This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This movie is a scam. OK - the book is a Bible. That's it, I just saved you time and money. Not only that but Eli is blind and the Bible is written in braille. Oh, maybe everyone in post-apocalyptic world can read braille nice and easy. These people are screwed.… Expand

This movie is like Mad Max, without cars or irony or any meaning, everything is replaced by christian propaganda. In a world starved and lacking fuel people wouldn't bother very much about chasing a fanatical blind fencer but they would try to find a way to recover their technological knowledge. Everything else is better: The road, Mad Max, Escape from New York, even Red Dawn...
If you want a post apocalyptic fiction about the importance of religion for the recovery of civilization you could read "A canticle for Leibovitz" by Walter M. Miller jr.… Collapse

Christian propagandizing piffle pretending to be an action-adventure movie. Apparently, after most people die and the rest are left to suffer in a living nightmare, we're supposed to feel good that a man (the messiah?) comes along and recites the bible. Exactly what has been solved or even improved in the slightest way? The Road does it a million times better and without the sermonizing.

Christians will LOVE this movie.
At first, The Book of Eli masks itself into a ruthless post-apocalyptic movie where only one thing matters-survival. And yet, as the movie progress, it becomes more and more obvious that we are watching a horrible Christian propagandic fantasy. The Book Of Eli is unoriginal, illogical and utterly disturbing Christian propaganda trying to represent all the evil in the world as ''mysterious God's work'' and Christianity as the only true religion. If you're not a Christian, avoid this movie. I you don't want to be completely disturbed by all the bigotry, double standards and disgusting, illogical theories-avoid this movie.… Expand

Why does everyone in this movie speak in an ADD?ADHD manner ? And walks like in one of those early Charly Chaplin movies ? The story has been done a hundred times before, what is the added value here ? Nauseating to watch...please speak SLOOOWERRR. Horrible waste of a good cast...

Dumb. I can't believe I payed to see a movie about a post-apocalyptic black ninja sword fighter who kills everyone left on earth. The final scene of the movie is the worst I've ever seen, please leave before it happens!

Wow!! What an over the top silly movie. I do have to give credit for the opening scene. That was done very nicely. I had high hopes after the intro and I was waiting for an "action" very gof the movie "The road". What I got was garbage. Avoid this movie.

If the idea of Christian Propaganda makes you hurl, stay away from this film. More nonsense trying to "edgy" -- No thanks.

It's an unoriginal mix of Mad Max, without cars and The Road without the depth of character, with bits of The Postman without the scale. Unoriginal and bland in the extreme, you will regret watching it.

Movie was interesting with twist at the end. I found it dark and dreary. The ending surprised me in that the writers and producers didn't tell that the Torah is the five books of Moses. The real Mesiah will not be killing as a solution but will induce love and caring in all others. If they want to make a moral pont this is not the way.

This movie have a lot of great possibilies... but just falls in the same things we have seen hundred times... Bored, simple and previsible... Just have some good action moments.

The film is a piece of christian propaganda. The twist that happens made every scene before unrealistic. Yes... he is the saviour himself... he can do it... *yawn*.

I thought the movie looked nice but the script and plotting were ridiculous. Come on, the "post apocalyptic farmhouse with a crazy family" is there anything more cliche in the genre?

Why does it seem that writing is so poorly valued. Sure this film had reasonable production values. That is most of the shots were well done ( if a little ponderous) and even a couple of inventive ones (the sideways shot that scrolled |"up" was at least relatively novel). But the story is lame, not just derivative, not just the standard (and sometimes enjoyable) shallowness of the action genre BUT actually BAD. The dialogue is terrible, hardly a single memorable (in the good sense) line in the film. The narrative makes no sense on so many levels: 1) Here's a book that Carnegie thinks will help him control people - even though *not a single person other than himself and Eli seem to have heard of it*. 2) Eli makes grave sacrifices to protect a book that he doesn't actually need. 3) Eli acts more like someone who was raised in a specific Christian tradition than someone who just read the bible. i.e. the saying of grace is a ritual likely descendant from certain events in the New Testament. There is no actual moral instruction to do so. 4) People seem to have forgotten things in a single generation (like what a TV is) ... I could go on.… Expand

The movie was, for the first part beautifully shot (although the opening scene is ponderous and needless) and there are about two really good action scenes in there. With some original material but the script is crap. The dialogue is boring and uninspired. The character motivations don't make any sense. Eli:If he's memorized the book why take such risks to preserve it). Oldman: If most people can't read but will listen to you if you read from "the book". Then it stands to reason that you could tell them anything, or read from any other book. Solara: Is she really that naive that she thinks she will be safer with Eli? All culminating in an ending so disjointed that I was shocked to see a single writing credit. The most annoying thing is there are a half dozen ways to have made this movie. When studios don't even devote five brain cells to the plot is sort of like getting a big F-U from Hollywood.… Expand

Another pathetic, post-apocalyptic, Christian, houlier than thou, Look at me Im-a-gonna-save-the-world with my Bible offering. Horrible.

This movie squandered it's great look and feel and cast, wasting itself on hocus-pocus laced fairytale. If he'd been carrying the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gnostic Gospels, spilling a bit of blood might be justified, but the King James version? Oh please. - A simple tale of a loner wandering the post holocaust wilderness, would have been enough. Hollywood is crap with stories; either none or way too much. Eli loses it's humanity in preaching and high concept it can't live up to.… Expand

This film starts out being difficult to believe, then transitions into a decent action movie for 20-30 minutes but afterwards returns to being proselytizing Christian fairy tale that is simply impossible to believe. Some reviewers have called the ending unpredictable. That

This movie really sucked and I felt, for the first time in my life, that I probably deserved a refund for having to sit through such a mess. The characters are shallow, things seem to happen without cause, and the plot just winds its way arbitrarily throughout the movie. Every major actor in this movie is horribly unbelievable. How is Mila Kunis living in a complete hell and still manages to have jeans that fit her and aviators? Don't go see this if you've already seen The Road because you'll be severely disappointed.… Expand

Geez, hasn't anyone ever seen a Boy and His Dog, or the Zatoichi, The Blind Swordsman series and then Beat Takeshi's homage to it, complete with musical numbers?? You can dredge up every post apocalyptic film that has been made since Arch Oboler's Five and see where The Book of Eli is stealing from. Throw in some mumbo jumbo judeo christian eschatology, some homages to Leone/Morricone and voila, a pretty predicatable and boring film. But the cars get awesome mileage and they aren't even solar powered. Is Denzel going to be our new Heston? Do we smell another Planet of the Apes remake down the road?… Expand

This was great if you are a Christian. IT was horrid, slow and the action sequences looked better on the preview. And the amazing twist at the end? Not even worth it.

So overtly a religious film it's sad. One really bad thing was the bible in braille, anyone with half a brain can de-code the alphabet from braille. It's just another god and good violence in his name is ok. Who do they think they fooled, oh, you I guess.

The Book of Eli", should have been titled "The book of Insufferable Naval-gazing", what a horribly dull nonsensical "movie"! Instant Walmart $5.00 bin farce!

A bible thumpers apocalyptic action movie. Makes you feel like you just got tricked into going to a surmon. Not really for those of us whom don't believe in idiotic made up religious beliefs. My advice. Stick to THE ROAD.

Denzel and Oldman are great but..... How many times has some variation of this plot been used in a movie? Originality be damned full speed ahead.