Jesus Christ Superstar Live Arena Tour [Blu-ray]

Superstar is one of my favorite pieces of music. I never thought I would like an presentation compared to the original. I was wrong. This is the best production I've seen or heard. Tim Minchin is the best Judas I've seen/heard. Andrew Lloyd Webber says the same in a commentary.

It's safe to say, I'm in love. Those eyes, that voice. Tim Minchin is fantastic... actually makes you feel slightly sympathetic for Judas, and I don't quite know how I feel about that.

LOVE this movie!!

I wasn't sure about this because it is a restaging of the recently updated (Y2K) stage show revival of this classic. This production is very simple and is not as "heavy" or broad in staging as the version that aired in the US on PBS. Once.I'm divided on the performances. This is a more adoring direction choice for the players and Jesus' character is a bit more subdued yet direct than in the Gale Edwards production, though the staging itself is extremely simple but effective. I've seen many minimalist productions on stage and this is not ultra-stripped down, but it's pretty simple: A very large, high riser steps setup that is adjustable is able to provide depth and space for action without much in the way of props or set dressing. Very cleverly done, the lighting is good and most of the perspective you have as a viewer is more as a member of the audience in front of which this was recorded.I would have made some other choices for audio, but it's all live, not really anything done in post beyond the mix and all that normal stuff for live recordings. I detected no adr or redubbed music.A bit distractingly, especially considering this was a British audience, was the reaction to a couple of players as they came on stage. I was hoping to not have any of that nonsense in a UK production in front of a UK audience. Ah, well.The soundtrack is well done though I would have mic'd the performers differently, but I'm picky like that. You are definitely aware that this is a stage show.This production is not dripping with the dread and doom of the Edwards production and, for some reason, I could not find myself as emotionally invested in what I was seeing as with the Edwards production, but the soundtrack is terrific.Some people greatly prefer this version, some, like myself, prefer the Edwards version. I think they are both similar in some ways (orchestration, for example, some stage direction) but are very different stylistically and the characters are played quite differently.I'm sure that in another ten years, there will be yet another good new production, though I think it's worth pointing out that Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber himself was "all up in this jam" and that this production involves many of the details HE had envisioned even back in the original run nearly 50 years ago.This is shot in video, not on film, so it's very clean looking. That may be part of what I don't like about this, I don't know. Overall, well done and you may prefer it to the other versions. Worth getting, especially at this price, for your collection.

I'd do 3 1/2 stars if Amazon let us do halves, but Tim Minchin largely tips the balance between pros and cons. This is not me speaking as a fan (admittedly, he is why I bought the DVD), but because as Judas is the emotional center of the play, they gave the role to by far the strongest actor and singer in the cast. Ben Forster as Jesus holds his own next to Minchin, but if the roles were reversed, the emotional weight of the characters would have been atrociously off-kilter in my opinion.I've seen some truly amazing Herod performances in past productions and one with Dennis DeYoung from Styx as Pilate that brought that role to a whole new starring level. So perhaps the bar has been set too high for those two roles for me? Mel C - I didn't quite feel the connection between her and Forster, but she's still a great singer and takes the "sacredness" of the classic role seriously. The whole play remains a timeless masterpiece whose music easily translates 40+ years later.The theme (and I say "no spoilers" because it is not at all a surprise, established first thing, before the music even starts) is setting the play against the backdrop of contemporary progressive, socio-political protests along the lines of the Occupy movements born in the US. Positively brilliant! As if having one of the world's most outspoken anti-theism atheists in a starring role isn't enough to hint that this isn't a play meant to bible-thump and preach religion.Let's face it: If Jesus of the canon gospels existed as a living, historical person - the man, not the god-man, and that is explicitly what the play has always centered on - and if that person were alive in the West today, he'd be in the 99%, not the 1%. He'd be one of the protesters holding "People before Profit" signs, not a Republican in a business suit demonizing the poor and whining that health care is akin to Nazism.The set theme here in that regard is brilliant; putting the Pharisees and Pilate in rich/conservative power roles against the street-demonstrators look of "The Twelve" and the rest of the Jesus followers. It builds well in Act I on mob mentality and how demonstrators can easily get caught up in the frenzy and lose sight of what exactly they're protesting, of holding up a cult of personality ahead of an ideal. Again; this is what the play itself has always been about. Again, absolute brilliance.Which is why it's frustrating to see that theme dissolve throughout Act II into virtual non-existence by the end.But then again, isn't that also an underlying theme of the play? (If you've never seen/listened to a production of Superstar before and are completely new to the play, then the rest of this review could constitute a spoiler).Open with the populist, moderate-Christian message of power-to-the-little-people, brought to climax by "Hosanna," but juxtaposed by several contradictory acts and ideals which, by the end, have the godly aspects of the Jesus story making little to no real sense. At least, that's how it always struck me as a child and, though raised Christian, I credit Jesus Christ Superstar as one of the elements in my life that always kept me questioning the faith and eventually led to my own admission that it held no more credibility than any other god-hero mythology wielded as a tool to control the masses (if a fascinatingly, frighteningly successful one). By the end of the play, as by the end of the Jesus story itself in canon scripture, it all just kind of runs out of steam and you're left trying to reconcile why forgiveness can't be just forgiveness without a blood sacrifice.Which brings us back to the brilliance of the role of Judas as not only emotional but rational lynchpin of the play, and having that underscored about as hard as one can by putting Tim Minchin in the role. The aforementioned show I saw years ago with Dennis DeYoung as Pilate - he gave me chills in the role, bringing the social angst of the character to all new levels. Tim Minchin gives me similar chills here. You can positively see his character sussing out the contradictions in the Jesus story, connecting the dots between man and myth and painfully frustrated that no one else among the followers seems to comprehend what is right in front of them.Bottom line: This production is well worth seeing for the brilliance of the theme through Act i and Mincin's performance throughout, even if that theme and so much of its potential to connect has fizzled out by the end.

I have been a fan of this production since it first came out in the 1970’s. This is the best version I have seen. I saw the movie that was made in the 70’s and it is ok but it’s a 70’s type movie. The one John Legend did was excellent but it wasn’t the original score. I suggest you watch all three and choose which you like the best. I like this version, that’s why I bought the dvd so I can watch it without trying to stream it.

Soy fanático de esta obra desde que la vi en el cine a principio de los años 70. Hace un par de años vi esta nueva versión en Netflix y me encantó. Este año la volví a buscar en varias plataformas y al no encontrarla decidí comprarme este BluRay! La acabo de volver a ver y estoy muy satisfecho con la calidad. Hay obras que son necesarias en una videoteca y ésta, definitivamente, es una de ellas!

Went to the theatre recently to see Jesus Christ Superstar and enjoyed it so much I got this DVD of the arena version. Actually enjoy the DVD version more than the live one.

Wonderful, Sound Great.

JC Superstar es mi disco favorito desde que lo escuché en la versión de Ian Gillan y Murray head antes incluso de ver la película en el cine. Fascinado por la peli, llevo desde entonces buscando y tragándome versiones mediocres del musical y representaciones que nunca llegaron a gustarme tanto en directo como en dvd. Gillan y Neeley pusieron el listón demasiado altoPero este Blu-ray es otra cosa.... Me parece una adaptación impresionante. Los protagonistas están formidables (Judas y la Magdalena de Mel C están increíbles), Jesús está tambien muy bien, (mejor como cantante que como actor), y el resto del elenco perfecto cada uno en su papel. El montaje de la Obertura te deja asombrado por el enfoque tan original y la estética tan impactante y desde ahí todo va hacia arriba. La canción de Herodes, originalísima y en fin un 10 a todos los aspectos. Sonido e imagen impecable...Así que solo queda la pena de no haberlo podido ver en directo.Espero que a algún fan de la obra le haya sido útil la reseña y disfrute tanto como yo de esta versión.

Eine sehr gute Aufnahme der Tour. Super Inszenierung.