The Nativity Story | 
 enlarge | Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Actors: Keisha Castle-hughes, Oscar Isaac, Hiam Abbass, Shaun Toub, Ciaran Hinds
Studio: New Line Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $3.98
You Save: $16.00 (80%)
New (52) Used (39) Collectible (1) from $3.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  178 reviews
Sales Rank: 3699
Format: Ac-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 101
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: N10668
UPC: 794043106682
EAN: 0794043106682
ASIN: B000MGBM1I
Theatrical Release Date: December 1, 2006
Release Date: March 20, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
It was the cruelest of times. Under Herod's torturous reign families struggled to survive and yet in the midst of utter turmoil a young woman's faith is put to the test. Join Mary (Keisha Castle-Hughes) and Joseph (Oscar Isaac) on an incredible journey of hope and discovery. Epic in its scope yet intimate in it's portrayal of this historical family this "wonderful film" (Bill Zwecker Chicago Sun Times) is "a family feature that will be cherished for years to come!" (Greg Russell WMYD-TV Detroit).Running Time: 161 min.System Requirements:Run Time: 101 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 794043106682 Manufacturer No: N10668
Amazon.com
The Nativity Story is a remarkable, if frustratingly restrained, act of imagining the tale of Christ's birth as a flesh-and-blood drama actually set in Israel two millenia ago. Written by Mike Rich (Finding Forrester) and directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen), the film makes very strong impressions in a scene-by-scene way. Beginning with the slaughter (bloodlessly portrayed; this is a PG movie) of Bethlehem's innocents under orders from a paranoid King Herod (a dark and knowing Ciaran Hinds), the film then jumps back a year to the prophecy that informs Zechariah (Stanley Townsend) that his wife, Elizabeth (Shohreh Aghdashloo), will bear a child. Meanwhile, Elizabeth's cousin, the adolescent Mary (Keisha Castle-Hughes), struggles with her family to make ends meet and is promised to the carpenter Joseph (Oscar Isaac). Soon comes word to Mary, via an angel, that she will carry, while still a virgin, the long-awaited Messiah who will liberate the Jews from Herod and his Roman benefactors. Thus begins a detailed account of Joseph and Mary's hard travel to Bethlehem, while three Magi spend months crossing the desert trying to rendezvous with some point below the convergence of three heavenly bodies in the night sky. Hardwicke and Rich anchor all this in period detail, though what proves most moving are relationship nuances, especially the friendship and trust that emerge between Mary and Joseph after he is told in a dream that she speaks truthfully about her miraculous pregnancy. While The Nativity Story should appeal to almost anyone as a straightforward narrative, it is far from a secular version of the familiar Biblical tale, and thus feels a bit stifled. It might have been nice if the film could have breathed a little more with imagination, but The Nativity Story makes up for it by ingeniously weaving hints of things to come, later in Christ's life, into the action. --Tom Keogh
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 173 more reviews...
 Great movie August 31, 2008
We just watched this last Christmas, so I bought it so we could watch it every Christmas Eve. Very well done movie
 Interesting take on the Christmas Story July 25, 2008
The Nativity Story came out last Christmas, but since I try to limit my theater experience to about 1 movie a year, I passed on this movie then. It flew through the theater and I forgot about it until a friend loaned it to Sheralie. We decided to watch for Christmas Eve.
I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. The story is obviously the nativity story, but the characters speak English, though with an accent. I'm not sure why they bother with the accent, since we know they weren't speaking English back then, but maybe it is to remind us that they were in the Middle East. Phony accents aside, it was a pretty good movie. If you are like me, you have heard the nativity story over 100X, so it is nice to get a fresh perspective on it that makes you think about things a little differently.
Overall, I enjoyed it and would recommend for all viewers over 8, though you may want to wait until Christmas for more effect.
great movie July 22, 2008
beautyfull movie!!The nativity story have important information about the Jesus nativity. It is very closer to what really hapenned whit some diferent point of view.
Greatest Christian Movie July 21, 2008
The Nativity Story
I really loved this movie. Great acting from the whole cast
This Movie Needs a New Title July 12, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This movie shouldn't have been called "The Nativity Story". It should have been called "St. Joseph's Story."
The costumes, sets, and acting were all done very well. However, the three major issues were the following:
The Archangel Gabriel didn't look like an Archangel at all. He appeared more like some creepy man who was half floating in the air. Nothing about him or his performance struck me as particularly Angelic or amazing.
I also really did not like St. Anne, Our Lady's mother. She just seemed mean.
But Our Lady was the most problematic for me. She was just hard to warm up to, which is not the way you want to picture the Mother of God. When She is going to visit Elizabeth after the Annunciation, She says, "Please God, may Elizabeth be with child." So now She's doubting God's Word? Where was THAT in the Bible? That would make perfect sense to be doubting if it were a regular person in Her situation, but Mary was gifted with Supernatural Grace and would never have doubted God's Promises.
Three of the five stars I've given to this movie are for the portrayal of St. Joseph. FINALLY we see a true St. Joseph... kind, loving, and willing to do ANYTHING to protect Mary and the yet-unborn Jesus. The scene where he struggles down a river to save Mary has to be my favorite in the whole movie. This is the image of St. Joseph that we should all have when we think of him.
|
|
|
