For me, "Jesus of Nazareth" and "The Passion of the Christ" are in different categories.
"Jesus of Nazareth" is an overview of the life of Christ, using the sources generally agreed upon, namely, the four canonical Gospels. It covers the period from the betrothal of Joseph and Mary through the Resurrection.
"The Passion of the Christ" is somewhat analagous to the devotion known as "The Stations of the Cross," or "The Way of the Cross." The film begins in the Garden of Gethsemane with Jesus praying to the Father, immediately followed by his arrest. It covers the period through the Resurrection (not one of the traditional "stations"). It deals primarily with Christ's sacrifice, with brief flashbacks to earlier moments.
To answer your question, then, I believe that both are at the top of their classes. They are both done reverently, but believably--as opposed to, say, the deliberate overdramatization of a staged "Passion Play," as was once performed every summer in the Black Hills of South Dakota, USA. The Black Hills Passion Play was a recreation of an ancient European tradition, which fulfilled its purpose--in its original time--of teaching the masses. It communicated the story to the people of its time. Both of these films communicate to modern audiences in ways that very few "Life of Christ" films do.
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