Source: Fox Home Entertainment

Setting an industry record on its way to becoming the #1 selling drama of all time, #1 selling independent film of all time, #1 selling R-rated film of all time and #1 selling non-English language film of all time, consumers across America have purchased more than 4.1 million copies of Mel Gibson's epic The Passion of The Christ on DVD in just one day. Similar to its phenomenal and non-traditional box office success, the DVD is charting new territory in terms of retail performance. A continuing trend shows purchasers across the country, for the first time ever, buying more than one copy with the average being 1.8 copies.

Focusing on the final 12 hours of the life of Jesus of Nazareth's life, the year's most talked about movie, The Passion of The Christ, makes its highly anticipated DVD and VHS debut. Released in theaters on Ash Wednesday, February 25, 2004, the powerful Mel Gibson-helmed epic went on to gross more than $370 million at the box office -- earning a spot in the top 10 grossing movies of all time. Starring Jim Caviezel in the critically-lauded role of Jesus Christ and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene, The Passion of The Christ DVD is presented with a maximum bit rate, 5.1 Dolby Digital and 5.1 DTS, offering viewers the highest quality picture and audio. The film, which was shot in Aramaic and Latin, is presented with English subtitles on VHS and English and Spanish subtitles on DVD. Priced to own, the DVD is available in Widescreen or Pan And Scan for $29.98 and the VHS is $24.98.

Other accolades accorded The Passion of The Christ include: It is the #1 R-rated film in history; the #1 February release in history; the #1 non-English film ever released in the United States; the #1 independently distributed film in history; the #1 film in the U.S. for the first 23 days after its release; the #1 5-day per screen average ($41,295) and it tied for 5th fastest film to get to $100 million. The Passion of The Christ has a running time of 127 minutes and is rated "R" by the Motion Picture Association of America. It is closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

Wow .. I bought this movie and I just couldn't watch it .. I don't think I could take it .. so I let my mom watch it :lol: But I'm not surprised it did so well in the theaters and on DVD. I heard Mel Gibson is going to do another one of these movies, just not about Jesus Christ.

god that movie was terrible.


easily the worst movie I have seen in theaters in the last year (I'm selective about the many movies I see)

Originally posted by ThirteenInchEscape
god that movie was terrible.


easily the worst movie I have seen in theaters in the last year (I'm selective about the many movies I see) I think that's the first time I've ever seen anyone say that before.

Im kind of suprised, but then again Im not.
There are of course the cult churches that brainwash their "followers" to buy into this.

But really, how many times can you watch this??

Ive never seen, and I dont plan on it.... I already know the ending.

Originally posted by Trippergrl
Wow .. I bought this movie and I just couldn't watch it .. I don't think I could take it .. so I let my mom watch it :lol: But I'm not surprised it did so well in the theaters and on DVD. I heard Mel Gibson is going to do another one of these movies, just not about Jesus Christ.

Maybe "The Easter of Christ", seems like the obvious sequel.

Originally posted by barwars
Im kind of suprised, but then again Im not.
There are of course the cult churches that brainwash their "followers" to buy into this.

I agree completely. I believe in Jesus and all but I do believe some Christians got very cocky over this films success.

I mean, Spiderman and Lord Of The Rings outgrossed The Passion, apparently that means moviegoers also happen to be obsessed with comic book characters and mythological action-adventure stories too, right? (since people use the "Passion made $400 million... Christianity is cool" card)

Why focus on the death and not the resurrection?

Originally posted by AllIWantIsYourClutch
I think that's the first time I've ever seen anyone say that before.

I've heard a lot of negative reviews over The Passion

Is it jsut me- or did any of the rest of you find the way the dvd was marketed to churches a little sleazy?

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
Why focus on the death and not the resurrection?

Exactly. And f*ck Christianity being cool.

Whatever your religion, who gives a damn if its cool?!

I saw it last night and thought it was a fantastic movie.

Originally posted by webuster
Is it jsut me- or did any of the rest of you find the way the dvd was marketed to churches a little sleazy?

actually, it happens a lot, but usually they're low-budget straight to video flicks starring Kirk Cameron and Corbin Bernson, The Passion is just the first one that was actually a major motion picture.

Originally posted by webuster
Is it jsut me- or did any of the rest of you find the way the dvd was marketed to churches a little sleazy?

I doubt it's just you, but it's certainly not me. I'm sure that many movie studios have had legitimate sleazy ways of marketing their film, but I don't believe the Passion is one of them. Christian's have been ignored in Hollywood for a very long time, so I don't see anything wrong with Mel Gibson going to Churches to give people who have been mocked and ridiculed in the entertainment industry something to look forward to. I know that secular movie studios find ways of promoting their films to a target audience all the time, yet nobody seems to complain about that.

To BuffySlayer79, in what way have you noticed Christian's getting cocky about this film? Do you have any examples? I honestly haven't noticed that. All Iv'e noticed is Christian's who have been very excited about something they're passionate about, the same way L.O.T.R., and Star Wars fans get excited when a new installment of their favorite film comes out. I just don't get how Christian's being enthusiastic about something are considered cocky, yet people who are fanatical and excited about the success of their favorite secular films, are just good fans? seems kind of biased to me.

Anyway, I'm hoping that Mel will do a film about the end times next. Of course there's the Left Behind series, but much of it is fiction, and not Biblically based. With Mel being able to put a large amount of money into it, I think he could make a good film about the end times.

Because some being a Star Wars fan or a treky, doesn't make other people feel uncomfortable.

Whereas religion is a very touchy subject.


And it WAS marketed sleazy, as are some other films, but the fact that it was marketed sleazy through the church is worse.


Anyways, as I said before, being cool has absolutely nothing to do with any sort of religion.

Originally posted by barwars
Because some being a Star Wars fan or a treky, doesn't make other people feel uncomfortable.

Whereas religion is a very touchy subject.


And it WAS marketed sleazy, as are some other films, but the fact that it was marketed sleazy through the church is worse.


Anyways, as I said before, being cool has absolutely nothing to do with any sort of religion.

Just to be clear, are you saying that Passion fans shouldn't get excited about the film because it makes others uncomfortable? If that was the way we determined what kind of movies were considered acceptable, there sure wouldn't be alot of movies made! Probably 80 percent of what Hollywood puts out today makes me and many others uncomfortable, so it goes both ways.

I do agree with the Religion not necessarily needing to be cool comment. If some people think Church is cool, great, whatever keeps them going each week. But a person should not choose whether or not to go to Church based on whether they think it's cool or not.

Originally posted by mdntrider7
To BuffySlayer79, in what way have you noticed Christian's getting cocky about this film? Do you have any examples? I honestly haven't noticed that. All Iv'e noticed is Christian's who have been very excited about something they're passionate about, the same way L.O.T.R., and Star Wars fans get excited when a new installment of their favorite film comes out. I just don't get how Christian's being enthusiastic about something are considered cocky, yet people who are fanatical and excited about the success of their favorite secular films, are just good fans? seems kind of biased to me.

well, a lot of Christian media was "The Passion grossed $400 million... Christianity must be cool", assuming all $400 of the million came from fanatical Christians. What makes them think that maybe The Passion wasn't considered an event and that a good chunk of the money it made happened to come from Jews, Agnostics and other beliefs that doesn't accept Jesus as the personal savior?

If anything, I'd compare Passion making $400 million to what Schindler's List made ten years ago. Believe it or not, a LOT of non-Jewish people saw the movie, it was an event and an important piece of history. You didn't see any of Hollywood's "power Jews" going "Schindler's List grossed $150 million... being Jewish is so cool!!!" like you saw over The Passion.

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
well, a lot of Christian media was "The Passion grossed $400 million... Christianity must be cool", assuming all $400 of the million came from fanatical Christians. What makes them think that maybe The Passion wasn't considered an event and that a good chunk of the money it made happened to come from Jews, Agnostics and other beliefs that doesn't accept Jesus as the personal savior?

If anything, I'd compare Passion making $400 million to what Schindler's List made ten years ago. Believe it or not, a LOT of non-Jewish people saw the movie, it was an event and an important piece of history. You didn't see any of Hollywood's "power Jews" going "Schindler's List grossed $150 million... being Jewish is so cool!!!" like you saw over The Passion.

a better example, but I hope you don't take it the wrong way. Would be comparing it to how comic book flicks such as Spiderman and X-Men have been blockbusters at the box office. If the only people going to those films were the diehard comic book geeks, they would've grossed 1/100th of what they did. No, people saw the previews, liked what they saw, and went to see those movies because they wanted to see them (even if they weren't followers of the comic book), they heard good word of mouth, the movies were events to go see, etc...

But some Christians get cocky and think that with The Passion, every single person who went to see it has to be really passionate about their religion. And if they're going to say that, then I'll say "I guess people are also really passionate about their comic books and mythological action-hero stories too", since Spiderman and LOTR outgrossed Passion.

Plus, as a gay man, I was very offended by the way People magazine proclaimed "The Passion grossing $400 million == Christianity cool, homosexuality uncool". Since one really begats the other :rolleyes:

Originally posted by barwars
Anyways, as I said before, being cool has absolutely nothing to do with any sort of religion.

tell that to Madonna and Travolta/Cruise, lol

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79

You didn't see any of Hollywood's "power Jews" going "Schindler's List grossed $150 million... being Jewish is so cool!!!" like you saw over The Passion.

But you did see many synagogues urging thier members to go see "Shindler's List" as if it should be their duty to do so.

I meant the marketing was sleazy because the company distributing the dvd's started offering to sell the DVD's in bulk to churches- with free Jesus lithographs or something. The company is trying to sell the dvd's by appearing to come accross as a good, christian company with respect for religion- when in truth they only want to make money

Originally posted by webuster
I meant the marketing was sleazy because the company distributing the dvd's started offering to sell the DVD's in bulk to churches- with free Jesus lithographs or something. The company is trying to sell the dvd's by appearing to come accross as a good, christian company with respect for religion- when in truth they only want to make money

Yeah, that's not too cool.

Here is why it was a terrible movie:


First off, the initial aim of this movie should have been to humanize Jesus. It should have been to show him as a great and saintly person, who was 100% true, and who traveled the world trying to help everyone. Basically, it should have been a biopic. I see alot of biopics, I quite like biopics.

Here is what was wrong with the movie:

-It didnt have decent characters, essential plot elements, or really anything, it worked on an incredibly small scope, and wasted obvious acting talents.

-You learn very little about Jesus, you hardly learn anything he believed or taught. Basically, you watch him go through excruciating pain, which is supposed to guilt trip you into being a Christian, seeing the "sacrifice" he made.

-This should have been more in the vein of Malcolm X, it should have showed Jesus when he was a child, and then showed him travelling around Judea preaching. Christians (should) care more about what Jesus accomplished during his life, than his death. Anyone whose death is more important than their life, did not have a very important life, and Christians most certainly dont believe that about Jesus.

My problem with this film, is that it was essentially softcore gay masochistic porn. You sit around and watch a man with his shirt off get beat by men in skirts. This isnt entertaining to me, especially when it goes on for 15-30 minutes. (I'm in no way homophobic, it didnt even make me uncomfortable, it simply wasnt entertaining.) And how long did he continue to carry the cross? It was just ridiculous.

And trust me, I am well versed in the bible, though I'm an atheist. I went to see this movie with an open mind, and was actually quite excited to see it, I was simply appalled at how terrible it was. I've watched movies that are ridiculously bloody, as well as movies where not a drop is spilled. I wasnt affected by seeing the torture in this movie, I was simply bored out of my mind.


The reason this movie was succesful was not the "movie going public". In fact, this movie did not even target the "movie going public". Instead, it essentially targetted people who probably go to the theater 4 or less times a year. It probably got fans who hadnt even been to the theater in years.

Throughout history, many people have horrible deaths, but the fact remains, you should look to someones life for inspiration, and to a different movie for entertainment.

I still haven't seen this movie- going to rent it this weekend. I saw a little of it at my cousin's house- and from the way it was advertised- it seemed it was more of an event than a movie (religion- particularly Christianity, always seems to turn everything into an event)- a chance for people who are religious to indulge in a more modern form of religion- instead of reading about Jesus' experience- watching him being flogged and brutally put to death for over 2 hours.

Still, I'll have to wait to see the movie to pass final judgement.

Originally posted by ThirteenInchEscape
-You learn very little about Jesus, you hardly learn anything he believed or taught. Basically, you watch him go through excruciating pain, which is supposed to guilt trip you into being a Christian, seeing the "sacrifice" he made.


If Jesus is infact God, he feels no pain. He's a slick Messiah, I'll give him that.

Originally posted by barwars
If Jesus is infact God, he feels no pain.


woah...that's a rock solid argument...I hadnt even considered it.

Originally posted by ThirteenInchEscape
woah...that's a rock solid argument...I hadnt even considered it.

Not really. Every blow Jesus took and every bit of pain he felt was to save the people who believed in him from feeling the pain of their sins later. He went through pain and torture so that his followers wouldn't have to. That's the entire point of the film. It was made to show what this man went through as our Savior so that we didn't have to feel the pain and agony that our sins cause us. He wasn't feeling the pain for himself, he was taking all our pain away.

The movie was made to depict the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus Christ, which in my opinion as a Christian, are the most important hours that he lived. While I do believe that his whole life was important, the main point is to show both believers and non-believers what Jesus went through so that people who believed in him could be saved and forgiven of all sins. Either you believe in it or you don't. I don't think that the movie was made to make anyone feel guilty about not believing by showing the pain Jesus went through.

my friend who is Pagan wants to become Christian after seeing The Passion

Wow, and I was just fascinated by the dvd sales.

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
my friend who is Pagan wants to become Christian after seeing The Passion

That's nice. lol. My dad who was an atheist was still an atheist after seeng The Passion. He didnt believe in God until he won $76,000 at Atlantic City. Now he's like "Maybe God is real." lol.

Originally posted by consentida
Not really. Every blow Jesus took and every bit of pain he felt was to save the people who believed in him from feeling the pain of their sins later. He went through pain and torture so that his followers wouldn't have to. That's the entire point of the film. It was made to show what this man went through as our Savior so that we didn't have to feel the pain and agony that our sins cause us. He wasn't feeling the pain for himself, he was taking all our pain away.

The movie was made to depict the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus Christ, which in my opinion as a Christian, are the most important hours that he lived. While I do believe that his whole life was important, the main point is to show both believers and non-believers what Jesus went through so that people who believed in him could be saved and forgiven of all sins. Either you believe in it or you don't. I don't think that the movie was made to make anyone feel guilty about not believing by showing the pain Jesus went through.



I complenty agree. Jesus at any point could have stopped what was happening but, the son of God, Knew that, that was what his his father God wanted for him. He died on that day to save us sinners. As tara just said.

Religion isn't about making you feel guilty, and if it does maybe it's something that you feel guilty about.