Did you see it?

If not, here’s the site where you can catch up: http://catchup.ninemsn.com.au/thebible (note – the first two episodes will expire on the 31st of July, 2013AD).

My first impression after watching episode 1 – not bad!

It’s always going to be difficult to condense the Bible into 10 hours, but I’m glad that even in the beginning there is a heavy emphasis on Jesus (though this was just the opening montage in the first episode… I wait expectantly for the series to unfold).

Here’s some of my random thoughts as I watched the first episode:

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The opening words to the first episode: ‘This program is an adaptation of bible stories. It endeavours to stay true to the spirit of the book.’ Let’s see how many liberties and adaptations they make…

‘The Bible’ kicks off in a storm with Noah telling his wet, exhausted and battered family the creation story while the ark is tossed about on the sea. It’s an interesting choice of character to begin the narration but what strikes me immediately are the visuals: they draw the viewer in and remind us that this is not another low budget retelling of the Bible.

Condensing some of the narrative is always going to be tricky. For instance – Abram is referred to as ‘Abraham’ even at the initial covenant in Genesis 12 – I guess the change of name would be difficult to squeeze in.

It’s also refreshing to see an attempt to make Middle Eastern people look Middle Eastern.

Lot’s wife is played really well – establishing early what might have possibly been. But then as the family are escaping Sodom she looks back during one explosion and is turned into SaLT. I’m not sure I would not have done the same and it seems less like an act of disobedience than an act of instinctual curiosity.

The relationship between Lot and Abraham is also neatly played. The acting so far is pretty good. Not Oscar worthy, but better than I’ve seen in the past.

It’s interesting that they should focus on the rarely known chapter of Genesis 14 (Lot’s rescue by Abraham) when the earlier (more interesting) chapters are only briefly covered in the prelude.

God and the two angels who visit Abraham look like Jedi knights. One of them Asian! God looks like Jesus from behind… hint hint at a Christophany…nice!

I wonder how they will play out the sin of Sodom? Answer: The mob looks more angry than lustful. At the sound of the angry mob outside home of Lot the angels reveal themselves in their armour – I think I would have preferred a nod to Elvish armour design from Lord of the Rings because they look too Roman-esque. The Asian angel pulls out some swords and goes all ‘Asian’ on another angry mob…

Little details count in this series – Hagar has the markings of a slave on her forehead and face which demonstrates a thoughtfulness and attention to detail.

Isaac is played young again during the Genesis 22 sequence. Interesting that Isaac is played a little more unwilling than I first assumed. An Angel appears (in his red robe as earlier) to stop the sacrifice. I’ve noticed that God doesn’t do much talking in this episode as compared to how much talking he does in the Bible. So much of what God says is left to the actors and characters to interpret for us. Will be interesting to see if this pattern of communication is maintained throughout the series.

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So what were your thoughts? One thing is for sure – watching this series will make for some great conversation starters.

A young Abraham…

With Sarah after hearing God’s plan for them to move to the land God has promised…

Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac…