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King of Kings

King of Kings

Drama · History · 1961

Who is Jesus, and why does he impact all he meets? He is respected and reviled, emulated and accused, beloved, betrayed, and finally crucified. Yet that terrible fate would not be the end of the story.

Movie details

King of Kings

“Of good and evil, of love and hate, of peace and war.”

1961 Drama · History 2h 51m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.1 / 10

Community rating

Who is Jesus, and why does he impact all he meets? He is respected and reviled, emulated and accused, beloved, betrayed, and finally crucified. Yet that terrible fate would not be the end of the story.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over King of Kings?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Jesus Christ Superstar

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Yale University, 1961. Stanley Milgram designs a psychology experiment that still resonates to this day, in which people think they’re delivering painful electric shocks to an affable stranger strapped into a chair in another room. Despite his pleads for mercy, the majority of subjects don’t stop the experiment, administering what they think is a near-fatal electric shock, simply because they’ve been told to do so. With Nazi Adolf Eichmann’s trial airing in living rooms across America, Milgram strikes a nerve in popular culture and the scientific community with his exploration into people’s tendency to comply with authority. Celebrated in some circles, he is also accused of being a deceptive, manipulative monster, but his wife Sasha stands by him through it all.

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The Last Temptation of Christ

Drama · 1988

Jesus, a humble Judean carpenter beginning to see that he is the son of God, is drawn into revolutionary action against the Roman occupiers by Judas -- despite his protestations that love, not violence, is the path to salvation. The burden of being the savior of mankind torments Jesus throughout his life, leading him to doubt.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Nicholas Ray

Written by

Philip Yordan

Jeffrey Hunter

Jeffrey Hunter

Jesus

Siobhán McKenna

Siobhán McKenna

Mary

Hurd Hatfield

Hurd Hatfield

Pontius Pilate

Ron Randell

Ron Randell

Lucius

Viveca Lindfors

Viveca Lindfors

Claudia

Rita Gam

Rita Gam

Herodias

Carmen Sevilla

Carmen Sevilla

Mary Magdalene

Court is in session

Put King of Kings on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.