Support and Sequel

I agree. The film was enjoyable enough, although VanHook, like most writers who explore biblical themes, painted himself into a corner; namely, how do you defeat a supernatural being with natural weapons? I mean, an eternal, supernatural being was foiled by dynamite?

Sorry, can't buy that. But the alternative -- fasting and prayer -- won't sell in Hollywood and isn't all that exciting to watch.

Creative concept, though, and strong casting for the most part. Tom Bosley's character was a joy to watch, even though it's highly unlikely that a top Hebrew scholar, who would be at least remotely familiar with the New Testament, would call the last book in the Bible "RevelationS" (there is no "s" -- it's Revelation, singular).

Robert Wagner was solid, Saginaw Grant has a wonderful face and should get more work, and character actors Geoffrey Lewis and Irwin Keyes were great as always (especially Keyes as the pagan priest -- "Am-mon! Nah-mah!")

The effects were a notch above typical made-for-TV fare, a credit to VanHook's expertise as an effects director. And the "mecha-nephilim", while it made so sense in the context of the plot, was a sort of an ambulatory Wicker Man, something new and different, which you don't usually see in these SciFi originals.

Actually, aside from the ending, the weakest part of the film are the leads. Casper Van Dien is OK at best as a world-class archaeologist and Kristen Miller is miscast as a top-notch engineer. But that's the Hollywood formula--a film like this needs eye candy to get the green light.

All in all, above average TV movie fare and worthy of a sequel.

Derek Gilbert
http://derekpgilbert.com