Cheesy Christian Movies Month 3 – Miracle Man

When I said last week that Miracle Man is pretty much the Christian movie equivalent of Birdemic, I didn’t realize at the time how that was an understatement. At least Birdemic had original music. It was lame music, but it was original. At least in Birdemic, you could see what was happening at all times. At least Birdemic didn’t rely on crazy colour filters for their special effects, and they managed to use gif images. Also, at least with Birdemic, it did get a proper release, even if a small one.

Miracle Man is an interesting idea in theory. The premise is, what if Jesus arrived in modern times instead of 2000 years ago? Apart from that, there’s nothing interesting about this movie from a storytelling standpoint. Yet at the same time, it’s fascinating because of how poorly made it is on every level.

There isn’t a whole lot of information about this movie. It was produced by the now defunct Family Faith Films, to the point where their official website is taken over by a Chinese spam page. There is a bit of information on Ted Jordan’s YouTube page though (he directed, wrote and produced the film). It appears that Miracle Man was originally pitched as a TV series, but no major Christian producer or TV channel accepted it. Eventually, he combined everything together into a movie and released it for free on YouTube. If you’re curious, the full movie will be posted at the end of this post.

As far as I can tell, Family Faith films released at least one other movie, but I don’t even know what the movie’s name is.

As for Miracle Man, the first thing you’ll notice is that the visuals are all over the place. It’s not just the filters or the poor camera quality either. Half of the scenes are filmed in front of a poorly done green screen. A lot of these moments involve characters moving wildly in front of a static background, images getting warped, and even some crazy moments I don’t even know how to describe. This following clip is actually longer than the movie version, back when Family Faith Films was pitching this as a TV series, but it perfectly sums up what I’m talking about.

To give this movie credit, the acting is both better than Birdemic, and it seems like the cast is at least trying. It still swings hard between stiff and wooden, and hamming it up like crazy, but at least there’s an attempt to show character emotions. Some of the overacting from the villains is entertaining in its own right. Compare the above clip to Birdemic’s completely flat acting as an example. On that note, the editing in this movie often feels way too fast, with scenes that feel too short for their own good. One could argue that’s better than the overly long edits in Birdemic where the audio doesn’t even begin to match up. Also evident in the clip below.

In terms of story, while the writing is mediocre at best, and the movie leaves a lot of unfulfilled plot threads, the story is made perfectly clear. There is a semblance of a story that would have likely continued in a TV series, if it was accepted. You’ve got Satan directly working against Jesus, or JC as he’s called in this movie. He works through the police throwing unfounded accusations at him, like the Romans who didn’t know what to do with him. You’ve got religious leaders trying to shut him down, just like the Pharisees in the biblical accounts. You’ve even got businesses trying to buy his home restoration company so that he’s too busy to begin his real mission. Honestly though, I’m not sure where that biblical parallel comes from.

That last point about the restoration company is a nice nod to the biblical Jesus’s work as a. It feels like a good modern day equivalent. Of course while all these ideas are at least passable for a modern day retelling, it’s all held back by awkward acting, zero budget visual effects, and freeware music you can find on a number of websites. I even recognize some music from comedic channels I regularly watch on YouTube.

There are clear differences in the weaknesses between Miracle Man and Birdemic. Their editing is bad, but in different ways. The visual effects in Miracle Man are clearly worse, to the point where it’s hard to see what’s happening at times. That said, the gif birds in Birdemic are funnier than anything in Miracle Man. Because the core story in Miracle Man is more competent, and the editing flows at least a little bit better, it’s not as amusing on that front either. That said, some of the pure insanity going on with the lens flare visual effects, the crazy colour filters, and the overacting from the demonic villains makes for comedic gold.

Miracle Man is definitely a well-intentioned film, and it doesn’t hammer down its message like some Christian movies do. It’s a neat idea in concept, but the execution is beyond lacking. Apparently Family Faith Films spent $10,000 on this movie that nobody accepted, and the free release on YouTube clearly didn’t help them get their money back. The end result would work just as well for a Hilariously Bad Movie Month as it does for Cheesy Christian Movies Month. Whether you’re religious or not, that alone makes it worth recommending if you’re in the right mood. Here’s the movie in case you want to see this train wreck.

Next up is Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas. Everything I’ve heard from people who have seen this, both Christian and not, make it sound like it’ll be hilarious.

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