Today’s Prayer Focus
MOVIE REVIEW

Samson

MPA Rating: PG-13-Rating (MPA) for violence and battle sequences.

Reviewed by: Tim Curran
CONTRIBUTOR—first time reviewer

Moral Rating: Better than Average
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: • Adults • Young Adults • Teens
Genre: Action Bible Biography Drama
Length: 1 hr. 50 min.
Year of Release: 2018
USA Release: February 16, 2018 (wide—1,249 theaters)
DVD: May 15, 2018
Copyright, Pure Flix Entertainmentclick photos to ENLARGE Copyright, Pure Flix Entertainment Copyright, Pure Flix Entertainment Copyright, Pure Flix Entertainment Copyright, Pure Flix Entertainment
Relevant Issues
Copyright, Pure Flix Entertainment

What is a NAZARITE? Answer

Who is SAMSON? Answer

Copyright, Pure Flix Entertainment

Who is MANOAH? Answer

Copyright, Pure Flix Entertainment

Who is DELILAH? Answer

Who were the PHILISTINES? Answer

Who is BALAK? Answer

What is FAITH? Answer

What is the BOOK OF JUDGES? Answer

Bible

Copyright, Pure Flix Entertainment Copyright, Pure Flix Entertainment Copyright, Pure Flix Entertainment Copyright, Pure Flix Entertainment
Featuring Taylor JamesSamson
Rutger HauerManoah—father of Samson
Lindsay WagnerZealphonis—wife of Manoah and mother of Samson
Billy ZaneKing Balek
Caitlin Leahy … Delilah
Jackson Rathbone … Rallah
Frances Sholto-Douglas … Taren
Greg Kriek … Caleb
Ares Afonso … Beaten Up Hebrew
Sven Ruygrok … Orum
Lily Spangenberg … Tobia's Daughter
James Ryan … Tobias
See all »
Director Bruce Macdonald — “The Perfect Wave” (2015)
Producer Pure Flix Productions
Boomtown Films
See all »
Distributor
Distributor: PureFlix. Trademark logo.
Pure Flix Entertainment
, a subsidiary of AFFIRM Entertainment, a Sony Company

“Chosen. Betrayed. Redeemed.”

Given that a mere four chapters of the Bible are devoted to the account of Samson and the tendency of the previous biographical films covering this Israelite Judge’s life and death to take unnecessary liberties with Scripture, I was a bit skeptical about this movie’s nearly two-hour length. On the other hand, the brevity of Bible verses that are related to God’s strongman doesn’t leave much for a moviemaker to work with, which requires some understandable fleshing out of the bare bones material contained in The Word. So, as I seated myself in the nearly empty theater, I was also ready to give some space to Pureflix’s production.

The average Christian who is familiar with Samson’s life will recognize many of the scenes in this movie as directly paralleling the Bible account. The film opens with the famous Nazarite already full-grown, choosing not to include his miraculous birth to a barren woman. From there it touches on each of the most well-known details of Samson’s life—his fight with a lion, the slaughter of a thousand Philistines with a donkey’s jawbone, and Delilah’s infamous betrayal.

Those who know Samson’s story, also understand that it contains some very violent and disturbing parts, as well as mature material not considered suitable to be included in the typical children’s version of God’s Word. Therefore, parents will certainly be hesitant about this film, uncertain as to what they’d like to expose their kids to. So, I’ve detailed the content that may be considered a concern.

Violence: The subject matter requires that the brutality be both necessary and quite heavy in order to accurately portray the life of Samson. The Philistines are portrayed as ruthless and merciless, especially the extra-Biblical character Rallah, the prince, who is shown to repeatedly order the execution of defenseless people. Characters are killed off suddenly, though usually with little to no blood or gore. A man fights with a lion in a bloodless contest that ends with the sound of the beast’s neck snapping. Samson has numerous battles with the Philistines, using his bare fists to kill many adversaries and uses the jawbone in the longest scene.

The God-given strength of the Nazarite is depicted as being such that a single blow is all that is necessary to dispatch each enemy, thus eliminating any drawn out and painful misery. One Philistine’s neck is broken quickly and without graphic effect. Two characters are thrown off a city wall, but their bodies are not seen afterward. A number of people are stabbed with swords, but the camera conveys these in close-up fashion, so the actual act is mostly offscreen and without any splattering of blood. A character is beaten, punched and whipped. A bloody bag is seen and a character opens it, allowing for the barest glimpse of a severed head, but a simple blink of the eye could easily miss the view. In the destruction of the Philistine temple, people are crushed by falling stones.

The most graphic, violent and disturbing scene is that of Samson’s eyes being burned out with a red-hot sword tip. The buildup to this sequence is obvious and will allow parents the opportunity to choose whether their children should view it or not before the act is carried out on screen.

There are numerous intense and potentially frightening scenes in the movie that could scare younger viewers, especially the battles and most notably the jawbone one which is extended and shot partly in slow-motion. Characters are threatened with violence and death constantly. Dead soldiers are seen continuously, but lack any blood and gore.

Profane language: Thankfully this film refrains from even a single crude or foul word. There are also zero misuses of the Lord’s name.

Nudity: Samson is seen shirtless a few times, starting with the donkey’s jawbone battle. In the final temple scene, Samson wears nothing but a large loincloth, but his body is only seen intermittently.

Sex: There are four instances of people kissing. None of these lead to any other physical contact . A man mentions that a woman has “kept her virtue” because of Samson’s protection from the Philistines. A man says that a woman is “pleasing to the eye.” Three girls are freed from a camp of Philistines, and it is implied they were sexual slaves. A man is unknowingly approached by a Madam who invites him to stay at her tavern. A short shot pans over the revelers inside a whorehouse, but nothing objectionable is shown and the prostitutes are modestly garbed. A man tells another that he can’t “go from bed to bed.” A woman is possibly supposed to be a man’s lover, but this is not explicitly implied. There are no bedroom scenes.

Overall, much of what I’ve listed here will go over the heads of younger children, as the sexual references are quite mild.

Alcohol Consumption: At a wedding, a few characters briefly consume wine, including Samson, which is forbidden for a Nazarite.

Spiritual Content

As should be expected in any film that is based on the Bible, there is a plethora of material from which the viewer can learn valuable lessons.

Samson is seen praying on a number of occasions, imploring God for strength against his enemies. At other times the Nazarite seeks the Lord’s will for his life through inquiring prayer.

The futility and emptiness of trusting pagan gods like Dagon are portrayed, with much of the dialog revolving around the Philistines invoking their false deity to help them, only to be disappointed. The triumph of the One True God is contrasted to this, with Samson always overcoming with the supernatural strength given him by the Lord. As a Christian, I found this to be a very inspirational aspect of the film, offering to believers the comfort that God will never suffer defeat at the hand of any false god or even the Devil himself.

True Biblical love is portrayed between Samson and the woman from Timnath that he chose for his wife, as well as chasteness between unmarried persons. Samson proposes marriage, following God’s commands to avoid fornication.

The seriousness of our vows before God is covered in detail, as well as the remorse and repentant feelings that one has from breaking these oaths. Consequences of going back on one’s word are shown, reflecting accurately that wrong actions will include a backlash against he who commits them.

The strongest theme that runs throughout the entire movie is that of desiring and seeking God’s Will in our lives, and the struggle we all deal with in finding it and choosing whether to or not to follow His directing. Samson is seen in despair and depression, acknowledging the difficulty of doing what God would have him to do, rather than following his own desires. Godly sorrow and guilt are displayed regarding Samson’s choices to not adhere to the Lord’s Will. This message will resonate with many viewers as it did with me, because I can relate very well to the struggle of waiting, finding and then aligning ourselves with God’s wishes for our life.

The wicked Philistine prince wishes to gain Samson’s supernatural strength and is told he must acknowledge the One True God and humble himself before Him. ***SPOILER***He rejects this and later suffers the consequence of his sinful pride and unrepentant heart. ***END SPOILER***

Also correctly conveyed is the utter futility of opposing God and how all the plans of God’s enemies come to naught. It contrasts this by showing that the Lord is able to work through even a broken vessel of clay like Samson who ends up with so many issues due to his disobedience and flouting of God’s Will. This latter point is one that brings hope to the viewer, revealing that the Lord can use any of us and that even if we think we’ve failed, the Almighty won’t give us up. This brings true peace to the fearful heart that trembles at failure before God.

In conclusion, I feel that Pureflix has done an excellent job in bringing this Biblical account to the big screen, at least quality-wise. The filming is spectacular, the CGI is tasteful and not too obvious. The acting equals the moviemaking quality, making this a worthwhile Christian film—the budget of which obviously was used wisely.

Accuracy

As for Scriptural accuracy, I’d say the movie is about 90% so. Nearly all the dialog is scriptwriter created and certain points from the Bible are morphed to make the storyline flow smoothly. Unfortunately, some details are changed that have quite an effect on the account overall, like the portrayal that Delilah and not Samson’s wife was the one who tipped off the Philistines about his riddle, and the idea that the Nazarite strongman was deceived into visiting a whorehouse in Gaza, when the Bible seems to strongly imply that he was fully aware of who he was with and where he was. Other little things are off, like Samson giving his wedding guests only twenty-four hours rather than a week to solve his riddle or the depiction of only one instead of three times that Samson tricks Delilah about the source of his supernatural strength.

I feel comfortable in recommending this movie to others simply for the lack of objectionable content and due to the inspiring messages one can glean from it. It was very exhilarating to watch Samson defeat his foes, calling on the true power Source in the universe, the Lord Almighty. This portrayal of the spiritual warfare between God and Satan’s gods in such a visual way is rarely seen today and is awesome to witness.

It is my fear that this movie on the life of one of God’s greatest warriors will meet with little enthusiasm among Christians who have saturated themselves in this culture’s obsession with modern day superheroes, as Samson’s feats with God’s help might seem like nothing when compared to Superman or Spider-Man. We must remember not to be so caught up in the fictional fantasy of this world that we forget the amazing accounts and miracles that are recorded in the Bible for our benefit. May we not be awed by the false powers in fiction and numbed to the very REAL power that God can bestow on any of his followers, if we have but the faith of a mustard seed.

  • Violence: Heavy
  • Profane language: None
  • Vulgar/Crude language: None
  • Nudity: Minor
  • Sex: Mild

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive
Positive—Loved it! It was very well done and left me wanting to run home and read the account of Samson in Judges. The movie wasn’t perfect in keeping to the Biblical account, but, then again, no movie ever is. But it was close enough and none of the differences were that big. It did a good job of portraying the oppression of the Israelites by the Philistines. It also did a good job of portraying Samson as the womanizer the Bible also portrays him to be. They seriously couldn’t have picked a better Samson for this role. He looked and acted the part perfectly, how I always imagined when reading the account in the Bible.

There was a lot of violence in keeping with the Biblical account, but not much close up gory details were seen. A lot more was alluded to than actually seen. For parents out there, I’m glad I didn’t take my 9-yr old. I would say a minimum of 12 or 13 yrs old would be an appropriate age to take.

I love the fact there are many great Biblical movies being made. There is never going to be a perfectly made movie, as I’m sure in making movies there is just no possible way to hit every detail exactly. But look at all the terrible movies being made—bad language, sex, violence, etc.

It is refreshing as a Christian to have movies being produced and released that I can safely watch and enjoy without comprising my values and morals. If watching a Biblical story causes one to run home and reread the account to check for accuracy and exactness, then praise God, it’s a good thing! Any movie that has me run home and read more of the Bible is worth supporting and telling your friends about!
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Pamela Logan, age 46 (USA)
Positive—I thought this movie was very well made and pretty close to the actual Bible story, we even read it on the way home to compare. The filming was pretty good, and the scenes were intense, especially the jaw bone scene! I really liked how every time he did something with strength, he prayed and gave God the glory for his strength. Overall, I thought the movie was great and very well done!
My Ratings: Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 5
Stephanie, age 43 (USA)
Positive—My wife and I saw this in the theater today. This is my account our experience, and I will avoid spoilers.

There have been multiple remakes of this film. To this point, I have to say that my favorite theatrical version of the true Biblical account of Samson and Delilah is the (1996) “Samson and Delilah: The Bible Collection Series.” I have the entire set on DVD and you should too! The 1996 version is starring Eric Thal and Elizabeth Hurley, Dennis Hopper and Diana Rigg, Michael Gambon and Sebastian Knapp, and Ben Becker. The acting in the 1996 version was spectacular. It should be noted that the 1996 version is more sensual, but it is also more deeply spiritual, than the current one released in 2018.

The 2018 version feels more like a big Hollywood production, great special effects, the musical score and acting were nice, too. On a minor technical note, in the opening scene to this movie, my wife noticed something odd… She noticed that there is “CORN” shown in a basket, and it is definitely out of place. Corn shouldn’t be there! Corn was not known to the European continent until after voyages of Columbus. Did we discover a boo-boo by the special effects team? Oops.

This was still a nice film. The previews for the other future releases that played before the start of the movie were also Bible-based films, with the exception for maybe the “Little Women” one.

It seemed like a few of the scenes were flipped from the biblical account as I remember them. Much violence in this film, but it is faithful to what happened in the biblical account—so show wisdom with young children if you decide to go see this film.

I will leave you with one last thought… As I left the theater, I was reminded of this scripture passage from Zechariah 4:6 “Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.” I pray my sharing has blessed you.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Chris, age 45 (USA)
Neutral
Neutral—It’s accurate to the biblical story. I only wish that they would have a had a little better character development. The effort was definitely there. Yes, it could have been better with a bigger budget, but PureFlix did the best they could with what they had. This movie could’ve been like “Braveheart” (1995) or “The Passion of the Christ” (2004), if it had a bigger budget. Overall, though, job well done.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 3
John Johnson, age 22 (USA)
Neutral—I wanted so badly to see a Christian film that would stand up in quality to contemporary Hollywood productions. I regret to say this one doesn’t. It’s difficult to point a finger at precisely what is wrong with it, except to say that the entire film falls “flat.” The 1949 production “Samson and Delilah” starring Victor Mature was more alive and moving.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 2
Leonardo, age 76 (USA)
Comments from young people
Positive—I absolutely loved this movie! It is one of the best I have ever seen. The story was pretty much accurate; there were only a few historical mistakes. The actor who played Samson (Taylor James) was very convincing. (That would be neat to have muscles like he does!) The actress who did the part of Delilah was totally beautiful! Some Christians with stronger standards may not like the fact that Samson is shirtless a few times. He also is portrayed as going after women, which is very accurate, yet some parents may not want there children seeing that!

I loved how the movie was loaded with action/violence, but others may not see that the same way. There were a few sexual remarks but nothing inappropriate. It is over all a very good movie, with a strong Christian message. There is no foul language whatsoever and not even any blasphemies which are creeping into Christian movies these days. I strongly recommend this movie. Enjoy!
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Valentino, age 13 (Italy)

PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.

Comments from non-viewers
Negative—I would’ve been interested in seeing this movie if it had been produced by someone other than Pureflix. This subject screams for a real director with the ability to give us an unsanitized version of a great biblical hero. This movie should’ve been made with an R rating in mind, like “The Passion of the Christ.” Anything less is a disservice.
James Carpenter, age 47 (USA)