The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

People tend to label an ostentatious sufferer as a person with a "Christ complex", meaning that the annoying pain-bearer seems to attach some importance to assembling an audience to stand witness as he tacks himself up on his own cross. In contrast, as evidenced by Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Jesus of Nazareth led a relatively productive life, with some unpleasant bits there at the end. Adapted from the classic novel of the same name by Greek literary master Nikos Kazantzakis, Last Temptation dares to consider the Christian savior’s life as an actual man, imbued with all a common mortal’s needs and desires, and on top of that possessed by the divine spirit that will compel him to his destiny as eternal redeemer. How'd that go over with religious people? Well, they went ahead and boycotted the flick, made death threats towards the people who made it, and even firebombed one showing. So, it's safe to say they didn't love it. Willem Defoe plays the Alpha and the Omega himself, with Harvey Keitel collecting some silver as Judas. Throw in David Bowie's work as Pontius Pilate and you can see how things get pretty wild. What was really wild, and what really pissed the Christian crowd off, was the ending where we see Jesus contemplate hopping off the cross and getting married, popping out a few kids, and overall, just quitting on that whole "died for our sins" thing. The Last Temptation of Christ gives some idea of what it would be like to walk for an hour or so in the sandals of Jesus. But if you can get past the fact you’re watching Jesus being tortured, there's some tempting stuff for your eyes. Get a load of the repeated appearances of Willem Defoe’s hot cross buns as he's on the cross, and totally naked getting whipped. Holy balls, we even see some of those! Okay, nobody judge us, but jeepers creepers Willem Defoe was a hot Jesus Christ in The Last Temptation of Christ!