Jesus Christ Superstar

"And now the film…"

1973 1h 48m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

🥫

52%

ROTTEN

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.4

IMDB

★7.1TMDB · 633🥫52%Rotten Tomatoes●64Metacritic★7.4IMDB · 32,069

DramaHistory

Synopsis

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As played out by a theatre troupe, the last days of Jesus Christ are depicted from the perspective of Judas Iscariot, his betrayer. As Jesus' following increases, Judas begins to worry that Jesus is falling for his own hype, forgetting the principles of his teachings and growing too close to the prostitute Mary Magdalene.

“And now the film…”

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Cast

Ted Neeley
Jesus Christ
Carl Anderson
Judas Iscariot
Yvonne Elliman
Mary Magdalene
Barry Dennen
Pontius Pilate
Bob Bingham
Caiaphas
Larry Marshall
Simon Zealotes
Josh Mostel
King Herod
Kurt Yaghjian
Annas

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Norman Jewison
Writers: Norman Jewison, Melvyn Bragg
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $3.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 7.0× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

53 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Norman Jewison, shot by Douglas Slocombe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Antony Gibbs shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson and Yvonne Elliman carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "And now the film…".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Norman Jewison directs. Douglas Slocombe behind the camera. Andrew Lloyd Webber scores. Antony Gibbs cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $3.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 7.0× over at the box office.
353 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Directed by Norman Jewison, shot by Douglas Slocombe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Antony Gibbs shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson and Yvonne Elliman carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "And now the film…".
9IMDB entry: tt0070239 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 10 themes, including "dance", "israel", "christianity", "crucifixion".

The technical file

Cinematography: Douglas Slocombe
Original score: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Editing: Antony Gibbs
Production design: Richard Macdonald
Costume design: Yvonne Blake
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $3,500,000
Box office: $24,593,103
Return: 703% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
Rotten Tomatoes: 52% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 64/100
IMDB rating: 7.4/10 · 32,069 votes
MPAA: G

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 3 wins & 13 nominations total

BAFTA Award for Best Sound

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Norman Jewison

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Andres Gomez2016-03-29
★ 8/10
Risky adaptation of a great musical with catchy songs. Carl Anderson performs a great Judas. Some of the other actors are quite good too, like Barry Dennen as Pontius Pilate but Ted Neeley as Jesus is quite a whimp. In any case, a very interesting adaptation of a musical which deserves to be watched at least once.
CinemaSerf2023-04-02
★ 6/10
Norman Jewison shipped everyone to Israel to help give this adaptation of the Lloyd Webber/Rice hit rock opera as much authenticity as possible for the big screen. Ted Neeley dons the robes for the title role and ably aided by a very much on form Carl Anderson (Judas) and Yvonne Elliman (Mary Magdalene) reimagines the stage performances that take us from modern day through the ages to the lifetime of Christ. Neeley certainly has that established look to him, but I actually found him rather underwhelming (it doesn't help that his are certainly not the best numbers). As the story gathers momentum the other two very much come into their own leading an ensemble cast that mixes historical and contemporary styles of music and dance, language and imagery to try to modernise (1970s style) this provocative story. Josh Mostel turns in quite a fun routine as the slightly camp King Herod, and Barry Dennen likewise as the conflicted governor Pilate but for me the whole thing really belongs to Anderson's traitor. The settings serve it well, Douglas Slocombe knows well how to use the ancient monuments and some modern lighting to deliver that extra layer to differentiate it from the stage performance - which, at times, this all too closely resembles. Groundbreaking it certainly was, but time hasn't been especially kind to it and fifty years on it almost comes across as much of a parody as "Life of Brian" (1979). Still, "I Don't Know How to Love Him", "Everything's Alright", "Heaven on their Minds" and the powerful "Gethsemane" offer robust lyrics for the unfolding story of the last few days of Jesus. I did enjoy this on stage, but this film not so much...