I saw the lukewarm reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and was debating whether to go see it. I was really surprised at how good it was. The acting and plot were really excellent. I'm just surprised at how little I am hearing about this movie. If this movie had come out in the 90's it would have been a major release.
shareIt's a Christian movie so the secular/atheist elites are trying to bury it.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
It's a Christian movie so the secular/atheist elites are trying to bury it.
bens33: "It's a Christian movie so the secular/atheist elites are trying to bury it."
Yes.
Also, we should remember that The Passion of the Christ didn't just happen; Mel Gibson did a rare job selling it, comparable to what Ryan Reynolds has done for his Deadpool movie.
And that was a long time ago. The iron has gone cold. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, and Zoolander 2 show how unkind the public can be to a sequel that came out far too late.
Yes I know that Risen isn't a sequel, but from the standpoint of the crudest simplified marketing it would be, in the way that Brokeback Mountain was "that gay cowboy movie". A simplified approximation can stick in people's minds the way something carefully accurate doesn't.
#BringF4Home
I think you are correct, but I'm doing what I can to spread the word on this one. Already told my family that they must see it and reap joy. Great quote btw
shareThank you. I am doing what I can too. Telling everybody I know is Christian. The movie to me is a place I can go. I have the tape of the music in the car. By listening to it I reconnect and reinforces in me the reality of Love which Jesus taught us
shareIt's a very comforting film isn't it? I love how they did not turn the miracles into Disney cinematic magic. It grounded the miracles in reality and Biblical truth that is easy to accept. Loved that. What I also loved was the humanity of the Apostles. Goofy Bartholomew and moody Peter who retaliated after he got cut. But, still forgave. The nuance of that mixture was cinematic brilliance to me. They were the very FIRST...we assume they had their speeches and writings from day one. This story pointed out how they were human workers...truly fishers of men...needing direction and guidance...I loved it when Jesus said, "if it is difficult for you to believe seeing everything you have seen, can you imagine how hard it will be for them?". Was he talking about how hard it was going to be for the Apostles to convince the world Jesus was the Son of God and rose from the dead? Or was that a statement to US in the modern day audience?
That statement made me tear up. Because you just know that a 1000 years is a day to God and Jesus, and although Jesus has been gone for 2 days (2000 years) when he comes again on the 3rd day, not a minute has passed to him over these hundreds of years for us where he does not cry for the lost, the doubters, and those still struggling on their paths to trusting in him...
I think that is why some critics are discombobulated. They don't get it. A lot of what was meant in conversation... But, folks who have gone down the path to faith absolutely do. It's not a WOW conversion moment I suspect most of the time and not even a product of upbringing or years of sitting in a church pew listening to a preacher. Habitual worship does not equate with TRULY connecting to God. For that you have to go into the quiet areas of your soul and expose yourself to him so he can work on your heart. Surrender...
Real faith starts small and slowly builds until you just simply surrender to the idea (peacefully and happily) that whatever happens HERE on Earth and regardless of who we are born to HERE, our FATHER is in heaven, and we are all brothers and sisters.
I think the movie did a wonderful job of bringing us, the audience, into that community of love which the Apostles shared. Awesome that you loved the movie and are spreading the word.
God Bless
Galena
*Free speech opinion w/ pseudonym internet moniker w/o malice for debate and discussion🌈
[deleted]
As an atheist myself I would agree with you. But I think the casting and the crew took a toll on this film's popularity too. Joseph Fiennes pretty much had his career peak in the 90s. He isn't an A lister nowadays (probably never was). The director also isn't "big". His "famous films" were Count of Monte Cristo and Waterworld.
If this had someone like Ridley Scott behind it with the lead actor being Ryan Gosling, it would've been a box office hit.
So maybe it isn't just atheists obscuring it. But who knows.
It was a good fictional movie, but the general population isn't going to get into it unless people are being killed left and right in horrendous ways. Take for instance the movie 300. I think the problem with hard core Abrahamic believers is that they misinterpret the general population. Most people want to believe in the supernatural, but also understand that it doesn't exist. So for movies like this they'll just fall flat.
shareThis movie will be a snowball rolling downhill. Church groups will spread the word. Generally speaking, Christian movies usually score in the teens, ie 17% on Rotten Tomatoes, but the audience scores them like 80% or 90%+...or, many times, the mainstream critics don't even bother to review Christian films. Some really good Christian films score 10% from critics because the critics either hate God or Christians...who knows...But it's twisted as Mad Max Fury Road has to be the most ridiculously bad film I have ever seen in my entire life (my dad agrees with me) but it is up for an Academy Award. Steve Jobs was a flop about a tired subjects and critics loved it and it produced at least two academy award nominations..
What this should point to is critics are a joke, as is recognition by Hollywood...there's an anti Christian agenda..
This is different because Sony is pushing it. But, since Christian movie makers (eg, Pure Flix, Kendrick Brothers) generally know critics won't like their films, etc, they usually don't have lots and lots of parties to promote, go to festivals, schmooze mainstream critics for good reviews...they do, however post information in the front or back of films that you can purchase licences for large group showings (ie, churches, or faith conferences, etc)..
What they do is just release the film, let Dove Foundation score it, then use "word of mouth" as ADVERTISING..
I've seen the movie twice so far because I wanted to see some of the cinematic details, etc..I read an article where a lady said she saw it twice and church groups are organizing to go see it.
Maybe not as big as Passion of the Christ but, I'm confident the film will make a profit. It has already made around $12 million and the budget was $20 million and we haven't really even started word of mouth yet. I told someone about it and they thought it was a TV series.
So, given mainstream critics like it or can't outright hate it as is usually the case, means Christians will most likely loooooove it but it will build as time goes on...
Galena
*Free speech opinion w/ pseudonym internet moniker w/o malice for debate and discussion🌈
Ah all those dwindling church groups made up of mostly middle aged & elderly people, what a great future your religion has!
shareWow. You have contempt for middle aged and elderly people. Well, if God is merciful, you will be middle aged and old like them one day. Or were you just under the impression that really special people just never age? Sorry there sport....
Galena
*Free speech opinion w/ pseudonym internet moniker w/o malice for debate and discussion🌈
I think Killerbee's point was that if no young people attend church these days, then the religion will die out together with the old people, who are the only ones there.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Except what kind of expert is Killerbee? Young people are VERY much in the faith. That poster was just blatantly exposing his/her ignorance on a topic he/she knows nothing about clearly.
This is a wonderful case in point.
https://youtu.be/eLqTZ07ja7g
There are elderly people in the audience but Hillsong started out as a youth ministry. And Killerbee obviously does not listen to Christian pop music, shop at Christian book stores, watch Christian movies, or attend Christian marriage retreats or YOUTH camps.
The Christian faith is not only very much ALIVE, but by 2050 it is expected to reach 3 billion.... It is not dying out but shifting. From Europe as it's center to global south, Africa and Asia where it is exploding. By 2030, China is expected to be the world's largest Christian country.
And this is just a small example of what is going on in Africa
https://youtu.be/MBtBHZtdU78
Lots of young folks crying and praying to a Jesus they love in that video.
Galena
*Free speech opinion w/ pseudonym internet moniker w/o malice for debate and discussion🌈
Thank you. Movie needs the love of word to mouth.
shareIt's not completely Biblical.
I belong to Jesus: my Lord, Savior, my eternity, my everything. I love you, Jesus!
Compare the reception of Risen and The Witch. (I'm only comparing the reception not the movies, which haven't come to my local cinema yet.)
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_witch_2016/
The Witch: 88% fresh with critics; 95% user "want to see" score. In sum: critically driven "buzz".
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/risen_2016/
Risen: 59% score with critics / rotten; 80% audience "liked it" score.
http://www.cinemascore.com/
Risen: A-
The Witch: C-
Critics are hyping up audiences to approve The Witch, but as far as CinemaScore audiences are concerned the product is not good.
The Witch is loved by critics and disliked by audiences. Risen is liked by audiences and tepidly received by critics.
The Witch paints a damning picture of the inner evil of early Christian culture in pioneer America. Risen of course has a different view of Christianity: that it's the truth.
Who thinks that the different images these two movies promote about Christianity are nothing to do with the popular and critical receptions they got?
#BringF4Home
Clearly you have zero understanding how movies are review. Critics always gives a lower score and audience does the complete opposite. Christian movies does not bring out a big crowd. It was a low budget movie that didn't caught the critics in any good or bad way. I think it got around 57%. People on this forum thinks it a Christian movie so everyone is trying down play it. You had Deadpool that got good rates and people are going out to spend their money on that which hit number one again.
More than 60% of Americans see their self as Christians but they don't go out to movies to watch a Christian movie. It's not a big ticket showing for Christians.
The Witch is getting low CinemaScore ratings because it's a difficult film that doesn't offer its audience any concessions but to swallow an alien historical mindset whole. Risen, on the other hand, is basically telling an already willing audience exactly what they want to hear. It's not rocket science.
shareI hate to rain on everyone's parade but maybe some people just don't find the story interesting at all. If you enjoyed the movie, good for you. I know i didn't enjoy it but that's just my personal taste. I dislike a lot of movies and Risen is no exception. The story that encompasses this movie has been told countless times throughout history. Seeing it from a roman detectives point of view isn't anymore interesting to me and to many others.
Why? Is a low budget fiction movie. With a "newer" look on a *beep* story most poeple is already saturated of... and the ones that arent saturated of... take it too seriously to everybody else wants to be around...
shareAgnostics and Atheists are on the rise especially among the younger population in the west. Not surprising really that an about average come to jesus movie does not get more of a buzz.
share[deleted]
I liked it, but it still barely looks better than a made-for-TV movie. A lot of the sets reminded me of Hercules/Xena....
Please stop.