Stephen Baldwin and Eric Roberts
This movie already sounds horrible. But them doing a Christian Drama as well... ugghhhh. Disaster is all I expect.
I can't be tied down to a girl who wants me to tied up- Blood Hound Gang, 3 Point 1 4.
Jon-181,
I edited this film and I was surprised by how effective Stephen Baldwin and Eric Roberts were in their roles. I urge you to give the film a chance before bagging on it.
This is NOT your typical Christian film and these two actors make strong contributions to it. Roberts is only in 3 scenes, by the way, but he does not play a typical Eric Roberts character. He is vulnerable and funny. Baldwin is fantastic in his supporting role as "Luke." I was quite impressed by his performance.
Give them a chance, friend. :)
--Jeff--
I think the movie was the usual dystopic christian propaganda, like a clone of the "Apocalypse" sequels, trying to force the usual christian clichés down your throat.
It's basically a propaganda movie that says it's worth dying for your religion.. Scary stuff, obviously written by brainwashed people...
And Eric Roberts' appearance in the movie was obviously just to attract an unsuspecting mainstream audience to make more money..
Brad Heller is always good tho. I wish he would make some real movies, not just these religious fanatic movies.
Oh yeah, this really 'forced' christian cliches down your throat!
Get a life dude! this is a MOVIE and it is getting so much attention that my local blockbuster had ONE copy, and I being a Christian had never even heard of it! I saw the cover with Stephen Baldwin on it and wanted to see what kind of movies he was doing now.
I would say this film has much better acting than the Left Behind films, although the story line in this one was (for me) hard to follow as it didn't specifically mention how the world ended up the way that it was.
I was suprised to find Eric Roberts in this film as well, but thought that perhaps he had become a born-again believer as Baldwin had.
As for being forceful, I wonder if nowirehangers would say the same about the movie SAVED with regards to it forcing anti-christian cliches down your throat??!!!
I haven't seen "Saved", so I don't know.
But this is just another one of those Christian Propaganda movies that those guys (Kevin Downes, David White & Co (where do they get all the money to make all these movies), in the tradition of the Christiano Brothers' movies and the Apocalypse movies (this was pretty much a clone of "Revelation" or some other Apocalypse sequel), trying to scare people into becoming christians.
And the message is basically that it's better to die for your religion than to survive, and that is a pretty sick message that only religious fanatics could agree with or support.
Christian filmmakers obviously have no imagination, since they don't seem to be able to do anything than movies about "the rapture" and its aftermath. It's like they're making the same movie over and over again.
(Looks like David White had a bad-hair-day througout the making of this movie, was it really supposed to look like that?)
I would love to know why people like 'nowirehangers' are so offended by anything Christian? If you are so anti-Christian then why are you wasting your time watching these movies?? Quit watching them and annoying us by whining about it. I don't watch Satanic movies and sit and cry about them. All these things that Christians do that you make fun of are based in the Bible, which is the inspired word of God. So why don't you go cry to God about all these movies and leave us alone. If you don't believe in Him, then just be quiet altogether and spare us all.
shareAmen!
shareI'm a movie buff and I study film. I'm interested in religion, and in the way film is used to spread different types of messages, propaganda if you will. That's why i watch this kind of movies.
And I don't believe in God, and I don't believe that the bible was inspired by God (since I don't believe he/she/it exists). So I can't "go cry to God about these movies. And what would be the point of that anyway?
I just wanted to comment on the message that this movie has, the message being basically that it's better to die for your faith than to say you're not a Christian if you live in that type of dictatorship. It's pretty much like the Jehova's Witnesses that were sent to concentration camps during WW2. Instead of trying to survive to wait until the dicator gets overthrown, they just agreed to get killed. Only religious fanatics would do that, and Jehovas' Witnesses certainly qualify as fanatics, as does the makers of this movie, it seems, if they actually support the message of the movie they made.
I just wanted to comment on the message that this movie has, the message being basically that it's better to die for your faith than to say you're not a Christian if you live in that type of dictatorship. It's pretty much like the Jehova's Witnesses that were sent to concentration camps during WW2. Instead of trying to survive to wait until the dicator gets overthrown, they just agreed to get killed. Only religious fanatics would do that, and Jehovas' Witnesses certainly qualify as fanatics, as does the makers of this movie, it seems, if they actually support the message of the movie they made.
I find it a little sad that you believe that survival is more important than standing up for what you believe in.
What if the American colonists decided that "We want to have our own country, but fighting for it is going to cost a lot of people their lives, and since survival is the most important thing, I guess being ruled by another country really isn't all that bad..."? share
I find it a little sad that you believe that survival is more important than standing up for what you believe in.
What if the American colonists decided that "We want to have our own country, but fighting for it is going to cost a lot of people their lives, and since survival is the most important thing, I guess being ruled by another country really isn't all that bad..."?
That's not the same situation.
If you survive, you will be able to fight back against the dictator. If you just let yourself be killed, you can't fight back. You'll give the dictators the right to kill people and continue to rule.
And the reason religious fanatics let themselves be killed is that they believe they'll come to heaven and they've been scared into believing if they deny their religion they'll go to hell. I think THAT is sad. share
"There are two kinds of people: those who say to God 'Thy will be done.'and those to whom God says 'All right then, have it your way'"
C.S. Lewis
As christians our lives far excede the boundries of our birth and death. When we die we look forward to retuning to our loving Father and telling him of the things we learned. For a christian, and probably others that number among God's faithful, to deny God in order to ensure a longer life here would be the hight of frivolity. For to deny God would ensure that our lives would be nothing more than the few years we have here on Earth.
I am sorry you do not understand and I pray you will see the "bigger picture" one day soon.
you study film but you don't get the point... i'm sorry you feel this way about the movie, but apparently you didn't get the purpose and point of the film. you just saw it as propaganda. you study film and didn't get the purpose behind a christian movie??? you must have gotten a C- in film class didn't you???
shareWow, resurrecting a two year old discussion, are we?
I don't remember saying i didn't get the point of the movie, If I said that I take it back. I did get the point of the movie. The message is the same as in all those rapture movies: You better become a Christian before the rapture, and if you don't become a Christian until afterwards, you better die for your faith and let them kill you, or you'll go to hell for denouncing your faith. It's an insult to every person who has ever lived under oppression and fought back instead of just deciding to lay down and die.
If you want to spend your life waiting for the next, I think that's sad, but go ahead. If you think it's admirable to die for your faith, remember that's what suicide bombers do.
"you just saw it as propaganda"
That is exactly what it is...propaganda for believers who aren't educated enough in their own doctrine to see it as the bull that it is.
NoWireHangers is right.
* * * *
OK, so what's the speed of dark?
I think the OP should, as the kids say, "chill." I'm non-religious but I often chance upon these Christian movies on the Jesus network while channel surfing. To me, if the movie is interesting and doesn't beat me over the head with theology I enjoy it. No big deal. Besides, any Christian movie that features Sung Hi Lee is my kind of Christian movie.
shareI just wanted to comment on the message that this movie has, the message being basically that it's better to die for your faith than to say you're not a Christian if you live in that type of dictatorship. It's pretty much like the Jehova's Witnesses that were sent to concentration camps during WW2.
The message is scriptural. The scripture does not try to "scare" you into dying for your faith. In scripture, it states that "If you deny me (Christ) before men; I will deny you before God." It's important for people to understand that if they mean to serve God, that Jesus died for them, and that, to whom much is given, much is expected. It's very prevalent in our society today to think that we need not act upon our faith, even for those who consider themselves to have faith. The message of the movie is to remind us of that. Our lives on earth are temporal. Here we decide where we will spend eternity, and our acceptance of Jesus determines that. Is this a cautionary message? You bet. Jesus came and said many cautionary things. It's up to each person to make his or her choice. But one can't make a choice if one is unaware there is a choice to be made. share
Great answer. I never understand why people are so offended when a person says they are a Christian. I am a Christian and I will never deny my Lord, my savior, my King. I can't force another person to believe; but if they want to hear about a God of love, a God of forgiveness, and a God that is always there, I will be glad to talk to you. But please quit condemning a movie just because they are Christians.
SMILE: JESUS LOVES YOU :-)
Hey folks. I am pretty sure Jesus would rather you not yell and act unkind towards "nowirehangers". He'll just think even more that all Christians are arrogant jerks. And the ones i know? They aren't.
I'm just a ragamuffin saved by grace, i am no better or worse than anyone - but wow does it make me sad to see people yelling at each other and saying it's godly. That is not what the Lord asked of us.
Just some food for thought.
To be quite honest, I don't think anyone here knows what they're talking about. This stuff is all true, whether you nonbelievers want to realize it or not. The world will end in one specific way and even if you don't "adhere" to Christianity, it will still affect you; you're not exempt. I don't appreciate it when everyone always downs Christians and films they do. What are you all so afraid of? The thought of living forever is pretty cool to me.
shareYou keep saying about dying for your faith,but if you know the bible you will see that Jesus already died for us.I think if He would say something about that to you, He would say that a lot of people doesn't get it."He died for us,so we can live for Him.
Christianity is about living not dying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
.....trying to scare people into becoming christians.Actually, God is very straight with humanity in warning them repeatedly about the judgments that are coming to an unrepentant, immoral world. His warnings are meant to be scary so that people will wake up.
Only a fool would continue to mock the Gospel message found in Christian movies. The people making these films may not have big budgets to produce "epics" but their efforts -- their consistent witness of Christ regardless of persecution -- will be rewarded someday by God Himself. The mockers and haters of this ministry are only growing more miserable and heart-hardened with each slur they mutter. How sad for them.
And the dead shall be raised incorruptible,and we shall be changed.~1 Corinthians 15:52 share
I know Eric quite well. He hates organized religion, Christianity in particular. He did this film for the pay. He gave up making good films over a decade ago. He only cares about his bank account. I do not blame him. He was not making much money doing fine films.
Go to Mel "the psycho nazi" Gibson's site if you want to preach! This is a forum for film discussion, not a religious site!
Eric Roberts doesn't act in this movie, he only makes a couple of stupid jokes and then he is killed, I think he is only in the movie and in the credits to attract fans, or something like that.
I also dislike organized religion, opium for the masses, but I thought this movie was pretty decent, like one user said, there were a few scenes that didn't make sense, I was surprised to see a "Christian" movie with very intelligent writing, also Jesus' followers are more like a cult, instead of a religion instead of the typical goodie goodies. What really didn't convince me was the conversion of Tom Newman, he appeared like a very strong character, who seems very willingly to resist cult like ideas.
In "Saved!", the beginning was very good, the story well told, but then the dialog in the second half of the movie became really a piece of garbage, the story was also bad in that part, just ruins the movie, I made a comment about that in case anyone is interested.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0332375/usercomments-141
PS: David White seems like the older brother from James Van der Beek(I think that's his name, te guy from Varsity Blues and Dawson's Creek).
I'm glad to hear Eric Roberts is not a christian fanatic who made this movie and Mercy Streets because he supported the message. Strange tho, that he made both those christian movies. I'd rather see him in grade B-action movies than in grade B religious propaganda movies.
I think he's a good actor, it's a pity his carreer is not as good as it should be. He was very good in "It's My Party", and that was a great movie too.
I don't understand why you guys call it brainwashing. I mean, sure it sounds like Brody (David White), but...whatever. Just because you don't believe it doesn't mean you have to criticize it.
The other weird thing I don't get is, you're basically saying that you'd "go with the flow" instead of dying for whatever it is YOU believe. Not much of a foundation for your life and principles.
I'd rather live and try to fight back rather than just let people kill me.
Religious fanatics who let themselves get killed for their beliefs, no matter if it's in a scenario like this movie or whether it's religious suicide bombers, obviously don't have that instinct for survival, for the simple reason that they have been brainwashed to believe that if they die for their beliefs, they'll go to heaven and if they don't they will go to hell.
Many religions, especially in religious cults, use that's sort of scare tactics, that if you don't believe enough you'll go to hell, get sick, or some other bad thing will happen to you.
I myself would have gladly joined the cult, specially after finding out about the orgies.... What's the option, get decapitated? hell no...
shareHey NoWireHangers
I havent seen the film and your right it does look a little cheesy from previews. But the message is not cheesy. If you dont believe the Biblical prophesies set forth by Jesus two thousand years ago thats your choice of ignorance is bliss. I assure you they are true, many have come true and many more will come true. Take a good look at the Bible's prophesies concerning Israel and compare to the past 50 years, you would have to be a fool not to see that those prophesies have been fulfilled with more consequential prophesies to come. Faith is an option allowed us all and is a free gift, God doesnt want to force you to trust Him, its up to you now. But there will come a time when you no longer have an easy option, you will be forced to deny or accept. Your already a walking dead man, all of us are, its just a matter of time before your body passes back to dust, but you dont have to die the 2nd death for the life energy that is your soul. You talk about survival, its survival of your soul not your body that is the most important, you could die tonight, where is your soul going to go? I know where mine is going, its just a simple gurantee that doesnt require you to do nothing but believe that Jesus died for your sins, which we all have committed. Ive served my country in the U.S. Marine Corps and Ive fought for survival more than you can ever imagine, but it doesnt matter because the smallest incident can end your body's life, but the soul is the most important, Think about it
Ah, so non-believers are choosing "ignorance is bliss?". I recently read a survey saying atheist were generally less happy than believers, which I would suppose to be true, as we know the slightly depressing "truth" that there is no God, hence your choice, of believing in God, gives you happiness and apparently the "knowledge" that you will definitely go to heaven. As such, I would have to say you have taken the ignorant, blissful choice. I know where I'm going, and have come to terms with the blankness that awaits us all. Believers don't really need to I guess.
Anyway, the whole point I believe the non-believers in this thread were tying to make was that the idea of a world beyond this one in which we are rewarded for our actions in this life, while quaint and certainly attractive, is nonetheless dangerous, as once you believe in this, you will suddenly lose some regard for your own life. Hence suicide bombers etc.
-----------------------
Go on, prove me wrong. Destroy the fabric of the universe. See if I care
It's simply mind-boggling to believe that unbelievers can say that movies like these "shove beliefs down my throat". Go into your local video store and look for Christian movies.....go ahead. You might find 10 if you are lucky and have a large store. In the same vein of reasoning of the atheist, look at the trash or "beliefs" shoved down our throats by Godless movies!!! It's ridiculous to think that atheists are being morally persecuted by Christians.
shareIt's not "forced" if you have THE CHOICE to watch it or not.
Eric Roberts = mainstream? Really?
In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.
Mark Twain
Stephen was "on." Taking faith seriously.
1 John 3:8
Can you fly this plane?
Surely u cant be serious
I am serious,and dont call me Shirley