Revelation Road: The Beginning of The End (3/20/2013)

Rating: Not Rated

Staring David A.R. White, Brian Bosworth, Ray Wise, Steve ‘Sting’ Borden and Eric Roberts

Directed by Gabrial Sabloff

Well now I know the answer to this age old riddle…what do you get when you cross the cheesiest Christian actor, a washed up professional wrestler and one of the most overrated football players of all time?

Josh McManus, a traveling salesman with a history of violence, was passing through a dusty West Texas town. The right man at the wrong time, Josh foiled a robbery perpetrated by The Barbarians, an outlaw biker gang led by a vicious man named Hawg. Then it happened. An unnatural flash in the sky, followed by a crippling series of earthquakes throws the entire world into chaos. Is it the long-awaited event called The Rapture? Josh doesn’t care. His only goal is to get home to his family, but he’ll have to fight his way through The Barbarians to do so. It will be a dangerous journey to the very center of his soul.

First and foremost, I need to say that I go into every “Christian movie” hoping the film is well done, positive and uplifting. More often than not, I get two out of the three…which ain’t bad. In my experience, most Christian films are positive and uplifting, but lack a certain quality that moviegoers have come to appreciate. Unfortunately Revelation Road: The Beginning of the End misses all three.

This is not the first movie about the rapture, but I’m pretty sure it’s the worst. It was clear to me the filmmakers had a big picture idea but none of the details were hammered out before they started filming. As a result, you have The Barbarians who look like a post-apocalyptic motorcycle gang right out of Mad Max – but the apocalypse hasn’t happened yet. The main character obviously has a backstory, but we just don’t get to see it. And for some reason they decided to make this “Part 1” of who knows how many more films.

So besides a very lame storyline, David A.R. White, Brian Bosworth and Steve ‘Sting’ Borden give us some of the worst acting on film. Ray Wise and Eric Roberts are not much better.

Story, cast and direction are some big ones but there are also a number of minor flaws. Things like instead of using the traditional Foley sound effects process, it sounded like they opted out for an iPhone sound effects app. This is especially evident during Josh’s “hand-to-hand combat” scene.

The flashback scene shows Josh’s wife in several stages of their relationship. Which seemed like a decent idea, but when she looks EXACTLY the same in each stage…it was annoying. And when we see her pregnant with the fakest belly ever…the whole scene becomes laughable. I mean, I have seen more believable “pregnant women” on youth retreat skit nights.

But my favorite (sarcasm implied) scene was the gunfight. For several excruciating minutes we see The Barbarians and Frank shoot it out. We hear a ton of gunshots and we see wood splinter and more broken glass flying through the air than the classic “shoot the glass” scene in Die Hard. But the problem is, there isn’t a single window, door or wall that is destroyed in any way. Come on man!!

I’m not going to say I had high expectations, but I was hopeful. Unfortunately the movie is just awful so I’m giving it a “Coaster.”

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
Although the film has not officially been given a rating, there’s nothing offensive and will be fine for most teenagers to watch.

CONVERSATION STARTER

1. Have you ever packed for a trip and forgot something? What was it?


2. Besides forgetting a toothbrush and/or some clean underwear, have you ever found yourself not being prepared for a situation? What happened?


3. Read Matthew 24:44, Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

   Also read Matthew 25:13, Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

   What do these passages tell us about being prepared for the rapture?



4. What are some practical things you can do to be ready?