Plot Summary
When a Roman soldier is exiled to the island of Patmos for insurrection, he does not expect to meet the infamous and fabled Theophilus, who happens to be the aging Apostle John. A group of Christians whom the Roman solider knows also comes to the island in search of the mysterious Theophilus, all the while John is experiencing the visions from God that later became the Book of Revelation. All of their lives intersect in a way they could not have previously believed.
Production Quality (1.5 points)
There is a lot going on this early 2000s production from Trinity Broadcasting Network and others. Though there are plenty of attempts to create historically and culturally authentic sets, locations, and props, there are some other issues here that hamper the production. These include some randomly poor lighting and wild zooms for dramatic effect, as well as some unnecessarily overdubbed audio. The voice of God that echoes throughout the film is also a bit annoying. A lot of the special effects used are very obvious and poorly done—if you are making a production about the Book of Revelation, you’d better have some well-funded special effects. Yet on top of this, there are plenty of realistic gritty elements throughout, as well as good video quality and average editing. Essentially, this is a very unique production and is a mixed bag at that, thus warranting the average score.
Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)
Unfortunately, the plot writers decided to consult The Robe and the old Ben-Hur for how to make a first century Roman\Jewish story and cast of characters most like a soap opera. This includes a cheesy romantic subplot and a lot of overly dramatic dialogue. All of the characters are impossible to access due to their lofty and inhuman demeanors. However, there is a very realistic historical context portrayed here, as well as a lot of good plot ideas that are basically wasted. Yet these elements save the plot from being a total loss. There is a lot of content here, and in the right hands it could have made a great two-part movie or miniseries. They needed a better writer to be able to handle the complex content from the Book of Revelation properly. But unfortunately, anything that involves TBN is guaranteed to be overly dramatic.
Acting Quality (1 point)
The same can be said for the casting and acting, as nearly every cast member uses a breathy line delivery reminiscent of Nicholas Cage and the actresses from the old Ben-Hur and The Robe. Thus, line deliver is too measured and drawn out, like a Bible soap opera. However, though the cast is not entirely culturally authentic, the costuming is at least historically accurate. There are also some good acting moments that save this section from being a total loss.
Conclusion
One thing can be said for this film: it’s not your run-of-the-mill cute\boring Christian film. It’s ambitious, but perhaps too ambitious for the resources the creators had at their disposal. It’s very difficult to depict the visions of Revelation properly—this requires state-of-the-art special effects, which usually do not exist in Christian films, unfortunately. Yet there is no excuse for having acting this bad, even though it’s not BRITISH. This plot needed a total rewrite, but the idea definitely needs to be retained for future reworking and improvement. Maybe one day it will be remade.
Final Rating: 3 out of 10 points
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