Nice effects though.

Don't Believe the Hype

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

1 November 2016: I saw this movie twice, yesterday and once three years ago. The cast is good, the story line is good. God is a Holy Spirit and God came in human form as Jesus Christ (Yeshua) to forgive us, save us and die for us.My two favorite actors playing Jesus Christ / Yeshua is Diogo Morgado and Bruce Marchiano. Bruce does a good job as Jesus an ordinary man, who is proved to be Not ordinary.I liked this movie from start to finish. I was happy that near the end, Jesus finally showed a bit of power over Satan in the café when Satan after convincing "Steve Borden as Nick Crusher Crushetti to follow him, Satan said "that's one for me." In a flicker Jesus lets Satan know who is still in control and who has the power.Jaci Velasquez and the rest of the cast is fairly okay. The best supporting cast was actor, Jaime Nieto and actress Dinah Williams.I give this movie two thumbs up.

What a bad, bad movie... I am somewhat religious, don't bother too much about it, but love watching movies about the issues regarding religion.Not this one though... The storyline is actually fine, Jesus trying to convince a non-believer and others stepping off the right path, but the acting itself is so bad that it hurt my eyes and ears.The characters are weak, and while some of them are meant to portray a weak character, the acting itself is just so weak and without real passion and conviction. This movie is missing impact to a very large degree. It is quite like hearing one of these Christian rock groups that cannot rock, but only pop or more bland than that.And it seems rather much like propaganda, when it is that weak on the acting part. I loved The Passion Of The Christ and The Last Temptation Of Christ, along with more colorful movies such as Constantine, but The Encounter is a stale and bland tale, although it is quite good at addressing what it's all about.

I rated this movie an honest 4. The only reason it has such a high score rate is because 90% of the Earth's population believe in God and more than 2 billion in Jesus. But if you're a atheist or agnostic you should skip this one because it's nothing more than a cinematographic summarization of the Bible, including the naive, child-appropriate story telling, fight between God and the devil and so one. Bad acting, bad directing, scripting, effects and everything related to cinematographic art is bad. The way the main character talks will remind you of a very passionate priest or pastor or Jehovah's Witnesses on a Sunday morning. The only thing I liked was the initial idea: a horror-like movie where you gather a bunch of people in a diner on a bad weather and things happen... but despite a classic film where people die in terrible pain and horror, this time only good and wonderful things take place. But besides that, there is no action, no story line, the characters are weak and flat, the ideas and philosophy are STRICTLY religious and the dialog disputes "don't stay in court". As an agnostic, I always like a good religious dispute but I was deeply disappointed this time. If you have one chance to face God what questions will you ask him? I have a bunch of them prepared and ready but non were heard in this film, nothing to upset the All Mighty, nothing to make the watcher think more than she/he should. If the biblical dialogs were more elevated and smart it would have made a good religious documentary. If you would take the whole religion idea out, it could have been a good movie.

The Encounter is a nice piece of independent Christian cinema. It doesn't star Sir Lawrence Olivier or boast a cast of thousands. The low budget production values clearly show but they don't distract. The cast is not sterling and the script could have used another draft or two. Still, the movie was decent and thoughtful and generally enjoyable.There isn't any violence or obscenity or sex in it. That's a welcome relief these days. You can actually sit down and watch it with the kids and not cringe.If you like a quiet Christian movie that will leave you feeling good and slightly more humble, this should fit the bill nicely.