The chances are pretty good that Columbia Pictures would never have put up the money to acquire Godspell had it not been for the earlier mega-hit status of Jesus Christ Superstar as an album and Broadway show. Godspell was a livelier, somewhat lower-rent off-Broadway musical, with a harder, more basic rock sound, also derived from a religious source. Luckily, the producers didn't carry the original too far from its roots as a student work and an off-Broadway success, shooting the movie entirely in New York with a guileless young cast drawn from various stage companies of the piece. The DVD features a good letterboxed transfer of the film, from elements that look and sound at least two generations up from the source material used for television showings in the 1980s. It's not perfect but it is likely a match for most theatrical showings that the movie ever got. The score does come through loudly, with a lot of presence even to the acoustic guitars. The producers have tried to make the DVD special, with only limited success -- in fact, the packaging seems to promise more than the disc delivers. The "Bonus Trailers" refer to trailers for other Columbia titles, but not for Godspell. The "Talent Files" are somewhat sparse, limited to three principal cast members and the director. And the 15 chapters, although they allow viewers to access the individual songs, are also too limited and run way too long, with too much non-song material. On a more positive note, the insert card credits the individual performers featured in each song.