Plot: After his father is murdered a young man must hunt down a holy relic with the help of a priest and an alchemist.Listening to the director's commentary it is obvious that this was a film made with good intentions. For one thing, the director appears to believe in most of the conspiracy theories that make up the plot! Sadly it is let down by dreary leads, a poor script and the frankly ludicrous conspiracy concept. The Knights Templar, the Book of Revelation and the Merovignian bloodline all make appearances, rendering the film neither original nor convincing. It doesn't help that the big secret conspiracy is obvious almost from the beginning, robbing the film of any mystery. For the most part this is a rubbish thriller, absent tension, excitement or, well, thrills. The leads are wooden, the characters dull, the writing trite, the budget minute and the conclusion patently absurd.Worth no viewings (sadly).

Opposing factions lead by Terence Stamp and Udo Kier hunt for a sacred relic in this supernatural thriller, a technically ambitious crossbreed, encompassing the Knights Templar, latter-day religious conspiracy theories, astronomy, astrology and (pause for breath) genetics.Yet cinema-goers will almost certainly be left scratching their heads on exiting the auditorium. What exactly have they just seen? An action-adventure? A horror film? Or a Papacy-endorsed travelogue on behalf of the Maltese Tourist Board? Though combining elements of each, the messy result falls someway short of the filmmakers' vision. At worst, it's akin to being repeatedly cornered by a tedious, obsessively paranoid theology professor - jabbering away on everything from Isaac Newton to Saint John, and the National Security Council.Sumptuously shot (by the co-director of the acclaimed BBC drama 'Our Friends In The North'), and featuring some of the UK's finest - including Derek Jacobi and Ron Moody - Revelation concerns the hunt for the mythical 'Loculus' relic, fought over by the powers of good and evil for the past 2,000 years. Representing the good (ish) side is Terence Stamp's billionaire Magnus Martel and his computer whizz-kid son Jake (D'Arcy), aided in their quest by alchemy student Mira (Wightman). Close behind is Udo Kier's demonic "Grand Master" and his army of hellish, Predator-esquire Knights Templar, who want the artefact for their own apocalyptic ends.Unfortunately, intoxicated by their scholarship and ambition, Revelation's makers have forgotten to make their movie particularly gripping. It's a mish-mash of genres (something like Raiders Of The Lost Ark meets The Omen) that probably won't appeal to either horror or action fans, nor the Vatican Film Club. Full marks for trying, but the old adage was never truer: when you pour every colour into the paint pot, you end up with brown.

This movie is not only extremely well researched, it is a insider insiders movie for those who know what the global rapture conspirators are really plotting. Inside a recent Youtube movie clip titled the plot is revealed : Rapture Ready: The Christians United for Israel Tour "Max Blumenthal's latest takes us on a shocking and at times bizarre tour of right-wing Pastor John Hagee's annual Washington-Israel Summit, blowing the cover off the Christian Zionist movement in the process. Starring Joe Lieberman, Tom DeLay, Pastor John Hagee, Ambassador Dore Gold and a host of rapture-ready evangelicals praying for Armageddon." Inside this Youtube movie the book "Ezekiels's Valley of Dry Bones Lives Again" by John G. Rogers is shown. He claims that the Jews will accept the 2nd coming of Christ if its done by the resurrection of bone material from Ezekiels's Valley of Dry Bones. (See Ezekiel 37:1-14 (NRSV): The Valley of Dry Bones) Well now, inside the movie Revelation the so-called Loculus is a box which is hold together by four nails used to hammer Jesus Christ to the Cross. The bone material from these nails is then used, with the aid of today's DNA reconstruction technology, to resurrect a new child which will be laid on the steps of the Vatican church. The Pope in turn will accept this child as their new messiah. Revelation claims that this child will be the Anti-Christ. That's enough background info to spend some serious time to watch Revelation, the movie.

Having thoroughly enjoyed this film, I was astonished to see the many negative reviews and overall low rating it got here, though I did note that opinion was mixed.I do think you probably have to have an interest in the subject matter - alchemy, occult orders, mediaeval magic, etc. - to get much out of it. The fact that those topics do interest me was a big part of the film's appeal, but even apart from that I thought it was well done. Perhaps not enough so to grab the attention of the casual viewer who doesn't know alchemy from Alka-Seltzer, but enough not to disappoint anyone with a serious interest.The film is an absorbing, challenging thriller, with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, and some beautiful visuals. The acting is mixed - some characters were very convincing, others less so. The special features on the DVD added a lot to it - it was interesting finding out just how much of the background of the story was based on history, even though the main body of the plot itself was completely fictional. Overall I'd call it a film best viewed by a limited audience. If you don't have an active interest in the subject matter and are just looking for entertainment, you probably won't get much out of it. But if you do, it's well worth checking out.