@narnian78 "it added some sadness" - I thought the Crucifixion was sad enough. 😀 

I've seen it only once, on TV, decades ago, possibly in black and white. But I remember it's dramatic intensity.

@coracle 

The Crucifixion scene was shorter than in The Greatest Story Ever Told and King of Kings. But it was moving enough.  Much of The Robe was set in the time of the Roman emperor Caligula, which was a very dark period of history.  It was quite interesting how the tribune Marcellus stood up to him. Quo Vadis was a similar film about the persecution of Christians under Nero.  It was more disturbing than The Robe because it showed from a distance people burning on crosses. This really happened at the time of the Roman Empire.

Mel Gibson directed a movie, The Passion of the Christ, which is a really hard movie to watch. The way they depicted the last hours of Jesus is actually close to accurate, and follows the Scripture closely.

I don’t think there are very many religious films made anymore. Today Hollywood doesn’t have much interest in them probably because they aren’t moneymakers like they once were. Movies usually  aren’t made with beautiful sets since the use of technology. It is quite sad that classic films aren’t shown very often in theaters, although you can buy many of them on DVD’s and Blu-rays.

A theatre, Sights and Sounds, that put on Bible stories, are now starting a film industry. This Christmas, they have a movie coming out about "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day".

@jasmine_tarkheena 

It sounds like something for an old fashioned Christmas, and that is something I like. I thought that some people would think Longfellow’s poetry was just something forgotten from the past, but maybe they would enjoy it for the holidays like Christmas movies about Charles Dickens. It looks wholesome and entertaining. 🙂

@narnian78 

Oh yes, and I'm sure that families will want to put it on their list to go see during Christmas break.

Maybe those of you that are youth pastors or work with youth at your church, this would possibly be a good one to take your youth group to go see.

Even home school parents might want to take their children to see it for a history class.

You can also rent some of their plays on video to watch. I got to see Esther that way. They did an amazing job telling more of Mordecai's story than you normally see.

Oh yes. God has been able to take a tragedy and turn into something beautiful. "I Heard The Bells of Christmas" that Sight and Sound is doing a movie about is the story of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, on how he lost his wife in a fire and his son was wounded in the Civil War. One Christmas morning, he heard church bells. It inspired him to pen down the words of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day."

Depends on the film really! Some are awfully cheesy while others are wonderful. I'm always on the look out for beautifully created works of entertainment that are created to honor God and teach the audience something without the characters being drowned in the message. I can think of several I enjoy (I'm subscribed to Pureflix myself).

Not sure if this thread is the right place to share this, but I recently found out that there was a short film made out of my favorite Christian book, The Gospel Blimp by Joseph Bayly. (I prefer the Narnia books, but I don't think of them as Christian books since non-Christians can enjoy them. Relating to The Gospel Blimp is probably impossible if you're not a Christian.) 

Gospel Blimp (1967) | Full Movie | Bob O'Donnell | Paul Bubal | Ed Mcdonnell - YouTube

It's pretty entertaining, though I don't think it's as great as the book (and one part is a little sanitized.) I think someone should make another movie adaptation. 

@col-klink

I don't believe I've heard of that book or movie before. Just read a quick summary, it seems interesting! Is it comical by chance or am I mistaken to find blimps funny?

@blue-jay It's a satire, so, yeah, I'd describe it as intentionally comical.

@col-klink I like the idea of it. Reminds me of the movie called Church People.

Two religious films especially stand out for me.

One is The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, directed by Paolo Passolini.  Containing only words and scenes from the Gospel itself, it's both hypnotic to watch and intensely moving, rather surprisingly as the director was an avowed atheist.

The other is The Miracle Maker, a stop motion animation of the life of Christ, although it has hand drawn animated scenes of parables and flashbacks. The film company behind it had previously made shorter animations of Old Testament stories.