'Noah' Trailer: The Bible's Biggest Action Star Saves the World

Whose hair flows even more dramatically in the wind than Brad Pitt’s in “World War Z”? The guy who had to worry about an even more world-changing event than the zombie apocalypse.

We’re speaking of Noah, the man who built the Ark as a sanctuary from the Great Flood … as portrayed by Russell Crowe in Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming Biblical epic, "Noah." The trailer gives us a first look at the film’s massive scope and spectacle (and $130 million budget), as well as one of the Bible’s most prominent figures being reimagined as a rugged action hero.

The trailer wastes no time in setting up the story, as Noah is plagued with prophetic visions that come directly from God, according to Anthony Hopkins (once again playing a wise old sage). “I saw water … death by water,” is Noah’s (extremely correct) interpretation of his dreams, which are peppered with rapid-fire “Requiem for a Dream”-like imagery of blooming flowers and deadly serpents.

[Related: George Clooney Knocks Russell Crowe, Hollywood on Twitter]

Noah promptly starts building a “vessel to survive the storm,” which doesn’t sit too well with Ray Winstone, playing the film’s chief antagonist and non-believer. And then Aronofsky shows just how many ‘creative liberties’ he’s taking with the story — why have just two of each animal species when CGI allows you to have, like, dozens?

Crowe makes for ideal casting in what looks to be a disaster film (and survival story) more than a Sunday school yarn, having endured bad weather and captained seafaring vessel in “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.” It’s also nice to see him reunited with his “A Beautiful Mind” co-star (and “Requiem for a Dream” alum) Jennifer Connelly as his wife, though Emma Watson can’t help but sound rather Hermione-ish as she asks, “Is this the end of everything?”

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the highly anticipated epic, though: There was a recent report that Aronofsky has feuded with the studio over the film’s final cut (charges the director denied), and some — like Christian screenwriter Brian Godawa — have expressed concerns that the filmmaker’s reinterpretation of Noah will veer far from the source material. After reading an early draft of the script, Godawa went so far as to say the titular character could be presented as an “environmentalist wacko.”

Regardless, “Noah” definitely comes across as a passion project for Aronofsky. Despite his knack for intimate character dramas like “Requiem” and “The Wrestler,” the Oscar-nominated director has always dreamed big — we can only imagine what his highly ambitious (and highly personal) sci-fi drama “The Fountain” might have been like had it been produced with the kind of resources that came with his post-“Black Swan” clout.

With “Noah,” all of the storms and big waves and legions of animals will be presented on Imax screens. “The Nativity Story” didn’t get that kind of treatment.

"Noah" opens March 28, 2014.