Pontius Pilate releases the violent criminal Barabbas (Anthony Quinn) instead of Jesus. Barabbas returns to his drunken friends to find his lover Rachel (Silvana Mangano) has become one of Jesus' follower. He goes blind for awhile as Jesus is crucified. Rachel gets stoned to death for blasphemy. Barabbas is arrested again for robbing a temple caravan but Pilate tells him that he is not allowed to sentence him to death again. Instead he is sentenced to the sulfur mines in Sicily. He is chained to a Christian Sahak but he still refuses to believe in Christ. After many years, they are brought to Rome and become gladiators under the famous champion Torvald (Jack Palance).
Nobody can claim that the film went cheap on the production. This is a big scale movie of Old Hollywood. The acting is very broad at times. I really didn't like the constant referencing to Jesus in the first half. It becomes too much when he meets Lazarus and the Disciples. Rachel and Sahak are much better conduits for the message. I do like the sulfur mines as a substitute for hell. I would have liked him to find salvation down in the mines. It would be poetic and make the movie shorter.
Nobody can claim that the film went cheap on the production. This is a big scale movie of Old Hollywood. The acting is very broad at times. I really didn't like the constant referencing to Jesus in the first half. It becomes too much when he meets Lazarus and the Disciples. Rachel and Sahak are much better conduits for the message. I do like the sulfur mines as a substitute for hell. I would have liked him to find salvation down in the mines. It would be poetic and make the movie shorter.