Want more recommendations for your family?
Sign up for our weekly newsletter for entertainment inspiration
David and Goliath
By Brian Costello,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Horrible, poorly-executed adaptation of Bible story.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this movie.
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
David and Goliath
Community Reviews
Based on 2 parent reviews
Mostly Biblically accurate, but so poorly done.
Report this review
Gruesome but realistic
Report this review
What's the Story?
David is a young shepherd whose people are on the verge of being destroyed by the Philistines. Amongst the Philistines, there is Goliath, a brutal warrior of immense size and strength who unrelentingly shouts insults and blasphemies at the Israelites. The Philistines are merciless and seek to starve out the Israelite warriors until they surrender their land. Goliath wants to fight, but everyone is too scared to fight him, except for David, whose faith in God is unwavering; he believes this will lead him to victory against seemingly impossible odds. Finally, King Saul relents, and David, against the wishes of his brothers, the soldiers, and the princess whom he will marry should he defeat Goliath, fights Goliath.
Is It Any Good?
DAVID AND GOLIATH is flat-out horrible in every way. For instance: The Philistines wear guyliner, and look like they are going to a Marilyn Manson concert circa 1999. For their part, the soldiers fighting for the Israelites finish their sentences with "Just sayin'." The story that is so padded that David's brother is shown no less than five times in five different scenes imploring, begging, and beseeching David not to fight Goliath. The "army" is comprised of maybe twenty soldiers, on both sides. And that's just the beginning. If a university's film school was to offer a course on "How Not to Make a Movie 101," David and Goliath should be at the top of the "Required Viewing" list on the syllabus.
A tale as timeless as this should have been better served with much more than annoyingly subpar acting, hilariously-awful dialogue, shoddy production values, and thoroughly incompetent directing and editing. The end result is an insult to both faith-centered and secular audiences.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about poorly-made movies. What are some of the ways in which a movie can be "bad," in terms of directing, editing, acting, production, story, writing?
What would be some of the challenges in creating a movie adaptation of a classic Bible story that is familiar to both believers and nonbelievers in the Old Testament?
How does this movie compare with other movies based on stories from the Bible?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: March 13, 2015
- Cast: Miles Sloman , Jerry Sokolosky , Makenna Guyler
- Director: Timothy A. Chey
- Studio: Inception Media Group
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Topics: Book Characters
- Run time: 92 minutes
- MPAA rating: PG
- MPAA explanation: Some violent content.
- Last updated: February 26, 2022
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
Where to Watch
Our Editors Recommend
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate