The 1950's saw faith-based "Christian" movies really hit their peak as they frequently dominated at the box office, with one, "Ben Hur" winning a Best Picture Oscar in 1959. To a lesser degree, Faith-based movies have had their share of success in movie theaters in recent years as well. And being a faith-based person, I've seen quite a few of them. And not all of them are all that good, for one reason or another. But the following are my five favorites. As I've mentioned before, I'm not claiming that these are the five best ever made. Just the five that I've enjoyed the most and I think offered a good Christian message.
1. Ben Hur (1959): Not only my favorite faith-based movie, but my favorite movie all-time, supplanting "The Godfather" several years ago (which is still a close second!) The film, if you don't know, follows the story of a fictionalized Judah Ben-Hur, portrayed by Charlton Heston. But what's really impressive about the movie is how Ben Hur's story is intertwined with the story of Jesus's last days playing out in the background. This culminates in the one and only meeting of Judah and Jesus in one of the most memorable scenes in movie history where Jesus ignores the Roman guards and gives prisoner Ben Hur a drink of water. Despite never seeing Jesus' face up close, his portrayal in the film is probably one of the best and most Biblically accurate ever shown of what his presence must have been like.
2. The 10 Commandments (1956): For many years, Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner starred on our TV screens each Easter in the epic Ten Commandments. So there probably aren't too many people who hasn't seen at least some of it. But if you haven't, the movie tells the story of Moses and how he was chosen by God to help the Israelites escape Egypt after hundreds of years of bondage, as illustrated in the book of Exodus. All of the well know adventures are there, from the seven plagues to the parting of the red sea. The special effects at the time were cutting edge and Cecil B. DeMille's direction and vision were, and still is, top notch. Films like this was why the motion picture industry was created. The film was pretty biblically sound, unlike the 2014 "Exodus: Gods and Kings" sort-of remake which I encourage people to skip. The 2007 animated version, however, is pretty good.
3. Peter and Paul (1981): I have to admit, the first thing that drew my interest to this movie some 10 years ago was not necessarily the subject matter, but the fact that Anthony Hopkins was cast as the apostle Paul! I've always enjoyed Hopkins, so because of my curiosity, I couldn't resist watching his portrayal. And to my surprise, it was actually quite good. "Peter and Paul" basically recreates the stories from the latter part of the book of Acts when Paul, then known as Saul, entered the picture as an adversary to the early Christian church after Jesus' death. Like many Jews, he believed Jesus was a false teacher and taught contrary to what the prophets of the Old Testament taught. However, an encounter with Jesus changed all of that, after which Paul because one of the biggest proponents of the Christian message.
After butting heads with some of the original disciples, including the apostle Peter, the story follows Paul's teachings through various regions in the middle east. It is well done, very entertaining, and most importantly, biblically sound. Casting Eddie Albert of "Green Acres" as Festus and Raymond Burr of "Perry Mason" as Herod Agrippa were a bit of a stretch, but I'm sure were done because of their star power at the time. Regardless, I highly recommend it if you ever come across it. Which isn't easy to do.
4. Amish Grace (2010): A true story that portrays an amazing display of forgiveness an Amish community extended to the family of a man who killed several of their children in the infamous Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania shooting from 2006. What they did is truly what the Bible explains we should do in forgiving others. But to an extreme that most of us will (hopefully) will never experience.
Despite the fictional Graber family portrayed in the film, and the mother of the Graber family being a bit over the top, what the Amish community did as a whole to reach out to the family of the killer is historically true. And although the Graber family was fictionalized, I'm sure there was a family in the community that experienced something similar to them. Despite her dramatization, the portrayal of the Graber likely does illustrate the conflict some of the Amish must have felt. The film is a tear-jerker, so get the tissue out if you decide to watch it!
5. The Shack (2015): This is my controversial pick, as The Shack took a pretty good hit from many established Christian scholars, mainly due to it's portrayal of the triune God (God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit). Sure, it's not completely accurate, but they did their best seeing that most scholars have a hard time explaining the trinity, which does exist, in simple English! But the strength of the movie is its powerful messages on forgiveness, blame, false assumptions, and the consequences of playing God. The acting is terrific, and certainly will get you thinking, and as a result can play with your emotions. So definitely have a hanky near by! Again, the movie may not always be 100% biblically accurate, but the messages it shares are biblical, and pretty powerful.
Bonus - The Nativity Story (2006): Since it's Christmas season, I had to throw in "The Nativity Story", which just barely missed the top 5. It's one of the better re-telling of the birth of Jesus stories. Biblically sound and well cast and acted. You almost feel like you're there witnessing the blessed event. A must see during Christmas season.
Honorable mentions: Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018), The Encounter (2016), Barabbas (1961), The Robe (1953), I Can Only Imagine (2018), The Case for Christ (2017), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005), Overcomer (2019).
I would agree with your top 5!
ReplyDelete