Judgment

I have rented all four in the series. They are all well done films. Nick plays Lucifer in all three and his role is believable. The story was surprisingly good. It seems the more they make of these films, the better they get. Mr. T. is in this one and his role is small. His role is not like the other roles one would see him in such as the A-Team. It had good court drama and a logical discussion about God. The series is starting to run out of steam, but it will be interesting when Left Behind 2 comes out. 5/10

Jessica Steen's character was not typical to any she has played in the past, thus her believable performance was quite an achievement. She is a very talented and diverse actress still waiting to truly be discovered!

In an unidentified period in the future, nations become just one in the One Nation Earth, leaded by Franco "Lucifer" Macalousso (Nick Mancuso). The Christian opposers, leaded by Helen Hannah (Leigh Lewis), are systematically eliminated and Helen is put on trial in the O.N.E. Court of Justice. Her lawyer is Mitch Kendrick (Corbin Bernsen), a man who lost his father, murdered by the followers of Lucifer, and the attorney is his ex-lover Victoria Thorne (Jessica Steen). On the beginning of the trial, Mitch changes the defender, stating that Jesus Christ should be judged, and not his follower Helen, beginning the greatest trial in the history of mankind. The premise of "Judgement" is very interesting, but the movie is horrible. The screenplay is awful, having situations, development of characters and lines very shallow, and sometimes very ridiculous. The acting, with the exceptions of Leigh Lewis and Corbin Bernsen, is terrible. The "actor" called "Mr. T" is unbelievable, probably one of the worst performance I have ever seen. A couple of weeks ago I saw another Christian movie ("Left Behind") and I liked it, but "Judgement" is really a bad movie, for Christians only. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "O Julgamento" ("The Judgement")

This is the fourth film in a series following the movies "Apocalypse", "Revelation" and "Tribulation" and for those who have seen the third movie ("Tribulation") they will realize that it starts off with a big surprise: "Helen Hannah" (Leigh Lewis) is not dead. Instead the guillotine blade was stopped by the anti-Christ "Franco Macalousso" (Nick Mancuso) just prior to killing her. The reason for this is because Franco Macalousso wants to stage a "show trial" to convince everybody that "the Haters" (i.e. Christians) are an enemy who need to be exposed and exterminated if they don't receive "the Mark". As a result a top attorney by the name of "Victoria Throne" (Jessica Steen) is selected to prosecute the case and ensure the maximum propaganda effect. On the other side is a lawyer named "Mitch Kendrick" (Corbin Bernsen) who is essentially drafted to stage a fake defense. But Mitch doesn't like the hand he is dealt and decides to change the nature of the trial so that God is the defendant and Hannah is merely his puppet on a string. Although Franco Macalousso likes the idea Victoria realizes that her carefully crafted script is now useless and that she no longer has complete control over the course of the trial. At any rate, rather than disclose what happens next I will just say that this was an entertaining addition to the series which had some good points and some bad points as well. I liked the actors involved and the overall story. However, the script was extremely uneven and the sets were also rather limited. Even so I think most people who enjoy films of this nature will like this one too. Slightly above average.

I liked this relatively low budget, but entertaining film.

Setting is the future time known (in the Bible) as "The Great Tribulation":

According to some Christian scholars (yes, there is disagreement on the details of the end time)...according to some, there will be approximately 7 years when a great, charismatic, peace making brilliant man unites all the world "One World Earth"!!! Peace and unity. No "nationism" All nations as One!!!

Just one tiny problem.

The charming charismatic world leader, who actually brought peace (temporarily) to Israel and has seemed to stop all wars, is basically Satan or a total tool of Satan.

Think of a larger than life Hitler or Stalin. This charismatic world leader (here named Franco Maccalouso) has previously mandated (on pain of death) that all must bear some kind of identifying mark on their hand or forehead. No one can buy or sell without it either. And he wants to encourage his people to turn in any known Christians (which he calls "haters") so he can kill them.

Thus, he sets up a televised scripted trial of a prominent world-famous "hater" former broadcaster and news person Helen Hannah, to incite the world against those who choose Jesus over him. (Here, imagine the show trials and/or faked signed confessions Hitler or Stalin extracted from some of their high profile victims...)

Enter Corbin Bernsen playing the disturbed and depressed lawyer forced by bitter former lover Jessica Steen to act as Helen's defense attorney. Yes, there's a bit of LA Law here.

The best scenes in the movie take place in this surreal round courtroom, where judge and audience are elevated on platforms maybe 15 feet high above the lawyers and defendant.

If you like courtroom dramas, this is a reasonably good movie for you to watch, whatever your beliefs (or anti-beliefs). Bernsen's courtroom sparring with Steen, and with witnesses, is quite good. And my young son likes Mr. T. the tough "hater" activist in the subplot...

PS If you are a lawyer, watch for an amazing reference to the founder of the Harvard Law School, Simon Greenleaf, a world renowned expert on evidence.

This isn't the Da Vinci Code with its bad scholarship. This reference will stand. Be sure to check the reference for yourself!!!