Any Spiritual Movies?

[RobOfTheDead]

May I have any suggestions of movies with Christian or Spiritual Themes for teens and young adults? It doesn't have to be a totally religious movie as long as it has Christian or spiritual themes. I need a list for a Catholic youth group we're putting together.

I already have some down:
The Prince of Egypt
Bridge to Terabithia
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Gospel According to St. Matthew
Batman Begins
Superman Returns
Saint Ralph
Signs
Bella

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[sandrine]

I've never heard of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory being religious. What are the themes in that, if you don't mind my asking?

We watched one called Keeping The Faith at my youth group once - two freinds, one Jewish (Ben Stiller) one Catholic (not an actor I recognised). Both respectively become a rabbi and a priest, and have to work things out when a woman comes along and complicates everything - as is so often the way.

The new Narnia film lays it on pretty thick as well (and by that I mean come on, they could have made it more subtle instead of flashing up a red banner) at times, so you could think about that one to match the first film.

Stay away from the Prince of Egypt-style film about Joseph and his coat of many colours. Seriously. After about ten minutes you want to be one of the brothers so that you can throw him in the pit yourself.

Tolkein coverted C.S Lewis, so I'm sure if you look closely enough at Frodo you can see a reluctant messiah in there somewhere.

I'm guessing that Dogma really isn't what you're looking for, although it could raise very interesting discussion points.

And I vaguely remember a film which may have been called Michael, about an angel coming to earth.

I hope that helps! I'll do some more thinking for you!

[RobOfTheDead]

In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, each of the kids except Charlie represent one of the 7 Deadly sins. Charlie represented the innocent. EX.
Augustus Gloop - Gluttony
Veruca Salt - Greed

[bladestarr]

Brother Sun, Sister Moon... an EXCELLENT movie with Christian themes, especially for Catholics. It's a retelling of the story of St. Francis of Assisi.

Good luck finding it though, it's kind of old...

[Lissa]

Saved! is actually quite excellent, despite the rather absurd seeming plotline. I really enjoyed it.

I also adore Contact, but I think it's better for older teens.

[Ms. Jellybean]

I had a pastor once who would put together clips from various movies to help deliver his lessons/messages to the youth group. There are good bits from:

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (that crucial "leap of faith" he takes over the third obstacle)
The Empire Strikes Back (basically anything with Yoda)
The Matrix (holy crap the Wachowskis borrowed so much from so many different religions)

ETA: Also, even though the production quality isn't stellar, get your hands on the eighties BBC TV adaptations of the Chronicles of Narnia. Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair contain some of Lewis' more overt Christian themes that don't deal directly with the resurrection of Christ (as seen in LWW). I would say that I learned more from those movies than I learned in any Sunday School class.

[TheLuckyOne]

I'll second Indy and the Last Crusade... definitely use that one. Depending on the season, It's A Wonderful Life, of course. And I'll throw in a vote for Field of Dreams too.

-D

[eatmyshorts]

The latest version of Count of Monte Cristo. It has religious themes but it's also a really great movie.

[RobOfTheDead]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Keep them coming as I will be adding them to my list. I forgot about Count of Monte Cristo and Contact. I never thought about Last Crusade either. I will look for the bbc versions of those narnia stories and will definitely look for Brother Sun Sister Moon.

[BlackCatWhiteCat]

What Dreams May Come. I love that movie. It's a big 'ol mishmash of different religions.

[CheshireKat]

-Amazing Grace; the story of William Wilberforce who fought for years to end the British slave trade.
-Luther; The story of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation
-The Nativity Story; Awesome for Christmas
-The Passion of the Christ; pretty obvious really.
-The End of the Spear; Very powerful film. It's about a group of missionaries reaching out to a tribe of people in the Ecuadorian jungles. Highly recommended.

[CheshireKat]

Oh yeah and Expelled; A recent documentary starring Ben Stein about how a lot of scientists have been blacklisted by the scientific community for entertaining the idea of Intelligent Design over Dawinism.

[RobOfTheDead]

I actually picked up the BBC production of The Chrnoicles of Narnia from Barnes and Noble so we will be watching that in the future. I also have Last Crusade and Bella on hold at my library. End of the Spear sound interesting and Contact should spark some conversation. Expelled would probably be for the young adults. Thanks again for the suggestions. Anymore are welcome.

[Al]

I'd second Amazing Grace. I'm not certain it would be to a teenager's tastes, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless.

I'd also tenuously recommend A Man Called Peter and Facing the Giants. Both are both fun little productions but each doles out some pretty heavy-handed religious messages, almost to a hokey degree. They may qualify depending on what you are shooting for, though.

[Hucklebubba]

I'll back Mike's play regarding End of the Spear. I can't recall offhand having ever been more pleasantly surprised by a movie.

The folks bought it in a two-pack with The Passion, and it was with much trepidation and silent grumbling that I sat down to watch it with them; fully expecting a preachy, ham-fisted, rinky-dink little church film.

What I got was surprisingly subtle and enthralling, and even more suprisingly, very well-produced.

No other recommendations come to mind that haven't already been mentioned. However, I will cast an anti-vote in the direction of the Left Behind films. They're like intestinal cramps in movie form.