In the 1970s, young Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney) is searching for all the right things in all the wrong places: until he meets Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie), a charismatic hippie street preacher. Together with Pastor Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer), they open the doors of Smith’s languishing church to an unexpected revival of radical and newfound love, leading to what TIME magazine dubbed a “Jesus Revolution.”

For in-depth thoughts on Jesus Revolution, please see my colleague Dom Fisher’s review from its original theatrical release here.

Video Quality

Lionsgate Home Entertainment brings Jesus Revolution to Blu-Ray with a really great 1080p video presentation in its original 2.39:1. The film has some warm splashes of colors within some of the clothing and the production design to complement the Southern California weather. The highlights show no signs of blooming, and the black levels are deep and with no observable digital noise. There is a small amount of banding against certain gradients, but it is not a persistent issue. Every location provides a nice amount of depth from the interiors to the spacious open-air environments. The period production design and the fabrics of the clothing provide really clear textural details. Flesh tones are distinct and natural with a great amount of detail present in close-ups. Lionsgate has delivered a top notch presentation for this one.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray comes with a robust Dolby Atmos track that handily accomplishes everything that is asked of it. The score and other pleasing music in the film flows through the speakers with perfect fidelity. The movie does not bring the house down when it comes to the low end response, but it adds excellent texture to certain moments. Dialogue is the star of the film, and it always comes through clearly without being challenged by any competing sounds.

Kinetic sequences are few and far between, but the environmental sounds of specific interiors and gatherings engage the surround speakers in a formidable way. This is fleshed out with the utilization of the height channels that make the world feel more three dimensional. Ambient sounds of the radio and television are likewise precisely placed in the rear channels. The audio track brings this world to life better than you would even expect. There are optional English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles provided.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Directors Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle and Producer Kevin Downes provide a great commentary track in which they discuss their decision to tell this story, shooting on location, the careful production design, what the actors bring to their characters, the challenges faced during shooting, technical elements, subtle moments that mean a lot and much more.

When God Has A Plan – Making Jesus Revolution: A pretty informative 33-minute making-of featurette in which the cast and creative team discuss the origins of the project, the intention behind the telling of this story, what drew the performers to the project, the complexity of the characters, the direction and more.

The Heart Of The Film: A four-minute piece in which the cast and creative team discuss the journey of this film to the big screen and what they hope audiences take from the story.

Inspired By A True Movement: A nearly seven-minute featurette which takes a closer look at the real-life events that inspired “The Jesus Revolution” and how it impacted Christianity in America.

Behind The Scenes Of “Living Water” With Anne Wilson: A 12-minute piece made for the early access theatrical showing in which the creative team and the singer discuss the creation of this song for the film.

Faces Of The Jesus Revolution: A six-minute look at the different types of people who came together during the events of this film for a larger movement.

Deleted Scenes: A ten-minute selection of unused scenes from the film are provided with optional audio commentary with Directors Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle. There are some good moments within this one, but it is best that this was not a three hour film as it was before they started cutting.

Final Thoughts

Jesus Revolution easily establishes itself as one of the better faith-based films ushered into the mainstream. While there is an obvious focus on religion and the positive impact it can have on the world, it feels slightly less agenda-pushing than many of its ilk in a way that feels more inclusive for audiences beyond believers. Despite this, there are still limitations to its quality as the script fails to properly flesh out most of the characters, not to mention issues with undercutting actual conflict with improper story pacing. The performances are serviceable for the most part, and the care put into bringing this period in time to life shines through. Lionsgate Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray with a great A/V presentation and some worthy special features. Those who are watching the film because it is faith-based, instead of in spite of that fact, should find it to rank highly in the genre.

Jesus Revolution is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Lionsgate Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.