The Book of Mormon Movie, Vol. 1: The Journey

The Book of Mormon Movie, Vol. 1: The Journey
Directed by	Gary Rogers
Produced by	Bryce W. Fillmore (line producer) David Hales (co-producer) Gary Rogers (producer)
Written by	Craig Clyde (screenplay) Gary Rogers (written by)
Starring	Noah Danby Jacque Gray Bryce Chamberlain Jan Gardner Ron Frederickson Kirby Heyborne Todd Davis Michael Flynn Richard J. Clifford Bruce Newbold
Music by	Robert C. Bowden
Cinematography	Neal Brown
Editing by	Ira Baker David Hales Brad Olsen (assistant editor)
Distributed by	Mormon Movies Halestone Distribution (a division of Halestorm Entertainment)
Release date(s)	September 12, 2003
Running time	120 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	US$2,000,000

The Book of Mormon Movie, Volume 1: The Journey is a movie version of the first two books in the Book of Mormon. Gary Rogers directed the movie from a screenplay written by himself and Craig Clyde. The movie had a limited theatrical release on September 12, 2003.

The theatrical release was rated PG-13 and contained an image of Nephi with blood splatter on his face after beheading Laban. This image was removed from the scene, and the film received a PG rating for the DVD release. The movie was widely panned by Mormon and non-Mormon critics.

Plot

In the year 600 B.C. in the land of Jerusalem; it is the story of Lehi and his wife Sariah and their four sons: Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi. Lehi leaves Jerusalem after having prophesied concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and people wanted to kill him. He journeys into the wilderness with his family. He sends Nephi and his brothers back to Jerusalem after the brass plates and the family of Ishmael. The sons and daughters of Lehi marry the sons and daughters of Ishmael. They take their families and continue into the wilderness. Ishmael dies in the wilderness. They come to the sea. Nephi's brothers rebel against him. He confounds them, and builds a ship. They cross the sea to the promised land in the Americas. Lehi dies in the promised land. Nephi's brethren rebel against him again. Nephi departs again into the wilderness.

Behind-the-scenes

Gary Rogers' inspiration was the Cecil B. DeMille 1956 version of The Ten Commandments. He envisioned The Book of Mormon as one long historical epic. His plan is to make nine movies that cover the entire scripture of the book.

The movie was produced for only $2 million.^{[citation needed]} The film ended up making $1,672,730^{[citation needed]} in the USA. The movie's running time length was two hours, and it was revealed on the DVD commentary that the first cut of the film was 2 hours 40 minutes long.

Noah Danby was cast as Nephi because of his strong resemblance to the art of Arnold Friberg.^{[citation needed]} He had never read the Book of Mormon before making this film. Each day of filming began with a word of prayer.^{[citation needed]}

The desert scenes were filmed in Utah in the spring, and it was actually very cold. The "great and spacious building" was a five-foot miniature. The boat does not appear in the theatrical version of the scene in which the family arrives in the promised land. It was digitally added to that scene for the DVD version.

The costume designer used Mormon art and illustrations to guide her selections.^{[citation needed]}

Critical Reception

The movie was widely panned by Mormon and non-Mormon critics with one reviewer calling it "chloroform on film" (a subtle reference to Mark Twain's review of the Book of Mormon itself).

Sequel

The next installment, entitled The Book of Mormon Movie, Volume II: Zarahemla, is currently in development hell.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• The Book of Mormon Movie, Vol. 1: The Journey (No longer available)
• The Book of Mormon Movie, Volume 1: The Journey at the Internet Movie Database