I (a Christian who almost never likes Christian-produced movies) found this to be the most impactful movie I watched last year. Not perfect, but pretty dang great. I find it incredibly revealing that it's been completely snubbed in this awards season. FYI, this movie is from the same team that put out "Bella" in 2006, which is a worthwhile watch.

People argue about polititics insted of do something to potect the children, that is the point of the movie to raise avernes about dangers that out children can be in, and that is the first step of protecting them.

This did not disappoint! Thank you for being thorough in your opinions, research, and explanations around this great movie. I've got my popcorn ready for the comments. 🍿

People forget this film was shot and finished back in 2018, before Q Anon really got popular or Jim was involved.

@samgradyfilm

6 ай бұрын

People wearing Qanon stuff were all over Trump rallies in summer 2018.

@echomikekilo63

6 ай бұрын

That talking point has been debunked repeatedly. This movie was heavily marketed to and by the Qanon/MAGA cult.

I saw this movie in the theater & there was not a dry eye in the room. U could hear folks crying (as I was). Say what u will, BUT, this movie shines a light on a topic folks DON'T WANT TO FACE. The child actors did an AMAZING job. 👏👏They are the HEART of the story. 💛🙏 Loved your unbiased review.🙏

This film was an experience that many say we should participate in so that we might wake up to its content. I didn't mind that Angel Studios put out a film that included vulgarity when its subject matter was so dark and heavy, it all made sense to me because p*dos and traffickers (and the Sound of Freedom's accurate caricature depiction of such) are EVIL. Better to unveil the evil for what it is. What little amount of Christian messaging was found in it was more than enough for me. The scene when Ballard's partner reveals why he works to free the kids hit me hard, and with Jim Caviezel's brilliant delivery of Jesus' words to the man in the beginning, I inwardly cheered. There are few things I openly hate; the exploitation of children is nearly unforgivable for me, the fullness of human depravity manifest in such action. As a Christian with many friends in college who advocate regularly to end child trafficking through fundraising like Dressember, this film conveyed its message, and did so well. The fact alone that it took five years for it to be released at all and the mainstream media criticizing its content so much only made me want to see it more. We can choose to ignore the very real reality that child trafficking exists, even in our "civilized" Western world, or we can choose to erase our ignorance and do something about it.

Fantastic video Holden. Thank you.

You are on fire with this channel... Love it!

I’m so glad I found this channel

The critical response to this film definitely showed what priorities these publications have. As you said Holden, they are more focused on condemning a Christian film on principle than address the issue as told in the film. Another Christian KZreadr shared one review (I want to say it Forbes or something like it) and the writer claimed that Sound of Freedom was "glorifiing child sex trafficking". Holden, thank you for this video, reviewing the film fairly and addressing the bizarre criticism

Loved this film and agree with your takes on all fronts. It is nice to see Angel studios take some risk and make a good movie. Ironically I just researched Count of Monte Cristo and in some ways that movie has more overtly Christian themes and verbiage than Sound of Freedom. It’s very frustrating to be that the MSM decided to attack this film and insert it into our current politically charged climate. But I am glad to see that people got behind this film and that the money doesn’t lie; even if that media and critics do. P.S. Not sure if you and Jen watched Last of Us, but would love to see that one. 👍

Man I recently discovered this channel and watch both videos on two of my favorite characters wolverine and daredevil and I was wondering if you would ever do a video on The Punisher aka Frank Castle I think that would be a very interesting concept on how a character like that who most people view as controversial and irredeemable is related to God the teachings of Christianity! God bless 🙏🏽

Unless I'm mistaken that "producer" didn't have child pron it was taking a minor across state lines which he I'm pretty sure he was asked to by the parent or was the parent. It may have been a custody issue or something like that.

@Matterz25

6 ай бұрын

It was a custody issue that was his kid

@ThePopCultureChristian

6 ай бұрын

Ah! That's even less severe than what I was talking about. Regardless, the point remains the same. Thanks for the correction!

I saw it July 4th on release so Im grateful I managed to see the movie before all the controversy started rolling

I haven’t seen it yet. Is it worth the watch?

based.

Nice video Holden. I completely agree with you, it’s very odd that these critics will pan something like Sound of Freedom yet praise Cuties. It kinda reminds me of the critical reception of Rambo: Last Blood, as they claimed it was racist when it never does anything remotely like that in the film. Rambo’s niece goes to Mexico, gets abducted/drugged by sex traffickers, Rambo goes south of the border to fix everything…and apparently that’s racist? Sorry, but politics and religions aside, sex trafficking is clearly not the best career path in the world but they all seem to believe, “oh, it’s not THAT bad”. When in fact, it’s worse from stories we hear constantly. Just a weird standpoint from the media in general.

I'm gonna be short and straight I am a liberal I am a Democrat I will always be both of those things even if I am a cafflict that being said I absolutely love this movie by what you just described and I'm not going to let my political ideas get in the way of a good movie I would be totally different if halfway through the movie he looks to the camera and goes have you voted for Trump yet and then goes back to action but no none of my friends have said he does that in fact what are my most liberal friends you can imagine say that he never once brings up anything doing with Crump or anything whatsoever

Yeah I really think it's kind of upsetting that they had the movie cuties which basically in my opinion is just legal child pornography and we Have different opinions on pornography but I know we can all disagree on childhood pornography at least I hope we can disagree on child pornography

One problem is the movie seems to have disingenuous intentions, for example this movie was also very popular on mexico (where im from) but the producer of the movie used this very important subject just to launch his political campaing, we mexicans really hate Eduardo Verastegui (the producer) because he often hung out with really corrupt politicians.

dang holden you were getting into the conspiracies about the movie and i'm interested you did'nt talk about the one where movie theaters were making sure the movie was'nt getting shown to people

There are very specific reasons the movoe was criticized and rightfully so. You cant just be up in your emotions about it. You have to care about the facts. And the movie does a bad job at that. "Sound of Freedom itself has also been criticized by anti-trafficking experts for providing a "false perception" of child trafficking and promoting "rescue" tactics that may actually put real victims in danger." "Why is 'Sound of Freedom' sparking controversy? Some experts have challenged the factual accuracy of “Sound of Freedom,” saying it paints an inaccurate, sensationalized picture of child trafficking. The film portrays children being snatched and kidnapped by strangers." Filmmakers took 'creative liberties' with story about trafficking Unfortunately, what many don't realize is that although "Sound of Freedom" is advertised as a “true story," that story is highly fictionalized, with even Angel Studios, the film's distributor, acknowledging that it took "creative liberties." In the film, Tim Ballard, the main character played by Caviezel, embarks on a mission through the Colombian jungle to rescue two siblings from a well-organized, machine gun-firing cartel. No one should question the importance of raising awareness of human trafficking or of working creatively and diligently to keep kids safe from the horror of sexual exploitation. What all moviegoers - especially our nation's top lawmakers - must know, however, is that the depictions of child trafficking and the rescue tactics celebrated in this film are highly sensationalized, misleading and do more harm than good. Contrary to what is shown in this film, most child trafficking victims know and trust their traffickers. They are not kidnapped by shadowy strangers off street corners. A Baylor University study found that less than 10% of child trafficking cases involved kidnapping. By highlighting false narratives and reinforcing inaccurate stereotypes, we condition ourselves to be on high alert for things like windowless vans, failing to notice actual signs of exploitation. In doing so, we may miss the economically and socially vulnerable young person lured into trafficking by offers of meals, gifts, shelter or simple companionship.

@ThePopCultureChristian

6 ай бұрын

I'm not up in my emotions about it. I address everything in a reasonable and level-headed way. Whether you agree or not is all good, but I definitely looked at it objectively. And most of the issues you brought up, I also talk about in the video. Are you sure you watched?

@ericmicke4130

6 ай бұрын

@@ThePopCultureChristian I didn't because I know what's needed to be known about this movie. I've been involved in this conversation, reading articles and watching videos covering all of this month's ago when it was a big deal. When the news was broke about how churches were buying out theaters to make it perform well at the box office (as they do with all of those faith based movies too). I know the people who are fans of this movie and most of them will not pay attention to any valid criticism even coming from you, or even attempt to be aware of what they are. And that's what the info I posted is for. The commenters who aren't going to be level headed. This movie isn't much different from the "save the children" organization or the QAnon stuff. They SAY they're about attacking sex trafficking and protecting women and children but they don't do anything useful to help. They often obfuscate and point fingers in the wrong places. And I can't respect that. Because it allows the real perpetrators cover. They even often defend known abusers. In my experience those who are fans of this movie are very often willing to pay lip service to these sorts of issues but unwilling to do the work to fully understand them. That's why I commented. Not for you.

@Taylor_Bassett

6 ай бұрын

⁠@@ericmicke4130And how are your comments exactly productive? The world may never know lol

@MuricaTurkey

5 ай бұрын

​@@ericmicke4130 Bro... I have to say, do you hear yourself? You didn't need to watch it? Ok. Obviously no one NEEDS to watch anything. But why not watch it anyway, if you care this much? Which, you obviously do. Is it because you're afraid to? I don't mean that mockingly. I'm serious. Is it because you've decided to simply believe what some articles say instead? Why? What harm would come from you watching this video, or the film itself? Seriously? Why is it that you feel such a strong repulsion to watch something you clearly have an opinion about, either way? Have you considered why you are having this strong repulsion and refusal? Not caring or not liking the subject matter would be understandable. But what you describe is something akin to fear. Why? Again, not trying to be bratty or rude. But don't you find that strange? That you seem so bristled by this, and engaged, but yet refuse to watch it? Honestly... doesn't that seem odd to you? I mean this with respect from one human to another. I'm sure you CAN think for yourself, I mean, you are capable. In addition to that, the effort you put into this comment makes me think you're clearly not apathetic or lazy. So that is definitely not the issue. So why the extreme negative reaction, even revulsion, and refusal to watch something you think you could dislike or disagree with? And why trust "articles" and "groups", but not watch the movie they're about? For ex, I'm diagnosed Autistic. I can tell you that Autism Speaks definitely does not genuinely help me or those like me. And there's A LOT of groups like that. Just because a group SAYS they're helping people doesn't mean they do. And there are endless articles online saying all kinds of weird stuff about Autism, Autistics, etc. It is the same for literally all subjects. Just because an article says something, doesn't make it true. It doesn't make it false either. It's simply something a person (who could have any number of motivations, good or bad or neither... Could be lying. Could be gullible. Could be lazy. Or could be a total genius writing a peach of an article. But how can you know if you simply just accept stuff on one side of an argument? That's not objective or logical at all. Now, I'm not saying this as a holier than thou jerk. I'm saying this because that's how I used to be. I believed whatever my (former) political side(super liberal) said... until one day, couple years ago some things just didn't add up anymore. I kept noticing the pressure to "not look" at this or that. Well, I decided to look at stuff our side said not to. Fully expecting to see my feelings and assumptions proven. And I discovered we were being lied to about all kinds of things. Some small. Some very big. Many inbetween. Now, we're apparently bringing racial segregation back. Women are no longer allowed basic protections or personal spaces, and genuine trans people are getting screwed by every fake creep just as much as us biological women.... Suddenly we're pro war, sending tons of money to Ukraine (I'm not Putin fan, but this makes W's Iraq war look like a freaking afternoon at Chuck E Cheese) Oh, and now "our" side has some interesting stuff to say about Jewish people that is, frankly, objectively evil by any sane or decent metric. So, seems we were duped by those in power and they co-opted the left. What a shocker, huh? Tyrants gonna tyrant. But thankfully I chose to admit I had been duped. I don't want that to ever happen again. I don't care if it's blue or red. No one gets my thoughtless loyalty ever again. And no one else deserves to be used or duped either. Which is why I'm asking you to stop and think about what you're allowing to be done to your right to think... To question.... To see for yourself. If you think I'm crazy, read your comment again and pretend you're reading something a stranger to you posted. Don't you see some concerning things therein? You are a human being, with a mind given you by your creator, whatever you think that means, that's your choice/opinion. But no matter what that source of creation is, it means you have human rights. The top one of which is to think for yourself. You are unique and allowed to have your own thought process. Thought crimes AREN'T VALID. You don't need to be afraid to question something. It literally hurts NO ONE... But you being manipulated into giving up your ownership o er your own thoughts DOES do harm. TO YOU. You have EVERY right to look at whatever and use your own judgment. I say this because you remind me of me a couple years ago... So, I hope like hell you never forget that you have this basic human right, even if it seems as if some have gotten you to sort of accept giving it up. I gave it up too, for a bit, but not forever, thankfully. Please, consider what I'm saying. No one deserves to be pressured into shutting down their own power of discernment. Pull yourself out of this spell before you lose yourself. You don't have to like what I said here. But because I love you as a fellow human being, I felt compelled to say it, on the off chance you consider thinking about it.

@rupertsmith5815

2 ай бұрын

@@ericmicke4130And that’s why you should watch the video before commenting

Rightwingers claiming to be saving kids just because they watched a movie is what annoyed me. But I found it funny they were the most obnoxious attendees according to theater employees