Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

★ 7.1 1h 48m IMDb

Drama History

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.

Where to Watch

Checking 300+ streaming services for this title. Check back soon.

Rent / Buy

No rental or purchase options available yet.

Cast

Ted Neeley as Jesus Christ Age 82 · Ranger, Texas, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ted Neeley (born Teddie Joe Neeley on September 20, 1943 in Ranger, Texas) is a rock and roll drummer, singer, actor, composer, and record producer. He is proba...

Carl Anderson as Judas Iscariot Died 2004 · Lynchburg, Virginia, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Carl Anderson (February 27, 1945 – February 23, 2004) was an American singer, film and theatre actor best known for his portrayal of Judas Iscariot in the Broad...

Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene Age 74 · Honolulu, Hawaii, USA Yvonne Marianne Elliman (born December 29, 1951) is an American singer who performed for four years in the first cast of Jesus Christ Superstar. She scored a number of hits in the 1970s and achieved...

Barry Dennen as Pontius Pilate Died 2017 · Chicago, Illinois, USA Barry Dennen (February 22, 1938–September 26, 2017) was an American actor, singer, and writer. Dennen was born in Chicago, Illinois. In New York City from 1960 to 1963, he had a relationship with Ba...

Bob Bingham as Caiaphas Died 2025 · Seattle - Washington - USA Robert 'Bob' Bingham born 29 October 1946 in Seattle, Washington U.S. is an actor and singer. Bingham is most remembered for playing the role of Caiaphas in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's rock ope...

Director Norman Jewison

Cast Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Elliman, Barry Dennen, Bob Bingham, Larry Marshall, Josh Mostel, Kurt Yaghjian, Paul Thomas, Pi Douglass

Andres Gomez 8/10 Mar 29, 2016

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.

CinemaSerf 6/10 Apr 02, 2023

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...