Just the cast alone is enough to grab your attention. But on top of that, the staging, the meticulous artistic finish, the performances and gestures, as well as every single word, make this a truly great film.

_The Greatest Story Ever Told_ is an overly artistic biblical epic. The film follows the story of Jesus Christ, as told in the Gospels. An extraordinary cast has been assembled, featuring Max von Sydow, Charlton Heston, Claude Rains, Telly Savalas, Martin Landau, Donald Pleasence, Roddy McDowall, and John Wayne. For the most part the performances are pretty good, though von Sydow isn’t very charismatic as Jesus. And director George Stevens seems to be more focused on the aesthetic look of the scenes than the emotional drama. Although, to be fair the sets and costume designs are impressive (Oscar nominated even). Over bloated and interminably long, _The Greatest Story Ever Told_ takes on too much and the film suffers for it.