The movie, 'The Passion of the Christ' arrives in Oklahoma

After months of build-up, Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" opened in 2,800 theaters Wednesday, including a number of movie screens in Oklahoma. That's a large release for an independent

Tuesday, February 24th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

After months of build-up, Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" opened in 2,800 theaters Wednesday, including a number of movie screens in Oklahoma. That's a large release for an independent religious film.

The movie is two hours and depicts the final hours of Jesus life. It includes Latin, Hebrew and Aramaic with English subtitles. Religious leaders and others who've seen early screenings have engaged in a heated debate about the films portrayal of Jews and its R-rated violence.

Many church groups have rented out theaters to see the movie. We talked with some who saw a midnight showing at the Cinemark of Tulsa to get their thoughts.

Student Bethany Unbehaun: "It was just absolutely life changing for me. All my perspectives are totally different. I think I'm going to look at life a lot different from this moment on."

Broken Arrow resident Daniel Bernhardt: "Man, it was relentless. And, and, (sobs) I love my God. I love my God."

Gibson spent $25-million of his own money to make the picture.