This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
End Times On the News
Plot Overview
“Grandma”
Hannah (Toni Carey) spends her days reading the Bible, listening to
Christian speakers, and watching the news on TV. On the tube Dr. Jack Van Impe explained the blessed
hope (Titus 2:13,) which is the rapture of
the church (1Cor. 15:52), after which a super
deceiver (2Thes. 7-8) comes to power as the
prince of peace (Is. 9:6) who makes a phony
peace pact (Dan. 9:27.) This
“peace” (Dan. 11:21-24) is by the
power of Satan (Rev. 13:3) who will confirm
the covenant (Dan. 9:27) but will
bring no peace (Jer. 6:14 & Jer. 8:11). He is the Anti-Christ (1John 1:7 & 1John 2:18). Grandma worries about her
anchorwoman daughter Helen (Leigh Lewis) out covering the news
of the day.
Helen's co-anchorman
boyfriend Bronson Pearl (Richard Nester) is on the ground at the
Valley of Megiddo, also called Armageddon, covering Israel's
“Samson's Fist” response to a coalition of nations
aligned against them. The button gets pushed and the missiles are
in the air to bring about mutually assured destruction (MAD.) Miraculously
though, the missiles vanish mid-flight, fired bullets faint, and
jets in haste return to base. A sampling of people around the world
are suddenly gone leaving behind neatly folded piles of
clothing. Civilian planes, trains and automobiles crash, the
angles having not planned for horseless carriages.
President of the European Union Franco
Macalusso (Sam Bornstein) seizes worldwide power.
Prophetess Ellen G. White has warned: “The last great
delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist is to perform his
marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit
resemble the true, that it will be impossible to distinguish
between them except by the Holy Scriptures” (75). Christians
instantly acquire a bad name whose conversion at this late date
will likely bring martyrdom.
Ideology
Typically, a final battle is
called the battle of Armageddon. Israeli General Alizar (Michael
Halkusis) says the Valley of Armageddon is “the only passage
into Israel that mother nature has left open.” That means
there would gave been many battles of Armageddon over the millennia
since the prophets foretold this one. It's supposed to be an
invasion by Russia, but old nation names are questionable and
Russia never had any doings with Israel—the one exception
being Kiev (the start of Russia) having gifted some territory to a
certain prince, but that's just an historical footnote.
Furthermore, the weapons & strategy described grandiosely
by the prophet are decidedly ancient. Take modern language New
World Translation (Psalm 46:9)
“[God] is bringing an end to wars throughout the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the military
wagons with fire.” Compare that with Frederick Forsyth:
“Israel needed fighters, transport planes, Howitzer
105-mm. artillery pieces, armored cars,
armored personnel carriers, and tanks, but above all tanks”
(18). Sounds more like the way Nostradamus would describe
future weaponry than would an old time Bible prophet. This battle
of Armageddon might be long over and well forgotten.
Hal Lindsy in his popular book, The Late Great Planet Earth places this battle at the beginning of a Rube Goldberg concoction of scriptures to come up with a scheme called the pre-tribulation rapture whereby the rapture of the church is not the end of the game, but the unlucky earth-dwellers must suffer through an additional seven years of great tribulation. That is what this movie purports.
I bought into it when I became a Christian in the Jesus movement back in 1970. I was certain that it would start to unfold by the end of the year, but I was wrong, obviously. I joined Christian communes where we lived, worked and worshipped together while evangelizing other young people to get prepared. In 1974 that option went away and I joined mainstream society. Now, after fifty years it still hasn't happened. Hmm. I read, (Deut. 18:22) “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” I'm resigned to the world ending after regular play without going into extra innings.
This is only a movie. Movies don't have to follow the Bible or any book for that matter. One can still be made out of superficial ideas garnered from whatever source. Although my movie reviews are Bible-based, this one's plot follows baseless interpretations of prophetic scripture. It's packed with them, so there's no room for ancillary plot development.
Production Values
“” (Video 1998) was directed by Peter Gerretsen. It was written by Peter Lalonde and Paul Lalonde. It stars Leigh Lewis, Richard Nester and Sam Bornstein. The main actors did okay, but some of the secondary actors were amateurish.
MPA rated it PG for violence and thematic material. Jews got gassed, the boss was blasted, the anchor was hanged, a colored person prayed, and grandma is gone. Deal with it. The action is too busy to follow properly. Stock military footage abounds. The music soundtrack features hit songs from top names in gospel music. Runtime is 1 hour 34 minutes.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
There are some epic movies taken from the Bible, which are altogether worthy of the big screen. Others without that stature are still credibly based on the good book, some loosely, others rigorously. This one is worth a sit-down in front of the idiot box if that's what you're into.
An adequate altar call is presented at the end.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Decent action scenes. Suitability for children: Suitable for children with guidance. Special effects: Wake up and smell the 1990s technology. Video Occasion: Like watching TV on a slow programming day. Suspense: Predictable. Overall movie rating: Two stars out of five.
Works Cited
Unless otherwise noted, scripture was cited from the King James Version, Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.
Forsyth, Frederick. The Odessa File. Copyright © 1972 by Danesbrook Productions Ltd. New York: The Viking Press, 1972. Print.
White, Ellen G. Great Controversy. As condensed in “World Crisis Foretold.” Altamont, TN: Harvestime Books, 2020. Print.
bibles.n7nz.org