旧約聖書に登場する「サムソンとデリラ」の物語をベースに、超自然的な力を持つ青年が苦難を乗り越えて圧政に立ち向かう姿を描いた冒険アクション。紀元前1170年のイスラエル。ヘブライ人たちはダゴンの神を崇めるペリシテ王の奴隷として苦渋の日々を強いられていた。そんな彼らにとって、3つの誓いと引き換えに神から超人的な怪力を授かった青年サムソンだけが唯一の希望だった。ある日、サムソンの噂を耳にしたペリシテ王は、サムソンの怪力を奪うべく軍隊を送り込む。サムソンはたった1人で1000人もの兵を蹴散らし、民の解放を目指すが……。
製作費: $3,500,000 (5億円)
興行収入: $4,900,000 (7億円)
推定収支: $1,400,000 (2億円)
※製作費・興行収入はTMDBのデータを参照しています。収支は(興行収入 - 製作費)で算出したFindKey独自の推定値であり、広告宣伝費や諸経費は含まれません (1ドル=150円換算)。
監督: Bruce Macdonald
脚本: Zach Smith / ギャレン・ギルバート / Jason Baumgardner
音楽: Will Musser
制作: Brittany Yost / Michael J.F. Scott / Vlokkie Gordon
撮影監督: Brian Shanley / Trevor Michael Brown
制作会社: Pure Flix Entertainment / Boomtown films / Universal Pictures
A strong contender for most poorly edited movie I've ever seen. Flies in the face of reason that this ever had a theatrical run. _Final rating:★ - Of no value. Avoid at all costs._
Samson is a Biblical drama that ironically appears to have been made by Philistines. The movie treats Samson as if he was an Israelite version of Hercules (which he may have very well been); sadly, the only Hercules director Bruce Macdonald seems to knows of is Kevin Sorbo's in The Legendary Journeys — to the point of giving him his own Iolaus (though Iolaus at least had an equivalent in Greek mythology). The year is "1170 BC" in "ancient Israel". I think the date alone would be enough to clue us in that we’re not in 'modern' Israel; on the other hand, considering that the establishing shot of “Israel” is a computer-generated image, perhaps the clarification is not as useless as it seems. We meet Samson (Taylor James) and his heretofore unheard of younger brother Caleb (Greg Kriek) stealing corn; caught in the act, they both flee from Philistine soldiers who, for some reason, stop chasing them once Samson and Caleb pass through the city gates — unfortunately, the film fails to have a Philistine soldier tell another: “Forget it, Jacob. It's Chinatown" (not as far-fetched as you may think; later there will be a direct reference to the Avengers’ Hulk). “Whispers of a Hebrew with great strength” reach the ears of the Philistine prince Rallah (Jackson Rathbone); he doesn't take them too seriously, but his father, King Balek (Billy Zane), orders him to investigate further, something Rallah does with no little reluctance (to paraphrase Iznogoud, Rallah wants to be King in place of the King). Rallah, listen to your friend Billy Zane, he’s a cool dude. Rallah recruits a Philistine giant (who calls the God of the Hebrews a “puny god”) to defeat Samson; Samson gets his ass handed to him at first, but when the Lord fills him with His spirit, Samson hulks up (that’s a reference to the other Hulk, mind you) and soon has the giant saying 'no más, no más'. From here on out the plot sticks more or less faithfully to the biblical account, with a small but peculiar departure wherein Samson has to be tricked into visiting a brothel; the Book of Judges says begs to differ, though: "Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her." Anyway, Samson is anointed Judge and travels to the Philistine capital to negotiate peace with Balek; his conditions are “reduce the tribute, return the harvest that is rightfully ours [or else] you will face the wrath of God.” In the film’s best line, Zane replies, with all the considerable sarcasm he can muster, "So you threaten me with natural phenomena, freakish acts, and the weather." Ha! In your face Samson! It almost makes me forget that Balek and Rallah are just as imaginary as Caleb-Iolaus — not that Samson or Delilah are historical figures, but almost; their story is so well known that you don't have to know your Bible to realize that this Samson is as much a caricature as the Simpsons' version of David and Goliath.
After watching Noah (2014), I am really excited about movies telling the stories from the Bible from a more creative point of view. But this was really disappointing. I loved movies like Stargate (1994) there are the facts like the Pyramids were built and there are hieroglyphs that tell how long it took but we to this day don't know how they built them, we can't do that with our advanced technology. So I love how sci-fi fills in the blanks, and I wish other films would be that creative with the other stories not stick to traditional interpritations like this movie did. Really disappointing!
