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The Prophecy (1995) More at IMDbPro »

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168 comments in total

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47 out of 52 people found the following comment useful :-
What a cast! A shockingly good film., 28 June 1999

Author: Dan Grant (dan.grant@bell.ca) from Toronto, Ontario

Religion has always been a clouded issue to me. There is absolutely no evidence that there is a God or an afterlife. But that hasn't stopped me ( and billions of people ) from believing in something. And I have always been taught that if there is good, then there is also the bad. If there is a heaven, there has to be a hell. The Prophecy tells us that there is, but it is not necessarily that cut and dried. The ruler of hell in this film is more like a character in a Martin Scorsese film. He is evil ( he has to be, he is Lucifer ) but he is not necessarily here to make God's life miserable. He is not necessarily good, but he is in a self serving kind of way.

The Prophecy is a very confusing and convoluted but brilliant film. The story ( bear with me here, it's been a while since I've seen this film ) is about a war between angels. Some angels became jealous when God decided he loved humans more than them. They become bitter and decide to start a war in heaven with the angels that are loyal to God. Their theory is that if the angels that oppose them are gone, they can take over certain things and hopefully get God's love back. To do this, they must steal the soul of the most heinous person that ever lived. We meet Gabriel, the lead angel in this crusade, and played by Christopher Walken, he is one of the most entertaining characters I have ever seen in the history of film. He has a sense of humour, he is vicious and he uses humans as slaves to do his dirty work. He catches them just before they are about to die and uses them with the promise that he will kill them once their job is finished. Here we meet Jerry, as his human monkey,and the only reason I mention this is because it is one of Adam Goldberg's early roles. He was Upham in Saving Private Ryan and watching this you could tell he had talent and that he would go places. He is fantastic in this film.

Elias Koteas plays Thomas, the only one who may have an insight into what is going on. He was a former priest who understands how religion is playing a part in all of this.

Eric Stoltz plays Simon, one of the good angels that is trying to save the world from Gabriel and he is very affective here as well.

But the star of this film is absolutely Walken. He is perfect as Gabriel. He has a sense of humour and he is evil at the same time. And in some ways you are rooting for him to win. That is until the very end when Satan shows up, because he steals every scene he is in as well.

Satan is played with wicked slickness by Viggo Mortensen. When he speaks he almost slithers and creeps his words onto the screen. He makes a dark scene darker and he keeps you glued to the screen. And his role in this film is one that epitomizes convolution. He is awesome.

This film is one that should not be missed. If you don't understand everything about it the first time, watch it again and again. You'll learn something new every time. And you'll enjoy it more and more. This is one hell of a film!!

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38 out of 42 people found the following comment useful :-
Worth a watch, 6 May 2003
Author: dawnstarrising from London, England

I have watched this film several times and have enjoyed it every time. Christopher Walken is excellent as Gabriel, as he has a presence on screen that just cannot be beaten. The theological side of the story is much more interesting than angels being fluffy creatures most people believe in, and are closer to the angels described in older scripts and texts. You can enjoy this film without being pulled in by beliefs and religion so don't be frightened of it, enjoy the film and another sterling performance by Walken.

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37 out of 47 people found the following comment useful :-
A very impressive and inventive film about angels, 15 February 2004

Author: kalel32688 from Bethesda, Maryland, USA

I first saw this film on TNT some months ago (and, of course, it was edited for content) and my aunt got me this movie for Christmas. And as with the television version, I was entertained.

"The Prophecy" is about the Archangel Gabriel (Christopher Walken) who, believing that his Heavenly Master favors humans more than angels, decides to start a war in Heaven. He goes in search of an evil soul to carry out his dirty work, and Gabriel sets his sights on the spirit of Colonel Hawthorne, a Korean War vet. Gabriel, accompanied by his human lackey Jerry (Adam Goldberg), heads out to the Arizona desert where he digs up Hawthorne's remains, only to find that his soul has been stolen by Simon (Eric Stolz), another angel determined to stop the coming war. Gabriel soon discovers that Simon has hidden Hawthorne's soul inside a little girl named Mary (Moriah Snyder). Soon, it's up to police detective Thomas Daggett (Elias Koteas) and schoolteacher Catherine (Virginia Madsen) to stop Gabriel from obtaining Hawthorne's soul, and things get a bit complicated when Lucifer (Viggo Mortensen) gets into the mix.

I really enjoyed this film, mainly because of Walken and his enjoyably off-kilter portrayal as a dark, evil version of the Archangel Gabriel, who, in the Holy Bible, was one of the good guys. (I wonder what the real Gabriel thinks!) In many ways, his performance is brilliant, yet at times, dare I say, laughter-provoking even though it doesn't mean to. All of the other performances by Elias Koteas, Virginia Madsen, Adam Goldberg, and Eric Stolz are just plain fine (but not at all bad), but Viggo Mortensen gives one of the most accurate on-screen portrayals of the Prince of Darkness aside from Al Pacino in "The Devil's Advocate." All in all, "The Prophecy" is an entertaining and sometimes humorous apocalyptic thriller with an inventive (though what some very conservative Christians would probably call "unholy") concept about angels and God.

I give this film a 10 out of 10 on a scale of 1-10 in my humble opinion.

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20 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
Just as good as you've been told!, 24 July 2002
Author: Emma Abraham from Chicago, IL

Did you friends tell you how great this movie is? And you wondered what they'd been smoking? Well, give it a chance and watch it for yourself--it's brilliant.

The casting is what really *makes* this movie. Christopher Walken is just the correct amount "over the top" to make Gabriel larger-than-life, as he must be, and not just a human villain. Eric Stoltz is tragic as his counterpart Simon, who has remained loyal to his god through the two wars in heaven, and now has only his duty to sustain him. Elias Koteas brings real feeling to a role that could have been cookie-cutter--the once-almost-priest who now must save the world from evil. And Viggo Mortensen, in his brief on-screen time as Lucifer, is absolutely electrifying in showing that the dark angel is indeed the most beautiful of all.

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26 out of 39 people found the following comment useful :-
The best depiction of angels, 15 February 2001

Author: Andy L (andy@paradise.net.nz) from Wellington, New Zealand

I absolutely LOVE this movie, I have watched it over 10 times now and love it every time.

Christopher Walken is brilliant as Gabriel, you could not have had a better person for that role. All the actors in the movie played their part just superbly, and even though Viggo Mortensen who played Lucifer only had a small part. Boy did he play it well.

Brilliant movie, watch it and just totally enjoy it as its meant to be. Awesome...

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11 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Beaten Up By an Angel! ;=8), 21 September 1999

Author: MooCowMo from Mooport Moos, VA

Clunky but effective cult thriller about a lost chapter in the Book of Revelations which describes a second war in heaven, in which the arch angle Gabriel (Walken) gets cast out. Gabriel & his minons hate humans because of God's "special treatment" for humanity, and decides to hatch a sinister, and somewhat bizzare, plot to regain his place. The plot twists are uneven, but an interesting story lies at the core. Walken is wonderful as the anti-hero Gabriel, and Viggio Mortensen is a total hoot as Satan, Gabriel's rival. Eric Stoltz's character is underdeveloped, as is the relationship between Elias Koteas and Virginia Madsen. Director Widen gives his angels a refreshing cyberpunk/goth feel, rather like Tim Broadstreet's Vampire drawings - it is effectively disturbing to watch angels dressed like they belong to the Shotgun Mafia, instead of white sheets and feathered wings, but some will be put off by the contrast. This moovie spawned a less-effective sequel, and rumor has it a third one is in the making! You can tell Christopher Walken had a blast with this character, and that alone keeps the moovie interesting and effective. MooCow says if ya don't mind the silly bits, go for it! :

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14 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
Walken Makes This Preposterous Story Fun, 13 November 2006

Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

This was a different kind of horror movie with bad angels as the main attraction. Actually, the main attraction is Christopher Walken in the role of "Gabriel." He's extremely entertaining with his mixture of humor and evil. He admonishes people for profanity!

Of course, the theology in this movie is so preposterous it's hilarious. In movies like this (actually almost all movies) you aren't going to get Biblically-based stories, just a lot of mumbo-jumbo passed on as such. At least in the end, the hero of the film correctly identifies the warring angel as one doing so strictly out of jealously for God. That's Bibically accurate, but the rest of the theology here is totally bogus. You just hope people aren't gullible to believe this stuff. However, a lot of people probably don't know there are such things as bad angels, so that part is true.

Theology-aside, this is a very entertaining movie. The language is tame but beware there are a couple of very gory scenes that might offend. The special- effects are good. Walken is a "trip" to watch and Virginia Madsen looks beautiful.

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10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Unique, 2 February 2005

Author: Mattias Petersson from Stockholm, Sweden

Movies based on religious themes often tend to bore me quite severely. But this movie somehow did the trick. I guess it was the fact that it picked the "right" pieces from religious context and added the rest as it saw fit.

There is a war in heaven between the angels. A stalemate has lasted for a long time and angels now come to earth to search for the soul that can end the stalemate and bring peace to heaven once again. Since the war began no souls have been let into either heaven or hell, so when the war ends these souls may finally find peace.

The story here is quite insane really. Christopher Walken and Eric Stoltz are both angels who come to earth to look for a soul. Gabriel hates the humans because they are now gods favorites, not the angels. And Christopher Walken is quite magnificent as the dissatisfied angel. And the big reason that this movie works is the acting which is good throughout. Something that is not exactly a given thing in a movie like this.

I guess this would by many people be called a b-movie. But i think the original plot and the acting lifts this quite a few notches. So watch this for something quite unique, but please stay away from the sequels that are not worth your trouble. I rate this 6/10.

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10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Cool supernatural thriller. Atmospheric and original., 19 February 2002
Author: Infofreak from Perth, Australia

Strangely enough being an atheist I am fascinated by supernatural thrillers, especially of the apocalyptic or eschatological variety. 'The Prophecy' is one of the smartest and most effective of this small genre, helped by a first rate cast. Thomas Daggett, a priest turned cop (Elias Koteas - 'Crash', 'Exotica'), stumbles across the corpse of an angel and a Bible with an extra chapter to the Book of Revelation, which mentions a war in heaven. Soon enough he becomes involved in a fight between the angels Gabriel (Christopher Walken in one of his best roles) and Simon (an impressive Eric Stoltz) over an evil man's soul.

A fascinating, atmospheric movie packed with interesting ideas, scenes and performances. Writer/Director Gregory Widen (only previous work of note: 'The Highlander'!) really comes up with the goods in this one, which nods to both Milton and Garth Ennis while adding several original touches. Also co-stars Virginia Madsen ('Dune', 'The Hot Spot'), Amanda Plummer ('Butterfly Kiss', and Walken and Stoltz' co-star in 'Pulp Fiction'), and a small but memorable appearance by Viggo Mortensen ('The Indian Runner', 'American Yakuza') as Lucifer!

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9 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
This film is one of my favourite videos and I have watched it at least 5 times., 27 November 2005

Author: dianemo from United Kingdom

The fact that it was about angels and a war in Heaven made this movie so unusual and totally different from other horror films. Creepy, Christopher Walken was so right as Gabriel, this part was made for him and the lovely Viggo Mortensen as Lucifer left me wondering who this handsome guy was. The story was made more interesting by the way they depicted the angels and the scene that Thomas Daggett saw inside the cave was horrific, with angels impaled on spikes, as far as the eye could see. I thought the fight between Gabriel and Uziel was brilliant and the way that Gabriel told Thomas that the cleft above his lip was him putting his finger there and saying ssh.

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