The Prophecy (1995)
Studio: Echo Bridge Entertainment/Miramax
Theatrical Release: September 1, 1995
Blu Ray Release: November 1, 2011
R
Review by James Klein
At times confusing and at other times convoluted but without a doubt original and entertaining, The Prophecy sat on shelves for years until it was dumped at the end of the summer of 1995 thus becoming a small sleeper hit is now out on blu ray by Echo Bridge Entertainment. This small little horror/drama about angels fighting with one another for God's love is not only an interesting concept but it makes me sad that we don't see original material like this in our mainstream horror films these days. It's sad to think that in a time where multi-plexes are filled with cold remakes and lifeless re-boots of classic horror films (and even some not so classic) that I have found memories of seeing this little film back in the mid 90's, back when horror was practically dead. I can feel a rant coming on so I better cut to the chase.
There is a war in heaven between angels. The war is based on jealousy as God loves his creation of man more than his angels. Lucifer himself doesn't like this war either as he believes there should be just one Hell, not two as Heaven is turned upside down. It is believed that God loves his creation of man because of man's soul, which angels do not possess. Lead by the archangel Gabriel, (Christopher Walken, having a hell of a good time in this role) he ventures down to Earth to find an evil soul to help him with his war. He finds a Korean war veteran who has recently passed away but finds out that his soul has been stolen by the good angel Simon (Eric Stoltz) who has hidden the soul inside a small child. Simon gets help from a former priest turned police officer Thomas (Elias Koteas) who he trusts in helping him protect the girl from Gabriel.
With flash cut images of fallen angels and creatures with barbed wire over their eyes, The Prophecy is a bit of a mess at times. The film has so many ideas that it tries to put them all together in a 97 minute film without taking a breath. The pace is so fast that it's one of those films where if you walk away for a minute without pausing the movie, you'll be completely lost. In fact, even without pausing, one may find themselves lost no matter what.
While the film is out there, the cast keeps the viewer enticed. Walken, Koteas, Stoltz, Virginia Madsen, Amanda Plummer, and Viggo Mortensen are all pretty damn good in this. They all seem to be having a ball playing angels or demons and their performances are kept in check despite the premise. While one can't help to make comparisons to The Exorcist or even Wings of Desire, The Prophecy has its own little characteristics that I enjoyed. I loved seeing these angels sit on top of roofs or gravestones in these bizarre positions. I liked that when an angel dies, his eyes go missing. Walken is especially cool dressed in black and just pointing to a human, killing them instantly and dropping them like a sack of potatoes.
Echo Bridge's blu ray is just so so. The opening credits looked lousy as there are scratches and grime covering the picture. At times the film looked a bit blurry but then at other times the picture looked cleaned up and clear, much like a blu ray should look. It was distracting at first but I soon got used to it. The 5.1 DTS audio is fine and I didn't have many complaints aside from a few loud sound effects covering the dialog up for brief periods. There are no special feature's as most EchoBridgeblu rays don't usually contain. I would have loved to have seen a few deleted scenes that I know do exist (the European cut is called God's Army with a different ending).
The Prophecy did spawn several direct to DVD sequels that I have yet to see. I am interested in checking them out since the first film is entertaining and fresh. Echo Bridge is selling all of these films at a reasonable rate on their website so it may be worth checking them out if you are a fan. And how can you not be a fan of Christopher Walken spouting off lines like, "I kill firstborns while their mamas watch. I turn cities into salt. I even, when I feel like it, rip the souls from little girls."?
Theatrical Release: September 1, 1995
Blu Ray Release: November 1, 2011
R
Review by James Klein
At times confusing and at other times convoluted but without a doubt original and entertaining, The Prophecy sat on shelves for years until it was dumped at the end of the summer of 1995 thus becoming a small sleeper hit is now out on blu ray by Echo Bridge Entertainment. This small little horror/drama about angels fighting with one another for God's love is not only an interesting concept but it makes me sad that we don't see original material like this in our mainstream horror films these days. It's sad to think that in a time where multi-plexes are filled with cold remakes and lifeless re-boots of classic horror films (and even some not so classic) that I have found memories of seeing this little film back in the mid 90's, back when horror was practically dead. I can feel a rant coming on so I better cut to the chase.
There is a war in heaven between angels. The war is based on jealousy as God loves his creation of man more than his angels. Lucifer himself doesn't like this war either as he believes there should be just one Hell, not two as Heaven is turned upside down. It is believed that God loves his creation of man because of man's soul, which angels do not possess. Lead by the archangel Gabriel, (Christopher Walken, having a hell of a good time in this role) he ventures down to Earth to find an evil soul to help him with his war. He finds a Korean war veteran who has recently passed away but finds out that his soul has been stolen by the good angel Simon (Eric Stoltz) who has hidden the soul inside a small child. Simon gets help from a former priest turned police officer Thomas (Elias Koteas) who he trusts in helping him protect the girl from Gabriel.
With flash cut images of fallen angels and creatures with barbed wire over their eyes, The Prophecy is a bit of a mess at times. The film has so many ideas that it tries to put them all together in a 97 minute film without taking a breath. The pace is so fast that it's one of those films where if you walk away for a minute without pausing the movie, you'll be completely lost. In fact, even without pausing, one may find themselves lost no matter what.
While the film is out there, the cast keeps the viewer enticed. Walken, Koteas, Stoltz, Virginia Madsen, Amanda Plummer, and Viggo Mortensen are all pretty damn good in this. They all seem to be having a ball playing angels or demons and their performances are kept in check despite the premise. While one can't help to make comparisons to The Exorcist or even Wings of Desire, The Prophecy has its own little characteristics that I enjoyed. I loved seeing these angels sit on top of roofs or gravestones in these bizarre positions. I liked that when an angel dies, his eyes go missing. Walken is especially cool dressed in black and just pointing to a human, killing them instantly and dropping them like a sack of potatoes.
Echo Bridge's blu ray is just so so. The opening credits looked lousy as there are scratches and grime covering the picture. At times the film looked a bit blurry but then at other times the picture looked cleaned up and clear, much like a blu ray should look. It was distracting at first but I soon got used to it. The 5.1 DTS audio is fine and I didn't have many complaints aside from a few loud sound effects covering the dialog up for brief periods. There are no special feature's as most EchoBridgeblu rays don't usually contain. I would have loved to have seen a few deleted scenes that I know do exist (the European cut is called God's Army with a different ending).
The Prophecy did spawn several direct to DVD sequels that I have yet to see. I am interested in checking them out since the first film is entertaining and fresh. Echo Bridge is selling all of these films at a reasonable rate on their website so it may be worth checking them out if you are a fan. And how can you not be a fan of Christopher Walken spouting off lines like, "I kill firstborns while their mamas watch. I turn cities into salt. I even, when I feel like it, rip the souls from little girls."?
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