Sorry, this movie sucks

Don't Believe the Hype

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This film is very interesting, but loads of big questions are not addressed, and I agree more work should be done. 1) Why was so little effort made to investigate this find fully? 2) Why were dna tests not done on the 'James' ossuary, the 'Mary' ossuary, the ' Joses ' ossuary, and the 'Judah' ossuary? Surely these would have been hugely relevant? 3) Thestatistical analysis of the cluster of names was nearly non-existent, just a couple of comments really. This is unforgivable, as the names are the essence of the story. Any school student could present a better analysis. Did the filmmaker 'dumb it down' for the American market? Just the combination 'Jesus son of Joseph' together with 'Mary' are hugely significant, even without the questionable 'Mary Magdalene' inscription. You have to bear in mind the small size of the population at that time, and the lack of transport for human bodies, and the laws regarding quick burial. If the mdna had linked Jesus and Mary, this combination of related names would have been extremely rare and significant. If the James mdna was the same, this combination would be statistically extremely convincing. Another point completely missed is that, even if you accept the second interpretation of the 'Mary Magdelene' inscription, ( ie two women, Mariamene and Mara in the same box), these names are significant, as , buried in the same box, they are highly likely to be mother and daughter, and a Mariamene with a daughter Mara points very strongly to Mary Magdalene, because she was known as Mariamene, who is Mara, and these were rarely used names. Like many religious documentaries, this film is both interesting and frustrating at the same time.====== ====== ======= ======= ======== ======== ========= ======= Having had a second look at this, I think I can answer one of my questions. I was originally amazed at how little priority was given to this investigation at the time. ( Bearing in mind that more than 2000 million people base their religious beliefs on this man ) . But in retrospect, you have to ask, who would want this find to be confirmed as the real remains of Jesus and family? Not the Israeli government, it would have the potential to stir up hatred in the Christian world. And not the Christian establishment, they would be facing having their position and faith undermined. So the best thing for both parties would be to keep it fairly quiet, and that is what seems to have happened.

This glorified discovery channel documentary, part biblical study, part treasure hunt, all misappropriated, might have sat well in it's television origins but falls flat as a feature film. Right from first glance of it's cheesy looking cover art, one may cast doubts upon the integrity behind this serious subject, shown on front case relegating the search for Jesus's tomb to a generic action font that looks more National Treasure or Tomb Raider then any informed debate and examination of the historical burial site should. Such is the underhanded way in which the entire proceedings revolve.More curious child then worthy researcher, Simcha Jacobovici's explorations come across as self-indulgent while his research comes across as manipulative. For all the fascinating revelations this filmmaker tries to impart on his viewers through supposed evidence, a flood of repetitious statements reiterating the same research and findings over and over proves The Lost Tomb of Jesus has very little information to back up the bloated, albeit entrancing claims. What this amounts to is a very frustrating attempt to beat the audience over the head with the same small factual evidence in support of this tomb's authenticity, which ironically detracts from it. While tirelessly linking together many of these mini-coffins found together to support the Jesus of Nazareth theory, this research forsakes a well-rounded approach to continuously pursue this romanticized archeologist's singular obsession. There may be some impressive factual data which helps shed some light on many traditional dogmatic Christian-held beliefs, but essentially the shady nature of this project made it come across as merely an exploitation piece, financed at a time when The Da Vinci Code was all the rage.In the end, the cheesy cover art was right. Despite my appreciation for documentary form, The Lost Tomb of Jesus takes an always interesting topic and turns it into overlong and unvaried geriatric adventure hunt, substituting any relevance and sacredness for the uninspired motivations behind this team. By the time these tomb raiders have finished their explorations, reluctantly having to stop research because of social demands, viewers are left with the sense the director was insistent on forging this mystery whether it was there to begin with or not. There are a few genuinely potent moments where the halls of history come marching through this documentary in unassuming ways, but all the decoding, exploring, and theorizing in the world still left this misguided vanity piece in an uneasy void of apathetic response.

As pointed out by the academicians in the ensuing discussion hosted by Ted Koppel, a heavy hitter when it comes to journalism, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" is in desperate need of more scholarship. That said, I found it a compelling and interesting documentary, slightly better than the Discovery Channel's average delving into historical and archaeological topics. I do also disagree with one of the guest academicians who said that the documentary was "archaeological porn", almost hinting that since he was not involved in the project that it had no merit. The documentary I think certainly has merit. They did use a Harvard professor to translate inscriptions on the ossuaries and a statistician from the University of Toronto to speculate on the likelihood of the tomb being that of the family of Jesus of Nazareth.The documentary's obvious weakness is in its lack of scholarly commentary. The few academicians used in the documentary were not involved in any kind of analysis of the archaeological finds. They were primarily used more for the expertise in their respective fields. So the question is what scholarly commentary was lacking? A good comparison is the Frontline documentary "From Jesus to Christ". In "Jesus to Christ" about ten scholars representing renowned research institutions from around the country were used to tell the story of what is regarded as factual about the life of Jesus and his early followers. In "Tomb" the filmmakers were essentially their own commentators. Another difference between the two documentaries was the amount of time devoted to scholarship. "Jesus to Christ" was a 4-hour documentary in 3 parts with 60% or more of its screen time devoted to scholarly commentary. "Tomb" was probably closer to 1 1/2 hours when consideration is given to commercial breaks with very little scholarly analysis. A lot of "Tomb"'s time was devoted to re-enactment scenes and scenes devoted to the logistics of getting under a 25-year-old apartment complex. These two elements I found less interesting.The film almost begs for a sequel. Scholars and other academicians who understand the implications of archaeological finds need to analyze and critique the artifacts of the documentary. Not all scholars will ever agree about the implications. The filmmakers last point in the ensuing discussion was probably the most important: that he hoped that the film would lead to more discussion and scholarship.

This is (of course) a very controversial film. I am, however, very disappointed in the Christian scholars and lay persons alike. They are too quick to accept passages and quote them as fact and proof of a historical Jesus, even if scholars and the Catholic Church admitted it to be spurious, such as a passage found in later copies of the works of the historian Josephus.Or other archaeological finds, that have been used to prove a historical Jesus, such as a burial box that is assumed to be that of the High Priest Caiaphas (who, according to the New Testament tried Jesus, circa 30 AD.) Caiaphas' burial box only mentioned the name Caiaphas, with no reference to him being a priest much less associated with Jesus. But the Christian community quickly and willingly accepted this as proof that Jesus lived and was tried by Caiaphas.Christians are too quick to accept weak evidence while promoting the evidence as conclusive proof, if they feel it supports there view and belief. But will disregard and even bash science and archeology if it contradicts or disagrees with their religious belief.I am amazed how many people I have spoken with about this documentary that instantly stated it was fabricated evidence to simply attack the Christian faith, and they did not even watch the program.Ultimately, the bottom line will be for you to decide. Either the evidence is real or it is not. And if it is real, you still may not have anything to fear concerning your faith. As Paul said in I Corinthians, I Corinthians 15:50, "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;" If flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, then the bones of Jesus and his burial box is very possibly still here on earth. So think about this, if this is real, this is the most conclusive proof ever discovered that the Jesus of the New Testament actually lived.This is a must see documentary.