Religulous (2008)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Larry Charles

Writer:

Bill Maher (written by)

Release Date:

3 October 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Comedy

Tagline:

Do you smell something burning?

Plot:

Bill Maher's take on the current state of world religion.

Plot Keywords:

Muslim | Jew | Christian | Religion | God

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Bill Maher	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Steve Burg	...	Himself
Francis Collins	...	Himself
George Coyne	...	Himself
Jeremiah Cummings	...	Himself
Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda	...	Himself
Reginald Foster	...	Himself
Ted Haggard	...	Himself (archive footage)
Dean Hamer	...	Himself (as Dr. Dean Hamer)
Ken Ham	...	Himself
Julie Maher	...	Herself
Kathy Maher	...	Herself
Aki Nawaz	...	Himself (as Propa-Gandhi)
Andrew Newberg	...	Himself
Fred Phelps	...	Himself (archive footage)
Mark Pryor	...	Himself
Ray Suarez	...	Himself
Yisroel Dovid Weiss	...	Himself
John Westcott	...	Himself
Geert Wilders	...	Himself
Jim Bakker	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Osama Bin Laden	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Kirk Cameron	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Johnny Carson	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Larry Charles	...	Himself (uncredited)
Tom Cruise	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jerry Falwell	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Theo van Gogh	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Charlton Heston	...	George Taylor (archive footage) (uncredited)
Benny Hinn	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Mike Huckabee	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Kim Hunter	...	Zira (archive footage) (uncredited)
Michael Jackson	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Bishop Don Magic Juan	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Larry King	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Joe Lieberman	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
John McCain	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Pope John Paul II	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Pat Robertson	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Oral Roberts	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
George C. Scott	...	Abraham (archive footage) (uncredited)
Britney Spears	...	Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)
John Travolta	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Max von Sydow	...	Jesus (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Larry Charles

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Bill Maher		written by

Produced by
Chelsea Barnard	....	field producer
Roberta Brodsky	....	field producer
Cara Casey	....	field producer
Jesse Johnston	....	executive producer
Alexandra Lambrinidis	....	associate producer
Bill Maher	....	producer
Kevin O'Donnell	....	line producer
Flavia Oertwig	....	field producer
Lisa Rudin	....	associate producer
Charlie Siskel	....	executive producer
Jonah Smith	....	producer
Palmer West	....	producer

Cinematography by
Anthony Hardwick

Film Editing by
Jeff Groth
Christian Kinnard
Jeffrey M. Werner

Production Management
Tommaso Colognese	....	production supervisor: Italy
Brad Goodman	....	post-production supervisor
Kevin Kolovich	....	production supervisor: England
Mary Prendergast	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dale Stern	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
James Bailey	....	foley artist
Jason George	....	sound
Scott Harber	....	production sound mixer
Geoffrey G. Rubay	....	sound re-recording mixer
Geoffrey G. Rubay	....	supervising sound editor
Fabrizio Donati	....	audio restorer (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Scott M. Davids	....	vfx supervisor: level 256 FX
Jalal Jemison	....	digital compositor
Jalal Jemison	....	graphics animator
Benjamin Locke	....	graphics animator
Benjamin Locke	....	main title animator
Aaron Peak	....	colorist: Hollywood-DI
Neil W. Smith	....	DI supervisor: Hollywood-DI

Camera and Electrical Department
David Mickler	....	camera operator: behind the scenes
Sam Moon	....	camera operator: "c" camera: England
Mark Schwartzbard	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Owen A. Smith	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jason Alper	....	stylist: England

Editorial Department
Thomas J. Cabela	....	assistant editor
Evan Goldstein	....	post-production coordinator
Micky Hohl	....	post-production assistant
Jeff Mee	....	assistant editor
Aaron Peak	....	on-line editor
Silja Tõnisson	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Richard Henderson	....	music consultant
Chris Robertson	....	music clearance

Other crew
Robyn Adams	....	researcher
Bhanu Bhatnagar	....	production assistant: England
Kate Coe	....	archival researcher
Classietta Foreman	....	field coordinator
Octavia Hartland	....	production assistant: England
Dave Herrmann	....	production assistant
Calum Latham	....	production assistant: England
Aaron Millar	....	location scout
Mark Monto	....	security
Greg Wishnev	....	researcher

Thanks
Cliff Dorfman	....	special thanks
Ned Goldreyer	....	special thanks
Julie Maher	....	in loving memory of

Production Companies

• Thousand Words

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2008) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (2008) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Icon Film Distribution (2008) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Lionsgate (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (2009) (France) (theatrical)
• Village Films (2008) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Blue Sky Media (2008) (Czech Republic) (all media)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2009) (Finland) (DVD)
• TVA Films (2008) (Canada) (all media)

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Hollywood-DI  digital intermediate services
• Lions Gate Records  soundtrack

Also Known As:

A Spiritual Journey (USA) (fake working title)
Untitled Larry Charles Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some language and sexual material.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew | Arabic | Persian | Spanish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #44539) | UK:15 | Australia:M | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | South Africa:18 | New Zealand:M | Ireland:15A | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | Mexico:B15 | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

's-Gravenhage, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

Thousand Words

Trivia:

Originally scheduled for release in March 2008 to coincide with the Easter holiday. But the 2007 Writers Guild strike caused delays in post-production. The release date was pushed back to July 11, 2008 and finally, October 3, 2008.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The truck stop chapel is not actually located in Raleigh, NC, as claimed in the film, but is near Charlotte, NC. Raleigh and Charlotte are further from each other than LA and San Diego. Charlotte is an extremely conservative town compared with Raleigh.

Quotes:

Bill Maher: It seems, people, that this is the very spot
[Megiddo, Israel]
Bill Maher: where a lot of Christians believe life on earth will end. The irony of religion is that because of its power to divert man to destructive courses, the world actually could come to an end.

Movie Connections:

Features Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Soundtrack:

Via Dolorosa

Fantastic

I found this movie exhilarating. I'm with you, Bill Maher! That said, this film attempts to cover the basic tenets and idiocies of several of the major religions, namely Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam. It also encompasses evangelical/American/born-again-type Jesus-focused religion, which considers itself "Christian" but I have never understood that title, since Catholics revere Jesus also. But anyway...

Maher is a smart man, and I would like to think that he considered the points I feel were left out of the movie and chose not to include them for the sake of condensing the film. However, there are several facts that I think would have made an even stronger case against mass religion in general:

1. Although Maher mentions several times that the Judeo-Christian Bible was written by men, and therefore contains the fallacies of men, he does not bring up the fact that the Bible has been constantly rewritten, translated from language to language, and amended to suit the needs of those in charge of its distribution -- for most of history since Christ, this was the Catholic Church and its founders. And for those of you who don't know, translation is not an exact science. Languages just do not translate word for word, and the accuracy of the translation depends on the skill, vocabulary, and motives of the translator (a human being, don't forget).

2. Catholicism was successful because it incorporated many old religions. Greek and Roman gods are just a few of those who have direct equivalents among the Catholic saints. Mahar discusses the inherent flaw in a monotheistic religion with bunches of demigods, but he does not point out that Catholicism deliberately found supposedly Catholic replacements for the more ancient, household-type gods. Why? Because those who wanted the religion to succeed decided that people would be more likely to convert to it if it weren't too different from what they were used to. Why did these men want the religion to succeed? For the same reasons that people promote religions today: to gain money and power, particularly in the form of influence. Maher reminds us that the story of Jesus Christ included many elements of older heroes or gods, but the film presents this as a matter of fact, not pointing out that Catholicism was built upon the success of these preceding stories and histories. The types of dramas that move the human spirit have not changed over thousands of years--they have simply been retold and reinterpreted.

3. My third point is more of a question. I was raised as a "nouveau" American Catholic, so I feel that I know a little bit about that religion, but I know next to nothing about Islam. However, it is my understanding that Mohammed did not want images of himself used to promote his teachings. Is this why some Muslims get so mad when an image, ridiculing or not, of the prophet is publicized? I wish Maher had included this, as he did talk a lot about the violence specified in the Koran.

This is a terrific film. It is funny and has a great soundtrack. My hat is off to Maher for his nerve in interviewing people who become belligerent when their religion is questioned. I guess it partly comes from being a comedian--one must have guts and a thick skin! The message of the film, however, is not humorous at all. It is truly terrifying to think of all the murder, torture, and oppression that is perpetuated in the name of religion. Why then, is someone who calls himself "Godly" or "religious" considered to be a person with wholesome morals?