movie watchers away: the film grossed $370 million in the U.S. and even sold 4.1 million DVD copies in its first day.
