Highest-Rated Movies about '1st Century'

Life of Brian (1979), Ben-Hur (1959), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), The Passion of the Christ (2004), History of the World: Part I (1981), The Robe (1953), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best 1st Century movies.

#1. Life of Brian (1979)

Storyline: The story of Brian of Nazareth, born on the same day as Jesus of Nazareth, who takes a different path in life that leads to the same conclusion. Brian joins a political resistance movement aiming to get the Romans out of Judea. Brian scores a victory of sorts when he manages to paint political slogans on an entire wall in the city of Jerusalem. The movement is not very effective but somehow Brian becomes a prophet and gathers his own following. His fate is sealed however and he lives a very short life.

Plot Keywords: satire, british comedy, reference to jesus christ, pubic hair, religion, crucifixion, absurdism ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#2. Ben-Hur (1959)

Storyline: Judah Ben-Hur lives as a rich Jewish prince and merchant in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 1st century. Together with the new governor his old friend Messala arrives as commanding officer of the Roman legions. At first they are happy to meet after a long time but their different politic views separate them. During the welcome parade a roof tile falls down from Judah's house and injures the governor. Although Messala knows they are not guilty, he sends Judah to the galleys and throws his mother and sister into prison. But Judah swears to come back and take revenge.

Plot Keywords: roman empire, gay subtext, ancient rome, gay interest, sea, jew, reference to god ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#3. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

Storyline: The carpenter, Jesus of Nazareth, tormented by the temptations of demons, the guilt of making crosses for the Romans, pity for men and the world, and the constant call of God, sets out to find what God wills for Him. But as His mission nears fulfillment, He must face the greatest temptation; the normal life of a good man. Based, not on the Gospels, but on Nikos Kazantzakis' novel of the same name.

Plot Keywords: fasting, surrealism, christianity, betrayal, wedding, temple, murder ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#4. Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

Storyline: Based on a concept album project written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, and the subsequent long-running Broadway performance, this film tells the story of the final 6 days in the life of Jesus Christ through the troubled eyes of Judas Iscariot. Too often mis-labeled a musical, this film is a "rock opera." There are no spoken lines, everything is sung.

Plot Keywords: palestinian, palestine, betrayal, roman, suicide, christianity, christian ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#5. The Passion of the Christ (2004)

Storyline: A depiction of the last twelve hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, on the day of his crucifixion in Jerusalem. The story opens in the Garden of Olives where Jesus has gone to pray after the Last Supper. Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, the controversial Jesus--who has performed 'miracles' and has publicly announced that he is 'the Son of God'--is arrested and taken back within the city walls of Jerusalem. There, the leaders of the Pharisees confront him with accusations of blasphemy; subsequently, his trial results with the leaders condemning him to his death. Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate, the prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, for his sentencing. Pilate listens to the accusations leveled at Jesus by the Pharisees. Realizing that his own decision will cause him to become embroiled in a political conflict, Pilate defers to King Herod in deciding the matter of how to persecute Jesus. However, Herod returns Jesus to Pilate who, in turn, gives the crowd a choice between ...

Plot Keywords: suffering, torture, brutality, whipping, violence, character name in title, based on the bible ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#6. History of the World: Part I (1981)

Storyline: From the dawn of man to the distant future, mankind's evolution (or lack thereof) is traced. Often ridiculous but never serious, we learn the truth behind the Roman Emperor, we learn what really happened at the Last Supper, the circumstances that surrounded the French Revolution, how to test eunuchs, and what kind of shoes the Spanish Inquisitor wore.

Plot Keywords: prehistoric times, written and directed by cast member, urination, wig, unemployment, stand up comedian, king ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#7. The Robe (1953)

Storyline: Marcellus is a tribune in the time of Christ. He is in charge of the group that is assigned to crucify Jesus. Drunk, he wins Jesus' homespun robe after the crucifixion. He is tormented by nightmares and delusions after the event. Hoping to find a way to live with what he has done, and still not believing in Jesus, he returns to Palestine to try and learn what he can of the man he killed.—John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>

Plot Keywords: palestine, christianity, crucifixion, robe, roman empire, torture chamber, ancient rome ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#8. The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)

Storyline: "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?" It is towards this climactic crossroads that the story of Jesus of Nazareth leads, and to which, at the final moment, it again looks back in triumphant retrospect. It is the anguishing crossroads where the eternal questions of faith and doubt become resolved.—alfiehitchie

Plot Keywords: main character dies, based on the bible, christianity, jerusalem, religion, 1st century, epic ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#9. The Da Vinci Code (2006)

Storyline: Dan Brown's controversial best-selling novel about a powerful secret that's been kept under wraps for thousands of years comes to the screen in this suspense thriller from Director Ron Howard. The stately silence of Paris' Louvre museum is broken when one of the gallery's leading curators is found dead on the grounds, with strange symbols carved into his body and left around the spot where he died. Hoping to learn the significance of the symbols, police bring in Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), a gifted cryptographer who is also the victim's granddaughter. Needing help, Sophie calls on Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), a leading symbolized from the United States. As Sophie and Robert dig deeper into the case, they discover the victim's involvement in the Priory of Sion, a secret society whose members have been privy to forbidden knowledge dating back to the birth of Christianity. In their search, Sophie and Robert happen upon evidence that could lead to the final resting place of the Holy ...

Plot Keywords: based on supposedly true story, male nudity, male full rear nudity, no opening credits, crucifix, reference to god, monastery ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#10. Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018)

Storyline: Roma, 67 AD. After the great fire that burnt a great part of the city, Emperor Nero points Paul, Jesus' apostle, as guilty of the fire, arresting him and taking him to Mamertine Prison. There prefect Mauritius struggles between his daughter Caelia, who suffers an unknown disease, and his job as warden of the prison commanded by own Nero, that he is considers as a failure on his military carrier. Despite the risks for the Christians, physician and medicine man Luke arrives Roma from Greek Islands to find Paul, living in the house of Aquila and Priscilla, two former Romans turned in Christians that they use their home as shelter for others Roman Christians to save them from Nero's soldiers, who kill all Christians they find, torturing and using them as human candles to light Roma's streets at night. After realizing that Paul is in Mamertine, Luke get access to the jail and he meets Paul, who accepts Luke's request to tell his biography to be known before he is executed by Nero, writing it in a new book about Gospel and Jesus' teachings. Meanwhile Luke writes detailing the beginnings of "The Way" and the birth of what will come to be known as the church, a bound on chains Paul fights the inner demons of his remembers as survivor of much-floggings, shipwreck, starvation, stoning, hunger and thirst, cold and exposure-yet, waiting for his appointment with death and haunted by the shadows of his violent past, wondering if he has been forgotten and if he has the strength to finish well. Mauritius, discovering Luke's intrusion, tries use it to earn Nero's favor in the belief that Paul will confess to be who burnt Roma. Intriguished by Luke, Mauritius permits more meetings between Luke and Paul to disgust of Mauritius' wife Irenica, who lives in eternal suffering by Caelia's ill. Due to the increase of violence by a young Christians looking for vengeance, Priscilla and Aquila doubt to leave Roma with the people saved or stay to save more Romans, at the same time that Luke's life and his efforts for the book endangers by Mauritius' ambitions. With time running out, Luke faces his destiny, that not only will changes everything around him, too around the world.—Chockys

Plot Keywords: christianity, persecution, imprisonment, reference to jesus christ, friendship, prayer, trust ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#11. Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954)

Storyline: The story picks up at the point where "The Robe (1953)" ends, following the martyrdom of Diana and Marcellus. Christ's robe is conveyed to Peter for safe-keeping, but the emperor Caligula wants it back to benefit from its powers. Marcellus' former slave Demetrius seeks to prevent this, and catches the eye of Messalina, wife to Caligula's uncle Claudius. Messalina tempts Demetrius, he winds up fighting in the arena, and wavers in his faith.—Ron Kerrigan <mvg@whidbey.com>

Plot Keywords: escape attempt, superstition, soldier, slavery, seduction, roman empire, prayer ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#12. The Last Days of Pompeii (1935)

Storyline: Peaceloving blacksmith Marcus refuses lucrative offers to fight in the arena...until his wife dies for lack of medical care. His life as a gladiator coarsens him, and shady enterprises make him the richest man in Pompeii, while his son Flavius (who met Jesus on a brief visit to Judaea) is as gentle as Marcus once was. The final disaster of Marcus and Flavius's cross purposes is interrupted by the eruption of Vesuvius.—Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>

Plot Keywords: based on novel, irony, jerusalem, materialism, miracle, orphan, puppet show ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#13. Risen (2016)

Storyline: Follows the epic Biblical story of the Resurrection, as told through the eyes of a non-believer. Clavius, a powerful Roman Military Tribune, and his aide Lucius, are tasked with solving the mystery of what happened to Yahshua in the weeks following the crucifixion, in order to disprove the rumors of a risen Messiah and prevent an uprising in Jerusalem.

Plot Keywords: reference to jesus christ, investigation, disciple, exhumation, interrogation, manhunt, resurrection ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#14. Mary Magdalene (2018)

Storyline: Judea, 33 AD. Mary is a faithful young girl from the village of Magdala (close to Galilea Lake) unsure to follow the traditions and destiny reserved to the women, living only as wife and mother, in her wish to be free. After to reject a marriage proposal of Ephraim, a family friend, her brother Daniel and her father Elisha make her an exorcism in the belief that she is possessed by a demon. Trying to find a solution Elisha asks help Jesus, a healer who is earning fame between the Jews of the zone with his speeches about a kingdom of peace and love free of hate, tyranny, oppression and prosecution, to heal Mary and that finally she obeys and submits to their will. Astonished by the charisma, personality and words of Jesus, Mary decides to follow him despite the strong opposition of her family. She meets a few men who too walk with Jesus as Peter, Andrew, James, John and Judas, who have their personal interests and ideas about Jesus' words and his revolution. At the same time that Mary feels more passionate about Jesus and his vision of the world and people, Peter starts to feel a progressive resentment to her, in the belief that Mary's presence in the group weakens Jesus and his message, who each time pays more attention to her. Arriving at Jerusalem, Jesus and his apostles try to transmit the message against Roman Empire and Jews' authorities, but the events soon will turn dramatically against Jesus, as well as the confrontation between Mary and Peter about Jesus' not only will change they both, too will change the whole world.—Chockys

Plot Keywords: religion, baptism, jesus christ character, belief, treason, crucifixion, jerusalem ...

Movie Details Click Here!