Das Jesus Video (2002) (TV)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Sebastian Niemann

Writers:

Andreas Eschbach (novel)
Martin Ritzenhoff (writer)

Release Date:

5 December 2002 (Germany)

Genre:

Action | Thriller | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Fantasy

Tagline:

An adventure that started 2000 years ago...

Plot:

STEFFEN VOGT, aged around 25, is helping out at a German archeological excavation in Israel when he...

Plot Keywords:

Time Travel | Israel | Ancient Israel | Shirtless Male Bondage | Archeology

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Matthias Koeberlin	...	Steffen
Naike Rivelli	...	Sharon
Manou Lubowski	...	Yehoshua
Hans Diehl	...	Scafaro
Dietrich Hollinderbäumer	...	John Kaun
Heinrich Giskes	...	Professor Willfort
Robinson Reichel	...	Roland Jung
Klaus Grünberg	...	Man with broken nose
Pierre Semmler	...	Christopher
Frank Scharl	...	Ryan
Mario Holetzeck	...	Dan
Gode Benedix	...	Dr. Simmon (as Gode Bendix)
Torsten Jerabek	...	Agent 1
Andreas Cremer	...	Agent 2
Dounia Tazi	...	Ausgrabungshelferin

Also Known As:

Ancient Relic (USA) (video title)
The Hunt for the Hidden Relic (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence.

Runtime:

182 min | Netherlands:124 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:R | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Casablanca, Morocco

Company:

Medienfonds GFP

Trivia:

One of the two helicopters on the chase near the end, the white and orange one, has a Spanish registration number: EC-FJA. Just some months after the release of the movie, this helicopter suffered an accident while performing fire-fighting tasks. Fortuntelly, all 7 on board escaped unharmed, but the main rotor caught fire and the whole aircraft was destroyed on this new fire.

They Needed To Shoot Someone Else

I saw this in the video store titled "Ancient Relic" and was intrigued, knowing nothing about it. When I started watching it, I was impressed with the production values, the music, the look of the cast and then they opened their mouths: DUBBED! I quickly stopped the DVD, went to the menu expecting to switch to German dialogue with English subtitles, only to find no such option existed. The only way to watch it was dubbed. Doh! And watch it I did. It was a fun a little story that really needed to be cut down to 2 hours, but otherwise a joy to look at. The music was enthralling and the story interesting. But the producer or the distributor and definitely most of the dubbing actors (if you can call them actors) needed to be shot for the dreadful blow they dealt to this film (oh and let's not forget the voice casting director!). The lackluster voice performances destroyed any compelling drama the original production might have had. There is no way to adequately judge a movie that has been dubbed, beyond the story and production values. It further disturbs me that our country has gotten so lazy that we would rather listen to a badly dubbed movie than feel the drama of the original performance and read the subtitles, so much so some production or distribution executive decided not to spend the money on offering a subtitled original language version. I sat riveted to "Das Boot" in the original German, even as I read the English translation. Not that this is anything as brilliant as Das Boot, but come on, the weaker the content the more you need to give it every edge possible. Frankly I think this was a fine film, definitely entertaining and definitely worth watching -- otherwise I would have turned it off within the first 15 minutes of the horrible dubbing job. It is most unfortunate that someone in power was so bone-headed as to actually think this version would be acceptable to anyone, much less represent the film the way the director intended. I might have given the film an 8 if not for the poor dubbing. But I enjoyed watching it enough to recommend to others despite the bad English dub.