Machine Gun Preacher

The movie stars Gerald Butler and his life transformation from a pitiless biker to a church builder avenger.

A lot of criticism of this movie comes from people crying out against white superiority or religious propaganda, in my opinion this movie does neither and anyone that have read books and documentaries about Africa knows that the situation over there does require occidental involvement in any form to help those countries until they can manage their own states by themselves, of course dependency on foreign aid is another issue but let's no get into that.

My problem with the movie that is said to be based on a 'true' story comes from the script itself. I did not believe Gerard Butler's transformation from a ruthless bandit that forces his wife to go back to stripping instead of working in a mall, not saying that this is impossible in real life, but that the way they presented it was lacking realism.

The rest of the movie sends a good message about people implicating in Africa's civil wars, and especially Sudan although the situation has since changed with South Sudan's new sovereign state. A good way to this at home is perhaps to visit and give support to African based groups advocating for a united Africa with real bureaucracies, laws, corruption-free police.

For a movie that talks about Africa The Machine Gun Preacher is less than stellar compared to many others, not because of it's message but because of it's content and I didn't think it portrayed white superiority in any kind and I don't think supporting white Christian churches for their actions in Africa is a bad message anyone saying the contrary should ask themselves what are they doing that those churches aren't.

I m not a usual review writer of any kind but i especially register for IMDb to write about this movie. After watching the movie and checking the IMDb rate i must say it is highly underestimated and i was forced to make a statement.

i would recommend this movie. it leaves you thinking not only about the characters itself but also about the issue of the movie. I myself spend hours of researching about the problems which are shown in the movie.

i find the characters very appealing although at some point i thought it could be portrayed better than it was actually done.

Overall it is a really good movie and worth a watch.

"Machine Gun Preacher" is an inspirational melodrama directed by Marc Forster and starring Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan and Michael Shannon. This film is based on the true story of Sam Childers a former gang biker who finds god, becomes a pastor and has dedicated his life and all his resources ever since to rescuing and protecting orphans in Sudan, Africa. Childers founded Angles of East Africa an orphanage located in South Sudan.

Marc Forster has under his belt an impressive resume with films like Quantum of Solace, The Kite Runner, Finding Neverland and Monster's Ball.

Reviewing this film has been very complicated because of its subject matter. The movie has a strong religious subject, addresses the civil conflict and severity of the crisis in Sudan, ideals, hypocrisy and religious fanaticism. This film will divide Christian audiences because of the redemptive arc of the tale.

This is one of those movies that will provoke both sympathy and aversion. Sam Childers (Butler) is not an ordinary preacher; he carries a machine gun and kills LRA rebels in self-defense looking at it as helping God's children. Sam had a troubled life, was a gang member, drug dealer, junkie, married a stripper, but his life dramatically changes around when he finds god or god finds him, as he states in the movie. He claims to be a soldier fighting for freedom and becomes a member of the SPLA (Sudan People's Liberation Army).

Mark Foster does a good job bringing such a complex and controversial story to the big screen utilizing his well-known visual skills. This movie has a lot of graphic and violent scenes, showing the horror caused by a civil war, torture, savage murders, and how entire villages are destroyed.

MPAA rating: R Runtime: 2:03 mins Production Co: Relativity Media, Virgin Produced, Apparatus Productions

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the addicted gang biker Sam Childers (Gerard Butler) is released from prison and learns that his wife Lynn Childers (Michelle Monaghan) is no longer a striper and has converted to Christianity. One night, Sam and his best friend Donnie (Michael Shannon) give a ride to a hitchhiker that threatens Donnie with a pocketknife; however Sam reacts and stabs the stranger and dumps him on the road.

Sam is affected by the incident and is convinced by Lynn and his mother Daisy (Kathy Baker) to join their church and he is baptized. Sam finds a straight job in construction. He is well succeeded and when he meets a preacher from Africa, he decides to visit the continent. Sam travels to Northern Uganda and South Sudan many times and builds an orphanage for the victims of the cruel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Further, he fights whenever necessary and becomes a legend known as The Machine Gun Preacher.

"Machine Gun Preacher" is a film tailored to Gerard Buttler about the fantastic but unfortunately not well known biography of Sam Childers, an addicted troublemaker drug-dealer biker that changes totally his life and becomes the only hope for thousand of orphans in Africa.

The story and the screenplay are engaging with a perfect combination of drama and action. The only thing that irritates me is douchbags that write that this film like is a Christian propaganda. This is a true story and can be found everywhere in Internet and has nothing to do with propaganda, but reality and redemption. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Redenção" ("Redemption")

The interesting observation after viewing this film at the historic Mayan Theater in downtown Denver was that every female was crying by the end and the men were poker-faced. Also of interest is that the negative reviews, which are often unnecessarily unkind to Gerard Butler, and unhelpful to the reader, often seem to have been posted by males. Sure, women around the world are crazy about Gerard Butler, but come on, this was an astounding performance about the life of an awe-inspiring man. If you didn't like the film, walked out, or wanted to punch Mr. Butler in the face, then donate the cost of your ticket to Angels of East Africa. My final comment is that Mr. Butler produced this film because it wouldn't have been made otherwise. This is a story that had to be told and he didn't accept his normal fee for his performance; in fact, although I obviously can't confirm it, I heard that he accepted a fraction of a fraction of his normal fee.