Looking for the very best cinema has to offer? Look no further! At The REEL Conservative we've tracked down and reviewed the 100 best conservative films and videos ever made.

OUR ABSOLUTE

How we chose the REEL Conservative 100

Midway through the film TimeChanger there is a scene in which a Bible professor transported from 1890 to our present time goes to see a film. As might be expected, he finds the movie shocking. Less predictable is the reason why. As the religious time traveler runs from the theatre he shouts: "Stop the movie! You must stop this movie! The man on the screen just blasphemed the name of the Lord! There must be some mistake - you must stop this movie, this is an abomination!"

While Christians usually avoid movies with smut and gore, few of us would react like this professor if we heard the Lord's name taken in vain. The abuse of God's name is so commonplace these days most of us don't notice it when it happens. The 2003 film Luther takes God's name in vain (clearly and unequivocally) but when its producer was contacted even he was surprised to hear it. He explained that not only had it escaped his notice but the script had been sent to a number of theologians and ministers and none of them had noticed either. It escaped the notice of most of the movie's Christian reviewers as well. Plugged in Online's Matt Kaufman notes two uses of d---- and one use of the "S-word" but misses entirely the abuse of God's name. We've become so used to hearing God's name abused we don't hear it at all.

So when it came time to determine exactly what criteria we were going to use to create our own list of movies worth watching one criterion seemed obvious: no movie on the list could take God's name in vain.

This seemed an obvious starting point for a number of reasons.

First, God has explicitly commanded us not to take his name in vain (Ex. 20:7; Deut 5:11). If the abuse of his name has gotten so commonplace we don't even notice it anymore then it's clear we need to pay more attention to this command.

Second, while it would be easy to just blame Hollywood we share at least some of the responsibility for the constant cinematic abuse of God's name. Hollywood does produce a lot of offensive content, but it rarely offends without reason - we may not like seeing smut and gore, but there are people who will go to a movie for just those things. Blasphemy is different though; no one goes to a movie just to hear God's name abused. Why then, does Hollywood continue to insert language that will anger some ticket buyers and will attract none? The obvious explanation is that no one - and that means you and me - has told these producers and directors just how offensive the misuse of God's name is. Or at least, we haven't told them in the only sort of way that matters to them - at the box office. We'll walk out of a children's film that uses the F-word once. That's a message Hollywood understands; that's why you'll never hear the F-word in a Disney cartoon. But when God's name is abused, if we even catch it, Christians will just shrug and keep watching. That's a message too, a very messed up one - we're telling Hollywood that the F-word deserves more reverence than God's name.

Third, we should remember that when we see this sin portrayed on film we are watching something quite different from any other "movie sin." In a heist film, moviegoers all know that no actual theft takes place. And when a murderer shoots someone on film, we know no actual murder has taken place - we would never watch a snuff film! However when an actor on screen takes the Lord's name in vain, he really is blaspheming. And if we're buying a ticket, we're actually paying him to do it.

We did use other criteria as well. We looked at a film's technical excellence - more than 30 movies on the list were nominated for, or won an Oscar. We also considered how highly a film was rated, its levels of sexual and violent content, and the film's overall message or worldview. But while we used quite a number of criteria we kept returning again and again to our starting point - no film on the list could take God's name in vain. While a level of onscreen violence or sexual content can be a critical part to a plot, there is simply no reason a film ever has to take God's name in vain.

There is some debate though, about what exactly it means to take God's name in vain. The Dove Foundation, a movie review website with professed Judeo-Christian ethics, thinks that it's fine to use God's name as an "exclamatory statement" just so long as "d-it" isn't used right afterwards. We don't agree. If a character uses God's name and isn't talking about God or talking to God then he is quite clearly using God's name in vain.

Some Christians regard words and expressions like "my g-dness" and "g-sh" as taking God's name in vain. We again disagree (and only refrain from printing the words in full to avoid needlessly offending these Christians). These expressions are nonsensical - God's name is not "g-sh" - and were created by people seeking ways not to take God's name in vain. These are substitutes, in much the same way that "shoot" is a substitute for the S-word. If I always say, "shoot" instead of the S-word, I'm no longer spouting vulgarities - "shoot" is what I say instead of using a vulgarity. The same is true in this case - instead of taking God's name in vain, people make an effort not to blaspheme and substitute another word like "g-sh" or even "Pete." More could be said but for those that disagree and regard these words as offensive, this is a warning that some of the movies on this list do use these expressions.

After almost two years of work, and hundreds of hours spent searching for, viewing and writing about these movies, a cast of dozens brings you one hundred movies well worth watching. Most of these movies aren't available at your local video rental store - your Blockbuster won't have more than ten of these films on their shelves - but all can be bought online. So if you and a few friends are regular movie watchers, you can all buy two or three films (at the same price as only a few rentals) and then swap amongst yourselves the different movies you've each bought. It takes a bit more planning than a trip to the local rental shop, but you're sure to enjoy the results of your extra labor.

We hope you'll enjoy the fruits of our labors, and we hope that this list will help you glorify God in your movie watching.