Machine Gun Preacher Blu-ray
Sam Childers runs an orphanage in Sudan as well as fighting the Lord’s Resistance Army to stop slavery and killing of innocent Sudanese children.
Film making 2.5/5
Video 4/5
Audio 4/5
Bonus Features 1/5
Total 3/5 Stars
Machine Gun Preacher is the true story of Sam Childers, a former gang member and drug addict that finds religion and then finds a cause worth fighting for. Sam starts out the film as a typical gang member being released from a prison then going back to the violence and drugs he is familiar with.
While in prison Sam’s wife finds religion with the help of her mother and during the low point right after Sam gets out of jail he asks his wife for help. They go to church and Sam is baptized but he soon finds that even for those who work hard life can be tough.
Sam finds odd jobs in construction but when he can’t find enough work to pay the bills he takes on a job with the church in Africa building homes for refugees. While there he is introduced to the Lord’s Resistance Army and their terror tactics of enslaving boys and forcing them into the LRA.
Sam decides to return to Sudan and build an orphanage and with the help of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army he not only builds a safe place for orphans but helps stop the enslavement of the surrounding villagers. Sam becomes a feared aspect of the area when he starts to raid the LRA and rescue children.
Sam Childers is still doing his work and rescuing Sudanese people with the help of the government but his tale is not one of simply doing good. Sam does what many only hear about while going to church, going to a foreign country and getting children out of harm’s way using force and violence.
Soldiers that work for a government are one thing but Sam is simply a missionary who travels to Africa but he kills people trying to help rescue children. I’m not saying that he is doing wrong but it is odd how he travels back and forth between the relative lawlessness in Sudan and America where you can get in trouble for speeding.
Sam Childers is played by Gerard Butler who does a decent enough job with his role but lacks the screenplay and direction to help him along. Michelle Monoghan plays Lynn Childers but again the screenplay relegates her role in the film to the wife who has to deal with life at home while her husband deals with the bad guys.
Machine Gun Preacher is a decent film and really shows how the fight can be brought to the bad guys and one person can make a difference. Sam Childers really does make a difference both at home raising awareness and money as well as over in Africa helping save lives.
The good stuff out of the way the film portrays these acts more as an action flick plot instead of the real world drama that is more what you would expect. Gunfights are numerous where the good guys overcome the bad guys easily but I am sure this did not happen much in real life.
We do get an idea of the low point that turns his life around but Sam in the film just does not show enough realistic emotion to get your emotions running. I just felt this was more of a based on real life events instead of an emotional appeal to do something about the atrocities happening in other parts of the world.
Video and audio quality for Machine Gun Preacher was excellent and matching what you would expect given the plot and real world aspects of the film. Grain is evident but with the real life basis for the film it just adds to the emotional appeal and value of the film.
The transfer to Blu-ray is very good and the film overall is good looking but the plot and general direction the film took does make the film less entertaining. Audio quality is excellent as well with DTS-HD Master Audio track that sounds great but lacks the last final oomph to give a top rating.
Bonus content is the most disappointing, Sam Childers wrote a book on his experiences and we still don’t get more than an hour of extra features. I thought there would be hours of bonus features given the real life base of this film but we get a couple making of features and a music video.
Machine Gun Preacher does make people sit up and take notice about the cruelty happening in Sudan with Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army, yes that Kony. We still do not get the realism we would have liked from such an inspiring and emotionally filled movie from the bonus content.
While Machine Gun Preacher did make many sit up and take notice as a film it just does not deliver making this film well worth a rental but not a purchase.
Machine Gun Preacher Film Website
