Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment has officially announce that it will release on Blu-ray The Bible: The Epic Miniseries. Produced by Mark Burnett (The Voice, Survivor) and Roma Downey (Touched by an Angel), the epic 10-hour miniseries will be available for purchase online and in stores across the U.S. on April 2.
Featuring hours of never before seen behind-the-scenes footage and making-of featurettes in a stunning high bit rate HD transfer and immersive 5.1 audio, the Blu-ray release of The Bible exclusively feature an all-new cut of the miniseries featuring more of the stories you know in ways you've never seen.
Breathtaking in scope and scale, The Bible features powerful performances, exotic locales and dazzling visual effects that breathe spectacular life into the dramatic tales of faith and courage from Genesis through Revelation. This historic television event is sure to entertain and inspire millions across the globe.
Narrated by Emmy winning actor Keith David, The Bible features a stunning international cast including Portuguese actor, Diogo Morgado as Jesus Christ and beloved actress, Roma Downey as Mother Mary. And for the first time since their award winning collaboration on Gladiator, Oscar and Grammy winning composer Hans Zimmer reunites with acclaimed vocalist Lisa Gerrard to create the majestic musical backdrop for this epic production.
The four-disc Blu-ray set dives deeper into the making of the series and features a behind-the-scenes look at how the groundbreaking docudrama came together. Interviews with producers, directors, and cast illustrate creative collaboration on-set and off and show how the remarkable Moroccan scenery was transformed into the world of the Bible.
Special Features:
The Bible: Genesis – With Mark Burnett and Roma Downey as our guides, we discover how the team approached the daunting task of filming the stories of the Bible
The Cast of The Bible – Highlighting the international cast, we join Mark and Roma on their search for the perfect actors to bring the characters from the Bible to life
The Bible: Creation – An emotional three-part journey through the making of The Bible
Creation I: The Vision, The Look – Discover the vision of producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett in this behind-the-scenes look at how The Bible was created including the incredible team, beautiful location, high-quality production and superb costume design
Creation II: Production Stories – An exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the challenges faced by the production - including the supernatural experiences with snakes on set – plus Diogo's approach to portraying who he has called the most complex figure in human history
Creation III: Crucified & Resurrected – A deeper look into the emotional filming of the crucifixion, resurrection and the last days in Morocco
Scoring The Bible – A rare look into the recording session for the soundtrack of The Bible with genius composer Hans Zimmer and award-winning soloist Lisa Gerrard
Believing in Miracles – The cast and crew relive the magical moments that happened while filming in the deserts of Morocco
The Bible: Visual Effects – A montage of the striking visual effects that make The Bible the most high-quality Biblical epic of all time
So what exactly does this cover? The entire Bible or just the Jesus part of the New Testament (again)? 10 hours is a lot of movie but I don't think you can cover Genesis to Revelations in that timeframe.
Meeklo--They are covering "Genesis to Revelation". So, we I'm expecting to see Adam & Eve, Noah, Moses, etc. before the Birth. Hopefully 5 hours for the Old Testament and 5 hours for the New Testament.
I had to smile a bit when I read that it is produced by Roma Downey, then later in the press release mentions that it stars "beloved actress" Roma Downey.
I've seen ads and it looks CHEEEZY.
If you like a magical Moses (Gandalf) who whips the sea in two it's for you.
Just like everything today, over-wrought production.
@ slimdude - I'm not diminishing anyone's religious beliefs but The bible is just a book of stories like any other, the fact that some choose to follow it's messages as a basis of religion does not make it fact. It's a group of stories written by early man who were trying to grasp and understand our existence and creation, there no scientific basis for any of the content. The book itself has been heavily edited and re-written by the church over the last 2000 years that it's next to impossible to look at it without questioning it's motives or message.
To each their own, but I look at the bible as a regular book, It's importance has more to do with a historical look at how we as a species used to think as opposed to a fact based history and it's certainly not something People should base their life around.
Whatever you nonreligious beliefs may be, keep it to yourself, because others may get offended. If you're an Atheist, that's you prerogative, but don't post your theoretical, blasphemous and moronic opinions towards God on an inappropriate forum, because it makes you look like an natural born idiot... I'm a believer, and I am going to continue on defending God's existence because, He created everything in this world, and without Him, you and everybody else on this earth wouldn't be here.
slimdude, he hasn't said anything that isn't taught in every single class on the Bible in the US and Europe, outside the conservative seminaries (which are a tiny minority nowadays)
Also, this is a miniseries about the Bible, so it is appropriate to mention the contents therein. For instance, the simple truth that nothing in the Bible that is not attested in other sources (Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek, etc) can be said to be history. That's not to say none or most of it didn't happen, it is just to recognize we are dealing with non-historical writings - their authors did not intend to write history. Even 1-2 Chronicles is religious literature and frequently gets the history wrong in order to make a point.
And face it, without us non-theists who like the Bible, no one will know what you believe! Since your approach isn't working. You should thank us.
The Bible is really a whole library with many different typres of writing. There is myth, prose, poetry, actual historyandFaith history which uses stories to proclaim a divine truth . eg. Creation account.W orld not created in 6 twenty four hour periods, such as we define a day. A day simply implies a long period of time. It's is not telling us how exactly the world was created but the faith history that God is the creator. Does not teach us how the heavens go but how to go to heaven.
Mention God, and the devil appears, desperately trying to convince us he doesn't exist. Go ahead, prove me right by hitting that little minus/negative button next to this post. But, even the current fad in thinking that much of the events in the Bible have extra-terrestrial origins is far more plausible and scientifically based than the naive notion that It's a mere flight of "fantasy", one that has astonishingly survived the ages, including the modern scientific one, despite every single word having been so heavily analyzed and scrutinized by believer and non-believer alike for centuries, more than anything ever written. If it's a fool's tale, it's one that's so ingenius, it's fooled some of the most brilliant minds this world has ever recognized with the label. Hardly for just the uneducated and superstitious.
That said, as much as I look forward to seeing this, the Bible isn't a mere historical account to be analytically pondered. It doesn't work that way, whether you're a believer or not. Just transcribing the history to film can't relay what the Bible is actually about: a guidebook for the soul that requires sincerity for one to ever begin to understand.
@MoulinBlu - Does people dressing up as Jedi's or believing in the force make star Wars a religion? No we recognize it as a story and a created universe of characters and stories. Religion should be looked upon the same way, It's a theory that was put forward many years ago that some choose to take inspiration and guidance from. The bible proves nothing, that's not an anti-religious statement it's a factual one
Discussion or rebuttal of the existence of God doesn't really prove anything all it shows is that humans have a questioning nature about our existence and we don't all believe the stories that have been handed down over the centuries. Beliefs and religion change, the fact that the church tried for centuries to hide any scientific advancement going against it's teachings proves that even it knew that times will eventually change, after all dozens of religion existed before Jesus was written about, were the Greeks, Egyptians or Romans wrong for their beliefs?
I saw the trailer - Samson is black. I don't think so. It's clearly stated in the writings he was Hebrew - they aren't black. Politically correctness done to the point of stupidity. It would be like re-making Shaka Zulu with a white blond actor - STUPID. I don't understand people re-working history to please those who are insecure. I grew up knowing Godzilla movies were done in Japan. That all the fairy tales were European. Santa Claus was from the North. It never made me feel left out because I was a white Jew from the Bronx. I also know Shaka Zulu was from Africa (my brother was actual historian). Blending these things together just to appease a group of small minded people is wrong. True acceptance is just that - and realizing we're all very different with different backgrounds, regrets and achievements. When Producers and Directors go out of their way to change things for the sake of political correctness they are actually creating misinformation and fundamentally misgiving information and representation wrongly.
I have The Bible the Epic Miniseries Blu-ray on pre-order. Since even Christian websites are selling this Blu-ray it most likely will be faithful to the historical record. I am very interested in seeing this Blu-ray.
They interviewed Mark Burnett and Roma Downey on Good Morning America and were commenting on the "miracle" of how they were able to achieve so much on a $20M budget. Airs this Sunday on The History Channel.
I saw Roma Downey & Mark Burnett on Bill O'Reilly and I'll watch "The Bible" on Sunday. For the athiests, do you make fun of other religions such as Islam?
@stlcards
I don't make fun of anyone's beliefs, but I try to disabuse people of any delusion they have - I don't discriminate. For a while I actually spoke with muslims more than Christians.
@schoecp
I don't see how "love and forgiveness" are taught by Jesus. Bigotry and racism, on the other hand are clearly taught by your savior.
Jesus didn't teach bigotry & racism. I see bigotry from the atheists. Jesus existed...historical fact. Whether one believes he was the son of God is up to the individual and a matter of faith for many of us. If you don't believe in God, I feel sorry for you. Again, as for "The Bible", I'll watch on Sunday.
@Smart
I'm still reading, but I haven't found any verses where Jesus taught bigotry or racism.
I did find a couple on love and forgiveness:
Jesus said, "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
As He was tortured and crucified on the cross Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."
Curious to see how "The Bible" depicts Jesus' teachings.
@ stlcards - Can you please show us this historical fact that Jesus existed? Besides the bible (which is not a historical record by any means) there is not one mention of Jesus ever existing. Despite several notable historians living at the supposed time of his life, not one of them mentions him or his acts that he is said to have performed. In fact the first documentation of Jesus does not show up until after 80 years after he is said to have died (and it's validity is questioned) Odd that this messiah is said to have changed the world but no one had time to document him or is adventures?
The most likely theory is that the life of Jesus was an invention of later church leaders or persuaded historians with ulterior motives within the church. What is proven is that the life and times of Jesus borrows heavily from previous Messiahs and deities, particularly the Greek god Dionysus and the Egyptian god Horus.
My main problem with Christians is that they take everything for face value, If you do some research you will see that Jesus is just a mish mash or previous stories and in fact there's proof that the church has changed details over the years to make the tale fit their agenda better. Do you know that Jesus was not initially born on December 25th, but the church later changed it to match up closer with the winter solstice? or that Jesus was at first said to have a wife and children but By having these "earthly connections" it made him more human and less Spiritual, so the church erased any mention of his family and made Jesus wife into a prostitute to be sure no one would associate her as his partner. The church is a business and it knows the value of giving the people the message they want.
Don't go making statements like "Jesus existed...historical fact" because it just makes you look uneducated. Having faith is fine but you have to be able to question that faith especially when the facts are right in front of you.
Apart from the hundreds of references to Jesus Christ in the collection of books (written by several different authors) that make up the New Testament, a considerable amount of information about the existence of Jesus can be drawn from secular sources. See the first century writings of Tacitus and Suetonius (Annals), references by Flavius Josephus (Antiquities), Julius Africanus/Thallus (Extant Writings), Pliny the Younger (Letters), the Babylonian Talmud, Lucian of Samosata, Mara Bar-Serapion and of course all the Gnostic writings (The Gospel of Truth, The Apocryphon of John, The Gospel of Thomas, The Treatise on Resurrection, etc.) which all have references to Jesus. Considering that Jesus' ministry was largely confined to a relatively unimportant area in a small corner of the Roman Empire, and that in A.D. 70 Rome invaded and destroyed Jerusalem and most of Israel, it is surprising how much information about the existence of Jesus survived and is available to us today.
Neither Dionysus nor Horus were born of a virgin mother and they were not resurrected after death. Claims that the life of Jesus is based on mythological deities have been largely dismissed by the scholarly community.
The claim, made popular by Dan Brown's "DaVinci Code", that Jesus had a wife and children, is erroneously based on second and third century Gnostic writings such as the Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of Philip. Neither one of these texts provide reliable evidence that Jesus was married.
The Bible does not specify that Jesus was born on December 25th. But let's assume Jesus was actually born on June 25th. How does that detract from the fact that He existed, preached love/forgiveness and came to earth to provided a pathway to eternal life in heaven? It doesn't. If anything, it's cause to celebrate His birth 365 days a year, not just on Christmas Day.
Here are more in-depth details regarding the Bible mini-series. This Blu-ray is very accurate to the historical record. The History channel is even going to air the mini-series.
Jesus of Nazareth is mentioned in the Jewish Histories written by the historian Josephus as a man who did indeed live , also the wrter Tacitus mentions the existence of Jesus of Nazareth. ps no record of exact birth of Jesus.
This miniseries is plain shit, saw parts 1 and 2 last night and had to cringe through most of the "acting" and dialogue on the screen, not to mention the effects were so bad, they made Once Upon A Time look like Life of Pi.
