Posted on 02/22/2016 11:43:54 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Christian audiences have felt a little burned lately by bad movies on biblical subjects. But one really good movie can change all that.
"Ben Hur," "The Robe," "The Ten Commandments," "Quo Vadis?" -- who can forget the golden age of biblical films? But that was the 1950s, and this is 2016.
Biblically based movies these days often comes across as, well, less than inspired. Writers and directors sometimes play fast and loose with the source material, leaving out crucial details and inventing some bizarre stuff. Worse, portrayals of God often come across as flippant or even blasphemous. And that's just not something I enjoy watching.
Well, I want to urge you to give the genre another chance. Because a film hitting theaters this weekend proves that swords-and-sandals productions based on the Bible can still hold their own against "Ben Hur."
"Risen," directed by Kevin Reynolds and starring Joseph Fiennes, is the story of the manhunt for the corpse of Jesus Christ. Spoiler alert: They don't find it.
Fiennes plays a Roman tribune named Clavius. He's tasked by Pontius Pilate with crucifying the latest batch of Jewish rabble and self-proclaimed messiahs. The only catch? One of them really is the Messiah.
Of course Clavius, a good Roman military man, doesn't think anything of Jesus. When the centurion at Golgotha admits, "Surely this Man was the Son of God," Clavius lets him have it. Clavius is tough, and he's immune to Jewish superstition -- that is, until Sunday morning. For Clavius, that's when all Heaven breaks loose.
The tomb is empty, the guards aren't talking, and the Disciples of Jesus are spreading the news that He's come back to life. The high priest warns Pilate that they'll have an uprising on their hands if he doesn't put the resurrection story to rest. So Pilate sends Clavius on a grisly, CSI-style hunt for the body of Christ.
That's when our tribune has an encounter that shakes his pagan worldview to the core.
"I have seen two things which cannot reconcile," he says. "A man dead without question, and that same man alive again."
Everyone on our BreakPoint team who's seen the film loves it, not just because it's a respectful and riveting portrayal of the gospel accounts, but because it shows an unbeliever's crisis of faith when confronted by the Risen Lord.
In anticipation of Easter, I cannot think of a better reminder of how Christianity, as Tim Keller puts it, forces us to "doubt our doubts."
The empty tomb is the most startling fact of history -- something two millennia of skeptics have tried to explain away. But the evidence is just too strong. And "Risen," like a good detective novel, follows that evidence where it leads.
For instance, the Roman officials and Jewish leaders had every motive to produce a body. Yet they couldn't. And Jesus' Disciples had nothing to gain and everything to lose from lying about the Resurrection. But their transformation from cowards to spiritual conquerors testifies that they, like Fiennes' fictional character, saw something -- or Someone -- who rocked their worlds.
Joe Fiennes, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing on the "Eric Metaxas Show," told BreakPoint that he expects this movie to touch audiences in a unique way precisely because it invites them to examine these events through the eyes of a non-believer.
I think "Risen" has the potential to spark a renaissance of solidly biblical movies. But more importantly, I think it will challenge audiences to confront, with Clavius, the question that defies doubters to this day: If Jesus is dead, then where is the body?
Go see "Risen." And take some unbelieving friends with you.
I was planning on going to see this movie last weekend but wound up nursing my boyfriend through a case of the flu. Next weekend for sure.
Is this movie in theaters yet?
Saw it. Great movie. Would see it twice BUT I heard the local theaters are only running it for ONE WEEK!!!!!
Has anyone seen this move and if so, whatdyathink and why?
My problem with a lot of these “Christian” movies is the characters tend tp be a bit wooden, especially those that actually portray Jesus - maybe not a problem here since Jesus problem isn’t in it much. But actual heart-felt, flesh and blood people who are real but not over emotional.
One Week! How politically correct of you local movie theater.
Sounds like a must see.
It’s a decent movie for a historical fiction.
Wife & I enjoyed it.
spoiler alert....
Jesus lives in the end.
I refute that “Ben Hur” was a Christian movie; it had mass appeal and was simply a reflection of the Western Civilization from which it sprung.
A Western Civilization that has been thoroughly distorted, gutted and discarded by our elite masters, BTW.
The last few minutes of Ben Hur were very Christian. Ben Hur was transformed into a new person, the very heart of the Gospel.
Thanks for ruining it for me. lol
If this is true, can there be any more positive proof that we are in the evil mirror mirror universe?
Is it as good as Passion?
Jesus lives in the end.
LOL, indeed he does sir, and He is still changing lives even today.
Well worth seeing! Saw it yesterday. They did make a couple of changes to move some Biblical events to other times and locations to help the story flow, but I was really touched by the characters as they were presented. It is sometimes hard for us today to remember just how remarkable (and unbelievable) the story was to those who heard it first. They put their lives on the line to defend a position they could not defend - what faith!
I saw it twice this past weekend. It really is well done...
you will not be disappointed... is a good movie
The Wife and I watched Exodus: God and Kings this past week on HBO.
To say that it was an uninspired disappointment would be a gross understatement.
The reviews kept me out of the theater when it came out. Now I wish we had played Scrabble instead of watching that movie.
The script was pure dreck and the acting putrescene.
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