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God's Not Dead (2014)
A Heart Warming Made-For-Christians Film
Going into GND, I was skeptical. I live in the Bible Belt, and I heard many raving reviews from peers. Then I would come on here and see the scathing reviews, many from Christians, as stated in their reviews.
Overall, I found the movie satisfying. It gave me a renewed sense of faith and put a big goofy grin on my face when (spoiler) most of the principle characters accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
However, the film does have some flaws. Many of the characters are stereotypical. The atheist professor, of course, treats anyone with religious beliefs, especially Christians, like absolute morons. The Muslim father is portrayed as abusive in the scene where he finds out about her Christian faith. A Chinese foreign exchange student is forbidden by his father to talk about God. While there are a few more, these are the main stereotypes. While there are a few people in the world who are like that, it would have made the movie better if they had portrayed more of the general population. Also, I enjoyed the movie mostly because only the Christian argument was fully elaborated on. It might have made the film more marketable and enjoyable to other audiences if the Atheist argument was elaborated further, and it could have provided a better argument for God to non-Christians in the theaters.
Mostly, I would call this movie an extreme situation for Christians entering into college and adult life. It is unlikely, but not impossible, that believers will face this type of interrogation, for lack of a better word. If you are a non-Christian, you might find the movie either pointless or offensive. For Christians, I believe that it is a heart-warming movie.
Noah (2014)
Stunning, but for believers, some clarifications required...
I found this movie absolutely stunning. Beautiful cinematography, outstanding acting, and astounding special effects.
Of course, there are a few things that fellow believers need to be aware of. The movie, 'Noah', is not told from an ultra-conservative point of view. There are multiple parts that can clash with your own beliefs. When creation is explained in the movie, it is portrayed in the fashion that God, or The Creator as He is referred to throughout the movie, used the Big Bang as His tool for the creation of the universe, and evolution for His creation of animals and of Man. Although I do not personally believe that is how He created everything, the movie tells creation beautifully and with God as the Creator, therefore I do not find it offensive.
One piece of information that will be helpful when seeing this movie is the background and origin of the Watchers. The Watchers are originally mentioned in the Book of Enoch, an ancient non-canonical book of the Jewish religion. The Watchers are, as stated in the movie, fallen angels, but after that, the production team took their creative license. Since it is in neither the Jewish Tanakh nor the Christian Bible, most viewers will think that the producers simply made up the Watchers.
Also, there are many gruesome and gut-wrenching scenes, for this movie reveals just how corrupt Mankind had become. There is no happy parade of animals arriving two-by-two, and Noah is not a happy old man with a long flowing beard In this film, Noah tries to follow exactly what the Creator commanded of him, taking himself past his breaking point. In this film, Mankind is scrambling for survival, taking what it wants and not caring for anyone else. In this film, the story of Noah is portrayed realistically.
I implore you to go see this movie, but you must watch it with an open mind.