Movie Review - “KJB - The Book that Changed the World”

Title: “KJB - The Book that Changed the World”

Genre: Culture & Society

Release Date: April, 2011

Studio: Lionsgate

Format: DVD

Ages: 12+

Review by Mainasara

“KJB - The Book that Changed the World” is a 90-minute Drama Documentary about the translation of the King James Bible. Narrator John Rhys-Davies leads us back, through landmarks and relics, into a darker time to discover and savour a tale of saints and sinners, power and passion. The greatest translation of the Bible ever, it burst onto the stage to upstage things in a world and culture that would never remain the same again.

According to Christiancinema.com, “This fantastic DVD features great cinematography, shots inside beautiful churches and in the country, re-enactments of events of the sixteenth century, a remarkable host in John Rhys-Davies with his booming voice, and the scholarly mini-lectures of expert scholars. This intriguing documentary will inform and educate and each viewer will have a whole new appreciation of the King James Bible after viewing it.”

There is simply so much history to learn here: the events leading up to the crowning of King James; various events of the time (rendered by expert scholars such as Dr. William Storrar, Professor Carl Trueman, Dr. Ashley Null, Professor William G. Naphy and others); about King James, the man who believed God guided him and who was born a Catholic but became a Protestant; the background of the making and printing of the Bible, as well as the story of a schism which nearly resulted in the loss of lives.

The screenplay was written by Norman Stone (who is also director and producer) and Murray Watts. The film premiered in November 2010. John Rhys-Davies (known best for his role as Gimli the Dwarf in the “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy and in “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark”) is the narrator of the docudrama. King James was played by Andrew Rothney, outstanding in a play adaptation of one of the oldest pieces of literature in known existence, the “Epic of Gilgamesh”, a 4,000-year old Sumerian tale.

“KJB - The Book that Changed the World” is a fantastically beautiful and excellent film which demonstrates, in vivid Technicolor, the credibility and integrity of the Bible as the record of the veritable word of the God of the Judeo-Christian revelation.