No spoilers here. Things turn out just as you would expect, if you have any familiarity with the book of Genesis.
TBITB has two claims to fame: First, it is quite faithful to the Biblical accounts from Genesis. Second, it is quite a spectacle, if not an epic. As I recall, there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding the movie, though not at all comparable to that directed at Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" or Scorsese's "The Last Tempatation of Christ."
Unfortunately, the movie has not aged well. The spectacular aspects of the film are simply not on a par with films that were produced even 30 years earlier, and the split-screen/optical effects are very noticeable. (I am always amused by the relative size of the polar bears as they trot by Noah when entering the ark...they appear about the size of large pigs.) It is also distracting to see the big-name stars in relatively small and unchallenging parts. Huston himself is quite unconvincing in the role of Noah (which he took only because several other stars to whom he offered it turned it down.)
Ultimately, though, TBITB is just boring. Clocking in at nearly three hours, it gives the impression that each actor wanted the maximum screen time (and who blames them?) at the expense of every other consideration. Since there's virtually no suspense (will the angels find at least 10 righteous men in Sodom and Gomorrah?) there's very little for the viewer to look forward to. It ends up being a somewhat impressive, but rather dry, filming of well-known Sunday school stories.
TBITB has two claims to fame: First, it is quite faithful to the Biblical accounts from Genesis. Second, it is quite a spectacle, if not an epic. As I recall, there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding the movie, though not at all comparable to that directed at Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" or Scorsese's "The Last Tempatation of Christ."
Unfortunately, the movie has not aged well. The spectacular aspects of the film are simply not on a par with films that were produced even 30 years earlier, and the split-screen/optical effects are very noticeable. (I am always amused by the relative size of the polar bears as they trot by Noah when entering the ark...they appear about the size of large pigs.) It is also distracting to see the big-name stars in relatively small and unchallenging parts. Huston himself is quite unconvincing in the role of Noah (which he took only because several other stars to whom he offered it turned it down.)
Ultimately, though, TBITB is just boring. Clocking in at nearly three hours, it gives the impression that each actor wanted the maximum screen time (and who blames them?) at the expense of every other consideration. Since there's virtually no suspense (will the angels find at least 10 righteous men in Sodom and Gomorrah?) there's very little for the viewer to look forward to. It ends up being a somewhat impressive, but rather dry, filming of well-known Sunday school stories.