Let There Be Light (2017) Online

Why do American christians have to portray atheists as unhappy and lost? What absolute rubbish! We're happy, fulfilled, we live our lives to the fullest because we're only here once, we do good things and we help others regardless of their beliefs. We're also great parents, raising wonderful children to be amazing adults, but oh no...an American Christian movie always portrays an atheist parent as a bad parent. This movie makes an atheist look miserable. Garbage brainwashing or a pitiful attempt to validate their own religion, but it's pathetic to what lengths christians will go to in order to feel better about themselves. This movie and it's message is pumped up arrogance. Religion doesn't teach people to be decent. Everyone I know is kind, decent and caring for family and strangers, yet by the comments I see apparently christians believe we're not. Meanwhile, evangelists have one sex scandal after another. No wonder people find American christians annoying, such arrogance and ignorance about others.

Let me start by saying that I am a Christian and I love a good movie that promotes the Christian faith and what Christians are all about. It's so hard to judge these movies by reviews, because so many Christian haters will leave bad reviews just to keep the movie from being a success. That being said, I went and saw the movie for myself.

I had reservations, because I saw the train-wreck of a Christian movie last made with Kevin Sorbo (God is Not Dead). I hoped that this movie would be different. It wasn't. Let's get something straight. There's are great Christian based movies and there are horrible ones. Some of the great ones that don't sanctimoniously preach, but let Christianity speak for itself, are "God is for Real," "Jesus of Nazareth, "The Passion," and "Risen." Even low budget movies like "The Encounter" hit the right chord. Among the bad ones are the two from Sorbo "God is Not Dead," and "Let There be Light." What makes this movie bad? I think littleangelik's review pretty much sums it up with "results are often hokey and creates an us against them mentality." That and the fact that someone decided that the script must have the word "Isis" in it at least 200 times.

To start with, the movie tries too hard. Yeah, we get it: Isis is bad. We don't need to movie to constantly tell us that. Yeah, we get it: Sorbo's character is a drunk. We don't need to see him drinking five drinks at a time to know that. This movie insults the intelligence of all its viewers by thinking they are stupid and can't understand a subtle concept and that the people watching must have the point drilled into their heads until their brains spill out. They also try too hard to prove that Christianity is great. Well, guess what? Christianity is great. So it can speak for itself. Pushing so hard in such a sanctimonious manner is not going to bring people closer to Christ. Instead it will push them away. The attitude of non-Christians will be that "The lady doth protests too much. Me thinks." Even open minded people will think, "Yeah, everything I heard about Christians is right. They are elitist, sanctimonious, hypocrites." Then there is the aspect of realism. There isn't any. A drunk who cannot stay away from the bottle for any waking moment can somehow sit in front of a computer and concentrate on writing a best seller(?) I think not. An atheist goes from not believing to being a religious zealot with the flip of a switch(?) I think not. Sorbo is clinically dead for four minutes and has a serious life threatening blood clot, but the hospital doesn't even keep him overnight. Absolutely not. Then there is the character of the ex-wife. She is all over the place. She goes from being totally hostile to Sorbo (won't hold Sorbo's jacket when he is in a wheelchair and gets upset with being compared to the shrew when Sorbo playfully quotes a line from "The Taming of the Shrew") to holding him so he can sleep and accepting his proposal to re-marry her merely days after he becomes a believer.

I took a chance and really wanted to support a good Christian movie, because I heard Sean Hannity say this was such a movie. Unfortunately, it was not. The movie was merely a shameless exploitation of God and Jesus for the sake of making some money. Hannity was never my favorite talk show host anyway. In fact, I only listen to him because nobody else that's any good is on in New York during his time slot. Now I don't think I'll waste my time with this guy at all. He obviously doesn't believe in what he says and promoted this movie for the sole purpose of making a buck. How I long for the days when Rush Limbaugh was followed by the late, great, Bob Grant.

After watching this, I really am questioning Christianity. What a horrible show. Bad things happen, move on. Don't banter about it for almost 2 hours. The stereotype of the drunken atheist "bad person", who is reformed by Christianity is so over the top here it's unbelievable. Then to have sean hannity get involved, uugh, now I'm thinking Christians are the "bad guys". Glad it was only 1h 40 mins. Please stop making this junk.

Chock full of the favorite myths of Christians about non-Christians, this groaner just serves to preach to the already bloated egos of its choir. The plot is boring and predictable, the main character a laughable caricature, and the writing falls right in with the current political climate in encouraging people to give in to hate and fear of the "other". That the acting is so poor is almost forgivable considering the script. Among the ridiculous straw men: atheist who is really just a misotheist who "hates god" after a personal tragedy, atheist who converts on deathbed, atheist who cares only about drinking and partying and mocking people, atheist who somehow magically discards all reason for mythical thinking with no impetus whatsoever. I'd find it absurd if so many Christians didn't actually believe this rubbish.

watching this maudlin, very predictable, tedious movie bored me. Absolutely no spoiler is necessary. As soon as I got hold of the main character (Kevin Sorbo,) I knew what was going to happen. The acting was sort of mixed mediocre with the children looking like "Hey, I'm acting!" I enjoy feel good movies but this was soap opera quality.

No need to go past the previews for this one. Kevin Sorbo plays the same angry antitheist that he played in 2014's God is Not Dead, who doesn't exist. What an atheist really says: there is as much evidence for a Christian God as there is for Piranha Sharks, another 2014 movie Sorbo was in where he is far down in the list of credits. I am comfortable in my skin in saying YOUR God doesn't exist and a minute away from believing in any God that cares to contact me, as what happens to Sorbo's character in this movie. I suppose those embracing the frothing at the mouth atheist converting to God the way Scrooge turns into a decent guy trope might find this entertaining. I am entertained by beyond reality movies, not so much by unhinged from reality Sean Hannity. Added a star for what appears decent production values.

This movie was refreshing in that it is about character and real life struggles in modern America for many people. It also shows the reality that rarely the fame and fortune life style brings true fulfillment and happiness. All one has to do is read the papers to see how miserable many actors and actresses are at the end of their lives to validate my comment. Yet Hollywood and the media do not understand that most Americans are represented by this struggling family, and many find their source of strength in faith in God. The contrast is clearly presented in this movie.

Ohhh man.... I want to support Christian movies...but c'mon now. This one was pretty bad. I like Kevin Sorbo so i thought it might be good. Even he couldn't make this one work. I HATE to bash Christian movies but i have to (again) tell the truth about of some of these movies. This movie was so rushed and unbelievable it was hard to get interested. OK, i need to say something here. If your making a Christian movie, and you want to entertain christians, fine, make anything about God and all of us will try to be entertained and be happy. But lets really get down to brass here people. If you want to make a Christian movie and try to make non christians wonder and think when they leave the theater, you need to have some common sense! I don't want to go on and on but here are the main points: If you want someone to believe in God and have hope in Him, please for the LOVE OF GOD, don't have the main character have lost someone like a child and then tell people you have faith in a God now and then make the movie were now your wife has terminal cancer and prays and loves God but still ends up dying a slow death also! I always watch Christian movies from the point of view of a non believer to see if it entices me to think about what is being shown after or during the movie. This one made me so angry i couldn't sit still. The acting was totally horrible! The wife and kids were so unbelievable it was hard to watch. No emotions, no feeling for the characters at any time. So the protagonist in this movie gets saved because he saw his son in a tunnel of rotating pictures for a few minutes and he says "let there be light daddy!" Thats all...? Then he comes back to earth a changed man. He goes to his wifes' pastor and gets saved immediately and right after becomes baptized. He is then totally sold out to God in about a week. Then the wife is diagnosed...well just watch it if you want. There wasn't any character development what so ever. I felt nothing for ANY of the actors, there was no time put in to feel for them. And most of all, what and where was the light...?! If a non believer sees this movie, this is how it would be portrayed: Believe in my God- Why?- Because He is the Light of the world. What for?- Well, he really wont do much for you, but believe in Him anyway.

This movie really gives people no hope. if your going to make a movie about God, please please please give the people something they will remember at least. Lets be real for a moment, Christianity is kind of like being in sales, im trying to get you to buy my 'product', i need to show you the features and benefits of my product and why you need to have it, even though you might not want it. But still, you need it. Right? Isn't this how sales and marketing work? Everyone sells the sizzle more than the steak itself. Why in the world do we try and 'sell' Christianity with nothing beneficial for the buyer? Now of course, when i say 'sell' i mean we are trying to save peoples' soul from a very bad ending. Why cant we do this correctly? A great movie could be made without any preaching at all and have people crying when they walk out. Its all in the way and wisdom it is done. Not terrible writing and acting and blaming everything on Isis and telling people to believe in God without any sizzle. You get children to come to you with candy, not medicine.

While the intent of the filmmakers was genuine in trying to depict a hard-boiled atheist transformed into a born again Christian, the results of this film were disappointing, due the shallowness of the script and an appalling set of performances that often included outright mugging for the camera.

The film's theme is to shine the light on the glory of the Lord in accordance with the Gospel of Matthew (5:16): "let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven."

The light slowly comes to stubborn pop culture atheist Dr. Sol Harkans until a near-death experience momentarily reunites him with his beloved son Davey, who died of cancer. Dr. Harkans' conversion occurs after a meeting with Pastor Vinny, who got religion while he was doing hard time in Lompoc Prison in California. In his journey from being a "wise guy" on the streets to ministering to his faithful flock, Vinny was born again when reading the good book in the pokey.

During his conversation with Pastor Vinny, Dr. Harkans experiences his epiphany, and, in the subsequent scene, he gets dunked in a baptism in a small stream. The film then becomes melodramatic with a reunion with his wife. The born again Christian then has a born again, second wedding. Dionne Warwick sings at the ceremony. But a seizure and diagnosis of terminal cancer is in store for the angelic Mrs. Harkans. This was the woman who never blasphemed in her life and would only utter lines like "You look like heck," in order to avoid using the "h" word.

Despite the second tragic death in the Harkans family, the film manages to spin the theme of how "the Lord works in mysterious ways." An interview with Sean Hannity marks the grand finale, followed by a gala experience of lighting up the world through the use of an ap.

The strangest character of all was the evangelical son, who was overly protective of his mother and insisted that the father bring the mother home by 10pm after they went out to dinner. While supposed to be acting as his mother's protector, the character came across as a psycho.

Another incongruous theme was the puzzling counterpoint to the family drama with references to the horrors of ISIS, set against the joy and good will of Christianity. It was in lines like "You cannot defeat an ideology on the battlefield alone" that the film lost all credibility and became itself an exercise in spewing ideology and propaganda.

As a Catholic Christian (yes, we Catholics are actually Christians), I have mixed feelings towards evangelical Christian movies (as I always have, even when I was an evangelical). Although I appreciate what Christian media does in an attempt to share Jesus, the results are often hokey and creates an "us against them" mentality. In this case, it's the all-atheists-are-out-to-get-Christians scenario. While there is a sense that growing secularism is attempting to restrict Christian freedom, most atheists aren't trying to outright destroy Christianity. Indeed, very few atheists are of the Christopher Hitchens/Richard Dawkins "God-is-evil" mentality.

Aside from that, these movies tend to paint an unrealistic picture of how things work. The harsh realities of life tend to get glossed over with the premise that while life is difficult, God will just magically make everything okay. Take Sorbo's character's loss of his son. He became a drunk who denied God, but no effort was shown that he needed to work through a grieving process before moving on. Instead the character has a near-death experience where he sees his son, ends up talking to his wife's pastor, then BAM--he's suddenly a Christian. The same happens when the wife is diagnosed with a brain tumor. As she is dying, she glosses over her (living) sons' fears by saying that her death will be like her "being in the next room." Sorry, but this is hardly comforting in the real world, even for a Christian. It is just too simplistic and denies the struggles that people face.

My thought is that if Christian media wants to be effective, they need to show faith being worked out in a strong, yet generic sense (as opposed to an in-your-face objective sense) with down to earth people truly working through their struggles.

As a side note, if we Christians truly want to make a difference in society we will focus more on prayer and righteous living, and less on propaganda.

Dark vs. Light. God gave us his Son as a perfect sacrifice for our sins but we still have the right to choose for ourselves what we want to believe and how we want to live our lives. This movie doesn't force anything on anybody just puts the choice out there in this one mans spiritual journey. Some many want to bring Kleenex for those tears that may come. #LTBL

I saw this movie today at the AMC theater Garden city NJ ..AWESOME MOVIE...another Faith base family movie . ... Thank you Jesus. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️???????? All the Charters were great in particular the oldest son Kevin who played the role of looking out for his mom best interest I loved that . Good acting Kevin you are a star. Well put together film .. ...I do not usually write reviews but had to with this movie cause it is EXCELLENT

Just saw this film this afternoon with a friend , and we had to drive quite a ways to see it ! But, it was worth the trip , for sure ! This story was filled with hope , faith , real life situations and questions and answers ,of why we must face tragedy , in this life ! I was deeply touched by the story of a man who had not yet found a way to deal with the loss of his little boy !! Until he "saw the light " of Christs great love ,mercy and salvation ! If you are a Believer or just a person who is looking for a family film , I think you will find something ,in this film ,that will touch your heart ! Thank you, Kevin Sorbo , wife , and sons , you did an awesome job , And thanks , as well to Sean Hannity , for supporting this film ! You're the best !! Kudos !! Ps It was such a pleasure to NOT be barraged with filthy language , raw sex scenes , and bloody murders , and drug dealers ! The Hollywood crowd , cannot even relate to a majority of this country ! We need more wholesome entertainment , minus political agendas , and all that goes with it ! I have decided not to support films ,that glamorize destructive lifestyles and lack uplifting themes !

This movie is the wake-up call that Western civilization needs now! This isn't preaching: it's an open discussion about the importance of spirituality and the need for people to live with pride and dignity and to value the beauty of human experience over the hollow sale of consumerism.

I can't recommend this film enough: it is a philosophical masterpiece and a beautiful and engaging open debate about human nature.

Sorbo, the entire family, seem to think that an Atheist can suddenly turn to Christianity. It doesn't work that way. Atheists usually were Christians or of some faith that failed drastically. Atheists don't take anything on faith, they work on FACTS. Sorbo was once a passable actor on Hercules, now he is like his washed up character. This is very 'based' on his life having had a near death experience with a brain aneurism. The rest is pure fiction like his god is. If there was a rating of 0, I would have given it.

It tugged at the heart strings. It was a hit. So close to home. Thank you for this movie. I miss you Mom. Thank you.

Yes, Kevin Sorbo was the Atheist Professor in God's Not Dead. Here he reprises his role, produces the film, and is divorced from his real life wife who helps write the script. He is an atheist in this film because he and his wife lost a 9 year old boy to cancer. Then he gets himself into a near death experience and sees his deceased son telling him it's not his time yet and let there be light.

He has the ex-wife and 2 other sons whose family has been destroyed by dads self destruction. In some ways you really want to like this movie. The trouble is that despite some pretty good acting, the script sort of over powers the good and evil senses beyond the good intentions of the plot line.

I do enjoy Dionne Warwick singing and proving she can still perform well. Sean Hannity is pretty much wooden in playing himself. The main coincidence I see here is that Kevin and his wife put themselves into their own world here as they have 3 sons, which they also have in their real life. The 2 living sons really get a bad message here while trying to be given a good message. Their characters are just here in the script and not fully developed emotionally.

The ex-con minister is pretty much like one would be in real life. Trouble is he too is one dimensional and never comes to life. Travis Tritt's doctor is pretty much a one scene actor who is the bearer of bad news. Overall the film is just under developed. While it over powers the viewer emotionally, it underserves the message it is trying to convey,

There was a quite a bit of hype on talk-radio about this movie and how great it is... well I disagree. While the basic plot premise is interesting, I found the end product lacking. The "flow" of the movie is concentrated in one direction --- holding your hand from one incident to the next, but this leaves the viewer disengaged. The dialog is at times unrealistically religious and it takes quite a leap of faith to believe that someone could be "transformed" in the manner set forth on the screen. The only real emotional moment happens at the end of the movie and by then it is too late. There is no resurrection joy, only sadness.

Trite tearjerker, that you will watch and say haven't I seen this before? Not original, very preachy. Sorbo isn't bad as an actor, but should have found another director. Will probably do well on the church basement tour. Not awful, but definitely lacking in many departments. Muddled movie trying to bring a message of faith at the expense of entertainment. Sorbo should have stuck to either being director or star. Have seen better on made for TV movies.

I went to see this mainly to support this type of film. I was very pleasantly surprised. The story was interesting and moved very quickly. At the end of the movie, I was truly surprised at how fast the time went. That is always a good sign that the movie kept you focused. It is mildly hokey but that is fine with me. I don't consider this a classic film, but it is a good story and a very good way to spend some time in a theater.

I'm sorry so many are so critical of this film or found it corny or preachy but, I guess, only Christians will understand. Luckily, there is an abundance of Hollywood "products" out there... and something that appeals to everyone. This film was never meant to be an action flick or suspense or comedy or any of the main genres which inhabit our modern cinema today. It's a movie about faith, overcoming hardships and pain in your life, and that everybody is capable of changing...even the whole world. Sorry so many are offended by these ideas.

God kills a Christian man's child to turn him into an atheist, so he can make him drink and drive and have an accident that kills him for 4 minutes, just so he can see a tunnel of light and his dead son, so he can turn back to believing in god. Not to mention the erroneous and fallacious stereotyping of non-believers. Some atheists are bad, just as some Christians are bad, but they had no problem making all atheists look like douchebags. This is the most unchristlike movie I have seen since the God's Not Dead trilogy.

My wife and I just finished watching this great emotional and though provoking movie. I would recommend any and everyone to watch it, believers, agnostics, and atheists alike. It delves into the issues we must all face, our own mortality and how we choose to live our lives once we acknowledge that. The acting and pacing were also very well done and the story draws you in and I never looked at my watch. The most surprising takeaway for me was that Kevin Sorbo is an excellent actor whose character's logos and pathos made for a convincing rhetorical appeal. Thank you Harkins Theatres Flagstaff 16 for screening this film. Though it tackles hard life topics, I would take kids to see it. A movie that was well worth the price of admission. #LTBL #LetThereBeLight

Please don't be fooled by the negative. It is hard for many people today to believe in Christ. They have lost the light in their souls and the belief there is a higher power. This move is Beautiful. Let it bring peace to your soul. The actors act well. The music is good, the story is meant to lighten your heart and bring you back to what we as a society need, Light.

The wife and I were REALLY looking forward to seeing this, but sadly this was a huge letdown, we were really disappointed. Of course the trailer, hook, line and sinker, gotcha! We were going to watch it when it came to theaters even, thankfully we didn't. Disappointingly, and we thought it to be so strange too that this movie felt so rushed and unbelievable. The actors in their roles were far from convincing or believable to us. The movie didn't draw us in at all, we were more like, "Wha?! Huh?!" Do what!?!? In such portrayed circumstances it all happened "unreasonably" way too fast here in the movie. We were like, whaaaaat??! Here's a guy whose a bitter unbeliever (due to the death of his son) he then gets drunk, drives and wrecks his car and has a dream about his dead son who tells him, "Let there be light." Then all of a sudden he wants to know about God?! Immediately, he goes to speak with his X wife's pastor?!? Ugh! O.K?! Don't slow down! Next, he immediately wants to remarry his X Wife. Huh???! Wha!?! Then right after their married, oh how nice, nope wait for it, BAM!! His wife falls down and is diagnosed with cancer. No brakes, keep rolling! Then together they go on a 3 hour special episode of Hannity about their charity named, "Let there be light". Then we're left with the last scene of his wife dying in his arms of cancer, wha!?! THE END! Oh WOW!!! Now! Who wants to know Jesus!? Seriously!?!? I've never seen a storyline in a movie move so quickly to where it becomes so ridiculously unbelievable, and embarrassingly into a story that tries so hard of trying to win people to Christ. This movie really shows how really "out of touch" to think that people who don't know Christ are going to fall for such a "forced and quick" story such as this one. I'm sorry but this was such a sad and embarrassing effort. We were left at the end of it like, "Are you serious?" Really!? Wow! We were like, we have NEVER seen anyone's life happen so quickly like that, and not only that, just life in general. We thought, "We definitely weren't going to recommend this one here to an unsaved person or definitely not as a witness about Christ, yikes!" Honestly, at the end we were like, "What did we just watch!!?" Sadly, I wish we hadn't watched it.