Noah

Let me make it clear from the beginning, I do not care if a movie like this is 100% true to the bible and I could not care less about the creationist fanatics moaning about how this and that movie is telling the wrong story or is distorting their religion. But this attempt to re-tell the story is just bad.

The first half of the movie is not all bad. It is actually somewhat enjoyable. The dark scenery is sometimes depressing and beautiful at the same time. I did like the watchers. It added a bit of extra to the movie and the fight when Tubal-Cain tried to capture the ark was not bad at all.

However, then it went downhill quickly with Noah going more and more nuts and Tubal-Cain, having survived, is subverting Noahs son Ham. Not that No...

This is a hard movie to watch and rate.

The Good: The images of the flood coming from both above and below the earth were spectacular. The trauma that Noah deals with during the flood and post-flood is beautifully depicted. I loved the image of Noah realizing that the sickness is in him as well as the others. The story-telling of creation to fall to the flood was beautifully done. I also liked the tension of Noah and the family on the ark as they wrestle with the possibility that the Creator has forgotten them.

So with all that good, what ruins the movie?

I do think a director/writer has an obligation to the source material. Subtract the religious aspect of this movie and imagine the outrage if someone changed the story of Harr...

Watching Noah, it occurs to me that it must have been made by atheists. After all, they are treating the Word of God as little more than a first draft.

On the other hand, though, co-writer/director Darren Aronofsky isnt fucking around with the old "thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain," making sure to substitute the G word with the epithet "the Creator."

Thus, Noah (Russell Crowe) tells his wife Naamah (Jennifer Connelly) that [the Creator] is going to destroy the world (after which he will presumably be known as the Destroyer) by way of a flood, which may have given rise to the expression 'when it rains it pours;' I mean, the characters are already living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland; destroying it would ce...

I feel obligated to watch and review movies like this. I am just happy as a clam that they make movies based on real life or mythological things simply because it gets people interested in it.

I mean, I'm a historian...one that has spent his life walking that fine line between history, geology, and a Catholic faith...

They never agree.

Don't worry, I don't care about how historically accurate movies are and being a historian I play lip service to the presumed accuracy of my religion.

...And as someone with a deep understanding of geology, when it comes to even 5,000 years ago I play lip service to my own profession.

I think it's hysterical that people are hating on this film for religious reasons. "Noah" is largely Biblically...

The least-biblical biblical film ever made

Helmed by Darren Aronofsky, "Noah" (2014) is his imaginative reimagining of the story from Judeo-Christian Scripture. Being an artistic filmmaker, the production values are top notch, including the quality cast and stellar Icelandic locations, not to mention theres a moving spirit of reverence to the proceedings. The storytelling is compelling enough, although I started getting a little bored in the second half when the protagonists are stuck in the ark.

The title blurb above is from Aronofsky himself, who described himself as not religious, but he once practiced Judaism and was interested in the Noah story, especially the environmentalist angle, yet other parts as well. The movie creat...