Revelation Road: The Beginning of the End

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)

I don't want to sound like a Christian hater because I am not, I just want to warn people about wasting time on an end of days movie that is more like a cheap attempt to get people to watch a religious movie. The synopses makes it sound good and the cover art makes it look good, like you are going to see real catastrophe film but all you get is some cheap lightning effects, flashes of light, and something that shakes a couple of plants and a light fixture. I don't mind movies with some religion mixed in but this movie was just bad from the start. The story is weak to say the least, bad special effects, and very bad character build up. At times I felt like what good acting there was it was being overshadowed by the director and a script forcing the actors to recite religious lines. I also found myself at times rooting for the bad guys because I had no feelings for the good guys. This movie at best should be in bible study classes but even then people may say it is to violent. All in all I found this movie dumb and boring with no real meaning except if you believe in god you will start to glow, turn into a glowing ball and fly up into the sky. I basically did not get it at all and feel if you want to watch a religious movie watch a religious movie like The Bible from The History Channel that was very well done not one that is trying to be religious with allot of sappy dialog. So, if you are a blinded fanatical Christian, you may like this film but if you just like end of days/catastrophe movies stay away from this one because you will be very disappointed.

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.

This is a movie that I am happy in recommending to others. Stylewise, start out with a generous helping of "The Road Warrior", then add a large spoonful or two of Tarantino (sans-vulgarities), and top it all off with a slather of "The Encounter", and there you have it in a nutshell, the overall feel of this flick. The production is top notch, and is supported by a familiar cast of talented actors in a storyline that is set against the end-times... a by now, all too familiar setting for Biblically based films, however this movie works hard to bring a fresh approach to the topic as it generally avoids many of the ubiquitous clichés that seem to be a staple in films of this genre...in fact, by mixing things up and keeping the audience guessing, it even succeeds on many levels in actually NOT being a typical genre flick. I thoroughly enjoyed this, the first installment in the series, and eagerly look forward to the next one to follow, "REVELATION ROAD 2: THE SEA OF GLASS AND FIRE"!

I have never written a review before, but this movie prompted me to create an IMDb account just to do so. To get right down to it, the movie has tremendous Christian input into its production, which some may find intolerable. Given an open mind and a healthy appetite for a real heart-pounder, rooting for the good guy kind of flick, this movie really delivers and may change a few people's lives. They took out all the stops in making this on par with other A-list movies, and special effects were spot on. I wish I had seen it in a theater. Sequel? Please?

I would attribute any negative reviews or less-than-7 votes to the afformentioned people who find religious movies intolerable. This movie was far from religious, and just presented an end of the world scenario as it was told in Revelation, no worse than Constantine in that regard (also a good movie). Others have said "don't waste your time" based on the story and meaning, but the makers cannot have been more forthright about the storyline given the title.