Why Christian films are traditionally bad:

I don't speak for all Christians but I don't see Christian movies to have a feel good experience but instead to actually see on screen, things I could only imagine from the bible.

I wouldn't exactly call this a Christian movie, all tho it has some biblical inspiration (like Noah), it strays too far from what is actually written in the bible. This is what disappoints many Christians who pay thinking its actually a christian movie. My mind is open enough to accept this for what it is, just entertainment but it can be confusing for those with no real knowledge of the bible.

The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, King of Kings, Prince of Egypt, The Bible, are all good Christian films. The Pillars of the Earth is a good Christian miniseries. I even liked the new Noah and tolerated Passion of the Christ (if only for its production and artistic vision, not so much the graphic violence). The main problem tends to lie with Revelation type films since nobody knows for sure what the heck it all means since it's all symbolism. You can be a Christian and make films.

But I think you're referring specifically to the Left Behind sort of film. I think "evangelical" is a better term for that. It's less about Christianity but more about selling Christianity. Preachiness in any genre makes it bad. If a "Christian" artist or filmmaker tries to use film only as a vehicle for evangelism, it will turn out terrible. Because if I wanted a sermon I'd go to church.

You can make a Christian film with subtle intellectual themes

If you 'stopped being a Christian' because you felt your art was more important to you, then I highly doubt that you ever truly started in the first place.

When I see Hollywood promoting disgusting, ungodly ideas do you know what I do? Stop watching movies that those people are making.
I don't abandon my faith because it's getting in the way of my love of cinema, if anything I'd do the opposite.


+++by His wounds we are healed. - Isaiah 53:5+++

"Christian" films are largely bad due to the producer's/director's determination to be "on the nose" with its content. Second reason is a small budget. Very few films can overcome the limitations of a small budget, no name actors, shabby production quality (like latest Nick Cage Left Behind offering...egads). I entirely enjoyed "The Theory of Everything" it wasn't a "faith-based" film, but subtle arguments FOR intelligent design arise if the viewer isn't comatose. I was an artist, designer, writer, dreamer for years prior to and during a stint as an agnostic/atheist. I found artistic freedom, not constraint. Maybe that's because aside from Christ, all other religions (and even including this film) suggested that I had to be holy enough, or righteous enough for God. Jesus communicated to me in His subtle quiet way, that HE was righteous enough for me. My shortcomings as a human being, were covered by His goodness. Hope you keep looking for ways to create and express your art. Also hoping that you might find that ultimate freedom I came to find...though it did take some time.

Cheers

I think you're right, but only in some cases (granted, they're the majority, but still there are exceptions). To be fair, a good chunk of Christian films are made for and by evangelicals with a very specific agenda to push, with hopes of getting precisely that simplistic angle across. Condemning them for filling a niche that some people want filled seems unfair.

But are there intelligent films dealing with Christian theology and themes? Yes. "The Last Temptation of Christ", "The Body" (2001), "Commandments" (1997), "The Rapture" (1991), "Hellraiser: Inferno", "The Visitation" (2006). That's a decent start I'd say.

I think part of the reason there aren't more such films is that they tend to alienate Christians who only want the Hallmark movies, while also alienating people who go in to spastic fits whenever someone says "God" (seriously, I've seen people refuse to watch "Vanishing on 7th Street" because they thought it -might- have a religious theme, and not because it was a so-so horror flick). When your script has already lost two large groups of movie buffs, the odds of it getting made start to shrink. And when filmmakers try to sneak such themes in (e.g. "Prometheus"), they tend to be so subtle that nobody notices and the themes are ultimately lost in translation anyway.

Christians who pay to watch Christian films do so because they want a Hallmark-esque, feel-good experience

Speak for yourself.I personally am fed up with the dark depressing films that are the majority of what is out there today.Christianity is about faith and hope, not Jason movies and movies about hopelessness.