Heaven's War

There's no doubt the audience for which this film was made. With that being said, the attention to detail, the risk-taking, and the overall redemptive message of this film are worth seeing it. The choreography of the fight scenes and other action scenes are well done. The CGI supersedes that of many film of this genre and budget. Well done.

A title such that "Beyond the Darkness" with a covering image from what looks like a star-war movie are nothing but a trap. The story tried to go through some of the debate going on between religious people and atheists and could have been much better if it was written more carefully, but it wasn't. Maybe the original story is good, but this movie definitely says otherwise. Was it due to acting or directing faults? After watching about an hour of it, I just don't care. Images are so dull and made without professionality, made with like an amateur with the 1950's visions, and the music is really good in inspiring all the 209 sleeping ideas - or were they 208?... So BORING.

The film taking the viewer on a spiritual journey that most Christians have undertook at some point toward either abandoning or reaffirming their faith. A must watch if you're at that point in your spiritual journey.

This film is based on sound Biblical Christian doctrine dealing with spiritual warfare and the condition of the human soul. The acting, special effects and scriptwriting blend together very well. It is apparent that a lot of hard work went into this project. The director did an amazing job in bringing out the vision he had for this movie! If you are a person who enjoys watching faith based family oriented films than this is definitely for you. If you are a skeptic than perhaps not. With that said I will recommend this film to anyone who is willing to see things from a Christ centered perspective.

A person's world view affects how they rate this film. Believers are glad to find a fast-pace, engaging story, with a decent plot and a biblical world view. However, non-believers tend to be offended by the blatant Christian message and less forgiving of the low-budget CGI. Basically, the ratings are pretty much driven by each reviewer's worldview.

My two cents' worth? As a Christian screenwriter, I tend to be more objective than the average Christian viewer. Basically, going to film school took away a lot of the fun I used to have watching ANY film. Now I notice all the plot holes, pay-offs without set-ups, on-the-nose dialogue, character arcs that do not grow organically from the plotline, and a thousand other things that can go amiss in any poorly-crafted film. So, for me to rate this film a "6" is my way of saying, "Wow. Pretty good job!"

I don't know if this film will help anyone make a decision for Christ - wish I could know that. But as a Christian and a filmmaker, I found this fun to watch and uplifting. Not the best film ever made, but definitely not the worst! And that, I think, is the closest this film will ever get to having an honest review. IMHO, that is.