The Second Coming

Apparently the son of god has returned for a second coming. First, will anyone believe him, including the person he is returning in? A couple of miracles later, and people are starting to take him seriously, but he has a message for the world. A few days to write the Third Testament, or its all over.

I thought it was a very interesting drama, that kept me hooked to the end. Some interesting issues approached, and taken on in a new way. Nearly two years on, and still some of the details are quite memorable. The conclusion is quite powerful, but probably not what anyone was expecting, which I think is also good in a drama.

It obviously has religious overtones, and depending where you are on the scale it may or may not fit with your views. However its written as drama, and it keeps the attention focused to the end.

Well worth a watch.

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.

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.

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.

Yep, the second episode of this two-parter is rather bum-numbing stuff, but it's worth the wait...

Written by Russell Davies - who has stirred up controversy before - this is a "What if?" story about the second coming of Jesus...on it's initial showing in the UK, it was criticised for it's "Blasphemy", which is a little odd since it's nothing of the sort...

Set in Manchester, England, Christopher Eccleston returns after disappearing for 40 days and nights and proclaims that he is the Son of God. I won't spoil things for any viewers out there with the "Is he or Isn't he?" stuff - suffice to say that he finds it somewhat difficult to convince people....

Well worth the price of a DVD to catch this interesting drama...