The Second Coming

Stephen Baxter claims to be The Son of God, explaining that The End of Days is near, unless the people of The World can unite, and produce a Third Testament.

It's hard to believe it's twenty years old, it's a drama that's held up well with time, it was and still is controversial and thought provoking, but it's certainly a dramatic and entertaining watch. You can definitely see 'fantastic' elements that would follow in Doctor Who, Russell T Davies and Christopher Eccleston certainly made a formidable team.

Very well produced, it looks good, especially episode one's dramatic conclusion.

It's certainly well acted, Eccleston is terrific, he's very well supported by Lesley Ash, Mark Benton and a good few others, it's such a good cast list.

I would say I think Part one is definitely the better of the two episodes, most if the good content is there, those scenes where The Demons appear, the man begging for money, and the woman in the car, those are chilling moments. Episode two lacks some of the pacing, but it's still good.

7/10.

I'm not going to give this a rating. For personal enjoyment I'd give it maybe a 5, but I feel it's probably better than that.

For me, the problem is I just can't relate to this. After watching the first half, I decided I just wasn't into it, so I read the synopsis, and you know, it's interesting, but I just never found this especially engrossing.

I think the problem is, I just don't care about Christianity. And even though this attempts to really think about religion in a different way, even though it deals with interesting issues, even though it would probably offend a lot of Christians, it's still a movie centered around the Christian god and Satan and that just doesn't interest me. I feel that certain movies rely a lot on deep-seated Christian feeling, and that always fails with me, whether it's The Song of Bernadette, The Last Temptation of Christ or the Exorcist. This is not to say I dislike all movies with a Christian bent - I really enjoyed Come to the Stable and Lilies of the Field - I just don't like movies where you need to care very specifically about Christianity, as opposed to just caring about people.

And that's why I don't feel it's my place to rate this movie, because it's a movie for people who care about this. I'd say it's a movie for people who, at least a little bit, believe in the Christian god (and probably not a movie with strong faith in some other religion, since it basically says the Church of England had it right). I am just not this movie's target audience, and while I found it quite dull, I am willing to believe that others would find it fascinating.

I rented the dvd (appropriately enough) over the Easter weekend and it made for a very interesting diversion from the usual sappy, soppy, silly "resurrection" of religious movies we get bombarded with at this time of year. The acting was very good and the premise even better. Episode one was excellent and I wondered how the director was going to bring this to a resolution in episode two. Well, I loved the ending but I am, like other viewers, foxed as to how it came about. The peculiar logic of the film was compromised by a sudden revelation I'm not convinced the character would have(or could have) had. Nevertheless, I recommend this to anyone who has had their fill of the Mel Gibson/right wing/heaven- forbid-we-have-an-original-thought treatments of spiritual subjects.

This is well worth the price of the DVD, a brilliant thought provoking TV drama that is a cut above the rest. Starring Christopher Eccleston and Leslep Sharp....it will fascinate and at the same time entertain you. Chris is Steven Baxter the Son of God..who gives the world 5 days to write a third testament or face judgement day!!! Not over the top like a Hollywood blockbuster but down to earth like Steve himself. Although the end may offend some religious people....although this does not include myself i loved the end despite believing in God, it is well worth spending 3 hours of your life watching and thinking.

If the story does not hold your attention then the acting will. Chris Eccleston gives one of his best performances to date....the rest of the cast are also brill too.

Just discovered The Second Coming as a new release in our local DVD store. Was intrigued by the synopsis and thought it was worth watching. I'm so glad we did. Why hasn't this thought provoking film been aired in Australia? This is the sort of drama that would have fallen in a heap without the right lead and Christopher Ecclestone doesn't put a foot wrong. He is an excellent actor and this part allows him to show his range. (Can't understand why the Brits don't like him as Doctor Who!) He is ably supported by Lesley Roache in particular.

Other reviewers have criticised the ending for being lame compared with the rest of the movie. But surely after all you'd been through you didn't want a typical "Hollywood" candy coated ending? This makes you talk and think long after watching.

Highly recommended for anyone who can keep an open mind.