From the combined ministries of Jack and Rexella Van Impe and John Hagee comes Revelation, the second in a trilogy of films about somebody's conception of the end times. I say somebody's because even fundamentalist Christians are by no means united about prophesying things to come.I've not seen the first of these films Apocalypse in which a united world government is established and the rapture has taken place. A guy who even calls himself the Messiah named Macaluso played by Nick Mancuso has taken over the world and it's either his way or the highway.Christians are not even united on whether there will even be a rapture, but I'm of the opinion that if the fundamentalists are right and whole lots of people that you know feel that way suddenly vanish it might give some tangible proof about the Bible being real. But it has happened and it's happened to Jeff Fahey's family, wife and daughter, who just vanished without a trace. She could never quite get him to church and he's been left behind as a result. Anyway under the regime of Messiah Macaluso those who are not followers of his are deemed 'haters' and are rounded up and also disappear in more conventional ways.Fahey finds himself questioning what's going on and when he does he's framed for his partner's murder and forced to flee among the haters. Who in his city include former news anchor Leigh Lewis who in the first film had been the first to denounce Macaluso for being Satan.Mancuso's got something called a Day of Wonders where folks will be asked to participate in a virtual reality game en masse. Since we know who Mancuso is, it's something not good and its up to the believer types to throw a monkey wrench into the works. Carol Alt and Tony Nappo play a blind and a paraplegic people respectively and when they play the game they are healed and become Mancuso's disciples. That's a mighty hard thing to give up, healing from some affliction to reject Mancuso.David Roddis has an over the top performance as one of Mancuso's acolytes who's playing his villain in the best Snidely Whiplash tradition. All he needed was a handlebar mustache to twirl at both ends.It's impossible to evaluate these films because believer folk will hang on every word and nonbelievers will inevitably scoff. Then it degenerates into a theological not a cinema discussion. The cast give it their best to inject reality in some far fetched notions.There was a scene that really wasn't terribly germane to the plot where a father turns in his son for 're-education' because he caught him with a Bible. I took a look on the actor, Darrel Hicks, who played the son and found he'd also later done work on Queer As Folks. Talk about an eclectic resume.The ending is positively biblical itself. Just think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

This film is entertaining and I think that only believers were to get the humor, since most of it was bible-based. Thorold Stone is a non-believer that had a wife and daughter who lived God and God called them to be with him in the air (2 Thess 4) and he has missed them since.Franco Macalusso has risen to power and a lot of buzz is going on about THE DAY OF WONDERS.A bus has been blown up with innocent children in it--everyone points to 'haters' and will stop at nothing to see them dead.Technology will play a part in the end times also as they don VR helmets that will put them face to face with the Antichrist that will 'save them' but deliver them to hell once they don the mark.Stone gradually becomes a believer and intends to take Macalusso down by sending a virus to O.N.E headquarters after he learns the truth. He also knows that O.N.E. blew up that bus so that Macalusso can start a war with the Christians and wipe them from the face of the Earth. He doesn't know that Helen Hannah's brother has received the mark and will sabotage the endeavor, which he does. He is about to die when Helen smashes the computer and the believers are caught, like sheep in the mouths of wolves.They sing Amacing Grace which is the Gospel message in a song (check 2 Cor 5:21 also a good summary of the Gospel) and escape like Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego (forgive me for my spelling) and shows that God is the same today, tomorrow and forever. The O.N.E. headquarters are burned down because the heat was turned up too high and the demon opened the door thus releasing the flames. Macalusso blames the believers for it (as will they when the plagues are unleashed in Revelation) and thus THE DAY OF WONDERS is postponed until they recover and the believers are safe for now anyway

I actually thought I was going to watch another movie that was supposed to be called "revelations" but I watched this anyway.It's a wonder to me how Christan movies dealing with the end of times with all the drama in the Bible can be so below average. Is it Satan that is stiffling their creativity? The message of the Rapture and the second coming has been around for ages. Best to just read the bible than to watch quarter witted movies with bad acting and bad writing. Or watch the Terminator. If the way the movie ends is supposed to be some sort of triumph, it negates the whole idea of the Rapture -- that there are still yet to be saved humans.

"Revelation" ended up in my home by a fluke. Boy is someone in the doghouse for that one...it was an innocent enough mistake (with "End of Days" and other millenial thrillers out there). "Revelation" though isn't just a millenial thriller. Its a millenial thriller produced by the religious right.Okay, its hard to review "Revelation" as *just* a movie without tipping one's hand about its religious point of view. So, to be fair, fundamentalist Christians are likely to be entertained by this film. If you happen to fall into the majority of the world's population that isn't Christian, or the even larger majority that isn't *fundamentalist* Christian, you'll get a glimpse into the eerie world of apocolyptic Christian prophecy (or, even worse, a glimpse into what happens when no gay people are involved in the making of a major motion picture). Its clearly good guy/bad guy, black and white, good vs. evil (not a problem in and of itself). However, I think most people are at a loss about exactly *what* they would do if given the choice between 1) surrendering to the authority of an evil anti-christ or 2) putting up with the self-righteous banter of the films' good guys. Isn't there a door #3? What happened to all the Buddhists?An over-the-top performance from a queeny John Lithgow-wannabe playing the anti-christ's right-hand man doesn't help. Amateurish elements pop-up periodically. Real life TV televangelists show up on the television throughout the film. This is where the film becomes truly unbelievable. Instead of hitting the remote control, the characters in this film actually *watch* them! Even more unbelievably, the televangelists are on the t.v. screen for more than 30 seconds without even once hitting the audience up for cash.The "Revelation"...this movie stinks.LeeCushing