What makes it different from others?

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Let's make this clear, I'm rating this highly because it's a very entertaining BAD movie. If you like that sort of thing (and you know who you are), this may be the movie for you. If you're looking for a serious Biblical epic or an *intentionally* funny movie, keep looking.I saw some clips on Encore, and assumed it was a parody (think "Monty Python's Life of Noah"). Then I googled it, and realized it was meant to be taken seriously. With that in mind, it's kind of like a horrible car wreck you can't look away from.Where to start...First of all, they combine the stories of Sodom and Gomorra. Since I don't actually believe either one, this didn't bother me so much. God warns Noah that He's going to destroy Sodom, and Lot gets saved because he's Noah's friend, rather than the whole "Please rape my daughters" thing that's in the Bible. In fact, Lot's daughters are left out entirely, which also gets them out of the awkward part where he gets drunk and has sex with them after they leave the city (what, you never learned that part in Sunday school?). The Ark stuff comes later.In order to make appeal to a wider audience, the "punched it up" a bit, with action, cheesy special effects, and attempts at humor, some which are funny - although the funniest bits are unintentional. There's also an incredible amount talent wasted on this film. Oscar winners (!) Jon Voight and F. Murray Abraham play Noah and Lot, with Mary Steenburgen and Carol Kane playing their wives. Even James Coburn makes a couple cameos. Their salaries didn't leave them a lot left over for minor things like decent sets. The battle scenes really do look like Monty Python. In addition to playing Noah, Voight also provides the voice of God, presumably because they couldn't afford James Earl Jones. Also, what is it about made for TV movies and accents? Noah and his wife clearly have American accents, while most other people - including their kids - have strong British accents.The tone is a roller coaster, ranging from sincerely reverent, to bawdy humor (Lot: "Not staying for the orgy, Noah?") to actual slapstick (Lot's wife fall head first into a vat of dye at one point). The music faithfully tracks the tone, transitioning from Cecile B. DeMille to Three Stooges.You may wonder why the flood happens only halfway through the movie. Without giving any spoilers, I'll just say that there's plenty to come. Grab your beer and popcorn, because that's when things get *really* weird.So if you like to watch bad movies and give them the Mystery Science 3000 treatment, keep this one in mind.In the end, I dinged it a couple of points because as a two part miniseries, it's a bit too long, and when it's not really bad, it's merely boring. I'm seriously considering buying the DVD so I can edit down to a 90 minute party cut.

This movie was hilarious! It took way too many liberties and was funny! If people were thinking this was going to be a real movie about the Ark, they were very disappointed. I knew 10 minutes into the start that it was a drama comedy. The acting was pretty good for the most part. There were several catch phrases I think I might use. I never caught this movie from the beginning and we didn't have the technology we have today 14 years ago. When I saw it was coming on again, I taped it so I could watch it from the beginning. If you are looking for a light-hearted story, this is it. People shouldn't be so serious. Watch the movie and have a good laugh!

It's become popular over the years to consider this a bad film, yet many don't seem to realize the producer's intentions. This film was created as a comedy or light drama. There are many aspects deliberately included for the purpose of humour. However, many of the jokes just don't come across properly and when taken seriously make the film seem bad.There are many aspects of it that differ from the actual Bible story, however one must realize that the Bible story is only about a paragraph long. So trying to do the story as written would make it difficult to do even a half-hour story.This film is best enjoyed if you just take it as a creative retelling and don't take it seriously. And it's obvious that it never was meant to be taken seriously. Those elements pointed out as bad writing, such as the pirates, were deliberately added with a tongue-in-cheek approach. If anything is bad about it, it's that the comedy doesn't come across as well as it's suppose to.When buying this film one has to be careful of the version they get. There are many versions in which scenes have been deleted such as the incident with the pirates. Some versions run 140 minutes while others are 160 minutes for multiple parts. 178 minutes is listed as the full running time, but the mini-series when aired was presented in two parts. Some releases have it in three parts, including end credits. The TV version shortened the end credits and ran about 173-174 minutes long (without ads). So it's hard to tell if the 178 minute version is counting the end credits twice. But it would seem that the full version is 178 minutes long. (I don't have the different versions to compare.)

This one lost me from the very beginning with its "poetic licence" disclaimer. I believe, if you are going to make a movie about God's word, the truth is very important."Noah's Ark" is everything a film like this shouldn't be. It is inaccurate, irresponsible and lacks impact as a result. Director John Irvin is unable to inspire, and the film is thus dull and at times moronic.Jon Voight has been infinitely better, as has Mary Steenburgen. Even the great F. Murray Abraham wastes his time. All the English accents are annoying too. Forget it!Saturday, April 1, 2000 - T.V.