THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, arrives on Blu-ray Disc (BD) February 17 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.  Written and directed by two-time Academy Award®-winner* Mel Gibson (Braveheart) and starring Jim Caviezel (Déjà Vu) and Monica Bellucci (The Matrix Revolutions), the awe-inspiring depiction of Jesus of Nazareth's final journey to crucifixion became the one of the most talked about films of all time, taking in over $375 million at the box office and becoming one of the 15 highest grossing movies ever! THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST BD showcases Caleb Deschanel's (The Patriot) Academy Award-nominated cinematography work and features all the Definitive Edition DVD bonus materials including the theatrical and less violent, re-cut versions of the film, filmmaker commentary with Gibson, Deschanel and Editor John Wright, production commentary, theologian commentary, music commentary, an extensive collection of "making-of" featurettes, deleted scenes, historical texts and more.  Five years after it made a first appearance in theaters, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST BD will be available for the suggested retail price of $34.99 U.S.  Pre-book is January 21.

 
* 1995: Best Director (Braveheart); Best Picture (Braveheart)
 
SYNOPSIS:
The Passion of the Christ focuses on the last twelve hours of Jesus of Nazareth's life. The film begins in the Garden of Olives where Jesus has gone to pray after the Last Supper. Jesus must resist the temptations of Satan. Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, Jesus is then arrested and taken within the city walls of Jerusalem where leaders of the Pharisees confront him with accusations of blasphemy and his trial results in a condemnation to death.
 
BLU-RAY DISC SPECS:
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST Blu-ray Disc is authored on a dual-layer disc presented in widescreen (2.40:1 aspect ratio) with Hebrew/Latin/Aramaic 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio, SDH English and multi-language subtitles.  Bonus features include:
 
Disc One: Blu-ray High-Definition Disc
_      Original Theatrical and Less Violent Re-cut Versions of the Film
_      Enhanced Viewing Mode with Biblical Footnotes
_      Audio Commentaries with Mel Gibson, Filmmakers and Theologians
_      Music Commentary with John Debney (selected scenes only)
 
Disc Two: Standard Defintion
_      Making Of The Passion of The Christ Exclusive Documentary
_      The Legacy: A Historical & Cultural Retrospective of the Crucifixion
_      Historical Photo Gallery
_      Deleted Scenes
_       And More!
 

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST  BLU-RAY DISC
Street Date:                  February 17, 2009
Pre-book Date:             January 21, 2009
DVD Price:                   $34.99 U.S.
Catalog #:                     2256581
Total Running Time:      127 minutes
MPAA Rating:              R
Closed Captioned:       Yes