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Rating:  - Well Made Biblical Epic But Many Scenes Are Fictitious Additions
This film offers a serious, respectful and well made treatment of the Bible's story of Abraham. It starts with Abraham being told by God that he should seek out a new land where "I will make you into a great nation". The movie ends with the scene of Abraham offering his son, Issac, as a sacrifice to God. It was shot on location in the Middle East, features some fine acting from Richard Harris and Barbara Hershey and possesses a reasonably high degree of historical accuracy.
However, viewers should keep in mind that many scenes included in this film do not come from the Bible itself. But are instead fictitious stories made up by the filmakers. The chronology of biblical events is also switched around and certain details are changed. For example, in the movie Eliezer from Damacus is given an expanded role as a man Abraham discovers dying of thirst in the desert while trying to escape from slavery. Eliezer then becomes Abraham's closest friend and confidant. However, in the the Bible Eliezer receives only a passing mention - as a household servant who Abraham is worried will inherit his estate if he dies childless. I could offer many more examples where the movie differs from the biblical account.
To some extent this is understandable because the Bible's story of Abraham is quite short, with the first hour of the movie drawn from only a single page of biblical text. However, I would have preferred that the film have shortened it's length from over 3 hours to 2 hours or less in order to follow the biblical story more closely. I am not saying this because I am a biblical literalist. Actually, my interest in religon is more intellectual than faith based. However, I do believe in preserving the integrity of this important, ancient text which countless people throughout world history have believed to be sacred.
This is still a movie worth watching. But I do recommend that you compare the film's scenes to what actually occurs in the Bible.
Rating: - Authentic portrayal of life of Abraham
Joseph Sargent, director of countless TV episodes and movies of everything from `Star Trek' and `Gunsmoke' to the movie `Jaws: The Revenge', does an admirable job of telling the story of Abraham here over 3 hours. It certainly has an authentic feel to it, but critically it scores plaudits for portraying Abraham in such a human, down to earth and easy to understand way.
Richard Harris heads a starry cast, making us really believe in the reality of a man who became the father of nations. All the key moments are shown, through from deciding to leave Haran for Egypt, through to the births of his sons Ishmael and Isaac, and the final altar scene with Isaac. This is an apt place to end, for the underlying theme shown is that of sacrifice and loving God above all. When sacrificing, Isaac is reminded by his father to `pick the lamb you love the most, for in this way you are showing God you put him before all'. It is this underlying understanding of the seemingly old fashioned concept of burnt sacrifice that is all too relevant to us today.
For a TV movie, the production values are not bad, and mostly on location - the only let down moment being the destruction of Sodom which is only glimpsed and what we do glimpse is poorly done.
However, the restrained way in which the other key events are shown are very realistic, and the cast all add significant gravitas to proceedings. Other key performers are Maximillian Schell as the Pharaoh - surprisingly effective, and Barbara Hershey as Sara, Abrahams wife.
Recommended not just for those already familiar with the story, but as a good summary for those discovering the story for the first time.
Rating:  - All star cast.
Very accurate according to the Bible. Great cast and very clean. Would definatly recommend this movie to my family. Actually, most of them have already seen it. Barbara Hershey did such a wonderful job.
Rating: - My Favorite of this Series
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.
Rating: - An Excellent Account
I think that this was the first movie made for the Bible Collection. It set a high standard for excellence in terms of presenting a dramatic story and in terms of presenting material from the bible. Most often, when one of these aspects succeeds, the other fails. In this case, both are done well.
The story is of the patriarch, Abraham. He is called by God to leave his home and settle in a new area. He is promised that he will become the father of many nations. Throughout his sojourn, there are times when his faith or that of his followers falters. At these times, they will do things other than what they are commanded by God and generally have problems result from it. In the end, the promise is made good even though both Abraham and his wife are well past the age where these promises would seem realistic. God keeps promises.
The other impressive thing about this presentation is the way it works in a host of details from the biblical story that are rarely dealt with. Since the story of Abraham is not one of the most popular for depiction, this may not be apparent to some but I noticed details which seldom make it into sermons or Sunday School presentations.
The whole, though, is greater than the sum of the parts. It is an excellent account.
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