Pretentious

I don't know. . I saw it when it came out and it was revolting. Many people in the theater left. I almost did, but I decided to see where it would go. What was Mel Gibson thinking???

Because whether you believe in the story or not, the crucifixion really did happen. That's historical fact. The horrendous, horrible way the Romans flogged and crucified people is horrible to behold, and to anyone have to go through this is utterly gut-wrenching.

Not that you factor in that it's the core of Christianity - which is still the largest sect of religions in the Western World - you will see that people wanted to understand, to see, to feel the depth of what really happened.

Was it 100% historically accurate? No. Was it close? Yes. Just the bare facts- having the skin and tissue torn from your back by a whip with pieces of metal and bone in it; to have a crown with 2" thorns thrust down on and into your head; after that to drag at 150 pound cross (uphill) to your place of execution, then have nails driven into your wrists and ankles, lifted, and forced to push up against the pain just to breathe, until at last, you succumb. (Death during crucifixion was by asphyxiation.)

The main part of this movie, was that the effects were far more realistic that previous movies. It was a gory, bloody affair, and that was portrayed here.

I watched it when it came out on DVD. I haven't been able to watch it since. If you want to read clinically what happened to a human, then look at this article by two Forensic pathologists, who researched deeply the physical suffering and cause of death of Joshua Bar Joseph. (Jesus' real name.)

http://people.bethel.edu/~pferris/ot103/Jesus_Crucifixion.pdf

..Joe

None of those movies matched the success of passion of the Christ so draw your own conclusion and try to imagine why it was so popular.

Are you really missing the fact that the passion play is perceived to be accurate to 76% of the audience as opposed to perceived sacrilege of the films like Last Temptation of Christ.