People are complaining about it not mentioning every aspect of the prophets life. If they wanted that they would need a series of 10 seasons, 30 episodes each, each episode would be two hours. The movie is covering the journey of Islam, not the personal life of the prophet. I recommend this movie to anyone interested in history, Islam, and arab/muslim culture.

As a critic, The Message poses a challenge. The story of Muhammad is the crux of the Muslim faith. The Message naturally demands a more serious approach than your biweekly romcom. This film necessitated a pause so I could reflect on the purpose of criticism. I admit, I almost submitted this review with a higher rating in an act of pandering. That would have been a popular move, but disingenuous. After all this more than a hobby, it is my immortal soul at stake. So for those already infuriated, please bear with me.Originally, I watched The Message to answer one question: Why is this movie in the IMDb Top 250? I had never heard of this movie before, and I would likely not have ever seen it if it had not cracked this questionably prestigious list. Some IMDb users have grown increasingly frustrated by movies not in classical canon receiving such an honor. These non-USA made, low vote count films, often receive strong vitriol in user reviews and message boards. My best summary of this contempt is these films lack objective quality, rather, they appeal strongly to a subset of the community and do not deserve a general recommendation. I think the voter statistics suggest that not only is The Message an example of this phenomenon, it is the prime example. Bollywood movies were previously the go to offenders. These films garnered on average approximately 40% 10/10 votes. Superhero movies, consistently overrated and raised by a large sub-community, garner a similar percentage considering their slightly elevated position. Shawshank Redemption currently reigns supreme, and only convinces 53% of the populous it is perfect. 60% of users rated The Message 10/10. Compare this anomaly to Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, which currently ranks one spot bellow The Message, has only 18%. Admittedly, IMDb uses black magic to come up with the top 250. Even so, The Message dominates true rivals like films in the Top 30 which only score 10/10 percentages around 30%. Excuse the excessive use of numbers. I want some outside verification when I say The Message speaks very strongly to some and less so to others. This is not a suggestion that the people who voted 10/10 are wrong or should be discredited.Unfortunately, I believe this opinion gap is primarily based on source material. This marginalizes the debate over more subjective intricacies. As a non-Muslim, this film failed to engage me spiritually. I can appreciate the perspective and education the film provides, but it obviously did not affirm my faith. Beyond that, the quality of filmmaking leaves me hard pressed to suggest The Message over other epics. The subject works effectively as a narrative. Acting and cinematography were solid, similar to Hollywood flicks of decades past. The most differentiating characteristics were how The Message dodged sacrilege. As entertainment, The Message is simply too long. There were many scenes that seemed unwarranted which makes one feel every minute of the three hour run time. I am sure there is a scholarly reason for every line, but, as an outsider, I am taxed. The challenge of not depicting the central character is also met inconsistently. In some scenes, the presence of Muhammad is tangible, his direct manifestation is not necessary. These moments do not feel like a director struggling with an inconvenience, rather mastering this obstruction for effect. Sadly, just as many scenes are clumsy. I simply cannot believe The Message is engaging enough independent of religious context to support such a devoted following.Despite my lukewarm critical response, I am overjoyed that this film exists. The Message provides a perspective that is consistently marginalized in contemporary society. And if this outlook is delivered in the form of an entertaining epic, who am I to complain? More importantly, I am glad others have enjoyed such a strong reaction to this film. Many have shared their own personal account of watching The Message. It seems clear that a movie is providing a spiritual experience for thousands. No, I did not personally share these feelings, but I can relate. For me, it was Andri Rubilev. Simply as a lover of film, I am happy knowing people I have never met are experiencing a film in a way they might not have ever thought possible. The Message is an achievement because it is rare movie that demonstrates film's overwhelming potential.

Firstly, please note this is mostly a review for the English version of the film, because, ladies and gentleman, the maker of this movies shot this film twice, once with Arabic actors and once with English speaking actors. That is the kind of dedication that was put into this project. From the start of the film there is a note that Al-Azhar University approves the historical value of the movie. People took this job seriously and it shows in the final product.I expected the film to be in Arabic with English subtitles and was disappointed to see a large amount of exceedingly white "Arabs" in the main role. But that did not detract from the quality of the film or its message. The English speaking actors are not well known, but all give good performances.There is a certain Greek actress, Irene Papas, who plays the wife of one of the tribe leaders and she is something fierce. She has a beautiful wrathful gaze and with those acting skills and face her name should really be bigger in the West.I eventually briefly viewed the Arabic version of the film and it looks of equal quality. The acting is different but still good.Because the makers were not allowed to show Mohammed, the prophet, it gives the movie a unique angle but also a unique awkwardness. The first time the story introduced the presence of Mohammed it was confusing. You stare and wonder what is going on until you realise that, oh OK, these people were just reacting to his presence.People speaking to Mohammed are often speaking to the cameraman, and thus to the viewer. Mohammed does not speak, even though people speak to him. So it feels like you are the silent protagonist in an adventure game. You must agree, it is a bit odd to have a main character who does not appear in his own movie even once. I mean it is pretty cool that these guys think that I am Mohammed, but I would prefer not to get dragged into the whole birth of Islam thing if you do not mind.Please note that this film cannot avoid being a religion pusher, just like any Jesus film would be, but of course any viewer already knows that going in, and if you can make peace with that idea, what awaits you is a pretty epic movie, with clashes of character, faith and sword. It is a very coherent, well shot movie, rival to the best of Christian epics.

It doesn't matter to which ideology or belief system you belong. This is a great movie.First, it's a visually stunning experience. The locations in Libya and Morocco were wisely chosen and beautifully brought to the screen. It truly provides a great background for the characters and the events they go and are put through.I must admit I don't know the multitude of the actors (English translated version, as I haven't viewed the Arabic translated version), but most of them were big names at the time. They all gave very good and solid performances, which really got me emotionally involved in the story. And that's where the strength of this picture truly lays."The Message" has that rare quality of really making the audience intrigued and captivated with the story, there is not a single dull moment due to the combined factors mentioned above.Additionally, viewing the film and doing research on Islam prior or after viewing "The Message", will hopefully clear up misconceptions a lot of people have.I highly recommend this film, watch it :)