Search - Mel Gibson's Passion: ABC Primetime Live Interview With Mel Gibson by Diane Sawyer on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Movie Release: 2004 DVD Release: 03/09/2004 Format: DVD Edition: Television SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 0 hrs 40 mins Studio: MPI Home Video Total Copies: 1 Genres: Film, TV & Radio, Biography, Religions & Belief Systems, Media Studies

Mel Gibson sat down for a lengthy interview with Diane Sawyer in order to help raise awareness of the film he was soon to release in theaters nationwide, The Passion of the Christ. During the course of the interview Gibson defends himself and his film from charges of anti-Semitism, explains his motivation for making the film, and occasionally lashes out at those who have chosen to take an adversarial stance toward the film. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

In order to help build an audience for his foreign-language, subtitled film about the final hours of Jesus' life, Mel Gibson courted controversy by showing the film to a select few religious organizations and to media outlets who would be prone to having a sympathetic attitude toward the film. Gibson appeared on Primetime Live, where he was interviewed by Diane Sawyer. The goal of the interview, depending on one's point of view, was either to add to the hype about the film's controversial anti-Semitism in order to drive ticket sales, or to allow Gibson a chance to simply defend himself from the anti-Semitic accusations that had been hurled at his film and him personally. This DVD presents that entire episode of Primetime Live. It is presented in its original broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The English soundtrack does a fine job of capturing the original broadcast audio. There are no supplemental materials of any consequence, but as a companion to The Passion of The Christ and/or a lesson in movie marketing this is a fascinating DVD. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide