Film: Story of Samson film Review
Dec 24, 2023 11:12:40 GMT -5
Post by Radrook Admin on Dec 24, 2023 11:12:40 GMT -5
Film: Story of Samson film Review
I just finished watching the film The Story of Samson, and noticed that certain totally unnecessary liberties were taken. No, they were not merely maliciously motivated inaccuracies intended to ridicule the biblical account. Instead, these seem to be genuine efforts to enhance the drama of what the Bible clearly tells us happened.
Unfortunately, instead of enhancing the narrative, they tend to make it less believable via proposing the ridiculous, and in that manner, weakening the movie- viewer's ability to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy the film.
Below are some examples of how they unnecessarily weakened the story of Samson in the film.
Samson Kills 1000 men scene
Judges 15:
“With a jawbone from the donkey—
here a heap, there a pair of heaps—
with the jawbone of the donkey
I’ve killed 1,000 men.”
14 When Samson arrived at Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, so that the ropes that bound him were like flax that’s been burned by fire, and his bonds dissolved. 15 He happened upon a jawbone from a putrefying donkey, reached out to grab it, and killed 1,000 men with it. 16 Then Samson declared,
“With a jawbone from the donkey—
here a heap, there a pair of heaps—
with the jawbone of the donkey
I’ve killed 1,000 men.”
Now, in the film, when Samson is shown battling a thousand Philistines, he is depicted as being suddenly overwhelmed by their sheer numbers. Suddenly, Philistine soldiers are piling on top of him. Samson? Well, he is shown lying on the bottom of this armed heap calmly contemplating his dire situation without a struggle, and imploring God almighty for the strength to continue.
Do the sword-wielding Philistine warriors take that opportunity to cripple or kill him? Curiously, not at all. They just choose to pile on top of him in a useless silent heap. Curiously, just a few moments before, they were furiously attempting to obliterate him.
So what are we supposed to imagine happened to their motives? Did they suddenly become comatose? Did they suddenly decide that capturing him was better than killing him? If indeed so, then who exactly gave order for such a drastic and totally counterproductive change of strategy?
Samson is also shown taking out time from his defense with the Jawbone of an ass, in order to grab and fling some Philistines great distances. No explanation whatsoever is provided for this ridiculous scenario where he risks getting killed just for the satisfaction of sending someone flying.
Samson Carries Gaza City Gate Scene
It was as if he pulled a flower out of the ground, yet Dr. William Barrick computed the weight of the gate and posts to have been between five and ten tons (“Samson’s Removal of Gaza’s Gates,” drbarrick.org, n.d.) And Samson carried the gate to Hebron, which was 36 miles away and 3,200 feet higher in altitude!
practicalarchive.weebly.com/news/samson-and-the-philistine-gateJudges 16
16 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.
2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. 3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.
The movie scene where Samson carries the gates of a city for 36 miles after secretly detaching it from the city walls, is ruined by having Samson being hunted in the city by the population, being trapped by archers on the city wall, and having him helplessly pushing against the gate in a desperate effort to escape.
Then they have everyone who was angrily chasing him stop and stare at him in awed contemplation as he turns his vulnerable back on them, topples the gates, and carries them a few feet. Why the archers on the wall are no longer relevant is anybody's guess.
Then he is shown wounded and unconscious a few miles from, the city, when the Bible tells us that he carried those heavy city gates approx. 36 miles to Hebron, and that he encountered absolutely no Philistine opposition since they were unaware of it, and only found out later.
All of which, of course, makes absolutely no sense. If he was indeed trapped by archers, where did they suddenly go? If he was indeed cornered against the city gates, why didn't they moving in for the kill? Also, why is the crowd suddenly composed of women and old men, when moments before, there had been Philistine warriors among them?
Why do they fearfully allow him to topple the gate. Again, what happened to the archers? All of this is not found in the Biblical account but is added for the sake of drama. Ironically, it only manages to distract the viewer via proposing the ridiculous and seriously weakens it.
3. The Lion scene
Judges 14
5. Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.
6. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
The same holds true for the Samson and the lion event described the scripture cited above. As can be seen, the Bible clearly tells us that Samson fearlessly confronted a lion and easily tore it apart. However, in this movie, Samson sees the lion, and is so totally terrified, that he starts trying to sneak away in fear that it might tear him apart.
The only reason that they come physically in contact, is because the lion hears Samson step on a dried out twig as he is sneaking away and attacks. Samson? Well they choose to show him cowering covering himself as if expecting to be torn to pieces and accidentally kills the lion due to his enormous strength. Then he is shown staring at it as if totally amazed that the lion is dead while he happened to survive.