  
Knowinga.k.a. “Prédictions”MPAA Rating:
 for disaster sequences, disturbing images and brief strong language.Reviewed by: David Criswell, Ph.D. Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:
Adults, Teens, Family
Genre:
Sci-Fi, Action, Thriller, Drama
Length:
1 hr. 55 min.
Year of Release:
2009
USA Release:
March 20, 2009 (wide—3,000 theaters)
DVD: August 7, 2009  
Relevant Issues
FALSE PROPHETS—Nostradamus, did he predict the bombing of the Twin Towers in New York? Answer Is there valid prophetic evidence that the Bible is God’s Word? Answer Aliens (extraterrestrials)
What does the Bible say about intelligent life on other planets? Answer Are we alone in the universe? Answer Does Scripture refer to life in space? Answer Questions and Answers about The Origin of Life Answer
“What happens when the numbers run out?” Alex Proyas is known for making spiritual movies. This should not be confused with making Christian movies, but it is no surprise that Proyas has a number of fans among Christian audiences. Films like Dark City and I Robot both had heavy spiritual and religious themes although neither was particularly Judeau-Christian in scope. Proyas' latest film, Knowing, continues this trend, but with a much heavier does of New Age mystic-pantheism and Von Däniken. Some have called Knowing a secular version of the Bible Code theory, but it is really more like what Von Däniken would have thought of the Bible Code had he heard of it. The movie is also eerily similar to a famous episode of Rod Serling's Night Gallery, entitled “The Boy Who Predicted Earthquakes.” Knowing opens with a apparently disturbed young girl placing a series of seemingly random numbers into a time capsule. Fifty years later the mysterious letter finds it way into the hands of John Koestler, an agnostic science professor who is also the son of the pastor. He soon discovers that the numbers are actually predictions of disasters that took place between 1959 and the present. Several “prophecies,” however, remain and John must struggle to find meaning in the prophecies and in his own life. Can he prevent the disasters to come? If not, why did he get the prophecies at all? Obviously the movie poses great philosophical and theological questions. There is the arbitrary line of dialogue about “sciences” versus “faith” (a false argument set up by secularists) and in an early scene John Koestler discussed the theories of determinism and randomness. He eventually reveals that he believes there is “no purpose” and life and “s--- happens.” By movies end John has had a transformation, but the Christian viewer needs to realize that it is not a Biblical one, but a vague (pan)theistic one. I will discuss the theological implications below, but since it will involved spoilers, I will not recite it here. Morally the movie is fairly clean. There are a few cuss words including two uses of the “s---” word early on in the film. There is violence including a young girl with bleeding fingers who was scratching something into a door, people are on fire following a plane crash, and numerous scenes of death following various disasters. None of the violence is particularly gruesome or exploitive, but because of the nature and scope of the violence the movie garnished a PG-13 rating which should be taken seriously. Like most Proyas films, “Knowing” is well made piece of art with deeply philosophical and religious themes. Unlike his last two films, however, some devout Christians may be disturbed by direction of this films religious views; namely the views of Erich Von Däniken. This aspect needs elaboration, but will involve spoilers—reader beware. ***SPOILERS BELOW*** Erich Von Däniken wrote a famous book called Chariot of the Gods. In his book, it is suggested that the angels of the Bible were actually space aliens, the chariot of Elijah was a spaceship, Adam and Eve were space travelers, and the miracles of the Bible were actually done by means of alien technology or similar theme. This New Age interpretation of the Bible has fascinated science fiction authors ever since. Knowing is the latest to follow this theory. In this case, the angels of Ezekiel are aliens who come on a spaceship to “save” a small number of people who will populate a new world, like new Adam and Eves. In another scene John is talking to his pastor father and refers to the Gifts of the Spirit found in 1 Corinthians. Once again his definition of the gift of prophecy is foreign to the Bible. The basic problem with the Von Däniken view is that it is essentially pantheistic. It views the universe itself as an intelligent entity and whatever cannot be explained in this way is transferred to aliens from another world, rather than to God as an intelligent all knowing Creator. The theme has been promoted by science fiction shows ranging from “Star Trek” to “Space:1999” to “Battlestar: Galactica” to “Knowing.” Ironically, atheist Richard Dawkins, in the movie Expelled, also suggested that life could have begun on an alien planet which was transferred to the Earth via aliens. Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, and avowed atheist, also incorporated this theme into many Star Trek episodes. This fact alone should make people realize that Von Däniken's theories are not truly compatible with Christianity. God is ultimately replaced by highly evolved space aliens. It is for this reason that parents should make sure their young children understand that angels are not aliens. The concept is not only foreign to the Bible, but ultimately a way of diverting people's eyes from God to outer space. ***SPOILERS END*** There is no doubt that Alex Proyas makes quality films with a deeply spiritual tone absent from most Hollywood films. As such he has gained a small following among Christian movie goers, but the Christian needs to be able to distinguish between “spiritual” and Christian. Proyas' latest film is entertaining, if a little poorly paced. It delves into many spiritual issues, but ultimately degenerates into a cliché ending that is rather disappointing. Fans of Proyas will definitely want to see the film, but Christian parents should educate their children to the nature of Von Däniken's theories and ensure that the spiritual message of the film is not confused with Biblical Christianity. Overall, I give the movie a B. It is entertaining and thought provoking, but seems unevenly paced, plodding at times, and offers an unsatisfactory ending. Nevertheless, I will look forward to Proyas' next venture in which I hope he will return to the form he showed with “Dark City” and “I, Robot.” Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Mild / Sex/Nudity: None See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.   Comments below:
Positive
Positive - Having never read the Daniken theory and others mentioned in the previous reviews, I viewed this movie without any preconception of those theories. I loved the fact that the movie did not have extreme foul language, no sexual segments, no innuendos of sexual elements; the violently tragic ending of lives in several of the scenes were actually tastefully done since some element of the tragedy had to be offered to make the impact of the film. (spoiler!) My daughter thought it was a dumb ending because of the “aliens” and because the world did indeed end and, yes, the father said that this wasn't it… as a Christian I took that to mean that if you are saved, then you have eternal life. They didn't use any other religion there, they used a Christian pastor, leaving no question as to what he meant by his comment. They didn't mock Christianity via the characters that claimed it, which is a pleasant surprise. Positive - I can't get over all the negative reviews stating that this film detracts glory from the Lord. This is NOT a Christian film! What else do you expect from Hollywood? The acting was fine, the special effects were very good (although not the best I've seen), the plot and story line moved along nicely and kept you guessing how it would all turn out. As for the ending, yes it incorporates Von Danikens' and Zecheriah Sitchens' ideas, but again, this is a sci-fi film; not a Christian film. Positive - …This movie is one of the most in your face “Christian” movies I have seen yet. I am only saying this because, the fact that it is “pseudo” Christian was already spoiled in the aforementioned review. This movie does everything in its power to force people to come to the realization that the ends times are coming and you should be ready for the return. I am the first person to think that the Left Behind series is incredible boring and far fetched and most Christian movies I find very annoying like “One Night With a King” which even has a perverse name. But “Knowing” is 100% tried and true Christian. The movie pulls know punches with letting the audience know that 'only the ones who answer the call may go to Heaven', they use the Bible, they talk about the Holy Spirit revealing prophecy, they talk about the facts that there will be signs and wonders. Positive - I think this movie is worth seeing, and is quite good, but not awesome. First of all, it goes far beyond the action thriller, or sci-fi movie, because of the spiritual issues it deals with. Although the spiritual elements do not focus a God or Christianity, it does focus on the end of the earth, and I see value in people reflecting on this, which somewhat mirrors such Bible passages as 2 Peter chapter 3. The movie is not perfectly paced, but I really enjoy Nicolas Cage, and he helps to make it above average. Positive - I just watched the movie. Actually, I can't quite really understand why Christian don't recommend this movie to others. I believe this movie is presented in a symbolic way, in which a lot of scene actually means something biblical. The Children represent us Christian (pure). Also, the disaster bring the message that everything is being predestined by God. The aliens symbolize the angels sent by God to bring Christian to heaven. Besides that, the earth is being destroyed by fire, which is as stated in the bible. Moreover, the main character who can be symbolized as those who do not believe in God, cannot go with his child (Christian) together with the aliens, simply means that those who do not accept Jesus into their lives has no “passport” to heaven. The tree in the end is the tree of life, symbolizing eternal life for the Children (Christian). There are lots more stuff that I could derived from the movie. Maybe we should read between the lines, or at least try to figure out the meaning of everything in this movie. It really inspire me a lot. The end time comes just like a thief and you basically can't do anything to run away from it. All of us have to face it. Anyway, I really recommend this movie. Positive - My wife and I enjoyed the film. We went for entertainment, not a theologically sound interpretation, and were pleased as a result. When you read the negative reviews, they seem to be folks who have a severe critical list ready to check off—if they had billed this as a Christian movie, then I would rate it differently. But it is an entertainment film, worthy of committed Christians viewing in pursuit of entertainment, but also because it can stimulate worthwhile thought and provoke discussion. The mere fact that, as many positive reviews say, there is no sexually laced dialogue, no nudity, no “f” bombs or unusual profanity, and excellent visual effects, make it worth seeing for a Saturday night out, period. I really enjoyed it, it was done quite well. Theologically, the only reason I didn't rate it higher was that ***SPOILER ALERT*** Ted's father, mother, and sister would have been raptured. The fact that they weren't is inconsistent with my understanding of end times theology. Positive - First off, I would like to state as a warning: This movie is meant to be FICTION. That being said, I would like to commend the filmmakers on making a much better than average Sci-Fi/Thriller movie. As far as the quality of filmmaking goes, this was the one of the best movies to come out of Hollywood recently. Excellent cinematography, better than average writing, fantastic special effects and relatively good understanding of scientific effects made this movie a pleasant experience. Positive - My Husband and I just saw the movie tonight and I can not understand how this movie could receive negative reviews from a Christian audience. I left the movie with an overwhelming feeling that made me want to be a better person and Christian. I want to be ready for the day when our beloved Savior returns to the earth with all His Glory. yes the movie did not depict actual events and signs that have been told to us in the Bible, but that is not what the movie was meant to do. Those of us who are followers of Christ know the signs and should not be caught up in what the movie depicted. It was meant as symbolism and one can take what they feel is important from the message and apply it in their own lives. It is like the parables that Jesus spoke. Every one took something out of it and applied it to their own lives. It is my hope that others who watch this movie will leave with a new found desire to follow Christ and be ready for the Second coming. ANd those who are not Christian may get nothing from it, but it is my hope that this world will turn their hearts to the Savior. Yes, we do not know the exact time the 2nd coming will happen, but that does not matter. We should all live our lives like it will be tomorrow and be ready. We want to be the one of those who are lifted up at the last day. Please watch the movie with an open heart and not be so analytical. I left the movie with tears in my eyes because I want to be a better person and I thought of the joy that will fill our souls when we return home to our loving home with our Father in Heaven. How great will be our Joy! So please watch the movie and take what you want from it, but realize it is a movie that is “hollywoodized” and not a Christian movie, but all the symbols are still there and you can either take it to heart or toss it to the side. Positive - Its funny, we're not supposed to make images of God, and yet we have, giving people this false sense of appearance. Because the “4 strangers” didn't look like the Angels we've drawn in our paintings from the past, people assume that the strangers are aliens, and not angels. And this worries me. When God sends his angels, will we dismiss them if they don't look like the angels we've painted for hundreds of years? Positive - And so the world will end in fire. god promised to never flood the world again, but he said nothing bout fire. everything that mankind has built in its own arrogance is utterly insignificant, how easy it is to wipe out the human race on our little bluish-brown speck of dirt, we should Love what we got and be thankful to god for it and do what is right, because in the end, we are nothing but ash. Positive - I really enjoyed this movie and Nicholas Cage was great in this role. A christian thinking about seeing this movie needs to realize from the start that it's not going to follow biblical end-times theology. If you go into it with this mindset, you'll enjoy a fictional end-times scenario that I found to be quite entertaining. Great special effects and good suspense. I recommend it. Positive - This movie is an artistic interpretation of the theory that at second coming of Christ he will use the vehicle of a spaceship/flying saucer/U.F.O. to rapture believers, and it will happen just before the earth is destroyed. I recommend it but, if you aren't well acquainted with this theory, you probably won't understand it. The theory is that every time God raptures people there is always a vehicle, whether it be clouds, or a chariot, God uses some kind of vehicle to rapture people. There are people out there who believe in Ezekiel where he describes the second coming with a wheel, that it will be the vehicle of a U.F.O. You also must understand that when the filmmaker used children instead of Christians in his “rapture,” they are supposed to be symbolic. Children are seen as innocent, as are Christians. I think that not much of the Christian realm will get it, and even less of the general public will get the analogy. There is a LOT of symbolism. Just keep in mind this isn't a re-telling of the book of Revelation, it is art. Art shouldn't be offensive. It's a good sci-fi flick. I would rate it a 3.5-4.0 out of 5. It's not nearly as cheesy as most Christian end times movies. Positive - Well, I just want to say watching this movie really made me think back to Revelation, and what my parents and pastors have been saying over the years. It really hit home to me and made me want to be a better person. I have read some of this comments about it being totally unbiblical, well I believe it was in fact the opposite of which people have claimed. It was merely symbolic and written in a way to leave a suggestion and opinion for everyone. In a sense it's like how Jesus is to me anyways, doesn't just appear before you in person but subtly lets you know he's real and living. He gives you the choice to believe or not believe. It is sort of like that in this movie. You have the option to believe it was totally Unbiblical or it was very subtly biblical for those who may not necessarily understand Christian belief. But this is what I believe. I'm not comparing this movie to Jesus. So in short I say its a movie worth watching. Positive - “Knowing” is a film that has several themes running simultaneously. They all meld in the end and you can see where the filmmaker was going. Those that are not Christian will not understand the theological premises that are presented: atonement, angelic beings, and eternal life, to name a few. Those that wonder why God would place His end-time prophecy in a time capsule will miss the point. The time capsule is only for story development, but the major point is that those that hear the voice of God (in the film via messengers) will have eternal life. We must also remember that faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and that He died and for our sins and rose again is what seals the deal for us here on earth. Positive - My husband and I watched this movie for entertainment. We had another Christian couple with us. We watch movies for entertainment and not to have a bible lesson from every movie we watch. We can tell right off if the language is severely bad or the scenes are offensive and we immediately turn the movie off. We did not like to hear ANY bad language but this was very mild and the suspense of the movie over powered it. There are a lot of things in the world that are not made “"for Christians only” and are not bad for followers of Christ. At least as a secular movie,it had some biblical overtones. I believe God can use, yes even a secular movie, to awaken people spiritually. Before my brother became a pastor over 30 years ago, he was spiritually awakened by a secular movie on reincarnation! This movie was one that made us aware of our apathy. It made us think more about eternity and how short a time we have to tell others about Christ. Positive - “Knowing” certainly borrowed many Christian themes to carry its own story, not the other way around. The pan-theistic theme was obvious quite early, and I saw the aliens and the pan-spermia ending a mile away. Nevertheless, the movie, I believe, can function as an allegory for some key Christian themes. Jesus is never mentioned throughout the movie, but then again he is never mentioned by name in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia - and we can still make the connection. Positive - Wow, I was shocked by how great this movie was. I am a very strong Christian and wasn't sure about it but once I saw it and didn't over analyze it too much, it was great. I am very careful about the movies I watch and always look them up first. I just thought about the message being very similar to the coming of Christ again for His people. If you can look at it that way without thinking they are aliens or something, I thought it was a profound movie. The only thing I didn't like were the creepy people that kept showing up but found out at the end they were actually good people (wish I would have known that because they made it kind of spooky). I don't think this is good for kids because it does have some scary parts but for adults, if you can think of it like Armagedon, it was awesome. Neutral
Neutral - I am a pastor and a diligent student of scripture and in thus saying I have no idea on how a movie like “Twilight” can get a better rating than this movie. I watched this movie and one must keep in mind that Hollywood is not making Theology nor Eschatology for that matter. This movie was highly entertaining and kept you guessing until the end. One would have hoped for a different ending, but that would have made the movie entirely predictable. I felt the movie had strong redemptive views, such as at the end ( spoiler) Cages role is told by his pastor father this is not the end, and his reply, is I know. Neutral - Film had some good special effects, namely the destruction scenes at the end and the scenes with the aliens taking the children. Neutral - Since there are many good comments already, I will keep mine short. ***Spoiler alert*** The movie overall is standard “aliens are our saviors” fare. Clearly not in alignment with a Biblical view. What was disturbing to me was that the children that heard the aliens, heard what sounded like a demonic whispering, and saw dark figures. They also scratched at doors until they were bleeding, and went into a trance-like state. To me this suggests that exhibiting characteristics typical of a person under demonic possession is desirable, and will even lead to salvation. Seems to me like the devil is up to his usual work of deception here. Negative
Negative - Wow, I REALLY wish I would have listened to the people who said not to go see this movie. This was truly a dark, blasphemous, ungodly movie. Why do I say this? Because the movie gives God's glory to others. It tramples on the shed blood of Jesus by using other beings as “Savior” figures. It is unscriptural in its depiction of the end of the world and in how it tries to depict that it is possible to “know” the future (where God's Word says that no man knows or will know the precise day or the hour when the end is going to happen). Negative - My husband and I love a good Sci-Fi movie every now and then, but this was not one of them. When the movie ended, we wanted our two hours back. Act I and II were very intriguing. However, Act III of the movie was so bad it was laughable. There were a few references to God, but the way the movie ended He was not even an after thought. Don't waste your money. Negative - WARNING! The film quality was very good, as well as the special effects. Still, I would not use this as sufficient reason to support this film by purchasing a ticket. This film really surprises you with a negative drastic turn at the end. This film leaves you wondering what several pieces of information will add up to mean, at times even attempting to incorporate Biblical concepts. However, the last 15 minutes of the film turn out to be, what I would label as, blasphemy against our Creator. The story takes a contrary stand to the Word of God and perverts end time events. I would strongly encourage Christians to not support this film. It is dangerous, and pushes a subtle evil message at the conclusion of the film (evolution, aliens, and an unbiblical account of the destruction of the world). Negative - In the absence of an official “Christian Spotlight” review (I highly value these reviews and have almost always agreed with the assessment of the reviewer) my wife and I took a chance and viewed the film “Knowing.” Through most of the film there was reason to hope that a faith-affirming resolution of the crisis was imminent: the main character had adopted a world-view that life was meaningless and nothing more than a series of accidents due to the loss of his wife. However, the discovery of a document consisting of a series of numbers that predicted the location, date, and death toll for 50 years gave him reason to doubt this world-view. Negative - We saw this movie tonight and were quite disappointed and angry. The film has demonic overtones and significantly elevates the work of Satan above the LORD. It actually was quite depressing. I would not recommend to a friend, and children should definitely not view, in our opinion. Choose a different movie—there are many to choose from that will add to your life. This one is a loser—despite the pretty intense action scenes. Save some time and money—break out the Monopoly game instead. Some people actually applauded at the end of the movie. This reaction and response truly saddened my heart. However, people are ripe for deception, and are so ready to follow and ignorantly follow the prince of this world. May it not be said of those who know and follow Jesus Christ as their Savior. Thank you and GOD bless you friend. Negative - In my opinion, this film is a direct counter to the movie “Expelled,” whether based on previous films or not. This movie is blatantly anti-biblical, and could have been written by Richard Dawkins himself, based on his public statements about aliens and evolution. Negative - Don't waste your money! Started out somewhat intriguing, but failed to deliver! Love Nicolas Cage and his acting, but this was really a waste of time!! Negative - My wife and I went to see this film and were both very disappointed. The story is very captivating, but ends up going down a very dark path. The film makes extensive use of some very dark and disturbing imagery that alone should have warranted an “R” rating. Such images include; a girl using her bleeding nails to write a message, strange beings who seemingly haunt the main characters, and many scenes of violent death and destruction. While the film often had many suspenseful and thrilling moments that made use of some pretty amazing special effects, I left the theater wanting to erase the previous 2 hours of what I had just experienced from my mind. The story is consistently focused on death and fear, which is inconsistent with the love and a sound mind that come from God. (See I Timothy 1:7) The movie does try to end on a positive note, but that does little to contrast the utter bleakness and despair of the rest of the film. This movie was a reminder to me that as a Christian I need to do research on a movie before seeing it. Negative - My husband and I took our 15 year old son with us to this movie, and we all walked away from it feeling disturbed. From the imagery left in our minds of the horrific suffering of people and animals, to the underlying anti-Biblical message of who our real “creators” and “saviors” are, I am very disappointed that other Christian and non-Christian Web sites rated this a family friendly movie. Sure, there is no sex or nudity involved, and the language is minimal, but there was a definite evil overtone that could not be missed. We are telling everyone we know not to go see this movie. Negative - People, this movie is an insult to intelligence. It's one more example of how modern secularism is making its attack on the Christian mind by undermining the very foundations of what we believe; that a sovereign God exists, that we have a purpose in our relationship with Him, that ultimately all things glorify God in the end instead of s--- just happening. The symbolism in this movie told a story in itself; that prophecies are NOT supernatural, that miracles can be explained by a higher science, that all Christians are rooted in “blind faith” and have no valid reasons that back up their theological claims, that angels are actually aliens with wings, and that Adam and Eve were space travelers planted to ensure the continuum of human life. Does any of this sound even vaguely similar to the Bible's stance on Christianity? I've read alot of the comments that people have left, alot of them from fellow Christians, and I'm surprised. Just because a movie doesn't have nudity and a lot of profanity does not make it any less of a threat to our faith. Our response to a movie like this reveals our lack of fortitude to defend our Christian beliefs to an ever growing anti-Judeau-Christian society. Put simply, our saltiness seems to have faded to a lack-luster affect and we're in trouble when we let movies like this pass without so much as a check in our spirits. Negative - I went to this movie thinking it might be prophetic in nature. However, not too far into the film, I realized it was more demonic than anything. This is a film that no one needs to go see, mostly especially a believer in Jesus Christ. Very offensive. Negative - There were several aspects of this film that left me feeling as though The Word was being twisted into something very evil. I will comment on only one. The black stones that the “angels” were giving out. When Jesus comes for his church we will be given a white stone with a new name. Not one part of this movie had any of the true and only Word being put forth. It is once again Satan distorting the Truth. Don't waste you time or money on this film. Negative - There are several good comments, so this won't be long. I think Rick S. hit the nail on the head when he said: “We are left to conclude that biblical images such as the vision of Ezekiel or human concepts of angels are simply distorted human perceptions of extra-terrestrials and their space travel vehicles.” So, according to the movie, in the end, the Bible is “correct,” just misinterpreted: The earth being destroyed by fire (2 Peter 3:9) is just a solar flare, angels in “shining clothes” (Acts 10:30) are aliens, The “wheel within a wheel” described by Ezekiel (Ch 1) is a spaceship, and we learn that the progenitors of the human race (Adam and Eve) were placed on the planet like lab rats, by a higher alien race, to procreate. This movie espouses the “aliens created everything” view, which only pushes the question back; where did the aliens come from? I guess believing in an eternal God seems silly, but higher, intelligent, eternal beings from a far away planet, now that's plausible! I do not recommend this movie for Christians! Negative - Don't rule out that this movie could have glorified Scientology. “Scio” means “knowing” in Latin. The aliens could have been Thetans. The Scientologists focus on “knowing all things” and on the advertisement, it reads “Knowing is everything.” Just FYI. Negative - Aside from the fact that this film drags on and on—in so many places—and is dark in others; to the point I was ready to label this as a horror film, this movie should be objectional to folowers of Jesus. There is an obvious message here that shows the angels as aliens and the 2 chosen children as the new Adam and Eve. This is un-biblical. Beware of this message as there are what appear to be mainstream Evangelical churches/pastors who have begun to endorse this blasphemous line of thinking. If you don't believe people could fall for this idea so easily, then just read some of the previous positive comments above which try to use the Bible to support the message in this film. Negative - I felt like this movie was weird. First of all, it had a erie plot that scared my 11 year old son. (we watched it with Clearplay filter) The voices and the way the girl acted was almost demonic and the "angels or aliens" were like zombies. What bothered me the most is that this movie actually had a biblical end time twist and made the “goods guys” weird. I hate when hollywood tries to use biblical themes in their movies, because they are “never” scriptural. I'm sorry hollywood but “all actors don't go to heaven”! This movie at best would confuse people who don't know biblical truth and lead them down some “new age” perversion of God. The bible says only those that have repented of sin and trust in the finished work of Jesus on the cross will enter heaven. By the way, was that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the end of the movie? We don't need to repeat that mistake again. Negative - My wife and I recently watched this movie on DVD and came away disappointed. It started with a promising (and intriguing) premise, but after the first act quickly devolved into typical Hollywood clichés. Not even the impressive CGI effects could save this movie from an absolutely silly ending. Negative - This film offers nothing for religious people, aside from mocking the character who plays Nicolas Cage's father. Basically, religion means nothing in the film, because they all die and some aliens (I guessed the weird looking guys would turn out to be aliens from a mile away!) come and rescue humanity and take a handful of children to another planet - a sort of new eden, right down to a tree of knowledge. Nicolas Cage's father is a “pastor” and says “if it's my time to go, then so be it” kind of line and then he and everyone else get wiped out, because obviously there's no God to stop it from happening or prevent it altogether and that life “doesn't really have a purpose,” as Nicolas Cage's character seems to go around thinking to himself and occasionally, telling others, like the school children in his class; it's all about “randomness”! What happened to having a balanced view? What happened to presenting both sides of the argument? This is another film that simply tells the audience that religion is not going to save you (but aliens might!) and has one of the most silly scenes in it, when a passenger airliner crashes on a motorway (that's hi-way) at almost slow-motion speed, while Nicolas Cage's character doesn't even seem to be looking in the correct direction of the plane's trajectory! Stupid. Negative - Wow! I'm surprised at how many positivie reviews this movie earned. Some people must not watch movies too often. I was SO excited to see this movie. The trailers, the fact it had Nicholas Cage and positive reviews from critics really made me want to see it. One night while hanging out at my sister's best friend's house we rented it because we wanted to watch a good thriller. Comments from young people
Negative - I went to this movie with my parents and older sister, and none of us liked it. We sat through the whole movie because we thought some intelligent message was going to be said at the end. But the ending was really bad. In the end it was showing that our lives have no purpose and life is hopeless. At the end, the father is forced to stay behind on a dying earth and let his son go off with a bunch of strange looking creatures who act spooky. And the only animals that they showed being saved were two rabbits. And the two kids that were “chosen” to go with the aliens, the little girl was okay, but the boy was constantly rude to his dad, so I don't think someone like that would be a good choice. I had to hide my face and cover my ears when all the animals on earth were being burned alive. It was really awful. And because the filming is so good, it's hard to forget the terrible stuff I saw! Negative - I went into this movie expecting to see an enjoyable thriller. Instead, I walked out an hour before the end. I am very sensitive, yes, but what is not advertised by the movie makers is that “Knowing” almost borders on horror. This is a darkly filmed movie filled with frightening, mysterious men who appear at random times, creepy, abandoned mobile homes, and plenty of disturbing whispering. If you have any problems with horror movies (or burning moose), I would seriously suggest staying away from this movie. Positive - My mother and I went to “knowing” on Saturday unaware of its biblical standing or any other knowledge expressed outside the films trailer. At the beginning my mother was a little hesitant with the violence and the creepers “Angels.” The film was made in the highest quality I have yet viewed, and I was very impressed “Well done Summit.” Honestly the movie hit me in the end like a semi hits a jeep. Literally, the last thirty seconds wrapped it all up for me. In the end when the children are released into the second earth “biblical” and they run to the tree “I assume the tree of life,” that’s when all the other metaphorical messages became clear for me. The black stones represent the dead, that’s why they rose in the end. The fire rolled over the earth from the east to the west destroying it and all its inhabitants. The creepers were Gods angels looking out over them the entire time, and who is to say angels are not “aliens”, so are we. Also I believe the “Space ships” were chariots used to carry out the rapture, God can use what ever He wants. This movie has many interesting metaphors and interpretations and I am going to watch at least twice more. I believe this movie will be a tool used for Gods glory whether it was intended for that or not. It touched me and provoked a lot of questions and I know you will feel the same. Neutral - I saw this movie with my 14 year old sister, my 17 year old friend, and her 14 year old her sister, and I think me and my friend were more scared than our sisters were. Honestly, it is not a bad movie. Some of it was really good, but unless you understand what is going on, it will seem very dark and creepy. If I were to go see it again, I think I would enjoy it more. We almost walked out, but I must strongly discourage that, because if you walk out during the movie, it will leave you with a sense of fear and a creepy aftermath. The end ties the whole movie together, so once you see the beginning, you shouldn't turn back. This movie will scare any children under 13 (and maybe a few over), so do not take your kids. Overall, it was pretty good, if you can get over the people that are burning alive in the plane scene. I give it about a 3. Neutral - Seeing as most of the other reviewers have already covered the Spiritual issues of the film, which there are quite a few of, I'll stick to what I thought of it as a movie. Neutral - This is a great movie if you enjoy thrillers, there are some creepy parts and a little bit of minor gore, but its a great story and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. The movie making quality is very real, which makes it that much better. Overall, I enjoyed this movie, although I would not recommend this to anyone under the age of 13. Neutral - I don't believe that all those ships held “Adams and Eves.” I believe they held all the earth's animals, one of each gender. I believe this because they had those rabbits which were probably a male and a female. I also believe that there was only one pair of 'Adam and Eve'.
That is my theory of what happened, but it would have been better for the movie to show who or what got out of some of the other ships. It is obvious that they have taken some Bible concepts and changed them. (For example—the aliens/angel type creatures who cared for the children, but had no care for the adults.) Other than that I think the movie was great. It had its ups and downs, but, all in all, it was good. I would watch it again. Neutral - The knowing was a good movie that I enjoyed seeing with my friends, and we all liked it until the ending. It wasn't very Christ like either, and the graphics weren't very good either. Neutral - I rented this movie for a good sci-fi thriller. I watched it and couldn't get over the horrific special effects... all of the action scenes (except the very end) were TERRIBLE. It looked like a video game. On a Nintendo 64. The plot was interesting, and there was extremely little language and sexual issues. There was explosions and such. The movie contained some of the weirdest spirituality I've scene recently, with lots of extra terrestrial under-currents and starting life on other planets themes. There were a few creepy scenes (it could've been just because I was watching at night). Good plot. Great acting. Cruddy effects. Awkward, unexplored spiritual stuff. My main point- eh, eh there's nothing else I can say. Positive - I personally loved the movie. I really don't see why this was offensive to any Christian. I thought it showed someone's point of view about how God would end the world and begin it again in a way that we would understand. The only thing I thought about was that God made it to where not even Jesus knew when the world would end; but other than that, I thought it was very good. Neutral - Meh. Although the film was obviously made to keep you on the edge of your seat, it failed to deliver anything but some realistic disaster scenes, a lot of rushing around from place to place and TONS of death. Nicolas Cage was pretty good, but everyone else rubbed my the wrong way. What was worse was the preview before the movie for a horror movie called “Sorority Row.” I tend to be one to get pretty scared when it comes to horrors, but honestly, the preview was more terrifying than “Knowing.” Basically, a girl finds out her womanizing boyfriend is having sex with other girls, so she fakes a near-death experience while they are having sex. The boyfriend calls the girl's friend nervously (they are obviously in on the plan). So they all dragging her around, the girl being a “dead” dummy. They haul her into the car, in the dark and take her to a ditch in the middle of nowhere. As the other girls are hauling the girl into the ditch and disusing her “burial,” the boyfriend notices the girl move a bit as she is dragged. Out of nowhere, he drives the emergency brake through the poor girls stomach. I started crying. This numbed me through all of “Knowing.” Neutral - This movie was overall a good movie. The special effects were good, the actors were good, and the overall idea was unique. Suprisingly, there was barely any language and no sexual content at all. I didn't think the movie was against God except that no one knows when the world will end. I believe it actually represented the Bible well. Some people hate the end but if you look at it from a Christian standpoint it wasn't that bad. The Bible says only believers will go to heaven and that we will come back to a new earth! I personally didn't like the movie at all. I thought it was a bit depressing and scary, but for people into sci-fi this is the movie for you! I wouldn't take my kids to see it though. The aliens and violence may scare them! Positive - I viewed the movie with my whole family, and I enjoyed it. I think you could actually relate the “aliens” to angels. First, at the end of the movie, they were beacons of light and wing-like features could be seen on their backs. Neutral - This movie was a lot different than what I expected. To begin with, the first 10 minutes was very distrubing and the images really creeped me out! During the first half of the movie I was a little confused and didn't know who the “stalkers” were. In the second half I realized the movie was science fiction (I thought it was thriller). The ending was a bit dissapointing because the “stalkers” who I thought were angels actually turned out to be aliens. At the very end of “Knowing” the whole world is destroyed by fire (just as Revelations says) but the aliens take away the children to start a new life on another planet. Overall, this movie was entertaining and kept me on the edge of my seat for part of the time, but I would not see it again. It's a good movie for an in-depth discussion in the way the the producers tied science and religion together. |
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