5.4 /10 1 Votes
60% Rotten Tomatoes Directed by Michael John Warren Edited by Edward A. Bishop Director Michael John Warren | 6.1/10 IMDb 43% Metacritic Music by Hillsong United Initial release 16 September 2016 (USA) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Produced by Jonathon Bock
Ben Field
Matthew Weaver Production
company Cantinas Entertainment
Grace Hill Media
MediaWeaver Entertainment Distributed by Pure Flix Entertainment Producers Matt Weaver, Ben Field, Jonathon Bock, Walter Matteson Executive producers Phil Cooke, Greg Campbell, B. Wayne Hughes Jr. Cinematography Cameron Glendenning, Richard Cause Similar Five Nights in Maine, Brother Nature, Too Late, Raiders!: The Story of the Gre, The Hollow Point Profiles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hillsong let hope rise official trailer 2 2015 documentary
Hillsong: Let Hope Rise is a 2016 American Christian documentary film on Hillsong United directed by Michael John Warren. The film was released on September 16, 2016, by Pure Flix Entertainment after several delays.
Contents
Plot
The film chronicles the unlikely rise to prominence of the Australia-based Christian band Hillsong United. Their music is so popular it is estimated that on any given Sunday, more than 50 million churchgoers around the world are singing their songs. The film follows an event that took place on October 23, 2014 at the Forum arena in Los Angeles with 17,000 people attending, and moments preceding the concert with the creation of new songs featured on Empires (2015).
Soundtrack
Hillsong: Let Hope Rise - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released as the film's soundtrack on August 12, 2016 under Hillsong Music, Sparrow Records and Capitol Christian Music Group. The soundtrack features songs from Hillsong United, as well as Hillsong's Worship and Young & Free divisions.
Release
Directed by Michael John Warren, the film was originally supposed be released by Warner Bros. during the 2015 Easter weekend. In March 2015, Relativity Media obtained the distribution rights and the film shifted to a 29 May release. In April, Relativity moved the film to September 30, 2015. However, after Relativity Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the film was moved to an unknown release date. The film was later picked up by Pure Flix Entertainment and the film was released on September 16, 2016.
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 60%, based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. On Metacritic, the film received a weighted average score of 43 out of 100, based on six critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A", on an A+ to F scale. Nick Olszyk of Catholic World Report gave it his highest rating of five reels, saying it "renewed [my] courage to face my trails." He also said their performance of Oceans was “as good as anything by Bach, Handel, or the great anonymous monastics of the Middle Ages.”
In contrast, however, Influx Magazine film critic Steve Pulaski gave the film a D+ grade, saying, "Sloppy in structure, with concert sequences that fail to captive, it all feels overcooked in the way that if you already know and love Hillsong United, you'll appreciate what the film tries to do, but if you don't, this film won't do a very good job convincing you nor selling you their product. Not to mention, at the end of it all, one can't help but feel that the whole Hillsong approach, while pleasantly contemporary and a key instrument in getting the younger generation in-tuned with Christianity, continues to neglect the real aspect of ministry and being saved in the same way the televangelists gloss over that in hopes to get your almighty dollar."