Revelation Road 3: The Black Rider

The world, without holiness and goodness, will be one scary, hell on earth! Unrestrained man will be all the things history has revealed to us. Holocaust, extermination, mass murders, pandemics, racism, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, wars especially on a global scale, WWIII?, HATRED, riots, violent storms, a "savior" much like the evil world of men, with an attitude that whatever feels good, do it.

Hmmm, a lot of this is already going on. Imagine it happening all across the globe. The world has already turned its back on Christ and His Father. Imagine a day when Jesus takes His Spirit, dwelling in believers, off this planet. Then all that will be left is one evil against another. Hmmm, one evil nation against another evil nation, all the armies gathered to a place called The Valley of Megiddo, or Armageddon as it is known in name only, because Hollywood has thoroughly confused its meaning-Armageddon being a movie about an ELE Asteroid.

So, what will the End look like? It's hard for anyone to know because only God knows since He's already there. And He has only revealed a small portion of the future to us through His prophets.

The End is coming. Which side will YOU be on, the losing side? Not a pretty picture.

Two years have passed since "Josh McManus" (David A. R. White) has lost his wife and child to the event known in some Christian circles as "the rapture." In those two years all government activities around the world have essentially given way to a mob mentality in which many small towns and urban areas have succumbed to for survival. To that effect, when a companion of his is stabbed Josh drives into one such town where the mayor, "Drake" (James Denton) makes a deal with him to try to help save his companion's life in exchange for his bringing back a doctor that left that same town a while ago to follow a man known as "The Shepherd" (Robert Gossett). Seeing no real ethical problem with this Josh agrees and sets out on his own to find the doctor. At least, he thinks he is traveling on his own. What he also doesn't know is that Drake actually only wants to find the location of "The Shepherd" for his own nefarious purposes and has no real concern for the well-being of his wounded companion--or his promises for that matter. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film didn't seem to have the same effect as its other two predecessors mainly because some of the characters simply weren't that believable. It also doesn't help that the ending opens itself up for a sequel which may not ever be produced. In any case, although not a bad film necessarily, I didn't get nearly as much out of it as the previous two films in this series, and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

If you enjoyed the first two Revelation Road films, the third is worth a watch. It's not a perfect movie, but it is a fun ride that explores the aftermath of the Day.

It's B movie fun with solid writing and solid performances all around especially from James Denton.

The only weaknesses are some of the vfx in one scene early on, but it really does get better the deeper in you get. Bradley Dorsey's performance as a redneck opportunist selling human meat as real meat is my favorite of his yet! But don't worry it's not graphic. It's safe for younger viewers 10+.

The action is on par with the first two. Some great brawls keep the pace brisk. It reminds me of the first Mad Max in many scenes.

Overall, if you enjoyed the first two or enjoy post-apocalyptic films this is worth the couple hours.

The acting sometimes feels rigid, and some of the extent of situations seems unrealistic without additional context. Between the 3 (current) films, there's also a lot of filler with little plot progression. That trend continues in The Black Rider.

In order to keep up with the fight scenes of the first two movies, a lot of needless filler was added, pushing most of the real plot to the second half of the film. The fight scenes also weren't very well-paced and were like long breaks from the plot instead. They could learn a thing or two from Marvel on how to keep things flowing without the awkwardness.

The religious message is prevalent, though at times used with questionable accuracy. As with the first two movies, the Christian message is awkwardly juxtaposed with a protagonist with a penchant for killing. Though I have to give props for at least addressing the issue, it seems to be completely forgotten for the rest of the film.

The main turning point, both as the MacGuffin and in the tone, is the Shepherd. This is the only main character who doesn't seem to be awkwardly juxtaposed with the message of the movie - though he's also far from an action star.

I love ruminating on the book this movie is (loosely) based on as well as movies that attempt to interpret / depict the events. Though not quite cringe-worthy, the movie just doesn't have much going for it due to feeling like a single, stretched-out episode. When the series is complete, an abridged version might be better worth watching.

The acting is great, the plot is great, everything about it is awesome. Only an atheist would have a problem with this movie because of it's Christian content.