I don't know what it is about some Christian movies. They just don't get it. Just because you have a catchy title and a theme about 'GOD', the producers seem to think it will be a big hit. Im sorry to say, this movie was completely boring to me. The cast and acting were OK i guess. I think the wife in the movie was kind of cold and unemotional considering the events surrounding her. I was OK until i kept waiting and waiting and waiting for something to happen other than this mans' pity party to be over and from his recovery to be over. He says he saw Jesus at one early point in the movie (complaining to himself) and then complains about being alive and alienating his entire friends and family the other 95% of the movie! Really? Who would do this? By the time the movie is almost over he finally talks about his Heaven experience. Its nothing more than we have heard a million times already. A bunch of people he knew before, standing in front of a big light, an open gate, a relative, and an old friend standing there smiling at him. Thats it! And by the way, the people looked the same as they did here on earth! Of course we will look the same in appearance, but to have an old face with wrinkles and still have your dentures? Come on! It breaks my heart to give this review. I really really really HATE giving bad reviews on Christian movies being a Christian myself but i must say the truth in how i feel. Someone has to tell the truth even if it hurts or seems negative. We need to stop giving Christian movies high ratings just because they are Christian movies. Here's my prediction: Hollywood will say, "Wow! There is money to be made with these Christians! Lets make them ourselves!" They will screw them up with their ignorance. My God, have you seen Noah, or Exodus? Don't get me started... If you want a good Christian movie in theaters, GO SEE WAR ROOM.
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ShelbyTMItchell6 October 2015I saw this on my birthday on October 3rd. Was really having high hopes for the movie. But still, as I was really anticipating the movie as a Christian myself.
But when I saw it, really it disappointed me due to the fact. Of being boring and slow. And really was just about to put my father to sleep a couple of times.
As even though you feel bad for the Don Piper character played by an unrecognizable Hayden Christensen.
And the struggles that he had to face in 105 days. And his wife, played by Kate Bosworth trying to struggle as a wife and mom. Holding it together.
With the support of his family and friends at church and the school Eve, Don's wife teaches. He must learn to try to live as he feels like he does not. Until Fred Thompson as a mentor of Don's gives him some tough love.
A few parts were good but it was otherwise a boring movie. -
Don't be fooled by the title. There was nothing heavenly about this film. It's a corny, hokey, clichéd, dull, slow, and an inaccurate melodrama about a young minister, Don Piper (Hayden Christensen) who suffered traumatic injury in a car accident. The paramedics who arrive at the scene cannot find a pulse and leave him unattended awaiting a coroner.
Another minister caught in the resulting traffic jam enters the car and starts praying and singing, at which point he returns to life by joining in the hymn. He has been "dead" for 90 minutes. Now, it has happened that people who are being worked on with a defibrillator, etc., have come back after 90 minutes. But this guy was in a car with plastic over him.
Kate Bosworth plays the minister's wife, Eva, as if she had been heavily sedated. On the other hand, the minister is transferred to a hospital that allows him unlimited access to morphine so he is, in fact, heavily sedated. And about halfway through this 121 minutes of hell, you'll wish you were, too.
Unfortunately, Christensen's character is unlikeable as he slides into self-pity. When fireworks are going on outside, he says in his narration, those are the only fireworks left in our marriage now. He's been flat on his back in intractable pain -- I don't know what he expected.
The character is on an IV for 45 days+. He would have had a PIC line by then. Also, he's given no pain medication while they're trying to stimulate bone growth with a fixator, which is incredibly painful.
One other thing - of course the recovery is very expensive so at one point he is moved to a less expensive hospital. And all the staff becomes black. Low, producers, LOW.
The acting is uniformly bad with the exception of Fred Thompson, who comes off like John Barrymore compared to the rest of them. He offers him a milkshake - McDonald's obviously threw some money at this thing. They're everywhere.
As far as learning anything about the character's NDE, you won't, except for the last minutes of the film. Maybe heaven is worth the wait, but getting to this part of the film is not since you had to go through hell to get there. It's too little, too late. -
kindredsoul36312 September 2015If you were thinking of going to the movies to see 90 Minutes in Heaven, don't bother. I went tonight - boring. Time it began was 4:00 with the preview trailers, so must have started around 4:15. Began with a short summary of what happened 2 days before his accident took maybe 10-15 minutes. Then the accident and from there it was all in the hospitals with him in surgery or just laying in bed. There was only 1 minute where we saw a brief moment of his thoughts where it appeared to be a vision of heaven with people saying "Good to see you" to him, but there was no mention by him in the movie about having seen heaven at all. Through the whole movie there was a child talking and clanging his toys on the chairs and floor. Parent didn't do anything about it. I finally gave up and went out to see what time it was - it was already 5:30 and nothing to indicate any story of his 90 minutes in heaven. I asked for and received a refund.
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phd_travel29 October 2016Given that the movie was inspired by a massive best seller, and the cast is fairly watchable, it was rather strange that this movie turned out to be what it was. Makes you wonder if they adapted only part of the book.
A preacher gets injured in a car accident and has a long painful recovery ahead. There isn't much about the afterlife - just a few minutes where he describes seeing relatives in heaven. But it didn't seem to make him deal with his ordeal any better. The main part of the movie seems to be his painful recovery and the awful things they had to do to his leg and arm. Also the financial problems are shown. It's more like a Lifetime drama. Many people criticze Hayden Christensen's acting but I think he was okay here. Wasn't much to go wrong with. Kate Bosworth looks very groomed throughout the ordeal. -
znjiraini6 January 2016The movie at best, tells the events in the book. In the tradition of adaptations, it skims over events with little depth. The essence of the story, was to encourage Christians about heaven. The movie however is a medical drama, that serves to educate viewers on hospital affairs.
The encounter in heaven, is put at the end of the movie as an after thought. The director choosing to dwell in the emotional scenes featuring the family. The movie has bloopers. The scene where Don advises a young man with fixator, did not involve his family in the audience. Because Don was chaperoning a group of teenagers to an auditorium.
The movie did not inspire or show the motivational stories that resulted from Don telling the world his ordeal.It did not even feature a crisis of faith for Don. -
brutzel6 December 2015This is based upon a true story.
Pastor Don Piper (Christensen) is in a terrible car accident. He dies for 90-minutes, goes to Heaven, comes back and has months of endless operations and excruciating pain and doesn't treat family and friends in a good way. His wife, Eva (Bosworth), stands by him regardless.
Okay, okay, we all want to know more about what is in Heaven. Well, to learn more about Heaven you will have to wait for 1-hr and 40 minutes or so before Don reveals his experience.
Yes, this is very slow going, but true believers or wanna-be believers will see this to the end. The acting by all and the pacing is very good. In the meantime we see almost everything Don and his family and friends go through and much of it isn't pretty. Why is Don so angry? Why isn't he more appreciative of what family and friends are going through to help him with their prayers? How can a Pastor behave like this is the question we all ask. Patience as all will be revealed beyond the 1:40 mark. And it probably took a friend and former pastor J.B. Perkins (Fred Thompson) to read the riot act to Don about his behavior.
Dwight Yoakam plays Beau Beaumont, Eva's lawyer, and it's possible this was supposed to be comic relief but perhaps this was the way Beaumont really was. Hard to tell, but he was annoying, not funny.
When Don reveals his experience in Heaven he tells of seeing people of all ages that he knew in life. Contrast this with what Catholics say that all of us will be 33-years of age in Heaven. Something to think about or find others who went to Heaven for a brief time and hear what they have to say regarding the ages of people there. But the true message of this movie is this and only this: Heaven is real.
There is a subtle twist in here regarding Don's telling of the one who prayed for him holding his right hand while in the mashed vehicle. This will give you chills in a good way.
I was struck by the really good photography and by the performances of all. Kate Bosworth was truly invested in her role. Good job.
At the end we see the real Pastor Don Piper who sums up his experience. (7/10)
Violence: Yes, the accident. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No. -
richard-davis-987-67661523 November 2015In a short sentence - don't bother.
I viewed this online, and as soon as the credits starting rolling, where it shows that the film was made by a religious film-making organisation, about a man of faith's accident and recovery, and as soon as you hear the religious prayer music on the car radio inside the first minute or so of the film, you just know that this is going to be some Christian-based propaganda in film format.
Don't get me wrong, I AM a Christian, but this film is awful nonsense.
In a nutshell, a deeply religious man suffers a serious car accident, recovers and is pretty damn miserable during all of the recovery. Most of the film is based in the hospital recovery rooms and is mostly conversation based.
The acting is dull and unengaging. I only bothered to watch it at all because of the two leading cast members - I wished I hadn't been sucked in by this.
Apparently the budget was £5m for this? Where did this go? Apparently the Director is Bosworth's husband - did she milk the production fees with the approval of her husband? Is Hayden really proper "box office" enough to swipe most of the production costs in fees? You look at this film, and it really does feel like very average TV movie. In fact, I've seen much better TV movies.
There are a couple of actors that you've seen before in other films like Fred Dalton Thompson and Gregory Allan Williams - but it's not nearly enough to even come close to save this old tat.
Forget it - it's a yawner, and not a good yawner at that. Why, oh why, oh why can't victims of serious accidents and incidents give themselves (and the medical staff that treat them) some credit for having the inner will to live through terrible events and survive? -
This is not an action Movie, it's more than this, but you have to be willing to catch the message, which is powerful. This is about faith, love and friendship. Is he going to give up, the guy survived the unimaginable, nobody under any "normal" circumstances survives any thing like that, who helped him, 90 minutes gone, declared and confirmed dead by the police and the rescue team, but then one men, a pastor, insisted to pray for "the gone", please don't put this movie in a drawer, there is so much more than entertainment here and worth to think about, the men survived to leave us a testimony, greater than anything, watch carefully
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jazzlone6025 March 2022Book was muuuuuch better. Soooooooo disappointed in this movie!!! I wanted to see his 90 Minutes in Heaven, after all, that IS the title!?!?!? I'm gonna read the book again!!
Don't waste your time on the movie! -
ger55champ4 April 2022I will never understand what people expect from movies. When this beautiful film is made to touch anyone that has a heart and soul .Just perfect acting .Had me in tears .No I'm not a church goer or a bible basher .Just believe in good and my experience of life tells me that this message is good for us all .Keep the faith as God does indeed answer your prayers .. And watch this film, to the end with an open mind .
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jacksonchris12 September 2015I've seen a lot of books based upon true stories or fake but in terms of a movie staying true to the book, 90 Minutes in Heaven wins hands down. The producers and director with the help of Don Piper himself corroborated on this movie to bring you a movie about heaven.
Only thing in the book that Don said that wasn't stated in the movie was that what he felt most was GOD's LOVE everywhere. But he got it right with the book with who he saw, what heaven was like, falls really well into place with the book.
Heaven is for real no matter what people may believe or not.
I give this movie a 9/10 for keeping true to the book and pretty good acting on the parts of all characters. -
gynet77724 May 2020I must admit the first time I watched this movie, I did really like it but I watched it again tonight, after 2 years, and I have to say that, this time, I appreciated it very much, It touched me deeply.
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tina-374986 December 2015I read the book and it was great and powerful....but the movie was terrible! if I were Mr. Piper I would not have allowed this awful movie to represent my story. The title is about Mr. Piper going to heaven for 90 minutes, but in this movie you get a few minutes of his tale at the end of the movie...and he speaks without any emotion about it at all. Movie lacked credibility and lacked anything to do with Christ...the pastor in the movie seemed cold and without any relationship with Jesus or his family. The book was all about the pastor and how the Lord worked a miracle in his life, but the author of this movie told the story and decided to leave out anything to do with God and the pastor's relationship with Him. God was the reason Mr. Piper is still alive today...but the movie does not want to identify this main truth. Horrible acting and dead movie.
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nicolehufnagel4 December 2015I was invited to see this premiere at The Fox in Atlanta, not sure why I was invited as everyone there was a pastor or a family member...the mayor was there, the whole cast and then there was my sister and I. I gave it a 3 because at least they're donating $ from the film to help orphanages (one in particular was there that night at the Fox)....and after the movie, what did all of these influential preachers and their family members do? Did they stop and befriend these obviously under-dressed orphans after the movie? While the kids were coming down the stairs in jeans and the best clothes they could put together.....did I see any of the obviously well and overdressed attendees actually try and mingle or minister to them.....on the contrary, the mass audience of "Christians" flocked to the open bars inside the fox to get a cocktail, while the orphans and their friends/family/acquaintances awkwardly, and hurriedly left. As for the movie, what I got from it was a guy who was in severe pain and couldn't be helped by modern medicine....this movie shows that you can get comfort from your church community...IF you belong to one. For those of us that don't, I guess we are on our own or have to rely on our own faith.
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Molongirl5 August 2017Why oh why did this have to be such a very dreary telling of Don Piper's story? I kept wanting to yell at the actors to a. Show some life and b. talk to each other! The people in the film just didn't seem normal, the actor playing Don Piper made him a totally unlikeable person, a whinger par excellence and his wife came across as someone who rarely spoke and was so buttoned up it was just plain unbelievable. I had read the book a few years previously and was looking forward to seeing it. However after watching the movie all I can say is it would have been far better to leave it at the book, this made me think Don had invented his heavenly trip to make some dollars to pay for his treatment. I feel bad saying such negative things as I'm sure the producer tried hard but he needed someone to tell him how unpleasant the main characters were coming across as and to edit edit edit.
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SnoopyStyle12 July 2017It's 1989 Texas. Don Piper (Hayden Christensen) is a young Baptist preacher with wife Eva (Kate Bosworth) and three kids. His car is crushed by an on-coming truck. Paramedics can't find a pulse. A passing pastor climbs in to pray over him. He revives and is rescued. He is severely injured and suffers a tough recovery. The limited government compensation is taken by the health insurance. He suffers depression. He eventually reveals that during the ninety minutes of presumed death, he had reached heaven.
This two hour movie has no reason to be more than ninety minutes whether in heaven or not. The plot has no drama. His depressed character is tiresome. There is nothing compelling. I hoped for some heavenly visions but they are short and lackluster. The spread of his story and his fans are infinitely more compelling than this movie. -
My wife read the book maybe 10 or 11 years ago when it was first out and now we were able to watch the movie on DVD from our public library.
It is an excellent human interest story of faith and perseverance. Of course it has a strong Christian theme, he is a minister and prayer plays a big role throughout the movie. But a viewer doesn't need to believe in Christianity or the power of prayer to enjoy the story of the trials of a man and his family recovering from a tragic traffic accident.
Don Piper was a minister in the smaller town of Alvin, Texas, just south of Houston. It was 1989, he was returning home in the rain when a truck, driven by a prison system inmate, crossed over to the opposite lane on a 2-lane bridge and caused the wreck. Don was injured so badly that he was declared dead by a medic and the coroner, he had no pulse and he was bent in all kinds of ways a person shouldn't be.
But another minister arrived on the scene and asked if he could pray for the dead man, and when he did and started singing, Don, the man declared dead, began to sing softly. He was rushed to a hospital in Huntsville, then later to a better hospital in Houston. He faced many months of hospitalization and numerous surgeries, it was feared he would lose one leg, he became despondent, but his family and friends kept him going.
So what is the message here? Many will doubt that he was really dead for 90 minutes, just with a heartbeat so faint that it seemed he was dead. Others will believe he was really dead, he really went to heaven for 90 minutes, and it was a miracle that he came back to life. Regardless which side of that point a viewer is on the movie is worthwhile for the human survival side of it.
It is a bit long at 2 hours, the time shown with Don in the hospital perhaps could have been shortened a bit, but overall my wife and I were glad we spent the time. Don and his family are now in Atlanta Georgia, and the movie was filmed in that area. One of the DVD extras features the real Piper family.
Don is played very well by Hayden Christensen, and his wife Eva is played well by Kate Bosworth, whose husband incidentally was the director. She commented that making the movie has actually strengthened their marriage. -
oscaralbert16 September 2015. . . impoverished Christian ministers, among others. Texas allows unqualified convicts to drive state-owned prison semi-trucks on top of innocent out-of-state mid-sized cars, then limits medical expenses for crushed drivers returning from Heaven to just $250,000 per pastor, forcing the clergymen to rehab at second-rate hospitals and move into smaller homes. Amid this scandal, former Texas governor Rick Perry had to quit running for U.S. president the week that 90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN came out. As HEAVEN illustrates, Life is cheap in the American South. Lethal injections happen there more than everyplace else on Earth combined, with the Authorities debating whether or not victims are "really most sincerely dead" for hours on end. (One gentleman recently returned from Heaven for a few minutes AFTER his execution, but did not enjoy even the level of health care of Pastor Don in this movie, and got recalled upwards before he could Testify in support of Reverend Don.) History attests that Jesus also was executed, but since Texas did not have the Death Penalty then, it happened elsewhere. Future King David sang in a psalm once that one minute in Heaven equals 100 years in Texas (I may be paraphrasing a little here), which makes Pastor Don about 9,064 now in Texas years!
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skuebler-5781714 June 201690 Minutes in Heaven falls short of everything. Here are the reason why it makes a terrible movie, not enjoyable for anyone to watch.
1. In the beginning, at the car crash, it stops at a image of the fathers face in a duck face right after he got hit, giving it a un serious tone to the "mature" film.
2. The acting is stupid from every character.
3. Good plot that is wasted by too many depressing shots in the hospital.
4. You can't get depressed about anything in this movie, because it all happens to the characters. There is no character development, they're terrible actors, and the twins and the daughter are so annoying, and give terrible performances!!!
5.The daughter is so spoiled, she made her injured father (who I didn't care about at all so I just went with it) dance with her on his injured leg, after he said no four times!!
Review:
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agostino-dallas2 July 2017My Rating is based on the "idea". If I was to give this movie a serious movie quality rating it would be something close to 2 or 3. There are better movies with second tier actors to be seem like "The carpenter's miracle". Even "Heaven is for real" is better than this. I understand that movies abut the same subject might look like church trying to entice some people to come closer to Christian religion. However, I think that each individual experience is different. Some people have been through tremendous pain and suffering not to mention they survived accidents or diseases when people usually don't make it. Internet will show you many more stories of the same nature but they have not yet made it to the big screen. A good one is "Flight to Heaven" about Captain Dale Black. The issue is always to be able to tell a story about real and simple people exactly how it happened. It is very personal but with the right direction and dedicated actors it can be a success.
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ComputerDaveUK24 November 2015A few months ago I watched a foreign movie from the middle east that was in English (well, American so it was close) and after about ten minutes the movie turned into a rant about Barack Obama (who I think is the Canadian president or summat {only joking}), the American Way, freedom, the West, the East and F.W. Woolworths {still joking}. It seemed to be an ISIS enrolment film or some such. Well, this movie was the same except for the Christians (or some other religious cult).
As soon as the words 'We all believe in Christ, right' hit the floor I kinda lost interest but as the main actor (Haydn Christenson) should have light sabre up his cardigan (Haydn plays a Colin) I stuck with it and wished I hadn't.
The story is unbelievable beyond belief and seriously if you want to see THE worst piece of acting in the history of bad acting watch when the priest find out Haydn was alive, it is truly magnificent ...
Unfortunately the score select does not go below 1 or this would have got a -5.
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kmweir-571891 April 2018I have seen suffering like this and have been in the wife's shoes and this is very real. You have to understand the pastor's experience in heaven made his recovery more difficult (that might be a spoiler). His suffering was hard to watch but it was realistic. The spiritual struggle, financial trouble, and family trauma is just how it is. A near death experience, even without seeing heaven, makes you wish you had gone all the way, just to escape the suffering here and the suffering of dying again. It is honest and if you want to be prepared for tragedy here and heaven afterwards, it is worth the slow torture of watching this. It is better than doing yourself. The legal problems were also so true to life. Watch and learn and you might not have to live it. The last half hour is worth and since I see honesty throughout this film, I believe that is also likely the truth.
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From a filmmaker point of view, this movie is we'll done cinematography, an overall powerful story, but at times a little slow.
This is a heavy duty tragic story drama that gradually builds, about the experience of a man who is involved in a life threatening auto accident in Texas and his road to recovery.
Anyone who has gone through a life changing experience in which they lost hope and gave up, will find aspects of this movie relatable in a manner those who haven't will not.
It's as much a genuine love story about the love and sacrifice a spouse endures who is genuinely committed to their marriage in a time of great tragedy, as it is a heavy reminder of the fraility of life, that we often take for granted.
For a movie that falls under the Christian and spirituality film genere, it's not the typical preachy film and does not feature the music of any pop religious band. Instead this is a genuine narrative story told as it should be, and an example of how all films of this genre should be written, filmed and produced. -
paulinekraak21 March 2022I don't believe in god, but do like to watch religious inspiring movies. Never normally disappointed until now.
90 minutes in Heaven. I am 17 minutes before the end, all I have wached is a poor guy, griping anway in his hospital bed, nothing about the possibility of heaven, nothing to giv me hope.
Then he attempts to get out of bed, has one crutch, his left leg has metal rods through it, his right leg he can barely hobble, whicch armpit supports his crutch? You would think his left, the side with the implants and the gammy leg,. No, he uses the crutch under his right armpit, the leg he can support weight.
He falls over. Suprise!