Tribulation

There is nothing I enjoy more in a film than watching a good actor at work. I saw this movie years ago and recently watched it again and the same thing impresses me-- Gary Busey's performance as Tom Canboro. There is one line he says, with a gun in his face: "If you came to change my mind, you're too late" and he smiles in this amazing way. If you like character-driven stories (rather than pretty faces and special effects) you will enjoy this film.

Teens I watched the film with really responded to Nick Mancuso as the Antichrist, found him very creepy! It's good casting all around, actually; yet the message is not overshadowed by star-power (kudos to Busey for that).

This is a Christian film with a Christian message, delivered without a heavy hand; and the main character's spiritual process is 100% believable.

Detective Tom Canboro (Gary Busey) is a skeptical atheistic man, who is very close to his family. His sister Eileen (Matgot Kidder) and his wife Suzie (Sherry Miller) are Christians, his brother seems to be Christian and his brother-in-law Jason (Howie Mandel) is agnostic and quite crazy. One night, Tom is called to investigate two similar occurrences, both of them of domestic aggression and attempting to suicide, being one of them committed by Jason, who becomes totally insane. Tom realizes that something weird and unexplainable is happening, and he finds that the men of the leader Franco Macalousso (Nick Mancuso), who is indeed Lucifer, are threatening his family. Tom tries to go home to help his family, but a mysterious force controls his car and it crashes on a truck. Many years later, Tom awakes from his coma in a hospital and realizes that most of the worldwide population is now dominated by the Anti-Christ Franco Macalousso, who intends to destroy the Christians, and is marked with the number of the beast 666 on one hand. Tom tries to find what happened to his family and how to fight against Macalousso. "Tribulation" is a good movie about the Apocalypse. I noted in IMDb that it is the third part of a sequence of Christian films about the text of the Bible. The first one of this movies I saw was "Judgement", the fourth part of this series; now I have just watched the third part, which is much better than "Judgement". "Tribulation" is a good movie and the story can be understood without watching the first two parts. I liked the analogy made by Tom in the beginning of the movie, when he compares a person who speaks with aliens, with one who speaks with God. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Forças Diabólicas" ("Evil Forces")

Before the review, a brief plot summary: Tom Canboro is a police detective with a prankish younger brother named Calvin and a Christian older sister, Eileen. He is happily married to Suzie Quincy, sister to a strongly eccentric man named Jason Quincy, who has read Franco Macalousso's book "Babel Becomes One" and believes that, if the world is united, whatever we believe we can achieve. However, one night when Tom answers a domestic violence call, Jason and Professor Tim Tucker both attack a Christian calling them a "Hater" then both dive out the window, possesed by demons. When Tom learns of this, a mysterious force takes control of his car, smashes it into a truck, and sends him into a coma. When he awakens years later, he finds that 95% of the world wears the mark of 666 on their right hand, Macalousso now rules the earth, millions of people (including Eileen) have simply vanished without a trace and everyone with the mark can't remember theu ever existed, and his wife is a member of Christians know now as Haters being hunted down by the police force called ONE.

Well, as you can see the plot is rather complex. Sequel to "Apocalypse" and "Revelation", it again features Leigh Lewis as Hater Leader Helen Hannah, Patrick Gallangher as Jake Goss, and Marium Carvell as Selma Davis. Sherry Miller plays Suzie Canboro, and Howie Mandel appears as Jason Quincy. Margot Kidder, famous for playing Lois Lane in the Superman movies, plays Eileen Canboro, while Joseph Ziegler stars as Calvin Canboro. Rothaford Gray has a cameo, again playing Ronny Spalding, the Hater spy who infiltrated One Nation Earth in "Revelation". Nick Mancuso again acts as Franco Macalousso. And the sinister Lawrence Bayne, who has appeared on "La Femme Nikita", "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" and "The Famous Jett Jackson", plays the evil false prophet Zack Probert, who hunts Tom down throughout the movie.

This film may be a sequel, but all the films made by Peter and Paul Lalonde really aren't connected. Yes, they have the same characters and each film takes place some months after the last one, but they are really a collection of theories of what the rise of AntiChrist may be like. In this, Franco Macalousso shows to the world that he is Lucifer, who discovered that everyone has the power of God, which is why he was thrown out of Heaven. So, a night is upcoming where the world will join together mentally to battle God.

The film potrays intense suspense, as Tom narrowly avoids being arrested by Probert and his agents while struggling to find the truth. The scene with Macalousso and Helen in the Day of Wonders is spine chilling and so good, it deserves to be ripped off (because good films are always ripped off by lesser films).

However, there is one thing not to be taken seriously, because if it is, it could give a wrong impression. The Tower of Babel is used by AntiChrist as an example of how mankind can come together, Genisis 11:6, mainly. While he could, it is not what the Tribulation period will revolve around. Athiests may believe this as being the truth.

With that in mind, this film is highly recomended.

This movie is NOT nearly as bad as what people have said about it. I agree it is a movie made especially for Christians, and its ideas on the rapture are debatable, but beyond that its about finding God and overcoming your doubts as are the rest of the films in the series. The thing about the tree with Eileen's name on it. Its about knowing God in a very uncertain world. These films, although overtly are about the rapture and tribulation they are more subtly about knowing God and his redemption. Plus this film might be Gary Bussey's best role ever. A rare gem in the midst of a sea of B films. This film is something that I would recommend for any Christian struggling with their faith. It is not for everybody. The script was strong in places and I will agree it was a low budget production, but I would recommend it.

ugh. It just gets worse. Perhaps the positive reviews here are by the Lalonde Brothers themselves. I don't know. BUT they can't be serious objective reviews. Bad acting. Badder writing. Baddest direction. God is worthy of better than this trype. How long must we wait for a good Christian-themed film? Everything I've seen is bad or after-schoolish. We are capable of better than what the "world" produces, no? PLEASE!! STOP THE WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY!