Book of Daniel [Blu-ray] [US Import]

Films based on the Biblical account do not always meet expectations. Too often, representation moves so far away from the Bible that we are left with a ‘loosely based upon’ version of events. I was therefore pleasantly surprised at how well this film has remained with the original feeling of the Daniel text. Yes, there has been some ‘interpretation’ but for the greater part this is a very good re-telling on film. It would be difficult to include the entire book of Daniel and this film version only deals with the early historical section. Lance Henriksen seems believable as Cyrus and Miano gives a genuine performance as Daniel. I found it uplifting to see the Prophet stand alone and remain confident in his God in the face of his detractors. As for production values, it does look very average and something is lost in grand sweeping scenic backdrops you would hope for in a Biblical epic. When the camera cuts away from the actors we get a painting of the city or a painting of the golden statue. Yes, it is low budget and the effects are mediocre by to-days standards, but that’s missing the point. The days of Cecil B DeMille are long gone, focus on the narrative and look beyond the background. Overall, criticisms aside, a very good effort and not difficult to recommend.

I’m not a religious person myself so this film won't effect me emotionally (or spiritually) like it will with some people, but I still have respect for the Bible (a relic of my days when I was in Sunday school as a child), so I will just give it a review from a secular perspective.WARNING: this film does NOT contain any sex, violence, bad language or politically correct BS of any kind (which some people may find offensive)First of all, you have to wade through five trailers (five!) before you get to the film. This has ALWAYS annoyed me with DVDs. Now, this may not be an issue with most people but I’ve always thought that trailers should be put at the end of a film (or in a separate section on their own in the EXTRAS menu) and NOT at the beginning of every film, but you can skip through these annoying little snippets of irritation by using the FF control on DVD player.Anyway, back to the film. I have to say I was disappointed with this film. This film has all the look, feel and characteristics of a shoestring budget. Its format conveys the feeling of a stage play that has been transferred to DVD. Costumes are standard, run-of-the-mill theatrical fare of the kind you would see in a West-End play in London or Broadway in New York. The dialogue is a bit ropey as well and static in some scenes with lines not being delivered very convincingly by the actors. Lance Henriksen looks like he's only in the film to help pay the rent (or perhaps he’s got nothing else better to do). It’s a production quality that falls in that ‘no-man's land’ of being somewhere between an advanced amateur production (i.e. not being a blatantly amateurish effort) and not quite being up to the standard of even a professional B-movie feature. It’s still not bad though considering.The three priestly villains who plot to frame Daniel and have him thrown into the lions den have an almost comic book character about them. I’m sure this was unintentional. Also, there is an interesting section in the EXTRAS menu where it shows you what went on behind the scenes and how the animal trainers handled the two lions for the sequence when Daniel was in the lion’s den.Considering its low budget and limited production resources etc., this is a very expensive DVD to buy and I’m not sure if its worth the money (you can buy blockbusters like Quo Vadis or Ben Hur for about the same price, or even less). Nevertheless, Anna Zielinski has done a pretty decent job of bringing the essence of The Book of Daniel to the screen albeit for a limited (Christian) audience. Had she had a lot more money to spend on production, the film would have probably been a lot better. It's the sort of film Christian families would show to their 8 to 12 year old children at home or at a Sunday school event.One last point: When the credits are rolling at the end of the film, there is a disclaimer at the very bottom which says:“The persons and events in this motion picture are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons or events is unintentional.”I think Prof. Richard Dawkins must have quietly slipped this in at the end while no one was looking.

I found this refreshing, no recourse to the cast of thousands, CGI or special effects just story telling with a few costumes, yes some real lions (you won't see that in a theatre) a painted backdrop and good old fashioned acting. Whether you are religious or not, the message is clear, however powerful you are on earth, you are not the master of your destiny, that has already been written, you are just the player, acting your part and if it is done well, then that is the reward. I think this was done well.

You can tell they were very limited in their budget, so some parts which should have had a set wide scene to convey to the viewer what's happening (such as the siege) are simply not there, and the throne Courts of the Kings are not displayed at all, but the acting is pretty good and the message is very well sent.It does the Bible no disservice at all, even if they may not be believers.5 stars for the effort, not the effects.(Swords don't go scchwwwhinng when pulled or sheathed which is nice).

Okay, this film obviously didn't have a massive special effects budget, but the acting, the script and the casting we're superb. Much better than I expected and managed to stay very close to the Bible story. Very inspiring, thank you for creating a great movie!

it is a family friendly biblical story. Script is a bit stodgy. Acting is wooden. It has the feel of a play rather than a film. I found it boring but my wife who is more religious than me enjoyed it and would like to see similar. So maybe it depends whether you are religious? Personally, I cant feel it could have been far more dramatic. Maybe one for Sunday school or bible class?

Absolutely excellent story (from God's Word, so it can't be anything else) but this production was evidently underfunded and the film was badly made. So I watched it once and gave my copy away.

Really good move, although I was expecting a lot more drama. Some of the sketches were a little tongue in cheek and not really accurate to the book but all in all it was a worthy 4 stars movie. I would recommend