Plot Summary
Paul was called out by God to become a world-shaking Apostle for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God took him from being Saul the persecutor of Christians to becoming Paul the Emissary. He took the Gospel to the furthest reaches of the Roman world and literally turned the world upside down. His work for God still has a lasting impact on Christianity today.
Production Quality (1.5 points)
As a 1997 production, Paul the Emissary is fairly good, but it still comes out at average. Video quality, camera work, and audio quality are all fine, as they should be. The soundtrack is also okay, but it is somewhat generic. Sets, locations, and props are surprisingly well-constructed and realistic, but most of the good elements in this production are marred by the most ridiculous special effects you can imagine. If you don’t have the funding for professional special effects, just don’t do them at all. Furthermore, the editing of this film is horrific, as tons of content was shoved into a short runtime, as will be discussed next. Basically, this is another run-of-the-mill Bible production.
Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)
It’s simply not possible to condense the entire life of Paul in fifty minutes. Paul the Apostle couldn’t even do it properly with nearly two hours under their belt. There is little to no point in trying to accomplish this impossible task. Why not focus on one element of Paul’s life, like in Saul: The Journey to Damascus? Paul the Emissary is way too condensed, which causes the story to jump from one high point to the next with no continuity or flow. It’s basically a collection of random scenes about characters that are lofty and inaccessible. There’s no way to get to know them as the dialogue is too theatrical. Essentially, there’s no way you can call this movie an epic when it’s less than an hour.
Acting Quality (1 point)
Though this isn’t an overly BRITISH cast, most of the cast members sport weird fake accents that off-putting. Besides this, most line delivery and emotional delivery are overly dramatic and theatrical. However, the performances are not all bad and there is some authentic costuming to save this section from the abyss.
Conclusion
If you only have fifty minutes to make a film, do not try to make an entire life epic about a Biblical character with a lot of known content. Either focus on one aspect of their life, or choose a different character. Also, don’t use any special effects if you can’t use them properly. In the end, while there were some good elements in this film, it simply wasn’t enough.
Final Rating: 2.5 out of 10 points
Box Office Revolution 