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An error has ocurred. Please try againWHAT? Christian and faith-based movies, available online.
WHEN? From 1951 until 2024
WHERE? 81% AMAZON PRIME 57% YOUTUBE (MOVIES) 36% ITUNES 22% TUBITV 19% PUREFLIX only 2% of the movies are available on NETFLIX.
Fit For Faith - Ministries, www.fitforfaith.ca/movies
Discernment of Movies www.fitforfaith.ca/discernment-movies
Reviews
Christian Mingle (2014)
A gigantic commercial for a dating app which tries hard to be funny, but is hardly bearable.
PROS
+ Good display of repentance, when she repents of her lies.
+ Great that it shows a firm stance on believer-believer couples.
+ The concept has a lot of potential, if it would have only been better scripted and executed by people who fear THEOS.
CONS
- There is absolutely no holiness reflected in this movie.
- The movie is repeatedly ridiculing prayer. We get it, an unbeliever is initially lying about being a Christian. But one of such prayers would have been more than enough.
- Her other weaknesses (e.g. Not finding a Bible passage, misquoting Scripture) are also repeated ad nauseam. A good movie gives us hints about a character trait or a certain dynamic, but does not repeat it endlessly.
- Bad language (She says to her friends "Get me a filler and get me hitched")
- The movie shows her throwing the Bible in a trash bin.
- The movie does not only show a weak transformation of hers, but also contains two of the most bizarre testimonies one could ever invent, one about a carved piece of wood and another about a piece of cheese and mice, both leading indirectly to salvation. The producer / director has absolutely no fear of THEOS (Bernsen earned his Master's in Playwriting from UCLA which is famous for Freemasonry / Fraternities).
- Average actors.
- They kiss each other while he does not even know if she is a believer.
- Inadequate dresses of hers throughout the movie.
- The producers did not even see it necessary to travel for the mission trip scenes to Mexico, but filmed in California at the Veluzat Ranch movie set.
- The movie is simply a promotional tool of The Mingle LLC for their app of the same name.
Facing the Giants (2006)
A very strong Christian movie.
PROS
+ Wonderful display how a leader can influence others through his faith, to follow the same, to have even a small revival on the football field and to fully trust in THEOS in the ups and downs of (football) life.
+ Great acting, which comes across as very natural.
+ Great display of the restoration of a relationship between a father and one of the players.
+ Good and honest display of the suffering of the coach.
CONS
- The movie brings up the topic of in vitro fertilization, but fails to decidedly judge it. Brooke should have at least said to the doctor that she is a Christian and cannot follow such an approach. The couple did not do it in the end, but the viewer could be misled to consider it as an option, because he or she now associates it subconsciously with the Christian faith.
- The movie oversimplifies the Good Message and displays it rather as something you receive than something you give. It would have been great if the coach would have taken his team to serve others, do some good works in the neighborhood or in a church, to have some Bible studies et al.
The Good Message is very different, it is predominantly about serving and trusting, and only eventually to receive something in return. This movie could lead especially new Christians to become quickly disappointed if they do not receive at least some small miracles.
The Printing (1990)
Highly, highly, highly recommended.
The first seconds of the movie did not promise much, because we are spoiled with high quality images and do not appreciate blurred images. But this did not take away in the least from the joy of having watched this movie - to the contrary, the low image quality made this movie even more special.
I do not want to lose much words, but encourage you to watch this movie before reading 1 more minute of reviews. 10 stars cannot express my gratitude and the spiritual quality this movie has.
It is a tremendously made masterpiece of Christian cinema, with an excellent script, actors and most importantly a story about following JESUS CHRIST with all your heart, no matter the cost and the setting.
Highly, highly, highly recommended.
The Story of Ruth (1960)
One of most horrible twists of Scripture ever seen.
I have no major problem with a movie that adds 45 minutes of screen time in between verse 1 and 3 of Ruth 1. It is certainly interesting to picture from what evil setting Ruth could have been redeemed. But the movie goes way too far when it shows Ruth praying to such a god and when it over and over mentions the name of that god, although the Bible strictly forbids to mention names of other gods. It is also unthinkable that JESUS would have been born into a genealogy of a former priestess of another god. His redemption and grace is without limits and He used murderers such as Moses, but it is very hard to picture a former priestess of a stone god as a direct ancestor of our SAVIOR. Here the movie went way too far.
And sadly the enormous creative license continues in the area of transgression:
Bible: "But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons."
Film: Elimelech and his son Chilion died at the same time.
Bible: "These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years"
Film: Ruth's husband did not live 10 years after the marriage, but literally less than 10 seconds ...
Bible: "Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food."
Film: The reason for her return is not food, but an escape initiated by Ruth.
Now that we are 54 minutes into the movie, we actually find the first coinciding dialogue, verse 16 of still the first chapter: "But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God."
Minute 65: Naomi reveals to Ruth that it was Boaz who forced a Moabite man (who possibly killed a Judean man), to drink from a poisoned well and cause him to die. Now we have not only Ruth being a former priestess, but Moab being a murderer ...
But even worse than the killing is the use of Scripture to initiate the death of the Moabite. Boaz: "Have you not heard the teaching of our Father, if your enemy is hungry, give him meat. If he is thirsty, give him water." Boaz after he killed him: "So should it be to all Moabites. And let jackals do the rest."
Ruth's first encounter with Boaz then ends very ugly, while the biblical account is the exact opposite of it. Here Boaz also hears that she is a Moabite, but treats her with outmost friendliness and even servitude instead of challenging her severely in the movie.
In the movie, Ruth rejects Boaz' provision in reaction to his attitude, while the Bible tells us in Ruth 2:14 that 'she ate and was satisfied'. It is horrendous how this movie twists Scripture.
It does of course not stop here and just goes on. The movie depicts a competition between Boaz and another redeemer, while the Bible tells us that the other redeemer rejected to take Ruth (Ruth 4:6 "Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it."). The movie goes as far as to have the wedding celebration of the other redeemer to start with Ruth and dozens of guests, until Ruth then rejects the redeemer during the wedding and marries at the very same celebration Boaz ... this is making a comedy and a soap opera out of the Bible.
As if not enough, the movie adds the story of an angel who appeared to Ruth and announced the Messiah through the line of Boaz. The angels later hangs around at the wedding celebration ... while the Bible tells us about the fear every onlooker of an angel had.
What a horrible movie. It spits in the face of THEOS and His Word, by horribly and intentionally twisting it to an extreme rarely seen in any production.
A QUICK BACK GROUND CHECK ON THE DIRECTOR ---
Henry Koster, the director of this movie, once proclaimed proudly: "I did stories about Catholics, Protestants and Jews". He has also made a film for the man who would become Pope Pius.
His movie 'The Bishop's Wife' portrays an angel sent to help an Episcopalian bishop.
His movie 'Come to the Stable, featured nuns who enlist a gang of unlikely volunteers to help build a children's hospital. The star, Loretta Young, was a devout Catholic. The film originated as a fact-based story submitted to the studio by writer Clare Boothe Luce, a convert to Catholicism.
The Ark (2015)
Very pleasant to watch, but deeply heretical and definitely not the Christian account.
Quote of the movie: What can science do exactly, except marvel at God's work and document it?
PROS
+ Focus on his family and not on dramatic special effects.
+ The movie is in many parts well made and pleasant to watch (if it would not include serious transgressions).
+ Very great actors.
NEUTRAL
o When Noah kicked around two thieves who wanted to steal from his son, we are at first surprised. But it could have indeed happened in OT times, when the rule was still an eye-for-an-eye. Nevertheless, it was not adequate to include this detail in the movie.
CONS
- The movie depicts the salvation of dozens of other people who just randomly came from far off some days or weeks before the rain, and are actually the first ones to walk into the ark while Noah's family stands on the side line at some distance to the ark. This is a horrible twisting of Scripture.
- The director either sympathizes with Islam or he actually made a movie which is not Christian, although most viewers take it as Christian movie. The inclusion of a fourth son of Noah into the movie cannot simply be an accident.
According to this movie, this fourth son was a habitual fornicator (at least every day "for several weeks") and was so badly trapped in his sin that he even punched his father Noah when the waters came, refused to go on the ark and died being left behind with his girlfriend.
When we investigate the name of this fourth son, we suddenly realize that only Islam includes a fourth son -and surprise- uses the exact same name.
- When the Angel of KYRIOS appears to Noah, he is not even afraid of him, as should be expected by numerous biblical examples. In the movie, they have a nice small talk ...
- Although the movie often provides a good balance including Noah's possible struggles with his family, it goes definitely too far in several aspects. The disrespect by his sons is certainly not something we could imagine to fit into the biblical account.
- Even worse, his wife calls him an idiot, which is definitely to be considered heretical and far outside the creative license of a 'Christian' filmmaker. I quote: "Although you have clearly gone mad and you made the leap from farmer to idiot in one felt swoop, you are my idiot and I love you." No matter how charming she is in this quote, it crosses the red line by far.
- Noah's family is displayed as rather unbelievers, which would be a very, very sad testimony for the godliest family on earth at a given point. This element of the movie is therefore also heretical. No Christian would believe such a thing. They had their struggles after the flood, but this does not reflect pre-flood history.
- The ark displayed in the movie is way too small compared to the biblical specifications.
- Bad movie set. It is highly unlikely that Noah lived in such a setting, where no trees for the ark are seen far and wide. Maybe someone came up one day with the idea that it would be nice to contrast water with a previous desert in order to make it more dramatic, but does the biblical story really require such a dramatization? Is it not much more probable that Noah lived in an area with a vast vegetation?
- Noah's sons are seen watering their large field with hand buckets and hand-by-hand which is truly ridiculous. This is probably based on the extrabiblical myth that it did not rain until the flood. Some facts from my study 'Noah's Flood':
1. The consecration of the element 'rainbow' does not really say anything about the moment of its first appearance. We read too much into the Bible, when we assume that a rainbow appeared for the first time after the flood. THEOS connected it in this moment to a covenant (in the same way a dove did not come into existance at Christ's baptism), but this does not mean he created it in this moment.
2. The existence of springs or mist in the first days of creation does also not imply the absence of rain. Springs are still found today all over the world - active simultaneously with rain.
3. Noah would not have had any building materials for his ark if it would not have rained. He required hundreds of trees and we can hardly assume that he planted and manually watered those for decades, nor did THEOS indicate at any point to plant trees which require years or decades to grow to a size suitable for a gigantic ark."
Procession (2021)
Much needed documentary. Mostly well made.
PROS
+ Much needed documentary. Mostly well made.
+ Great courage of the producers and especially protagonists.
NEUTRAL
o Generally a good concept, but it was sometimes a bit too creative and too improvised. Lots of good approaches which seem to have worked for those men, but it is questionable if it works for others to drive back to a crime scene, and if that could not eventually cause more trauma (or even serious police incidents) for the hundreds or thousands of victims amongst the viewers. They should have added a warning to not imitate such approaches.
I found it also troubling that the victims changed roles in this documentary, especially when knowing that many real victims become in real life real perpetrators. Not that there would be any risk with those men, but it could be a risk for victims who see this. Yes, the producer's approach is to shift mental perspectives and to help them through that role reversal, but I never heard of role reversal as a therapeutic approach.
CONS
- Lots of excessive swearing. Yes, Mike is authentic and it hurts to see men hurting still after 4 decades. But it is also sad that not one character seems to have found salvation in JESUS CHRIST, to have recognized the evil perversion of the true church through the Roman Catholic State Church after 313 AD.
What is the obvious reason there is this institutional church masquerading as followers of CHRIST? If there are masquerades, then there must be somewhere truth to be revealed. My prayer is that those men will find the truth, because only this can set them free after all those decades of suffering. If they would only realize that the devil is very good at imitating (as the Bible already warns us of 'The Angel of Light') then they would be very close to the truth that sets them free.
Fireproof (2008)
Great movie, warmly recommended.
Quote of the movie: Aren't you afraid of dying? No. Cause I know where I am going. I just don't wanna go there because I got hit by a train.
PROS
+ Great example of a father-son relationship, where the son respects his father, puts his trust in him and follows his plan, although initially not knowing what it is all about.
+ Great example of leading by own example, and by the example of JESUS CHRIST.
+ Great Christian theme, without holding back much like in many other 'Christian' movies.
CONS
- Caleb's conversion is very, very thin.
Father: Can't you see that you need his forgiveness?
Son: Yes
Father: Will you trust him with your life?
Son: Slight nodding.
Those words ought to constitute his salvation, what is a farce. There is no repentance nor is there any indication of a baptism.
- No repentance from the real adultery of Caleb and the de-facto adultery of Catherine. We cannot only teach human wisdom from a book, but must more importantly follow the biblical teachings for restoration. There will not be a lasting restoration if the most basic step of repentance is neglected, both a repentance towards THEOS and towards the spouse. A generic apology only to the spouse is not enough.
- No salvation of Catherine. She constantly rejects his efforts during the 40 days, does not show the slightest sign of improvement or redemption from her side, and only changes her mind after the 24k donation of her husband. This sends a very materialistic message to the viewer of the movie and tells us that all his efforts would have failed and they would have divorced, if he would not have made that donation.
They remarry again which is very beautiful and he is a changed and supposedly saved person, but that marriage would in real life continue to suffer if there is zero change from her side and her disrespect resurges after a time.
- The movie contains a scene with car racing on a public street, which is shocking for a Christian movie, especially as it is a scene totally disconnected from the movie.
- A hot sauce contest might be entertaining to the viewer, but 1. The label 'Wrath of God' is inadequate and takes His name in vain in a totally unnecessary way, and 2. At least one in a hundred will repeat this and eventually end up in hospital.
- The website fireproofmymarriage dot com is not working although this movie is still being sold.
Where Is My Home (2017)
Beautiful story, but from a cult.
This movie contains a beautiful story, when viewing it from a purely human perspective. A story of suffering children, victims of selfish adults. And of restoration. Although it is not well acted and the language synchronization is primitive, it is well made, very touching and speaks to the human heart.
But sadly it is a very ugly story from a spiritual viewpoint. Minutes 43-50, later 118-122 and once again 127-128 contain a ~scripture~ reading of 15 minutes in total. If that would be from the Bible, it would be a new record in a Christian movie and truly beautiful.
But while it pretends to be from the Bible, it does not take more than 30 seconds into the first sequence to realize that, although it contains scriptural truth, it is not the Bible at all, not even in the most generous translation, but a paraphrasing of the general concepts of the Bible, a clear distortion of it.
Then looking at the publisher, one sees that the movie was produced by the 'Church of the Almighty god', also known as 'Eastern Lightning', a split from the 'Shouters' led by Witness Lee. Digging deeper, one sees that they see the Bible as obsolete record which "offers no understanding" according to their website.
Now we understand why the movie does not contain the Bible, but reads a text from a book most certainly written by that religious group, which is being led by Zhao Weishan and his wife Yang Xiangbin, the latter who is defined by the group as 'Almighty god', and reincarnated 'christ of the Last Days'.
Stay far away from this movie.
Tortured for Christ (2018)
Excellent, but Reformed (Lutheran & Calvinist).
A movie difficult to watch. Difficult in the sense of hard to swallow amid the cruelties. But truly inspirational - obviously not in the sense to repeat such a tragic story, but to be steadfast in the ordinary life of a Christian and the small things of life.
It is also refreshing to read through the book of the same name a story which is not saturated with half-lies or made-up anecdotes.
It would be an excellent movie if the producer would not have partly ruined it, by inserting at the end music from Calvinists (The Gettys) and composing the hall-of-fame of martyrs almost exclusively of Orthodox monks and priests. When it comes to sufferings for CHRIST, we should focus on CHRIST and not on divisions / denominations.
Quote of the movie: "There are two kinds of Christians: Those who sincerely believe in God and those that, just as sincerely, believe that they believe in God."
God's Not Dead (2014)
Not recommended - neither to believers nor to unbelievers.
While this movie has a very strong Christian theme and seems to defend the Christian faith, it allows through some highly problematic passages of professor Radisson also for the creation of serious doubts in weak believers. I had to tune out from certain passages, while certainly not considering myself weak. Yes, attacks will come to every believer, but it is plainly wrong to project those attacks to millions of believers and unbelievers alike. This movie could seriously lead some honest believers astray, especially considering its strong association to Catholicism and even to Freemasonry.
PROS
+ Good actors.
+ Great display what the boldness of one individual (Josh Wheaton) can cause.
+ Great scene of the possible salvation of the professor before his death.
CONS
- Creation of a false dichotomy, to say that the opposite to Darwinism is Theistic Evolution. TE is a third new way which reaches the hand to unbelieving scientists, while placing the creation account millions years ago and 'converting' THEOS into the role of a bystander, who watched the Big Bang happen. They plainly endorse in the movie the Cambrian Explosion commonly placed 530 million years ago.
- Inclusion of a Franklin Graham sermon (de-facto Catholic; highly problematic teacher ...).
- Endorsement of C. S. Lewis through a quote (Believed in purgatory; Tao is the highest morality; rejected biblical inerrancy; theistic evolutionist; considered Hindu, Buddhist and Muslims as brothers in Christ ...).
- Endorsement of Lee Strobel through a quote (de-facto Catholic; strong support of Catholic Mysticism; Theistic Evolution; Purgatory ...)
- The inclusion of Willie Robertson and the defense of him shooting ducks is confusing, to say the least.
- The song performed by Newsboys has lyrics which have very little to do with Christianity and are rather twisting it.
"Let love explode and bring the dead to life (absurd blathering) A love so bold to see a revolution somehow ( " ) In this world I'll overcome (the Bible says you will be hated and persecuted; we will only overcome after our Resurrection) He's living on the inside, roaring like a lion (this is not biblical at all and rather pop-religion) My faith is dead, I need a resurrection somehow (confusing words) Come shake the ground with the sound of revival Let heaven roar and fire fall" (this is not biblical and can probably be found in the New Apostolic Reformation or in Pentecostalism)
- Another song including absurd blathering is 'This Is The Time' by 'Superchick'. It is a true mystery how such a song made it into this movie. I could go through more soundtracks but will leave it with that ...
"This is the story of your life. A movie starring you. What's the next scene have for you to do? Leave the dishes in the sink. Leave your fear there too. Live the story you would write for you. Say hey hey wake your heart. And break break break apart. The walls that keep you from being you. And walk walk towards the light. And don't stop till you live your life. Like someone died for you. This is the time to try. Step out your life is waiting. And as you fall you'll find that you can fly."
- The closing credits contain references to problematic institutions / organizations:
Alpha Iota Omega 'Christian' Fraternity (Freemasons, seriously?) Badger Catholic Foundation Beta Upsilon Chi (Freemasons, seriously?) St. James Episcopal Church.
1 Message (2011)
Highly recommended.
A good movie which shows us the enormous influence one person can have on our lives in times of crisis. One faithful brother who truly helps, no matter all the stubbornness of her who ought to receive his help. And one friend far away who is also persistent enough to overcome insults, who looks behind the hurt and decides to help, while he is indeed the one who needs help. This is the real and very biblical essence of the movie, to show us that the only way out of misery is to help others, such as the cashier or the handicapped friend. Once we help, we forget about ourselves and heal on the go.
PROS
+ Good actors, not overacting as so often seen when it comes to dramata.
+ A slow pace of the movie (which is good) and a deep dive into the crisis of Becca.
+ Beautiful theme of forgiveness between daughter - mother, and ex-partners.
NEUTRAL
- The Christian theme is not strong. The first ever hint of anything related to faith comes at minute 81: "Look at it this way - if God can forgive me for all I do, then how can I not forgive others?" The movie does not include any salvation, but at least underlying themes of Christianity.
CONS
- The main actor describes herself as having overweight, but the screen shows something different.
- The opening scene with several minutes of a door bell is very annoying.
- The movie employs a quote from Eddie Rickenbacker, member of the Los Angeles Elks Lodge #99, a Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (Rites, traditions, and regalia from the Freemasons).
- One foul language 'Son of a b...'
- Sublime endorsement of the American Rep***ican party.
God's Compass (2016)
A beautiful story THEOS could have written.
A truly beautiful movie with some surprising turns. Just as the Bible assigns specific roles for widows / people after a certain age, so THEOS assigned in the precise moment of Suzanne's retirement to fill her life with a new responsibility. It is indeed a story THEOS could have written, of bringing together the dots in the right moment of time and to bring about something good out of misery and evil.
PROS
+ Great plot.
+ Great acting by Suzanne, Eli and his sister, average acting of David and Jessica.
+ Beautiful display of strength of Suzanne, in the time when she felt as having lost Eli, her car and 100k.
NEUTRAL
o Great Christian story, but no true redemption. Suzanne was sadly not able to lead Eli to true repentance for his acts, to lead him in prayer confessing his sins. The judge might have forgiven him, but what about THEOS? Though the end is beautiful and we could expect from this a changed life without further crimes.
O Overall great filmography, but the camera in the first scene in the car was not stable.
CONS
- The arrest of Eli was strange. We see no sign why the cop arrested him.
- The comment that prisoners who encounter JESUS in prison and are being saved, return after their release always to their old life, is deeply ignorant, destructive and demotivating for all the workers of the Kingdom who labor in prison ministries. Nowhere in the movie is this devastating comment being corrected.
- The closing credits show highly problematic entries, such as Liberty University (Jerry Falwell and many controversies), Freemason Baptist Church (seriously???) and Holy Cross Regional Catholic School, but no denominational influence is noticed in the movie itself.
October Baby (2011)
Quote of the movie: "Hate the Crime, not the Criminal."
One of the few movies that really gets you. But it starts slow, appearing to have little potential to be great. Though this slow start probably helped the real target group to connect. Connect to just an ordinary life, of ordinary young people, who live life. Or at least they think so, until they realize the consequences. Or are caught by the acts of others.
The movie masters to not judge the target group, nor the victim, nor the ones caught in between. It masters a perfect balance from every point of view, while provoking deep thoughts, reflection and emotions for every group, including the ordinary viewer who was never involved in such a drama.
The movie has everything - action, drama, heartbreak, 'crime', romance - everything except more sex which is good - Hannah showing a very beautiful example of chastity here (a word which feels interesting to use). It is deeply moving, brutally honest in every detail and does not embellish anything. This story and wonderful idea would have been fruitless and average if not having been acted out by such a great cast. Hannah, Jason, Jacob, Nurse Mary - what a performance! And as if not enough of surprising turns, the epilogue brought about another surprise which even entirely changed our perception of the cold birthmother.
The only thing which lacked was more Christianity and a real pastor who would have had at least the heart to pray with that vulnerable Hannah. But even this reflected the sad reality of closed church doors which contribute to such dramas. Today we have the norm that the doors of abortion clinics are always open while the doors of churches are almost always closed, except for a few hours of service. This was not the case in the past and vulnerable women would not have had this additional barrier to find spiritual help. Where have we gone ...
But overall it is a beautiful testimony for Christianity, for foster parents who care and go great lengths in bringing up the orphaned, and for life itself - good and sometimes evil. But we do not hate the evildoer, but rather evil - as the police-officer worded it well.
Break Every Chain (2021)
No redemption, but a movie rather generating doubts.
This movie would have a great potential, if the music would not destroy it and the lack of redemption would conclude it to be senseless. It is marketed as Christian movie, but the underlying message is very anti-Christian and can create serious doubts in a believer.
PROS
+ Powerful story.
+ Great actors.
+ Great filmography.
CONS
- The movie starts with deep frustration and a severe critique of KYRIOS, and it never recovers from that. It ends with a main actor who hadn't found any redemption after some loose contacts with a pastor, but searched for a solution in counseling, as if KYRIOS would have failed him. Yes, he throws aways his alcohol, yes they have another baby and seem to recover their relationship, but there is no spiritual redemption, no salvation. This is probably the saddest state a 'Christian' movie can end with.
- The music is disturbing and overly dramatic. I had to take my headphones several times off, because it was impossible to stand that nearly demonic music. Yes, the makers wanted to make a point, but that point could have been achieved without torturing the viewer and without an endless repetition of an image of a dead woman's face.
- The producers have sadly no proper theological understanding and have obviously never heard of the age of accountability. "Sydney, 16 all her dreams gone" is a conclusion that could not be more at odds with the Bible, which makes it clear that every child, no matter believer or unbeliever, who dies before the age of 20, will automatically experience salvation.
So why should her dreams be gone, if she experiences something infinitely more beautiful right now? The same applied with the death of their unborn child. We might excuse this misunderstanding with the unbelief of the main actor who just acted how a pagan would react, but his wife is portrayed as a believer and nevertheless has a total breakdown. She should have known her child in much better hands than she could ever provide. This is sadly a very selfish mindset, to put the personal relationship over the joy of the child's salvation he or she would have possibly never experienced if having passed the age of 20.
Cult Explosion (1980)
Overall highly recommended.
I am very grateful for such productions which are sadly rare. What Martin Martin produced here, is of eternal value, literally. This documentary provides a good first insight into many cults and religions. It is a bit scary when they speak about out-of-body experiences and fake spiritual encounters, but when we belief in a spiritual life, then those evil facets are possibly also true.
The documentary lacked though a proper introduction to each cult. Some quick facts of 1 minute per religion would have made a great difference (size at that time, countries, exact names and groups to avoid ...). It is also not systematic enough, but follows more the format of modern documentaries to sequence / overlap various topics with the preference of keeping the viewer entertained. This results in a wild rollercoaster and it is hard to get a clear picture of a specific cult spoken about. Lots of bits and pieces. The viewer definitely knows that it is urgent to avoid any of those cults, but he or she would have a very hard time to tell someone else a brief summary of a specific religion after watching this.
Overall highly recommended though.
This Is Our Time (2013)
A very powerful message.
This movie is definitely not the average movie, and this is meant in the rather positive sense.
Speaking about the negative elements first, it has sometimes the look and feel as if trying hard to make up a Christian 'Friends' format. This is not really negative, but in the scene where one character speaks in the sandwich bar with his ex-girlfriend and his friends on the table behind synchronize their conversation, is definitely in the category of sin, of gossip. Not a Christian thing to do. But that was already all the negative and the positive prevails by far.
The movie is very honest with hard questions to the LORD and with the challenges and sometimes toughness of Christian life. This is far above average and very positive, to have a movie speak about those uncomfortable truths we usually rather ignore. And after we learn many small lessons between the tragic element and the end of the movie, we see then a more complete picture of a purpose which could indeed be of the LORD.
Faith Happens (2016)
Evaluation of the 2016 series. Well-made and definitely recommended.
This review does reflect on the first season of the series available on Pureflix. No movie could be found at the time of the review, neither online nor specifically on their website as pointed out before the closing credits.
The series is overall great, and the individual testimonies and stories are very powerful. They chose different topics (adultery, child abuse, drug addiction, foregiveness, illness, money fraud, refugees ...) which they balanced very well and wove them into an overall story, where individual characters played initially secondary roles and then had their story told later on (or the other way around).
There are many painful stories which turn into redemption, but also stories of a Calvinist pastor which started with an intact family but then turned into pure evil in the form of adultery and a complete breakdown of a family, while telling the story from the perspective of the future couple, which was rather inadequate.
Another definitely inadequate part was in episode 2, when the pastor prayed in the counseling session and said in his prayer: "It doesn't make sense. And it's your (the Lord's) fault. (sobbing and pause) It's his fault. It's your fault." This sadly destroys quite a lot of the overall great production and of the lessons we can definitely learn from it. It is a mystery why they included such a prayer. Surely lamentation is sometimes ok, but this is not a prayer we could find anywhere in the Bible, to blame the Lord that it is His fault that this child abuse happened.
Otherwise a great production, but sad to not find the second season to continue.
The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry (2008)
A very beautiful movie.
What a beautiful surprise of a movie. No teenage drama, no American dream, nothing about self but purely of Christ.
It almost feels like an idealistic throwback in time, and this is sad indeed. Rarely do we find personalities like Mr. Sperry today, who live truly for Christ and their neighbors, and can even forgive a drunken neighbor who killed his wife in a car accident. At the same time we find less and less characters such as that of the children, earning their extra money through small jobs, having respect for parents and the elderly, and especially not rejecting the Bible once motivated to read it.
What a beautiful and encouraging story of love, respect, motivation, fellowship, foregiveness, restoration, redemption and biblical perspective. Highly recommended.
Hoovey (2015)
Excellent movie, and captivating drama.
It is rare to find a great Christian movie which comes in such a high quality. Even though I am tired of watching another movie about the American Dream and sports, this movie is different. It is strongly based on Christian morals and Bible stories such as the story of Job. It is a drama such as the LORD could have written it, of a suffering He sometimes allows, of a beautiful family unity and strength of that family, and of course especially of Hoovey.
PROS
+ Very great actors.
+ Excellent camera and images.
+ Wonderful movie, to simply enjoy and lean back.
NEUTRAL
o The 3 men who helped to pull out the car could have made some people scratch their head, but there is nothing biblically speaking that does disallow for something like that to happen today. The movie is very sound and apart from this scene which scratches the limits of orthodoxy, there is absolutely nothing to object which is very, very rare in a Christian movie. No swearing, no transgressions, no questionable endorsements or doctrine.
CONS
- The movie is a bit too much focused on the family and we do not see characters involving their church members, friends or extended family.
Love Different (2016)
Horrible movie.
This movie has basically a good thought, to take away mental boundaries between different skin colours. I appreciate this thought and wish that more movies are being done on this matter. But this movie is below grade and it is to no surprise at the end, to notice that it was produced by the Seventh-day Adventists. There is no positive Christian message in the movie and it displays Christianity in a rather bad light.
PROS
+ Good thought to break down barriers.
CONS
- Often with ridiculous performances. Stereotypes are often overemphasized and the movie tries too hard to be funny where it is clearly not.
- The main actor claims to be Christian, but displays repeated bursts of anger, bad parenting and badly insults a man which also provokes an almost violent situation where she has to be rescued by the good guys.
- Other actors repeatedly lie, be it pretending to know each other while actually not being the case, et al.
- The movie endorses the abuse of numerologies, in this case that the number 70 means something special as soon as the Christian main actor made a purchase with the bill resulting in that precise number.
- The movie teaches that the wife is the number 1, but no mention of our LORD.
- The client at the end of the movie introduces himself as a 'head elder', an office totally foreign to the Bible. If we allow such offices to be created and being promoted in movies, then we do not have to wonder when other religions call this office on top of the biblical office of an elder a bishop or pope. There is only one position on top of elders, it is JESUS CHRIST.
- The producers are Seventh-day Adventists, belonging to The Call TV. Further endorsement made: the 'North American Division youth Department of SDA', the 'Washington Adventist University', 'Spencerville Adventist Academy' and the 'Living Well Christian Bookstore' (all SDA) et al.
- The movie displays at the end twice the message: "Executive producer: God". This is truly ridiculous and summarizes the mindset of the movie - disrespect of true Christianity.
Behind the Sun (1995)
Excellent (short) film.
This movie shows in an impressive manner the totally different tolerance levels we encounter in different countries and religions. While it is unthinkable in most countries that the possession of a religious book could cause the death of a family member, this sadly is still reality today in some countries, almost 30 years after the production of this excellent and very impressive movie.
But as the Bible already says, JESUS did not come to bring peace in the first instance, but to divide between good and evil. Nowhere becomes this division more obvious than in the Middle East, which is still widely oppressed by those who do not accept THEOS.
What a surprising and great end of the movie. Highly recommended.
Mountain Top (2017)
A good movie. Recommended.
PROS
+ Very creative plot based on the book of the same name (Robert Whitlow). Just some things we never learn and that are left vague. The end was kind of crammed together.
+ Great performances, even though Coby does not fit in at all as pastor and conveys little spiritual authority.
+ Beautiful outdoor shots.
+ Powerful music.
NEUTRAL
o Even though the Bible paints the profession of a lawyer in a negative image, it is entirely possible that our LORD would use the talents of a lawyer for His purposes. But it is questionable that He would sacrifice a pastor for a lawyer. The end of the movie rather suggests that he continued as a lawyer and visited only part time the prisons as pastor.
The movie is entirely based on the erroneous application of the Bible, saying that we have one pastor + elders instead of a plurality of elders / overseers / pastors (all the very same office). The overworked pastor we see here is only in such a position because today's churches don't apply the Bible. A conflict between the income-earning profession of a pastor and his pastoral duties is not something Paul would have encountered. He worked at least part time and still fulfilled his pastoral duties.
O While it is perfectly possible that the LORD speaks to us in visions and dreams today, the movie could also create a dangerous precedent for people who seek to abuse this way of communication. But everything in the movie itself is sound.
CONS
- The image of a pastor definitely suffers through that movie. Coby does not look like a pastor, he is an angry pastor with little compassion and he is overworked. He is also not in walking the Spirit, given the amount of times he rejected the request to help, even after the LORD spoke to Him through his future son. If a pastor does not see at this point that the LORD is speaking, then he is nothing more than a professional with the title 'pastor'.
Because of Grácia (2017)
Great movie.
PROS
+ After the movie is relatively flat in the beginning, appearing to be just one more of the many teenage stories out there, it quickly gains momentum and quality.
+ Good defense of the creation account of the Bible.
+ Beautiful example what it means to stand up for the Christian faith and to be firm in it, no matter the opposition.
+ Great example of emotional and spiritual support of Gracia for Amy.
+ Faithful example of the couple to wait until marriage - very beautiful images at the end of the movie.
+ Very good actors.
CONS
- The movie does not show any effort of Amy to get together again with the father of the child. It is beautiful to celebrate a newborn, but it is tragic that this movie simply shows a break-up of two sentences over the phone and simply treats it as sidenote that the child will grow up fatherless.
- Ben Davies was a better fit in his role in 'I'm Not Ashamed'. It was not the best fit for him to play a teacher.
- It was probably not wise to endorse Socrates in a Christian movie.
A Question of Miracles (2001)
Important documentary.
The Bible warned of exactly those people, that many wolves will come in the name of Jesus Christ.
It fills me with grief, to see the people of Africa, many of whom have already suffered much for a long time, are being abused by those teachers in the name of the Most High. But the truth is that even people in the west are susceptible to those practices, although we could not imagine seeing this happen at such a scale.
What is the remedy? We need to read our Bibles, repeatedly if you are a believer, and at least once in your lifetime if you are an unbeliever. It is the most-sold book of all time and it has all the answers to suffering and healing.
Jesus still heals today on occasions, but certainly not through jacket-throwing charlatans.
Apostle Peter and the Last Supper (2012)
A good movie depicting how the Apostle Peter might have died and how he looked back on the NT.
What can I say? It is a great Christian movie, made by secular people. It is indeed surprising how a director, who promotes artwork on his very own website which is clearly satanic, has the motivation for such a movie.
Does a director of a Christian movie need to be Christian? No, he doesn't, but it is hypocrisy to do something just for the money.
Should a director of a Christian movie be a Christian? Yes, that is what makes sense.
Can a director of a Christian movie promote the other side while doing this and several other popular Christian movies? Only in America ...
PROS
+ Great depictions of an extra-biblical story, which tells in parts biblical elements. Obviously, a great creative license is taken, but the movie does not equal to an apocryphal book which someone wants to insert into the Bible.
+ It is beautiful how they portrayed Peter, without the least of fear before his death.
+ Beautiful end with the conversion of two soldiers and one's wife.
CONS
- The movie tries hard to impress through extreme tonality in voices and by excessive music.
- The satan character is certainly not what the Bible describes as a wolf in sheep's clothing. He does not come anywhere close to a 'sheep' in human terms, but is the typical Hollywood scheme to make things appear more extreme ...
- It would have been nice if they would have made at least for some scenes their way out of the LA studios and filmed in an actual setting - be it in Israel or similar.
- The prayer 'you sanctified us with your commandments' shows a fundamental lack of Bible knowledge. We might walk on the road of sanctification while obeying commandments, but we are not sanctified with commandments ...
- When the two Roman soldiers become Christians under Peter's hand (which is beautiful), smoke comes up and eastern meditation music is played. It looks and sounds more like a conversion to Buddhism, if the words would not have been different.
- Peter could have only died in Rome long after the conversion of Saul to Paul. Nevertheless the movie states at the end that they have to empty the cell for a certain 'Saul of Tarsus'. That's why unbelievers should never do a Christian movie.