Barabbas | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

Audience Reviews

CodyZamboni Movie is a bit overlong but ends up being compelling for most of the way. Barabbas starts off as a super jerk but about halfway thru he became more empathetic and conflicted character. Kudos to Anthony Quinn for his strong performance. This Italian production has some solid dubbing, and some really impressive full scale outdoor sets. Best of all, are the memorable epic set pieces : the crucifixion eclipse, the sulfer mine earthquake, cave in, flood, the brutal gladiator battles in a huge arena with hundreds of extras, an intense, one on one battle between Quinn and snarly villain, Jack Palance, the great fire of Rome ,and a haunting image of hundreds of crucified Christians. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/20/23 Full Review Audience Member One of Anthony Quinn's finest performances. Based on a Nobel Prize winning novel about the man who was released when Christ was crucified. Made in Italy. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member One of my default Biblical epics, with the movie Quo Vadis (1951) being a close second. Biblical movies rarely excite the viewer such as these. Unlike the sci-fi and horror genres, biblical movies opt for a slower pace and a moral lesson. They tend to reflect the boring lives of normal people who evolve into extraordinary and historic figures in history. Barabbas is such a movie to a certain extent. There are no monsters or singular cruel villains; there is only Barabbas struggling to make sense of his life after imprisonment in the Sicilian sulfur mines, gladiator contests, and eventual freedom. Anthony Quinn is the gruff, defeated, and forgotten rebel whose past luminance was slowly overshadowed by his counterpart, Jesus Christ. Ironically, the same combative spirit that made him the nemesis of Roman soldiers led to his superiority in the gladiator ring and his freedom. This is a caustic indictment of the culture which lack a moral compass and an intellectual perception of the world which despises it. The movie is a slice of this sad and doomed culture, allowing us to see how and why it would ultimately fail. The very end of the movie depicts the monstrous, uneven administration of justice--and Barabbas' final declaration of his love for God after he found out how the heavenly kingdom would truly arrive. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the best faith based films in cinema history. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Lacking the Circus Maximus spectacle of its famous predecessor, Barabbas compensates with nuanced acting from Anthony Quinn. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member What a great movie. A true epic!!!!! Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Barabbas

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