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Item Description...
The best-selling religious drama series comes to DVD. This 6-part collection includes: Abraham, David, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Samson and Delilah
Additional Information The best-selling religious drama series comes to DVD. This 6-part collection includes:
Abraham, David, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Samson and Delilah
In this inspiring tale from the biblical book of Genesis, young shepherd Jacob (Matthew Modine) falls in love with and wants to marry pretty Rachel (Lara Flynn Boyle), the daughter of his Uncle Laban (Giancarlo Giannini). Lacking a dowry, Jacob toils seven years as his uncle's indentured servant to win Rachel's hand -- only to have the calculating Laban dupe him into another seven years of labor. Irene Papas portrays Jacob's iron-willed mother.
Item Specifications...
ISBN 0780649516 EAN 9780780649514 UPC 053939689426
Record Label Turner Home Ent
Format Closed-captioned / Color / Subtitled /
Dimensions: Length: 7.1" Width: 5.42" Height: 0.58" Weight: 0.2 lbs.
Binding DVD
PublisherWORD ACCT# W41160193
Availability 71 units. Availability accurate as of Nov 20, 2009 06:50.
Usually ships within one to two business days from New Kensington, PA.
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Star studded, accurate to Bible, but underwhelming in delivery Feb 25, 2007
The story of Jacob from the Bible is fairly faithfully retold in no-nonsense terms in this movie directed by Sir Peter Hall. Matthew Modine plays Jacob, Sean Bean is his brother Esau whose inheritance and blessing he steals. He leaves to avoid his brother's wrath and to seek a wife from Laban. He ends up with more than he bargained for - two wifes and 14 years later, he returns home to face his brother.
Hall was better known for his theatre work - this makes for strong adherence to the source material, but not the most gripping cinematic experience. Having said that, the acting is fine, especially from the women. Lara Flynn Boyle makes an early appearance here as Rachel, Jacob's true love. The rest of the cast has some fine character actors such as Irene Papas and Joss Ackland as Rebekah and Isaac, and the prolific Giancarlo Giannini as Laban. The class extends to the music, written by Ennio Morricone. The central role of Jacob is thin however, Modine failing to exhibit the charisma, inner strength and spiritual life it must be assumed Jacob had.
Sensibly, periods we know little to nothing about are skipped, and the story focuses on the classic elements we know from the Bible. Moments which could be over the top such as wrestling with the angel and Jacob's Ladder, are told or shown in a down to earth way which is appropriate.
The fine acting, authentic feel and appropriate music all make this the best it could be, but cannot hide the fact that this is not the most cinematic story. If you have an interest in the Bible, you will get something out of this, if you are looking for an exciting or enthralling movie, maybe this is not your best starting place. Would have been 4 stars except for Matthew Modine's lack of conviction in the role.
Very Well Done! Feb 18, 2007
This entire series of Bible stories by this Italian production group is simply splendid. These are relatively low cost films but they are very skillfully produced to maximize the quality of the story being told. Of course we Christians and Jews will sit around and pontificate about every little error or short cut the movie script incurs, never the less, it is ultimately left to the actors and directors and their considerable skill to pull off what I consider to be, for the most part, some of the most successfully done Bible story dramatizations that have ever been produced on film, with or without a big budget. My favorite is the story of Abram, the movie Joseph coming in a close second along with the movie, Moses, coming in a close third or even equalling Joseph. All of the rest of these movies hoover in second or third place together as far as I'm concerned. Bravo bravo - Please make more! My five stars applies to this complete series of movies - Obviously some are done a little better than others, but the effort is exemplary.
There should be (alot) more of this on television Nov 5, 2006
This is one of a series of made for TV movies that were produced in the 1990s to recount various Biblical Old Testament tales. Don't let the `made for TV' aspect turn you off this, this movie (and series) is well done. This movie tells the Genesis story of the brothers Jacob and Esau. Esau is the older brother, but Jacob tricks him out of his dying father's blessing. At the encouragement of his mother, Jacob flees to his uncle's family and begins life anew there, starting from nothing. His hard work and faith in God are ultimately (after 14 years of servitude to his uncle) rewarded by God and he eventually has twelve sons of his own and is the head of a great family. The acting is superb, the cinematography great, and the production quality high. In fact, I would say that in many ways films of this series are superior to the blockbuster epics of the 50s and 60s such as Ben Hur. In particular, I think that the production team did a good job of making an entertaining story, but at the same time preserving the Biblical message behind the story. The message is more important than the film, not really the case in Ben Hur like epics with casts of thousands. In this case, the message is that God is always with you and has a plan for you, even though your life may have many ups and downs. Another thing that I liked about this film (and the series in general) is that the production team kept the story to it's Biblical, non-denominational minimum. There was little or no effort (at least that I could discern) at putting a denominational (either Christian or Jewish) spin. A terrific dramatization of the events and message of the Bible - highly recommended.
Cussing in a Bible Movie Mar 27, 2006
Loved some of the other titles by the same company but we were extremely disappointed to hear Esau cussing 3 different times in the movie! We easily could have understood his anger without the profanity. Some creative liberties were taken as well, but they didn't harm the Biblical account too harshly. A few scenes weren't how the Bible depicted it but no doctine was damaged by the changes presented. It was basically the language. The wrestling scene was poorly done and Esau's reaction to Jacob's return wasn't presented 100% Biblical but no harm there. The best feature was the representation of the family dinamics between the sons and their parents... especially Jacob's actions at the coersion of his mother, but the language prevents me from sharing it freely with my children or other church members.
Jacob Dec 12, 2005
If not for being the story of a servant of God, I would have given this film a much lower rating. Although I love Matthew Modine as an actor, I feel that the character Jacob was casted poorly. I am ashamed to say that his was perhaps the best casted character in the film. The sets were poorly constructed and the acting left something to be desired. I felt that this telling of the story of Jacob was hastily done and the key events held none of the profound quality that they should have. Many of the choices the director made in depicting certain scenes were almost so weak that it made me feel that there was nothing significantly special about Jacob. If I hadn't already read and was familiar with the story of Jacob, my watching of this film would have left me uninterested in learning more about the man.
