I've watched many times, holds up well over time. Still one of the best movies on the life of Jesus. Does a very good job of referencing bible verses, occasionally there are some embellishments but stays aligned with bible context. The acting overall is good, Jeffrey Hunter does a great job and has the presence to play the part. Occasionally there are some weak performances by some of the character actors. It's worth watching even if you're not religious or Christian. Entertaining and relevant.

Besides the poor pacing, a stilted and uncharismatic performance from Jeffrey Hunter as Jesus is the biggest setback in this picture. Good cinematography and some interest set pieces, such as the Sermon on the Mount, are the strongest points. Overall, it has similar problems than those in display at "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965), and it pales in comparison with Pasolini's "Il Vangelo Secondo Mateo" (1963).

The Gospel of Matthew picture attempted to be super adorable by altering the personalities of the Bible characters, giving them a little twist. They believed that by expanding their roles, it would bring more depth to the story. In this version, Barabbas is portrayed as a true rebel leader with a cunning plan, and Judah is his loyal friend. Judah hoped that by pressuring Jesus to display his power, he could protect him from the imminent danger. This is the only reason behind his act of betrayal.

90 percent non Biblical. Not worth watching.

Golden Age Hollywood at its finest, and it even manages to tell a (mostly) true story. I used to watch this on VHS when I was a kid and I had no appreciation then for how vast in scope this movie really is. There are hundreds of extras on massive sets that wouldn't be out of place in Ben-Hur. The story of the life of Jesus is harmonized and condensed from the four Gospels and set against that socio-political backdrop of first century Judea. There's definitely some poetic license taken with the story of Barabbas, but it's made to fit within a coherent and believable story, which culminates in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. A grand tale on a grand scale.

Great movie about the life of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

King of Kings is a large-scale epic telling the story of Jesus and featuring several screen legends and narrated by the great Orson Welles. The film does a good job of visually telling the story of Jesus and while it overall works as a historical epic it is very slow in parts and meanders frequently throughout it's nearly three hour running time. Still it is one of the better done and more well received depictions of the biblical story of Jesus and remains so.

One of the best epics ever ..spectacular scenery and cast of thousands great cast and the first captain of the USS enterprise plays jesus.

If you want to nod off on an Easter weekend afternoon doing something passively religious and then wake up several hours later watching the poor guy being crucified, this is the one to watch. I did enjoy the scene of the Sermon on the Mount (Christianity in a nutshell) and Jeffrey (the Hippy) Hunter pulled it off well. Salome (Brigid Bazlon) came across as convincingly wicked through and through. I'm not sure about Robert Ryan's portrayal of John the Baptist. It was a bit rigid for my money. Ron Randell gave an interesting, conflicted portrayal of Lucius, pulled in two directions. There was some thoughtful work on how each of the characters are effected by their relationship with Jesus and how they start to question their lives, motives and other relationships. Trouble is, lots of us know the ending. It's not like: "Hmm, I wonder who shot JR?"

One of the best portrayals of Christ ever

King of Kings is a wonderful family movie to watch! We watch it every year!

The best inspiring movie ever made! With the best movie score ever composed!

A very Epic Powerful film. The Score from Rozsa is like no other.

An absolute classic.

...or 'Rebel with a Cause'. Nicholas Ray's sprawling life of Christ is the obvious template for Monty Python's later send-up. But despite numerous misjudgments and unintentional laughs there's still enough that's good - not least the performances of Robert Ryan, Frank Thring and yes, even Jeffrey Hunter - to sustain interest. Miklos Rozsa busts a gut with another of his huge scores.

A very inspiring film!

Watching again on TBN 4-2-17. Rip torn Judas. Robert Ryan (leftie) John the Baptist. Brings back memories of '61.

The makers of this had their heart in the right place but it seems disjointed and lacking in realism. The script and acting are like from a school play and I don't think they had a decent grasp of the source material to really bring it to life on the screen. Because of the wooden acting, it falls flat on emotion.

A decent depiction of the life of Jesus. Covers the whole of Jesus' earthly life, from being born in a stable, to His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection. Leaves out His childhood and young adult years, jumping from shortly after His birth to when He first started preaching and performing miracles. The final scenes are particularly powerful, the like of which were not seen again until The Passion of the Christ in 2004. Leaving out His childhood was a mistake in that you don't get the build-up to His later life, as you don't get the earlier indications of His greatness and divinity. Instead we have this almost-parallel story of Barabbas. In the Bible we only hear of Barabbas at Jesus' trial, but here there is a whole sub-plot involving him (how much of which is true, one cannot say). I can only assume this was put there for secular audiences, as his presence gives us some action scenes and makes the movie less single-stranded. Solid performance by Jeffrey Hunter in the lead role. The major supporting cast are mostly fine, but there are some fairly hammy performances out there too. A good movie for both Christians and non-Christians.

Beautiful cinematography with heartbreaking score by Miklos Rozsa, filmed in fascinating Spanish locations, operatic choreography and narration by Orson Welles. The real author of this movie is not the great Nicholas Ray or the pretentious producer, Samuel Bronston, but the celebrated Hungarian composer Milkós Rózsa, who wrote his most memorable musics around 1960, (El Cid, Ben-Hur) but this is his perfectly best. Marvellous colors and settings illustrate the music, what like an opera, is able to tell the complete story without help. We have some feelings, the music was ready before the shooting began (like in Once Upon a Time in the West), but it was adjusted to it in the editing room (often modifying the original concept). A camp Jesus movie from the end of the studio system.