Revelation Road: The Beginning of the End

A mild-mannered traveling salesman by the name of "Josh McManus" (David A.R. White) is driving through a barren stretch of road in West Texas when he stops at a convenience store to try to make a sale. All of a sudden three members of a sizable biker gang called "the Barbarians" come in and decide to rob it. After obtaining the money from the owner "Frank" (Ray Wise) they decide to kill him, Josh and the only other person in the store named "Beth" (Noel Coett). It's then that we discover that there is more to Josh than meets the eye as he quickly kills all three bikers within about 20 seconds. Naturally, this infuriates the leader of the biker gang named "Hawg" (Brian Bosworth) who swears vengeance upon all three of them. At the same time however there are strange weather patterns and minor earthquakes happening as all of this is taking place. Anyway, rather than detailing what happens next I will just say that this was an interesting Christian movie which essentially lays the foundation for future sequels. As such it leans more towards character development than most movies of this type. However, it does have quite a bit of action which is somewhat surprising for most movies in this genre. In summation, this was a decent Christian apocalypse film and I rate it as slightly above average.

This is a film that many people seem to be putting down in a big way.....personally i really don't know why!! From start to finish it keeps you thinking, it twists and turns, the story constantly adding intrigue and wonder. Yes, okay, there are Christian overtones, but why is that deemed as bad?? Are we saying that films with Christian overtones are bad? The acting is fine,Ray Wise puts in his usual fine performance....on the other side of the fence from his previous role in "Reaper"! I initially found myself comparing this to Stephen King's "The Stand", i don't know why as it's quite different and deserves it's own space Like any movie, like any story, we all have our opinions, and we are all entitled to make up our own minds. I say to everyone, do just that....make up your own mind. Apparently there's going to be a part 2....i'm looking forward to it

Well that's 84 minutes I'll never get back, I came across this film thinking it might be right up my alley. I'm a huge fan of post apocalyptic films and figured this might be kinda that genre from what little Info I could find.

Jesus was mentioned after a short time of watching the film, but it wasn't until a good hour in I realised exactly what I was watching, up until that point I figured they were just being a little heavy on the religious front to try give the story some spiritual angle. Turns out its a film, well the first in a series of films to be nothing more than an 84 minute advert for God.

Unless your really into your redemption and spiritual justice films I'd give this a wide berth, There are no redeeming features or positives I could take away from this, other than an insight in to Religious propaganda and assorted mumbo jumbo.

At least "Nude Nuns with Guns" has a semi plausible story.

Altogether though I would not recommend this movie for anyone who is not part of the Abrahamic faiths, because the feel good message only applies to them and without that it is a bit on the dreary side (no one in the film seems very happy about anything). If you are of the Christian persuasion what Constantine again

This is one of those films that if it was not a ridiculous proselytising for Christian dogma, would be a fairly typical so bad its good B movie. There is a almost coherent story line, the actors are of the fairly competent TV actor type, and the action dialogue and cinematography were not so bad that I could not watch it to the end. Some times the preaching was a bit much, though I imagine it was more for believers benefit than anyone else. I see there is a Revelation Road 2, which makes sense as this film does not really have a natural end to it without a sequel.

RELEASED IN 2013 and directed by Gabriel Sabloff, "Revelation Road: The Beginning of the End" stars David A.R. White as a traveling salesman in the deserts of the Southwest with a dark past, who just wants to get home to his wife (Jen Lilley) and daughter. But his plans are disturbed by a crazy outlaw biker gang and a wise gun store owner (Ray Wise), his granddaughter (Noell Coet) and wife (Eliza Roberts), not to mention the foreboding lightning and tremors. Brian Bosworth plays the head thug while Eric Roberts appears as the sheriff. The striking Andrea Logan White is also on hand as one of the gang members.

This film and its immediate sequel, "Revelation Road 2: The Sea of Glass and Fire," were shot back-to-back and released four months apart in 2013. "Revelation Road: The Black Rider" (2014) completes the trilogy. I have yet to see the two sequels, but the fact that this movie is the beginning of a trilogy should be kept in mind in appraising it. In other words, it's a foundation for a greater work and not a stand-alone film.

If you're familiar with Christian productions from the new millennium, like "Left Behind: The Movie" (2000), "Deceived" (2002), "Fireproof" (2008), "Cutback" (2010), "I Am" (2010), "Abel's Field" (2012), "Do You Believe?" (2015), "War Room" (2015) and "God is Not Dead 2" (2016), this film is cut from a different cloth (of course, you could say the same for "Deceived" and "I Am").

Imagine if Tarantino made an oddball evangelical flick on a low-budget; that's what this movie's like. The outlaw bikers are depicted better than in most of those dubious biker flicks from the late 60s and early 70s while the action is so over-the-top it's almost cartoony, but not really if you consider the Las Vegas massacre and similar insane public bloodbaths. There's a meandering, almost unfocused vibe to the proceedings, which can be defended on the grounds that it reflects the meaningless of life. Regardless, the limited-budget filmmaking is competent enough and the actors are stalwart and convincing.

There's a killer ultra-heavy cut on the soundtrack that appears during the prologue and later in the movie, as well as a great modern rock song during the end credits. There's also a couple of moving mellow songs by Serena Matthews, one during the final credits (after the rock song).

THE FILM RUNS 88 minutes and was shot in the deserts of the American Southwest (I can't find info on the exact locations). WRITERS: Sean Paul Murphy & Sabloff.

GRADE: B-/C+ (5.5/10)