Choose Your Favorite Review
Written by e-Mom. Follow me on Twitter. Subscribe in a Reader
By now, you’ve probably seen the 3-D film AVATAR, the highest-grossing movie ever. e-Dad and I usually wait until films come out on DVD, so we haven’t seen this one yet. I’ve read that this is a Sci-Fi film that female movie-lovers are thoroughly enjoying. e-Dad is a science fiction lover (Trekkie), but usually I am not.
Should we go? Please help us decide!
From Great to Gross
Listed from "Great to Gross" which review is your favorite... 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5?
1. CommonSense Media.org
“Most of Hollywood would probably be secretly gleeful that the self-proclaimed King of the World had flopped. The good news for James Cameron—and epic movie lovers everywhere—is that Avatar isn't a flop. It's more like the story of Dances with Wolves crossed with the breathtaking visual effects of Lord of the Rings and the love story of Titanic, with a splash of the "turning native" aspect of Apocalypse Now thrown in to spice things up… [It’s] undeniably enjoyable. Every shot of Pandora is amazingly detailed, from floating mountains to flying beasts to the feline-featured, Native American-inspired Na'vi. The movie's scale is undeniably impressive.”
2. Christianity Today
“Whatever spiritual brew Cameron has served up, Christianity it ain't. The question for CT readers is, so what? The buzz surrounding Avatar gives us a chance to ask what kind of religious formation we expect from contemporary film, and what to do when that formation is counter to the kind rooted in Christ. Two responses have long dominated Christians' discourse on the topic.The first response has been to forgo movies (and books and music) that applaud things out of sync with Scripture and church teaching. Paul exhorts believers to set their minds on the true, the noble, the right, the pure, the lovely, the admirable—whatever is "excellent or praiseworthy" (Phil. 4:8)... The second, more recent response has been to engage movies and other popular stories eagerly, evaluating their narrative and visual artistry alongside spiritual content… Sadly, the engagement impulse has led many evangelicals to neglect their prophetic presence in the public square…”
3. Movieguide.org
“AVATAR is visually stunning, but slow, shallow and abhorrent. [It’s a] science fiction adventure pitting evil human capitalists against heroic, spiritually sensitive aliens on the planet Pandora, who worship a false deity and nature. Too graphically intense for children, AVATAR has an abhorrent New Age, pagan, anti-capitalist worldview that promotes goddess worship and the destruction of the human race.”
4. Pastor Mark Driscoll (Mars Hill Church, Seattle USA).
“The most Satanic film I’ve ever seen.”
5. None of the above.
This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from from God. (1 John 4:1-3)
Up Next—How to Create the Obedience Habit
in Children
Which review is your favorite? 
22 Comments:
Thanks for sharing your views about movies and especially Avatar.We are strict with what we watch...movies or music like you mentioned is a no,no at home and the kids understood it.
The extra income I got in blogging is actually doing reviews through: buyblogreviews.com,payperpost.com, social sparks.com. They have paid me and my sis-in-law well. If you like you can visit the websites and join. It takes 2 mos. for application to be approved.Thanks and hear from you again.
Have a wonderful weekend my friend and see you again next week.
I have to admit that I love movies. My husband and I try to be selective about what we watch and made the decision to see Avatar. I thought the movie was visually stunning and that the language could be much better. The theology in the story is definitely not Christian, though. We thought of it as Dances with Wolves in space with a big twist of Pocahontas.
It's a bit cheeky of me to comment because I haven't seen the film yet!!! However, what I keep hearing is that the dialogue is absolutely awful in its banality. It's so typical to throw lots of money on the graphics and nothing on a decent script.
I seriously doubt that it's the most satanic film ever. More satanic than all those repellent horror films like Hellraiser?
3....The movie is visually beautiful...stunning actually, but that is where the good parts end.
The goddess worship is so rampant, and when you think it can't get much worse than this....it does. It just gets worse.
Skip it. You didn't miss much!
I have not seen it so I don't feel I can make a vote on a review. But that being said even though I like a good movie, we are very picky with where we lay our hard earned money down and I have no desire to see it. I am not interested in films that have a lot to do with goddess worship or the occult so the graphics are not worth the watch to me to sit under all the rest of the stuff.
I haven't seen it either, so my thoughts may be moot. However, the most common thing I have heard or read about it is that it's like Pocahontas in Space, lol. I can tell just by the advertisements for it that for someone like me, who hold modesty as a standard of living, it would not be very appealing to me...blue alien creatures or not, they are practically naked!
I don't know if I'd go for any of those reviews specifically.
My husband saw the movie and said the graphics were amazing and the storyline hideous. That's all I got out of him - that it wasn't a story worth repeating and obviously the film makers were focused on amazing visuals.
Great idea for a FFF!
I haven't seen the movie and probably won't. I'm not anti movies and I don't expect Hollywood to put out Christian movies so that's not my beef. I'm just not a fan of movie going. Have a great weekend...
I haven't seen it yet and have no desire to, but if my husband wants to see it when it comes out on DVD I'll watch it with him. My guys are all sci-fi fans, so we'll see. What I've heard about it is what folks have been saying here, that it is visually beautiful but with a pretty bad storyline. It's the latter that makes me not want to see it. As Ellen said, I don't expect Hollywood to put out Christian films, but I'm also responsible for what I put into my mind. I agree with the second review that we should evaluate everything and that we may not agree with every little point, but from what I have heard, this sounds not just secular for anti-Christian.
Thumbs up for CGI, it's amazing that it was all pretty much done on a computer and knowing the time it took to do it... wow! Each 24 second frame took days to do. But....
the story line has underlying political / environmental digs in it. It's also very "mother earth" like.
I love movies too, but I found myself just squirming in my chair for this one to end. I definitely felt a check in my spirit about the 'spiritual' ideas coming across in the movie. But it was also just very cheesy and predictable on every stage as it unfolded. I also sensed a great dissing of the American military in the movie. To put them as the evil adversary in a movie was really distasteful to me.
I don't usually like sci fi either, so that may be part of it.....I mean...blue people? eww.
I guess I'm between reviews 3 and yes, even 4 if I'm completely honest. ;)
I don't know how old your kids are and if they are girls or boys, that would influence my input a lot.
Mark Driscol always says the most extreme thing, its part of why I enjoy listening to him. He's also sarcastic, so you kind of have to consider that.
I saw it and enjoyed it.
Via Twitter @smischuk said...
@e_Mom you don't have to be a sci-fi nut to like Avatar :-) hop on the band wagon with the rest of us!! lol
AND
@e_Mom the 3D made me dizzy in a few spots, the story line wasn't my fav... a lot of underlying political / environmental digs
Oh, I don't know. The movie looks creepy to me and I'm not that interested in it. I generally like the way CT (#2?) looks at this issue, but I have a hard time buying into a film that cost such an obscene amount to produce...
Thought-provoking!
I'll be back to read that Obedience post!
E-Mom said: Apparently, the following anonymous commenter did not read my post. (There's no reflection on my remarks.)
Normally, I don't post spammy anonymous comments. However, I've decided to post this one, so you can follow some of the links, and come to your own conclusions. Maybe they'll spur some rigorous discussion in your household.
THE TREE IS KNOWN BY ITS FRUIT
When examining any movie's content, we do well to consider the source, for the tree is known by its fruit. We must discover the producer's backstory and ask: What was the goal of the filmmaker? And who he in his personal life? Was he trying to produce a winsome Christian allegory? If so, how well did he achieve his goal? If not, then what are we left with? I'll leave you to ponder these questions.
Thanks for reading today.
Anonymous said...
Reverend John Stott ("Basic Christianity") has said: "The great tragedy in the church today is that evangelicals are biblical but not contemporary, while liberals are contemporary but not biblical. We need faithfulness to the ancient word and sensitivity to the modern world."
Alot of commentators have said the Na'vi (in the film Avatar) are pantheists. But if definitions mean anything, the Na'vi have more in common with _panenthiests_, since pantheists don't believe in a personal or creator God. The Na'vi do: Eywa, who can answer prayer (I don't think it coincidence the name Eywa sounds alot like Yahweh, the Hebrew name for God.)
That said, there will always be Christians who seem to think any Christ figure in a movie (whether intended by the writers or not) automatically means it must be a "false Christ". There have been Christ figures in movies for years [Luke in "Cool Hand Luke", Starman, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Omega Man, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Aslan, Harry Potter, etc.] and
Avatar is just the latest. That Christians such as Mark Driscoll, Bob Larson, and Joe Schimmel [see links to their articles below believe Avatar presents a "false Christ/false Jesus" is laughable, and a little sad. They miss the point entirely. Maybe they should rip Acts 17 out of their Bibles, where Paul quotes pagan poets to the men of Athens; Paul quotes them to establish a point of reference, then uses that to present the gospel.
http://trueslant.com/daviddisalvo/2009/12/21/a-reply-to-ross-douthats-preoccupation-with-pantheism/
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/article_print.html?id=86951
Box Office Pantheism
Critiques of Avatar's spirituality should be winsome—and prophetic. A
Christianity Today editorial | posted 3/05/2010 09:57AM
BIBLICAL ANALYSIS OF THE MOVIE “AVATAR”
by Bob Larson
http://www.boblarson.org/avatar.html
Avatar and the Coming One World Religion
By: Joe Schimmel
http://www.goodfight.org/a_v_avatar_one_world_religion.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
But here’s a sermon on Avatar that takes a much different approach. Rather than view Jake Sully as a "false Christ", pastor Albert Chu views Sully as a Christ figure. Big difference!
The Theology of AVATAR (March 7, 2010)
Sermon: Pastor Albert Chu
http://www.thetapestry.ca/tappodcasts/oscar_sunday_the_theology_of_avatar_mar_7_2010
In Defense of AVATAR: Or Why Mark Driscoll Just Doesn't Get It
February 26, 2010
http://www.poptheology.com/2010/02/in-defense-of-avatar/
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2010/01/avatars_dr_grace_augustine_are.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/march-5-2010/watching-the-oscars/5841/
http://www.spiritual-politics.org/2009/12/avatars_christian_theme.html
Avatar's Christian theme
By Mark Silk on December 25, 2009
Avatar
More Spiritual Than You'd Think
You Can't See Nothing If You Close Your Eyes
by Mike Furches
http://live.hollywoodjesus.com/?p=4875
http://live.hollywoodjesus.com/?p=4874
Avatar
A Must-See Cinematic Spectacle
Our Spiritual Desire On Display
Yo | 12/21/09
The True Avatar
by Lane Palmer
http://www.youthministry.com/?q=node/24790
http://jesusindisney.blogspot.com/2009/12/wake-up-its-grace.html
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Wake Up - It's Grace
Avatar discussion guide
http://www.damaris.org/content/culturewatchguides/452
http://www.spectrummagazine.org/blog/2010/02/04/sermon_series_colonizing_disaster_avatar_haiti_vodou_and_you
13 February 2010
Sabbath Sermon: COLONIZING DISASTER: Avatar, Haiti, Vodou, and You
Hello again...Just wanted to answer your question on my FFF.
Yes! I take all my own photos unless I say so otherwise. It's becoming a passion of mine. Happy Spring to you!
Avatar - I haven't seen it and won't see it. The last two movies that I have seen in the cinema were The Passion of the Christ and Narnia and we went with our church - so that probably tells you alot. We are just really careful about what we watch and more and more these days we end up turning the TV off due to blasphemy and sex scenes - my inside jump at these things so I tend to run from them.
I love the way you make me think about current events - thank you.
What I've read and heard is all over the place. I would like to see it but will probably wait until it comes out on DVD.
I haven't seen Avatar, so I can't evaluate although I've heard that a lot of kids are enjoying it.
Christians really should stop trying to find Christ where He is NOT Lord. Filmmakers are NOT evangelist. Nor to do they profess to be preachers of Christ. Why would we expect them to write movies preaching His message to the masses through their films. There is intent is to make money. There is no new thing under the sun. The market is hungry for heroes and really the only model there is to copy is Christ. Whether they know it or not. He is the model for all heroes, and His struggle (good against evil) is the ONLY formula there is to follow. Most basic themes of humanity, and good vs evil have their roots in God's history of the world.
Why do we speak out so loudly against new movies our teens watch and feed our little ones a steady diet of witchcraft, spells and supernatural self sacrificing heroes who we never equate with types of Christ, complements of Walt Disney's new take on Grimms gore.
When I was a young, I remember the Christian community having a huge reaction to cabbage patch dolls and smurfs. Then it was pokemon and digimon, then harry potter.
After reading and seeing the movies adapted from CS Lewis and Lord of the Rings series the only difference is that the authors profess that there is a Christian message in their work so we say it's ok, to create science fiction supernatural fantasy with magic and monsters. If the author doesn't profess Christ then its satanic.
Gemini, April, Buffy, Tracie, Susanne, MrsHester, Carrie, Ellen B., Barbara H., Shash, Crikl's Nest, Brenda, Laura, Shelley, Jan, Willow & Tracie:
Thank you all for your valuable thoughts and input. e-Dad and I have decided we probably won't see AVATAR on the big screen. As for getting the DVD, we're undecided. Suffice to say, it doesn't sound like a film that reflects our values. :~D
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