Jesus inspired Christians. Movie buffs, on the other hand...
Bible-based religious epics from The Last Temptation of Christ to The Passion of the Christ were spurned as the American Film Institute revealed its picks Wednesday for the 100 most inspirational Hollywood movies.
The list was assembled for, and broadcast on, the three-hour CBS special, AFI'S 100 Years...100 Cheers: America's Most Inspiring Movies. The top 100 were culled from 300 nominees, and voted on by actors, directors, screenwriters, critics, historians and others.
Religious themes were hardly excluded. It's a Wonderful Life, the beloved 1946 Christmastime fable in which Jimmy Stewart's suicide-contemplating George Bailey chooses life after counseling from an angel, was voted the most inspiring movie of them all.
Ninth-place finisher Miracle on 34th Street, the 1947 original, also celebrates Christmas, albeit as a holiday presided over by Santa Claus.
The deity that is Charlton Heston was twice celebrated: for 1959's Ben-Hur (56th); and 1956's The Ten Commandments (79th). Per the AFI rankings, the latter law-giving epic rated slightly more inspirational than Babe, slightly less inspirational than Thelma and Louise.
The Mission, The Robe and The Bible were all considered, but not considered not as worthy as The Karate Kid (98th)--none of the three made the Top 100.
Steven Spielberg had better luck. The Oscar-winning filmmaker placed five films on the list, more than any other director, including three in the Top 10: 1993's Schindler's List (third); 1982's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (sixth); and 1998's Saving Private Ryan (10th). His other praised works: The Color Purple (51st) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (58th).
The AFI defined inspirational movies as, well, movies that inspire. More specifically, its panel sought out movies that inspire "with characters of vision and conviction who face adversity and often make a personal sacrifice for the greater good."
Using that criteria, The Diary of Anne Frank (18th), The Shawshank Redemption (23rd) and Gandhi (29th) all earned spots; Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club and Benji, nominees all, did not.
U.S.-made films released before Jan. 1, 2005 were eligible. Films starring Tom Hanks were not super-eligible--it only seemed that way. The two-time Oscar winner was represented with the likes of Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13 (12th), Philadelphia (20th) and Forrest Gump (37th).
Likewise, films made by Spike Lee were not ineligible--it only seemed that way. The director's two signature issue films, Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X, were considered for the Top 100, and both were passed over for the Top 100.
Overall, the AFI list was replete with the high-minded classics that shows up in the Oscar telecast's annual homage to Hollywood, the one that Jon Stewart concluded this year with the heartfelt, "Congratulations to us": The Grapes of Wrath (seventh); Norma Rae (16th); High Noon (27th); and, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (35th); and On the Waterfront (36th), among them.
Elsewhere, Field of Dreams, about a man who builds a baseball diamond in his cornfield, was named the 28th most inspirational movie of all time, outdoing Spartacus (44th), about a man who died on a crucifix. Gone with the Wind, about the struggle of a white Southern belle during the Civil War, was tagged the 43rd most inspirational movie of all time, placing eight spots above than The Color Purple.
Newer films to make the list included Erin Brockovich (73rd), Hotel Rwanda (90th), A Beautiful Mind (93rd) and Ray (99th).
100 Years...100 Cheers is AFI's ninth list-making venture.
Get the complete list of AFI's most inspirational movies.