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Reviews
God's Not Dead (2014)
Fairly Good Movie, Ignore Nay-sayers
So I think this was a fairly good movie, and I gave it a higher review first because it was much better than my expectation, and secondly, everyone else is unfairly dogging the movie.
First, all the negative reviews (written by what I can assume mostly to be anti-Christians simply wishing to trash the movie because it's Christian) can be simplified into 1) The film was Christian Propaganda, and 2) The film was too simplistic.
Well, my answer to #1 is, of course. It's a Christian made movie. What do you expect. The antagonists in the movie portrayed stereotypical anti-Christians. I have met people like all of these. Just like the average Hollywood movie portrays Christians and idiots, likewise is true and false. There are no doubt some Christians that are idiots, but a lot of them are not. Most Hollywood movies are propaganda for some -ism, albeit hedonism. It is no shocker that this movie which is anti-hedonistic, and pro-Christian would upset some.
The answer to #2 is that in any film, you have to make generalizations. No one could make a film about exact scenarios that covered everyone. Most films, that are based in some form of reality, that are not Biographies or specific documentaries, are in some form, stereotypical. You can't expect anything different.
The film portrayed the stereotypes, I believed, well. Not perfect, but well. Obviously there are a lot of people in these scenarios that are not covered. But it is a thought-provoking film for those who wish to have their thoughts provoked. For those who wish to find something wrong with it, of course they will find ample things do find cause with.
Son of God (2014)
Good film, don't over think it folks...
So the film is an adaption of the Bible Series on the History Channel. A lot of new scenes, some smooshed together. It is obviously not a Word-for-word reading of the Gospel of John, although it generally tries to follow the Gospel of John. For a two hour movie it does a good job of telling the story. You cannot tell the Gospel story word for word in two hours. So please stop criticizing this movie for not doing that.
A lot of folks are knit picky on this film, and rightfully, if you're evaluating it as a theologian, you can. It's inaccurate.
HOWEVER, if you're evaluating this movie from the angle that someone who hasn't read the Bible, you will realize that they will actually for the first time hear the Gospel Story. Did the real Jesus say it exactly the way he did in the movie? Actually, no. He said it in Aramaic.
If you're looking for a great film taken WORD-for-WORD from the Gospel of John, I highly recommend watching "The Gospel of John - Visual Bible - 2-DVD set (2005)" you can search on Amazon.com. It is 315 minutes long... That's the unabridged version.
I recommend this film, "Son of God" for those who love Jesus, and love the story of what Jesus did. I recommend this film for people who have not read the Bible.
If you're a theologian, stay home, read the Bible.