Thanks for the memories!

Simply A Masterpiece

Purely Joyful Movie!

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

I approached this movie "cold" not knowing anything at all about it but just browsing one evening on Netflix. Previous reviewers have skewered it. What troubled me and unmentioned by others is that it came across as anti Israel or at least patronizing toward Israel. As a non-deist (athiest) I have my own reservations about deist states be they Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran or would-be Christian fundamentalist USA. But whether or not you like it, Israel exists and is there to stay. The scenes of Israel/ Jerusalem being rocketed, bombed and shot up by some coalition of a New World Order were too much for my taste. I sensed that those scenes would appeal egoistically to Israel-haters. On the plus side the lady protagonist was nice eye candy from the side and rear. And some of the Israel-cinematography was appealing and interesting.

Simple and straightforward: The end just fell flat. Now, if they had built the plot so that we cared about the main character, that would be fine. But, the filmmakers' inability to build suspense is what completely drowned the whole thing. In her attempt to find her daughter, the main character relies on the help of a variety of people in the U.S. and Israel. None of the actors were at all engaging, and the only one who actually seemed to be able to portray true emotion was the hotel clerk. He may have been my favorite character. The appearance of all the other characters seemed more random than mysterious.There have been other comments regarding the inaccuracy of how Israel was portrayed in this film. If the settings and the people of the Middle East were maligned by the filmmakers, then that's an even greater shame upon this cinematic waste of time.You're better off watching re-runs of your favorite TV show that you've seen ten times already than waste your time on this film.

When I read the DVD box of the movie, I saw that it was made by "Faith Films", which gave me a big clue as to what the quality of the movie would be like. (Let's face it, most movies made by religious filmmakers are pretty bad.) Had I known before watching the movie that Faith Films was an offshoot of the notorious studio The Asylum, I would have had an even better idea of what I was going to witness.To be fair, this Christian movie doesn't keep hitting the viewers' heads with "messages", instead for the most part by taking the portion of the Bible that deals with the last days and handling it as both an unfolding mystery and an end-of-the-world movie. Though if you are not familiar with what the Bible says about the last days, you will be confused by several parts of the movie. Even if you are familiar with the Bible, there are still a number of non-religious parts of the script that are confusing! For what was obviously a very low budget, the filmmakers managed to do some things well. It's decently shot, the CGI is pretty good for a cheapie movie, and they managed to shoot a lot of the movie on authentic Israeli locations. But the low budget keeps showing throughout, with liberal use of stock footage and scenes with no extras in the background.The main problem with the movie is that there's no spark to it. Although the acting isn't awful, there's no passion, no conviction to the words the actors speak. The unfolding story moves extremely slowly, and there's never any excitement, tension, or thrills.While this isn't the worst effort by The Asylum, it's still pretty dreary and cheap. I bought this movie and three other Asylum movies in a 4-movie DVD pack for just $5, and though this movie's share is $1.25, I still feel ripped off.

If you're expecting to see a film similar to the Left Behind series, you may be relieved when I tell you it isn't. After watching, you more than likely will be disappointed, confused or just plain "what the heck did I just witness" bewildered. I figured this would be another clichéd and cheesy take on the Book of Revelation. I waited for the human cardboard cutouts representing good and evil, the haunting Gregorian chants building into grand crescendos as various plagues assaulted the earth, and the obligatory voice-overs telling me in stern and reverent tones how every scene was depicting a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. None of those things ever showed up in this movie. Left Behind this is not.Our brave reporter is not interested in digging beneath the headlines of earthquakes, famine, social upheaval and economic collapse to find the diabolical conspiracy responsible for it all. Nor is she embarking on a quest to discover the elusive answers to her hectic and unfulfilled life. She just wants to find her missing daughter. And her frantic search takes her to Jerusalem, now the focal point for the unwinding of the age. The End Times are certainly in evidence throughout the film, but as a backdrop only. If the plot seems confusing, even non-existent, it's because the plot is not about the coming Armageddon. It is not about following the clues, exposing the imposters or circumventing the events that surely must and will unfold. It's about realizing that the signs signal the end for some but not all. The signs also tell us there is still time to do the only thing we can do to be spared the judgment that fallen humanity deserves.A great film this is not, but neither is it a particular bad one. It is a film that handles its subject matter in a quirky and non-conventional way. It comes at you from an angle rather than slamming into you head on. The acting is average but does not detract significantly from the film. The dialogue is sparse, but at least I was spared the agony of having the characters repeatedly explain the whole darn story to me through lengthy and unrealistically structured dialogue. The cinematography was pleasing. The locations were usually well shot and added to the overall frenetic feeling of the film. The musical score was good but occasionally overwhelmed some of the scenes. Only one major complaint: I am not all that familiar with the geography of Israel, but what was up with her getting out of the car in the middle of nowhere (a desert) and walking all the way back to her hotel?All in all, not a bad way to spend 90 minutes. This is not a particularly good Christian "witnessing" film, too much is left unexplained, and there is no obvious central message. But Christians should find this film intriguing, even a little thought provoking.