D A This glorified discovery channel documentary, part biblical study, part treasure hunt, all misappropriated, might have sat well in it's television origins but falls flat as a feature film. Right from first glance of it's cheesy looking cover art, one may cast doubts upon the integrity behind this serious subject, shown on front case relegating the search for Jesus's tomb to a generic action font that looks more National Treasure or Tomb Raider then any informed debate and examination of the historical burial site should. Such is the underhanded way in which the entire proceedings revolve.More curious child then worthy researcher, Simcha Jacobovici's explorations come across as self-indulgent while his research comes across as manipulative. For all the fascinating revelations this filmmaker tries to impart on his viewers through supposed evidence, a flood of repetitious statements reiterating the same research and findings over and over proves The Lost Tomb of Jesus has very little information to back up the bloated, albeit entrancing claims. What this amounts to is a very frustrating attempt to beat the audience over the head with the same small factual evidence in support of this tomb's authenticity, which ironically detracts from it. While tirelessly linking together many of these mini-coffins found together to support the Jesus of Nazareth theory, this research forsakes a well-rounded approach to continuously pursue this romanticized archeologist's singular obsession. There may be some impressive factual data which helps shed some light on many traditional dogmatic Christian-held beliefs, but essentially the shady nature of this project made it come across as merely an exploitation piece, financed at a time when The Da Vinci Code was all the rage.In the end, the cheesy cover art was right. Despite my appreciation for documentary form, The Lost Tomb of Jesus takes an always interesting topic and turns it into overlong and unvaried geriatric adventure hunt, substituting any relevance and sacredness for the uninspired motivations behind this team. By the time these tomb raiders have finished their explorations, reluctantly having to stop research because of social demands, viewers are left with the sense the director was insistent on forging this mystery whether it was there to begin with or not. There are a few genuinely potent moments where the halls of history come marching through this documentary in unassuming ways, but all the decoding, exploring, and theorizing in the world still left this misguided vanity piece in an uneasy void of apathetic response.

raypaquin Simcha Jacobovici, the reporter of 'The Naked Archaeologist' fame, has produced an excellent documentary here. However, I agree with the gist of the two previous comments that it is in dire need of a sequel and of more scholarly comments. That said, it says all that can be said in a 103 minute long documentary (not counting the publicity breaks). I disagree with one of the previous two comments about the time that has allegedly been 'wasted' showing us the difficulties of archaeological research in Israel today, an activity that has become heavily politicized. In my opinion, Jacobovici has come closer than anyone else that I know of to the truth of the matter. In fact, in this documentary, he has come achingly close to it. What he, his detractors and everyone else have missed is one central truth that I think I have discovered and that I intend to publish shortly after more than twenty years of research. The truth is amazingly simple and it explains the many so-called contradictions found in the Bible. The truth and Jacobovici's documentary are mutually-compatible but that truth, had it been known to Jacobovici, would have changed some of the documentary's implied conclusions, but not the raw facts that it contains. Highly recommended. I recommend that the readers watch the documentary and try to guess what that missed truth is.

classicalsteve As pointed out by the academicians in the ensuing discussion hosted by Ted Koppel, a heavy hitter when it comes to journalism, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" is in desperate need of more scholarship. That said, I found it a compelling and interesting documentary, slightly better than the Discovery Channel's average delving into historical and archaeological topics. I do also disagree with one of the guest academicians who said that the documentary was "archaeological porn", almost hinting that since he was not involved in the project that it had no merit. The documentary I think certainly has merit. They did use a Harvard professor to translate inscriptions on the ossuaries and a statistician from the University of Toronto to speculate on the likelihood of the tomb being that of the family of Jesus of Nazareth.The documentary's obvious weakness is in its lack of scholarly commentary. The few academicians used in the documentary were not involved in any kind of analysis of the archaeological finds. They were primarily used more for the expertise in their respective fields. So the question is what scholarly commentary was lacking? A good comparison is the Frontline documentary "From Jesus to Christ". In "Jesus to Christ" about ten scholars representing renowned research institutions from around the country were used to tell the story of what is regarded as factual about the life of Jesus and his early followers. In "Tomb" the filmmakers were essentially their own commentators. Another difference between the two documentaries was the amount of time devoted to scholarship. "Jesus to Christ" was a 4-hour documentary in 3 parts with 60% or more of its screen time devoted to scholarly commentary. "Tomb" was probably closer to 1 1/2 hours when consideration is given to commercial breaks with very little scholarly analysis. A lot of "Tomb"'s time was devoted to re-enactment scenes and scenes devoted to the logistics of getting under a 25-year-old apartment complex. These two elements I found less interesting.The film almost begs for a sequel. Scholars and other academicians who understand the implications of archaeological finds need to analyze and critique the artifacts of the documentary. Not all scholars will ever agree about the implications. The filmmakers last point in the ensuing discussion was probably the most important: that he hoped that the film would lead to more discussion and scholarship.

earl_v1 This is (of course) a very controversial film. I am, however, very disappointed in the Christian scholars and lay persons alike. They are too quick to accept passages and quote them as fact and proof of a historical Jesus, even if scholars and the Catholic Church admitted it to be spurious, such as a passage found in later copies of the works of the historian Josephus.Or other archaeological finds, that have been used to prove a historical Jesus, such as a burial box that is assumed to be that of the High Priest Caiaphas (who, according to the New Testament tried Jesus, circa 30 AD.) Caiaphas' burial box only mentioned the name Caiaphas, with no reference to him being a priest much less associated with Jesus. But the Christian community quickly and willingly accepted this as proof that Jesus lived and was tried by Caiaphas.Christians are too quick to accept weak evidence while promoting the evidence as conclusive proof, if they feel it supports there view and belief. But will disregard and even bash science and archeology if it contradicts or disagrees with their religious belief.I am amazed how many people I have spoken with about this documentary that instantly stated it was fabricated evidence to simply attack the Christian faith, and they did not even watch the program.Ultimately, the bottom line will be for you to decide. Either the evidence is real or it is not. And if it is real, you still may not have anything to fear concerning your faith. As Paul said in I Corinthians, I Corinthians 15:50, "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;" If flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, then the bones of Jesus and his burial box is very possibly still here on earth. So think about this, if this is real, this is the most conclusive proof ever discovered that the Jesus of the New Testament actually lived.This is a must see documentary.