Cristiada

"For Greater Glory" is an amazing film. It's an inspiring retelling of the the Cristeros War against the Mexican government for its having outlawed the Catholic Church and its executions and massacres of those who dared to live out their religious freedom.

The cast is top-notch and the direction pretty competent, keeping the story weaved among intimate scenes and battle scenes. Filled with poignant moments of the lives of the protagonists and of those close to them and with the heroic - as well as less than heroic - skirmish scenes.

It's a movie about taking sides courageously, how conflicting this can be in a man's conscience, especially when it involves the spilling of blood. If anything, the personal struggle of many characters getting into this war and carrying it out made the film shine. From the young boy who faced martyrdom for the Catholic faith - Jose Sanchez del Rio, beatified in 2005 - to his uncle, a cowardly mayor too enamored of power to save him.

I cannot help thinking how timely this film is when the Church and Catholics - for now - are again being curtailed in their freedoms by a government with its own agenda, this time the American government trying to limit the Church's ministry and to force Catholics to violate their consciences. Like Calles, Obama has presented the same arguments to justify his unjustifiable actions against the Church, Catholics and their institutions. It's government might over faith, the collective over the individual, an usurpation of the state to serve not the people, but an ideology.

PS: disregard most professional critics' reviews for they seem to have a chip on their shoulder so big that it blinds them to the artistic and cinematographic qualities of this film.

This is a movie about heroes who stood up for freedom – in this case, religious freedom. It's not easy to make a heroic film, but this movie comes reasonably close. There are a few awkward camera movements, and some of the younger actors don't always make the most convincing performances. However, the overall effort is quite moving and convincing. Considering these events actually happened and these are historical figures not fictional characters makes the movie that much more compelling. Some reviewers have argued that the movie is "too Catholic." Considering these were Catholics fighting, eventually, fighting violently, for their freedoms, these criticisms reveal more about the reviewers' prejudices and biases than it does about the film. This is an important, thought-provoking film about freedom that should be seen and discussed.

There's no doubt that the subject matter of "For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada" - the Cristeros War of Mexico in the late 1920s - could make for an interesting and even entertaining movie. But to tell the truth, I felt kind of unsatisfied at the end. One of the most expensive Mexican movies made (though low budget by Hollywood standards), I will say that the movie (for the most part) looks pretty good. But the movie is saddled with a substandard script. The movie is both too long and not long enough. It unfolds at a pretty slow pace, and there are a number of scenes that could have been eliminated. But at the same time, it doesn't go into detail enough on a number of important points. The motivations of the characters are more often than not vague, and there are a number of unanswered questions for those unfamiliar with this part of Mexican history. While I wouldn't call this movie terrible, it is unsatisfying. Though on a positive note, it will probably get you to do some research about this conflict.

As a Catholic very concerned about the anti-Catholic direction of our society, I wanted to see For Greater Glory. But after reading the reviews on RottenTomatoes, I assumed it would be a good message poorly presented. I could not have been farther from the truth. This was a excellent movie - especially for a directorial debut. Even if you are not Catholic you will find this movie very moving and well done.

Andy Garcia is excellent - he even shows intense emotions. Mauricio Kuri had an outstanding rookie performance. Nestor Carbonell's role was perfect for him. Peter O'Toole was a wonderful surprise if short lived.

Ignore RottenTomatoes - you will not be disappointed!

Revolutions are never easy. And sometimes they demand sacrifice. Sacrifice of many things to achieve something for a later generation. It's a tough movie to watch for many reasons, but it's also not taking prisoners (literally at times), which you might like about it or dismiss. But that's how things can go down, when there is uproar.

We might live in societies today that don't have to fight for certain things, but it's not too much of a stretch to see why and how some had to fight for freedom of speech or religion or other things. The movie depicts a real life event/incidents, which might appall some viewers from the get go, but if you like Drama and History in general, this might be for you. I haven't read too much about how things went down exactly, but I reckon this movie made me aware of a chapter I hadn't had heard about before ...