Millions of people have already seen the big budget, Paramount Pictures "Noah" that just hit theaters two days ago, but a less known featurette called 'Noah and the Last Days' by Ray Comfort, of 'Way of the Master' fame, is beginning to get noticed, too.
Comfort clearly made his movie in response to the Paramount production, but with other goals in mind.
Comfort, who is a New Zealander like Russell Crowe, the star of the big-budget rendition, sees danger in the Darren Aronofsky directed version of the biblical story, and is hoping his version will correct misconceptions that might be created by the more popular movie.
"There's something more sinister about the production of this movie. It's more than just a grown man with a childish imagination playing with an expensive toy," Comfort said in a press release. "It is the blatant mischaracterization of a man of God in an attempt to undermine the authority of the Word of God."
According to Comfort, the liberties that Aronofsky took with his telling of the story did more to hurt the production and plot than help them.
From a biblical viewpoint, Noah himself is about as far away from the Noah of the Bible as he could get," Comfort writes about the Paramount movie. "Perhaps the best way to describe him and what he does in the movie would be to liken it to Hollywood doing a movie about Napoleon, and portraying him as a tall Japanese-speaking crocodile hunter, who was into sky-diving and Russian roulette."
The 30-minute movie by Living Waters Productions features Comfort interviewing many people, some saying they don't believe the biblical account of Noah and the ark is real, while some claim to be Christians, but within a few of Comfort's questions, it is revealed they are confused about the religion they claim. Comfort actually adds to the story of Noah, too, but not by adding character and creatures to the plot the way Aronofsky did, but by comparing the days of Noah, when God flooded the Earth, with Today's world. He goes through prophecy from the bible to make a case that we are in the end times, and that Jesus will return soon.
Comfort quotes Jesus at the beginning of his film.
"Jesus said, 'As in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man," Comfort said (Matthew 24:37)
He goes through 10 distinct signs, all backed by scripture from the bible, to prove his point during the film, and it is very compelling and thought provoking.
Comfort points to things like money-hungry preachers and rampant hypocrisy in the church, wars and rumors of wars, and an acceptance of homosexuality as signs of the end times.
"If you are fascinated by Bible prophecy-particularly last day's events, you are going to love this eye-opening and convicting movie." Joseph Farah, President of WorldNetDaily said about Comfort's production.
We didn't produce Noah to entertain you," Comfort said to conclude his film. " We produced it in the sincere hope that you'd obey the gospel, that you'd repent of your sins, and trust alone in Jesus Christ, so that we will see you in Heaven."
Not all Christians who have seen the big budget film have had the same reaction as comfort, though. Some, like Producer and filmmaker Phil Cooke, founder and chief executive officer of Cooke Pictures, say that although it takes artistic license, it stays true to the spirit of the Noah story in Genesis.
"Sin is evident in the film, God's saving grace is evident in the film," Cooke said.
Comfort says the Christian leaders who give the big budget movie a pass are just "mesmerized by the glitter of Hollywood".
"Hollywood's is listed as 'fantasy', while ours is based on the truth," Comfort said. "Theirs is entertainment that will cost you. Ours is life-changing and will be freely available on YouTube."
