Countdown (Jerusalem Countdown)

I can't remember the last time I've seen such a poorly executed movie. I'm glad I rented it with my free Redbox promo code because I wouldn't want to waste $1 on this movie. I don't know what was worse, the predictable plot or the feel-good religious references. Either way the scenes seemed to drag on forever and the acting was horrid and drawn out as well. The actors were trying to pump emotion into scenes that which made it seem fake. Regardless, it's a far cry from movies like Die Hard or Armageddon. I wouldn't classify this as an action or a suspenseful thriller, because there was no action, suspense or thrill. Just simply a commercial for religion,in my opinion. A bad one.

In its favour this film does open with a hook . A man stand in the middle of the street , sirens are blaring over the soundtrack and emergency vehicles are crashing in to each other and a helicopter crashes . Worst of all clothes fall from the sky , yes clothes including a cheap pair of denim jeans and it's not everyday a clothes are used as iconography for impending disaster . I can guarantee this is the greatest film I have ever seen where the stunt crew involves a pair of Wranglers . Now that's not to say JC ( Oh check those initials) is a great film because it's not . It is however a completely deranged one made for religious maniacs involving religious maniacs and because of this it gives a secular audience much entertainment though one suspects this wasn't the aim of the producers

The plot is low grade Tom Clancy type thriller where a bunch of terrorists sneak in to America with some nuclear missiles and it's up to some Bible basher feds to stop them . Okay you've seen it all before and this might have rendered the movie a little bit mundane , but remember this is not a mundane film featuring generic villains - this is a film where Matalan clothes racks are providing the stunts . As it transpires the bad guys are a combination of Iranians and Russians who want to destroy America and Israel . Make no mistake here - I'm not saying it's Iranian and Russian terrorists who are behind it but the Iranian and Russian governments . Considering a lot of Chechens can testify that the Russian government isn't exactly pro-Muslim why would the Russians and Iranians be in cahoots with one another ? It also ignores the fact that as many as one million Israelis were born in Russia or are first generation Russians though to be fair Israel has been a friend for people wanting to escape Russia rather than a friend of Russia itself so I guess we can ignore this plot turn . What is more difficult to ignore is the factual errors such as the Israeli premier stating "Israel gave up land for peace during the Reagan administration" Hmmm If he's referring to Israel giving the Sinai Peninsula back to Egypt then this took place in 1979 when Begin and his Likud party was in power and Carter was US president but I guess there isn't too many Democrat party members working on this movie and leads me to wonder how much else is factually wrong ? But it's not really a film where you're supposed to think for yourself but anything film that has a pair of jeans steal every scene it's in can't be all bad . Can it ?

I'm not a Christian but I'm willing to suspend disbelief for the sake of a good script. Show me Jesus turning water into wine or raising the dead, and if it's presented well and is well-intentioned, I'll buy it the way I'll buy a trip into the future or a haunted house. And I wanted to like this movie because I do believe in defending the world against those who believe that the worse it gets for ordinary people, the better it is for the cause of some self-righteous violent anti- Western revolution. But the conviction with which the characters-- and even the government-- are shown to accept Biblical prophecies, and not just the prophecies themselves but a particular leap of interpretation regarding the prophecies, doesn't get sold here. It's just stated. The action sequences are fine, but a little time should have been sacrificed for some explanation of a convincing, reasonably detailed parallel between prophecy and reality, and if that parallel doesn't exist in the real world (as I think it doesn't), then reality could have been fictionalized a little. Maybe the problem is that the movie didn't want to obviously fictionalize because it didn't want to look as if the point of view it promotes is based on a fiction.

Beware potential viewers, this movie has TWO major negatives that make it a doubly awful flick:

1) It's script and plot are 2 steps BELOW made-for-TV. 2) It's clearly created by a pro-Christian organization to proselytize.

Problem is, even if you are a bible believing fundamentalist Christian, the movie is still awful. The script is unbelievable, but even worse is the long pauses between statements, when actors talking to one another. Why do they do that? Don't you know that to make it believable - ya gotta talk normal actor folks! Please don't waste 80 minutes on this.

My rating 1/10.

It's really hard to be objective here with a review. Basically what we have got here is right wing Christian propaganda with political overtones marauding as an action/thriller movie.

Throw in some of the worst acting imaginable, a script that is, well, what script? there is none. Add in no continuity and a director that didn't direct and you have the most painful 80 minutes of "entertainment" imaginable.

Now being brutally honest, don't bother with this one if you value your sanity because i was ready to tear my hair out after 30 minutes but had to persevere because i had no choice ( watch or make your dinner was the ultimatum)

I go by the gold standard, if it looks like a dog, barks like a dog and smells like a dog. Well, it's a dog.