At last! Filmmakers have finally put some effort into making a film adaption of The Bible!
Only, this isn't just a film. This is a TV series. Not only that, but this is a TV series on...The History Channel. It would seem THC is beginning to accept the possibility that The Bible actually happened, and is, therefore, a part of world history.
This is only part one of a mini-series. Each episode is about two hours long, so it feels more like a legitimate movie (except for the commercial breaks).
I was a little skeptical when I first heard about The Bible TV series on History, since mainstream media isn't too enthusiastic about even suggesting that the events of the Bible actually happened. But, after I found out that some Christian organizations were endorsing the series, I began to think that this series might be okay after all.
So, I finally decided to sit down and watch the first episode, but I went into it with my eyes and ears open for anything dangerously inaccurate. Apparently, one of the producers of the series was one of the actresses in Touched By An Angel, and they have a disclaimer at the beginning of the show which states that they did their best to stay as accurate to the actual Bible as possible. That made me feel better.
Praise God for Christian directors and producers who care about quality! There are too few of them out there.
Episode one was stunning. They squashed everything from the Creation to Mount Sanai into 2 hours, and therefore were forced to leave a few details out due to time restraints, but overall, I was highly impressed.
One huge complaint I've had with a lot of Christian media is the quality of the film itself. Usually, the dialogue is cheesy, the sets looks so fake that I almost cry, and the screen itself is either blurry or the characters stand out way too much from the background. The film may have a great message, but I find it extremely hard to enjoy or get anything out of it (except a headache) when the quality is bad.
The Bible TV series exceeded my expectations, and actually met my very high quality standards.
The dialogue was natural. The acting wasn't over-rehearsed. The sets and the costumes were realistic. The special effects were amazing. The overall quality of the film was perfect. And, best of all, God was involved! In fact, the only complaint I really have is that they left out Joseph and the famine in Egypt. But, they can, perhaps, be forgiven for that.
This is definitely a Hollywood-ified adaption of The Bible. There were several battle sequences that I don't remember reading in The Bible (i.e. in the TV series, the messengers from God engage in sword fighting and kill the people of Sodom who attack them, and the Israelite spies set to Jericho kill several people while trying to hide in the city, which I don't remember reading in the Bible). And, the violent scenes that were from the Bible (i.e. Abraham rescuing Lot and Moses killing the Egyptian) were made action packed and bloody. Also, young Moses and his Egyptian brother (who later becomes Pharaoh) are shown dueling, and the future Pharaoh's face is badly cut.
This is probably not the best TV series to be showing young kids, but you know your kids better than I do. There are quite a few intense scenes, some of which include Noah's Ark, the "Sacrifice" of Issac, the Egyptians tossing the Hebrew babies into the Nile, Crossing the Red Sea, and Moses receiving the Ten Commandments. We see Hagar's bare back after it is implied that she sleeps with Abraham. Lot's wife, Miriam, and Rahab are treated roughly by men. And, of course, you really can't get away with telling the story of Moses without showing the enslaved Israelites, and we do see quite a few of them being whipped by Egyptian slave drivers.
Those last two paragraphs would be my only concerns regarding whether or not this is something children would be able to watch, but - once again - you know your kids better than I do. If you think they can handle it, power to you. If you'd feel better previewing it to see if they'd be able to handle it, power to you.
Personally, I can't wait for Episode #2, even though I already know how the story ends.
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