Machine Gun Preacher - dumbest American propaganda ever !
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antonsarse — 13 years ago(June 17, 2012 03:40 AM)
ilokk is a troll who has officially made my 'Ignored User' list. I suspected he's a parent's basement living, sexually frustrated 20 something, with no job and no future, and nothing better to do than post drivel about a fantastic movie.
Have a nice life ilokk. Now that's funny
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jenstar16 — 13 years ago(June 19, 2012 02:45 PM)
I agree, I expected a lot more after reading about this movie.
It is based on a true story, and not a documentary so my criticism is about the movie itself, not what Sam Childers actually did. (I haven't read his book etc)
I'm not saying Sam didn't do what he did in the movie, but the movie doesn't come across as believable - at all. With a different script maybe I even would've liked the movie.- So because he decided to come to church once he no longer needed heroin? Ok he had one relapse but that was it. His friend on the other hand needed more help. Sure his friend might have been a heavier user, and Sam's struggle with quitting might have been harder than it was portrayed here. Still, it was heroin, not normal cigarettes!
- As mentioned above, why have the scene where Sam shows the black guy how to clean his weapon? It didn't contribute with anything, apart from making Sam look like a arrogant, gun-crazy twat. (Again, maybe it actually happened just like that but in the movie it comes across as stupid - the scene should've been left out)
I don't doubt that Sam did a fantastic job and should be considered a hero, but this movie does not succeed in showing his greatness. Perhaps I would've enjoyed it more if I was a Christian myself, but I was just very disappointed.
So long and thanks for all the fish
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Sweet_and_Lowdown77 — 13 years ago(July 18, 2012 08:54 AM)
- Once he's released from prison, he sees that the world has changed. His wife, mother and daughter go to church and have changed their lives. But he resists this. he continues his ways. But then after a night where he robs and terrorizes a drug dealer, he gets high and picks up a hitchhiker who he believes he kills.
He realizes he can't go on like this. He needs to change. He asks his wife for help. She helps him. He gets clean and goes to church and works to become a better person.
This was all clearly shown. He didn't just "go to church" 1 time. - The scene with the gun was to show 2 things - 1, that Sam knew how to handle a gun. This makes the scenes more belivable when he's fighting. and 2, it shows how untrained the Freedom fighters are. They're simply given guns without knowing how to properly use them.
The film shows a man who went from only thinking about himself to thinking about others so selflessly, he risked his family and his life. You might not define that as greatness. I don't know if I would. But it does show a true arc and shows how everyone, no matter how bad, can be good.
I thought the film went on a bit too long, but I was moved in Sam's passion and the horrors of what's happening in our world that never gets reported.
- Once he's released from prison, he sees that the world has changed. His wife, mother and daughter go to church and have changed their lives. But he resists this. he continues his ways. But then after a night where he robs and terrorizes a drug dealer, he gets high and picks up a hitchhiker who he believes he kills.
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jenstar16 — 13 years ago(June 19, 2012 02:58 PM)
I agree, I expected a lot more after reading about this movie.
It is based on a true story, and not a documentary so my criticism is about the movie itself, not what Sam Childers actually did. (I haven't read his book etc)
I'm not saying Sam didn't do what he did in the movie, but the movie doesn't come across as believable - at all. With a different script maybe I even would've liked the movie.- So because he decided to come to church once he no longer needed heroin? Ok he had one relapse but that was it. His friend on the other hand needed more help. Sure his friend might have been a heavier user, and Sam's struggle with quitting might have been harder than it was portrayed here. Still, it was heroin, not normal cigarettes!
- As mentioned above, why have the scene where Sam shows the black guy how to clean his weapon? It didn't contribute with anything, apart from making Sam look like a arrogant, gun-crazy twat. (Again, maybe it actually happened just like that but in the movie it comes across as stupid - the scene should've been left out)
I don't doubt that Sam did a fantastic job and should be considered a hero, but this movie does not succeed in showing his greatness. Perhaps I would've enjoyed it more if I was a Christian myself, but I was just very disappointed.
So long and thanks for all the fish
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Ishallwearpurple — 13 years ago(June 30, 2012 11:41 AM)
being a meek and mild missionary wherever you are, but you are not speaking about the film I saw on screen. I wrote in my movie review:
"How can a story be propaganda if you make a film about what the person themselves has put on paper? Sam Childers wrote a book about what he did and now everyone is saying, in effect - "no you didn't. We know better. It was this way. You are a jerk and don't know what you're talking about!" I think people don't WANT it to be true, because that makes them feel superior.
But Sam thinks he did what he wrote. I have watched it twice and taken some notes. Remember - it is HIStory and we, the viewers, can't change facts to suit our preferences.
The films prologue sets the theme. It's 2003 and the atrocities in Sudan are unbelievable. Then we jump to what Sam's life was in 2003. Drugs, robberies, prison, etc. It is HIS story from then on and he pulls no punches in how bad and lost he was."
You say you are looking for donations and if we give to Sam's organization, yours is left out. The film did very poorly because the company distributing it went broke, so I don't think you need fear the compitition very much longer.
More of my review:
"The cast are good. Gerard Butler is especially good in the beginning
scenes showing the bad-boy biker persona. The same qualities that made
Sam an addict make him successful in other pursuits. Singleness of
purpose, and a laser-beam on what he wants to do. And of course, Butler
is fine in the action scenes. Looked real to me.
Michele is good as his no-nonsense wife. She loves him but stands up
for herself. Michael Shannon as Sams buddy, doesn't get much to do. The
actors in the Africa segment are all good, but Savane is a strong
presence. Madeline Carroll, as daughter Paige, is sweet and normal.
Wants some attention from her Dad.
The film was engrossing to me. 8/10"
Jane
My Movie Blog, The Ancient Pelican here:
http://purpleladyj.blogspot.com/ -
jamescole2035 — 13 years ago(August 01, 2012 01:47 PM)
I guess we should all be thankful that there are people like you who know exactly what God wants us to do, the perseverance to so thoroughly research the matter by reading a posting in response to a magazine article and the courage to post your opinion here under an anonymous name.
John 4:20 Read it and weep. -
traveler582 — 13 years ago(July 07, 2012 12:08 PM)
Yeah this really is a bad propaganda movie, kind of coincidental too considering the Joseph Kony youtube and Facebook videos came out not too long ago.
I'm not sure who's worse, the missionaries who propagated in Africa or the US Gov't with their new Africom, African Command trying to get a foot hold in Africa now.
We've already got troops in Central African Republic; I suppose if one gets killed the US will send in the Marines and we'll have another war on our hands. One we shouldn't be in, nor can afford with US troops lives or money, maybe we should try taking care of our own country first, with the economic problems we have here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/world/africa/kony-tracked-by-us-forces-in-central-africa.html?pagewanted=all
I'm really forcing myself to see the rest of this movie, too bad, I really like Gerard Butler too, I guess his accepting this dumb movie tells me where his heads at. -
joerg-nezmeskal — 13 years ago(August 06, 2012 01:57 PM)
Sorry, I dont get why this one should be "propaganda"? Neither the americans are glorified (the protagonist gets nearly no help from his fellow countrymen and pretty much despises his own country and lifestyle therefore) nor did it glorified the christian religion (Childers, played by Butler, lost his faith in god and therefore religion during the latter half of the movie after all) and hell even the hero was show with a lot of weaknesses and faults (having a bad temper, being violent, leaving alone child and wife). Yeah, the whole movie might have been corny and not very authentic but it make the audience think how far you are willing to go to help someone or to do good (at least in your opinion) and if violence is an answer. During the movie, the hero, Childer is compared to his nemesis because they both use violence to make their point. And comparing our (the western civilizations) economic problems to the genocides in africa (and no, its not propaganda, people die there in masses) is a joke!
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JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies — 13 years ago(August 05, 2012 05:50 AM)
The incredibly stupid thing about your comment though is that this is a true story. As unlikely as the events may seem, this is what happened.
As for your (1), the catalysts were almost killing the guy they gave a lift to, in conjunction with not wanting to lose his family for good, etc.
For your (2), okay, you don't like it, but that's what happened.
(3) - Again, that's what happened.
(4) He was no stranger to guns, siege tactics, etc.the film
showed
you this. I don't understand, you live in some other world where no one is familiar with weapons, there are no criminals, outlaw bikers, etc.?
http://www.rateyourmusic.com/~JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies -
trunksofac — 13 years ago(September 14, 2012 11:47 AM)
I'm going to reply to this without looking at any previous replies, so some of this may be redundant at this point.
I'll answer these in the same numerical order as originally posted:- He gets high with his buddy, picks up a drifter and when the drifter pulls out a knife he lets emotion take over and stabs the man what appears to be 20-30 times, then leaves him to die on the side of the road, we then flash forward and find him at home trying to scrub the blood out of his clothes. Why would he be scrubbing the blood off of his clothes why not simply trash them? While there's many possible explanations it's pretty obvious this scene was to convey him trying to wipe blood from his hands and being overwhelmingly horrified at his actions. It's why he asks his girlfriend for help. He's hit rock bottom. Many people turn to religion in these situations, it's one reason Alcoholics Anonymous uses the whole "higher power" mantra.
- If you had listened, he clearly states why he's building his own church. He does so in order to cater towards ex prostitutes/junkies/ect the "dregs" of society. While most (if not all) Christians are taught to not look down on these types of people, they do; it's human nature to do so. He's personally been in their situation so he's better prepared to deal with it and wont look down on them, a good enough reason to want to build your own church.
- Yes, yes he does; and yes, yes they do. I'm not sure where you were going with this one.
- Several things here, he does not just decide to lead the resistance fighters, after he's raided the first time he is actually on his way back home and ready to give up when he is convinced by his girlfriend (probably wife at this point) to pick up and try again, which he does. As for his combat prowess? In America, specifically the Mid-West and Southern states, gun usage is legal and many many people hunt as well as skeet/target shoot. This guy was raised in that environment and at some point this guy became involved in the drug racket, it's not clear how involved he was but it's safe to assume that he's no stranger to real combat situations with live people. As for telling the "soldier" about cleaning his weapon, Do you not know anything about the Sudan People's Liberation Army? They're a guerrilla movement. Meaning they're a bunch of ordinary people that rallied together to fight, they have little to no formal training when it comes to military tactics; it's not uncommon at all for them to not know about weapon maintenance. Now, when you're in life/death situations frequently you either learn quickly or die, this is why Deng would know little about basic weapon maintenance, and more about guerrilla tactics.
As for Sam being a hip firing badass, that is where Hollywood comes to play. It's a movie, and its meant to entertain, this type of over exaggeration is present in all forms of entertainment around the world, it makes for a more engaging story.
The fact that you have such criticisms is fine in my book, we all have different views/tastes when it comes to entertainment and that's what makes discussion of entertainment so entertaining. Its when people start bringing in nationality into the mix when it is simply unwarranted that I have a problem with it.
No, I think you have a little bias against Americans in general. You're not the first, and it's not exactly unwarranted. I just ask you to take the time and use basic logic before you dismiss something simply due to its country of origin.
To sum up: I'm not trying to pick a fight with you and wont engage in one if you decide to reply back with any inflammatory remarks. Just know that I don't hate you, no matter what country you come from, and that no, I am neither a Christian, nor a person with any sort of political/religious agenda, just a normal average joe that is sick of the hate.
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alexterrio — 13 years ago(October 01, 2012 06:05 PM)
your a piece of beep beep for trying to bad mouth a hero, and a not only a hero an awesome guy like butler who got this thing into production. i hope someone elbow strikes you in the face and caves your beep head in.
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Howlin Wolf — 13 years ago(October 29, 2012 01:52 PM)
I don't think it's that harmful, if it's based on the truth (yes, I'm aware that some of it will have been fictionalised but some of the things you mention did also undoubtedly happen)
Besides, what is 'lying' going to do to people - turn them all into missionaries dedicated to leading better lives? It's not exactly a bad thing. It's meant to be an inspirational story, and - theoretically, at least - there's nothing wrong with that
"Your mother puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?!" -
winston9109 — 13 years ago(February 09, 2013 08:46 AM)
Propaganda:
Noun
Information, esp. of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.
The dissemination of such information as a political strategy
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So you never said what agenda this so called "propaganda" piece is trying to promote? If a story is westernized or exaggerated, that doesn't make it propaganda. It makes it a movie.
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"Of course the bad guys want to destroy it"
Do you have any idea what is actually going on in Sudan and what kind of "bad guys" they're dealing with?
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"Of course he's not like the rest of [the?] Christians, I mean why would he want to go to an already built, old Church" - so every Christian who builds a new church isn't a christian, so everyone, what, post 18th century isn't a Christian? What if there's a place - like in SUDAN where there isn't a quaint, old church?
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Its a tradition to now anoint anything against your own ideals propaganda on IMDB. It surely makes us ambivalent to the very real propaganda that exists, and susceptible to it. -
cableaddict — 11 years ago(April 13, 2014 09:35 PM)
No it is not, and you're a moron for thinking so. Do a little research before embarrassing yourself further.
The movie is loosely based on a story written by the protagonist.- A guy who is a known arms dealer, who has been denounced as a fake by the people he claims to be working with, etc etc.- And all this has already been pointed out in this thread. You're calling others retarded, yet you have the IQ of a turnip.