Apocalypse

As a Christian, I get frustrated by how rarely my religion is honorably depicted on film, for most of the time, Christian characters are depicted as "misguided", "stuck-up," or else downright villainous. It is a frustrating stereotype, and I am glad that such films as Apocalypse exist to give honor to what I believe to be an honorable religion.

Apocalypse is a film that relies on a strong storyline and likeable characters, rather than a fancy set. As appearances go, the film comes off looking like somebody's home video(this is not a bad thing, considering that this is a low budget picture), but as the plot thickens and the characters grow(and their performances, particularly Richard Nestor's, grow on you), it is easy to get past this and get lost into the story. And what a story it is! Writers Peter and Paul Lalonde have constructed a thought-provoking script that depicts the coming of an all-powerful world leader who turns out to be the Anti-Christ, and his effect on the world and the people with in it. His coming particularly impacts news anchor Helen Hannah(Leigh Lewis, who gives an exceptional performance), a woman who would rather rely on her own instincts than on faith,despite the words of warning from her Grandmother, who believes that the chaos rocking their world(including a potential nuclear war) is a symbol that they are in their last days and that God is coming. Helen listens, but takes no account until a fatal day when, with only seconds remaining until the earth faces the danger of being destroyed by nuclear weapons, powerful leader Franco Macaluso comes into the picture and all violence stops. The planes containing nuclear weapons vanish, and so do millions of people all over the world, including Helen's grandmother. With Macaluso dubbing himself the true Messiah and claiming responsibility to these disappearances, it does not take long for Helen to realize that her grandmother was correct about God, and correct in the fact that the world was, in fact, entering its last days. With that in mind, Helen becomes a Believer and soon realizes that Macaluso, who is uniting the world through a hatred of God, must be the Anti-Christ. She tries to warn fellow anchor man Bronson Pearl(Nestor), but he has become so swept up in the "changes" Macaluso is making within the world that he continuously refuses to see the obvious signs that determine Macaluso's true identity until it is too late.

As Macaluso and his evil assistant(David Roddis) continue to overpower the world, all you can do is hope that the new Believers Helen and Bronson will come through, but anyone familiar with the Bible knows otherwise. "Apocalypse" proves to be a good character study, with a strong, impacting ending that makes one eager to see "Revelation" and the future "Tribulation." These are films to be admired.

This film begins with a crisis in the Middle East which causes several nations to send their armies into the Valley of Megiddo (also called Armageddon) to defend their national interests. While everyone is concerned that this showdown will result in a massive nuclear war, one person adamantly suggests that he will not allow this to happen. This person is the President of the European Union who goes by the name of "Franco Macalusso" (Sam Bornstein). Also involved in this crisis are two reporters named, "Helen Hannah" (Leigh Lewis) and "Bronson Pearl" (Richard Nester) who are responsible for covering it for the international news organization "WNN". As part of the coverage, Bronson travels to the Valley of Megiddo while Helen anchors the news desk at WNN headquarters. It is at this time that millions of Christians suddenly disappear in an event known as "the Rapture" which causes an impending nuclear war to cease due to the massive chaos that follows. Anyway, rather than reveal the rest of the story and risk spoiling the film for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that this movie wasn't too bad for this particular genre. At least I didn't think so. However, that is not to say that it didn't have some faults. For starters, some of the acting was definitely second-rate. Additionally, there were quite a few spectacular events which were so crammed together that the film failed to convey the magnitude that each of them would have deserved if they had actually happened. On the other hand, while some of the secondary actors were clearly amateurs, the main actors managed to perform their jobs adequately enough to get the job done. Likewise, the film was punctuated with some good music in key places which gave the film a certain amount of respectability. Having said that, I fully realize that this movie is definitely not going to appeal to all audiences due to the simple fact that it involves a controversial religious topic that isn't shared by many people outside of a limited group. Be that as it may, my primary concern was on the entertainment value of this movie. As I stated earlier it has some good points and it has some noticeable flaws. All things considered then I give it an average rating and I recommend it to those people who enjoy movies of this type.

The film is an odd- well at least odd for the mainstream- mix of drama, stock footage and evangelism. Several scenes consist of the main characters watching the televised pontifications of the producers. . .not exactly very gripping. The packaging claims that the film was 'Shot on location on six continents' and I guess that is technically correct- of course the stock footage was shot by _someone else_-- seems a little misleading for a film destined for the Christian market. The soundtrack is perhaps the one thing that saves the film, and features popular songs from top names in Christian music.

I can't believe how bad this film is. It's amazing. The low budget stock footage, bad acting, bad directing, bad lighting, bad sound track and just tons of exposition on the end of the world according to the Christian myth!

I am glad I am not swept up into this like all the other responses on here! It's fun to watch and laugh at! I don't know what's funnier, the film or people who think this is good and take it seriously!

So, I think that having the news be the way we see this unfold was smart. The people left behind have to grapple with what's happening, a new leader rises.

Of course, in this Universe, the book of Revelation isn't a revenge tale on Rome but a coming attractions...read disasters if only you'd heed before too late.

Acting is somewhat decent with Helen Hannah but she's convinced so quickly it feels unearned but necessary

The villains are campy and fell like they're coded gays. Hannah's boyfriend is not a strong actor to be in that position.

Overall, it's done okay and the series does better in other films, you do have to start s somewhere. While not terrible, remember it's the starting line but not too many excuses

It's engaging and the nearly folded clothes were a little bit like...huh? The angels are folding laundry when rapturing people? I think if you're looking for something theologically protestant, you're in the right place. Good? Meh... More like passable.

EDITED TO ADD: Some of this movie was cut into a 1998 John Hagee produced film Vanished. Maybe they worked on both side by side and used other footage for that one with a new cast.