Known worldwide as "The Minister of Hope," renowned book author Don Piper said he got to experience the joys of heaven for about 90 minutes after he suffered from a terrible car crash back on Jan.18, 1989. And now his recollection of that experience has been captured in the film "90 Minutes in Heaven," which premiered on Friday, Sept. 11, in 800 theatres in the US.
The film is based on Piper's New York Times best-selling book of the same name with more than 7 million copies sold.
It stars Hayden Christensen (the "Star Wars" prequels) as Don Piper and Kate Bosworth ("Superman Returns") as Eva Piper. Michael Polish ("The Astronaut Farmer") directs the Giving Films production.
The Baptist minister was on his way home from a conference in Texas when a semi-trailer truck slammed into his car. Piper said the roof of his car slammed into his head, the steering wheel struck his chest, and the dashboard fell on both of his legs.
When paramedics arrived, they found him without heartbeat and pulse.
According to Piper, at that moment he went to Heaven and experienced "surreal" things like meeting family members long dead such as his great-grandmother and joining a Heavenly Choir at the Gates of Heaven.
Piper, an ordained minister since 1985, has appeared on numerous television and radio programs to recall his "resurrection" story. He said God had bigger plans for him in this world, that's why he said he miraculously "came back to life."
Piper said sharing his personal story through the film "90 Minutes in Heaven" was both gratifying and difficult for him and his wife Eva, who had to recall all of their personal struggles during that time to be able to deliver an honest rendition of the film.
"I was on the set about 80 percent of the time, and Eva and our kids were all invited to the set, so we were there and saw them making the movie in an accurate and forthright kind of way," Piper told Breaking Christian News. "It was very surreal—to relive those experiences after all these years through the acting; it was not an easy thing to do."
Another difficulty they faced was in depicting heaven in the film. Piper said after he came back from the dead, he was unable to talk about heaven for over a year simply because there were no earthly words to describe it.
"If that's the case on a personal level, just try to make a film about it!" he said.
"The parts of heaven that they chose to portray are mostly accurate. But they can't do the colours that I saw there; that I can't see here. They can't do the aromas that I smelled there; that I can't smell here," he said. "So, it was accurate in depicting the things they could display, but there's so much more—to say the least—to heaven than you could make in a movie."
Nonetheless, Piper praised the producers, saying they did a pretty good job showing heaven in the movie. But whatever visual paradise any special effects team could muster up would simply pale in comparison to the real heaven, he said.
The pastor said he understands that there are sceptics who would disagree with him regarding the reality of heaven, adding that everybody is entitled to his or her own opinion.
"I respect those who disagree with me about heaven. They probably use the brakes on their car, and yet don't understand anything about them either—they use them by faith, the car stops. We exercise faith all the time regarding things we can't see or don't understand, so it shouldn't be any less with a story like this. But it's their call. I just ask people to see the movie, and make their own judgment call," he said.
