The Bible Collection: Solomon (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Solomon was the heir to David’s throne and the chosen king to build Yahweh’s temple. He sought wisdom from God and was blessed for it. However, later in life, Solomon allowed idols to dominate his life, which were his ultimate downfall.

Production Quality (2 points)

In keeping with most Lux Vide productions, Solomon is typically fine, including good video quality and camera work. Audio is also acceptable, along with the soundtrack. Sets, locations, and props demonstrate good attention to historical detail. However, some action scenes are poorly shot, and weird special effects invade the viewing experience at times. Also, editing tends to be poor in certain circumstances as scenes suddenly cut off or fade out for no particular reason. However, this section does enough in the end to get past the average mark.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

For the most part, Solomon does a fairly good job with adhering to the historical source material. On paper, the story is adequately portrayed, but the characters aren’t deep enough. The dialogue is very procedural rather than emotional, like it’s a strain to be realistic. This prevents the character from being relatable and makes them more like theater actors and actresses. Large time jumps certainly don’t help matters, and things generally move too fast. At times, random things suddenly happen, including some unnecessarily edgy content. It all converges into an anti-climactic conclusion that leaves the audience empty-handed. Overall, while this narrative seems to check the right boxes, it just ends up being another typical Bible play.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

One of this section’s biggest detractors is its inconsistent use of culturally authentic cast members. Additionally, the performances are often too theatrical and dramatic, keeping with the Bible play themes. However, despite the stoicism, the actors and actresses aren’t all that bad. There are plenty of positive moments that contribute to this average score even though there are instances where the cast members seem to act in ways that are contrary to their roles. Nonetheless, this area rounds out an overall underwhelming effort.

Conclusion

Films like Solomon continually contribute to the bad image of Scripture-based entertainment. They manage to frustrate audiences by being Shakespearean, poorly presented, and inconsistent with application of Biblical concepts. Hopefully, one day soon, we can put these types of movies and series behind us and replace them with more substantial offerings.

Final Rating: 4.5 out of 10 points

August 11, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Biblical, Drama, Historical, Movie ReviewsTags: 4.5 points, Affirm Films, Ahmed Boulane, Anouk Aimée, Antena 3, ARD Degeto Film, Ben Cross, Beta Film, Bible, Biblical, Bradley T. Winter, British Sky Broadcasting, Ceská Televize, Con Dios Entertainment, David Suchet, Dexter Fletcher, Drama, Eleonora Andreatta, Ennio Morricone, G.W. Bailey, Heinrich Krauss, Historical, Ivan Kaye, Lorenzo Minoli, Lube Productions, Luca Bernabei, Lux Vide, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Marta Zoffoli, Matilde Bernabei, Max von Sydow, Michael Culkin, Mohamed Majd, MTM Enterprises, Oliver Robsom, Paolo Lucidi, Paolo Piria, Patrick Williams, PAX Television, Pete Lee-Wilson, Quinta Communications, Rai 1, Richard Dillane, Roger Hammond, Roger Young, Stefan Gubser, Stefania Rocca, Susu Langlands, Thom Hoffman, Trimark Home Video, Umberto Orsini, Vadim Glowna, Vivica A. Fox 2 Comments

The Bible Collection: Genesis (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

In the beginning, God created humans in His image, but they sinned against Him. After most of the world went against His purposes, He sent the Flood to judge them. Then, after the Deluge, humanity sought to rebuild, and they passed on the stories of the times before them by sharing the narratives with each other.

Production Quality (2.5 points)

Surprisingly, Genesis boasts a respectable production. This is likely due to good funding even though it does contain a lot of stock footage. Video quality, camera work, and audio quality are all great, however. The soundtrack is very interesting, and the sets, locations, and props are well-used. The only minor concern is the editing, but it’s not enough to keep this section’s score from being quite high. Unfortunately, these good elements seem to go to waste.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

It’s hard to understand why Genesis isn’t some type of docu-drama or narrated Bible project as it’s almost entirely based on narration and voiceover. This experience is extremely artistic and even ethereal at times, which necessitates reading a lot into what’s being seen. There are basically no instances of dialogue or conversations, and many of the scenes are quite vague, barely representing what the narrator is talking about. Long sequences sometimes pass without any talking at all, so while it’s fine to be subtle, it’s also possible to be so discrete that there’s no point in viewing it. Such is the case in this “narrative.” Elsewhere, there are some odd inclusions of biblical accounts that hadn’t been yet written. Although it was an interesting idea to frame the first part of the Genesis story in the context of Noah, which is one of the main things keeping this section from being zero, this movie definitely does not cover the whole book. Further, this plot ends in a strangely abrupt way like they just ran out of ideas and cut it off. In the end, this is a unique yet mostly extraneous viewing experience.

Acting Quality (1 point)

Genesis strengthens its case by casting actors and actresses that are mostly culturally authentic. However, they hardly have any chance to exhibit their potential skills due to lack of opportunities to deliver actual lines. The small amount therein is passable albeit somewhat dramatic and theatrical. Overall, this section rounds out a rather mediocre effort.

Conclusion

It’s quite unclear what this “screenplay” was actually going for. If it was part of a larger plan, this is totally lost to the audience. Despite having some interesting possibilities at their fingertips, this film’s creators squandered an opportunity to do something creatively different. Unfortunately, Genesis just falls in line with lots of other un-engaging and ultimately forgettable Bible entertainment.

Final Rating: 4 out of 10 points

August 3, 2020August 5, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Biblical, Drama, Historical, Movie Reviews, PsychologicalTags: 4 points, Affirm Films, Annabi Abdelialil, B. Haddan Mohammed, Beta Film, Bible, Biblical, Con Dios Entertainment, Drama, Ennio Morricone, Ermanno Olmi, Franco Bollati, Giampietro Bonamigo, Haddou Zoubida, Historical, Lube Productions, Luca Bernabei, Lux Vide, Matilde Bernabei, Omero Antonutti, Paolo Piria, Paul Scofield, Psychological, Rai 1, Sabir Aziz, Sony Pictures Television Leave a comment