Jerusalem Countdown (2011)

One of my all time favorites.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I have seen numerous faith-based movies, and this one is the best of them all. When I choose to watch a Christian film, I don't look for astronomically expensive special effects or any other Hollywood "eye candy", for that matter. Christian movies are intended to vocalize and visualize the Christian beliefs, particularly the beliefs of the movie creators. And THAT is accomplished very well in this film. The non-denominational, essential and universally accepted Christian beliefs are brought up in this movie. In addition, the film delves into the End Times prophesies; and this is where Christians differ from one another. Nevertheless, there is no requirement for anyone to agree with the authors — viewers simply get a chance to see a version of what the movie creators believe will happen. I think, it's great and wonderful to see the pages of the Bible come to life on the screen (or one interpretation of it). This movie has a target audience, and it meets the audience's expectations extremely well. The film did not have a massive budget for its making, so the viewer should accept it for what it is: a visual presentation of the fulfillment of the End Times prophecies (one interpretation). It is meant to tell people the Christian view of Salvation (the way to receive it) and to interpret parts of the Book of Revelation. And I believe, this film has fulfilled its purpose completely. It is even inspirational. In my opinion, most Christians, or anyone seeking God, will enjoy it. And don't read between the lines — the movie is pretty straight forward.

I'm not a Christian but I'm willing to suspend disbelief for the sake of a good script. Show me Jesus turning water into wine or raising the dead, and if it's presented well and is well-intentioned, I'll buy it the way I'll buy a trip into the future or a haunted house. And I wanted to like this movie because I do believe in defending the world against those who believe that the worse it gets for ordinary people, the better it is for the cause of some self-righteous violent anti- Western revolution. But the conviction with which the characters-- and even the government-- are shown to accept Biblical prophecies, and not just the prophecies themselves but a particular leap of interpretation regarding the prophecies, doesn't get sold here. It's just stated. The action sequences are fine, but a little time should have been sacrificed for some explanation of a convincing, reasonably detailed parallel between prophecy and reality, and if that parallel doesn't exist in the real world (as I think it doesn't), then reality could have been fictionalized a little. Maybe the problem is that the movie didn't want to obviously fictionalize because it didn't want to look as if the point of view it promotes is based on a fiction.

Sorry to say, but this film is a sad, sad, sad production.First, there are so many holes in the dramatization that it can hardly be counted as following any dramaturgical rules. Not having read John Hagee's book though, it is hard to say whether the film has raped the book or whether the book is equally bad.Furthermore, the underlying theological understanding of several prophetic issues are so far of the mark - that anyone considering themselves as a born-again believer should stay clear of it, and even more, should not under any circumstances recommend the film (especially not to unbelievers)or buy it as a gift for anyone.It is my sincere belief that this film will do more damage than it will do good. Stay clear!

This movie was obviously made by some Christian group, otherwise why would Randy Travis be in it? Seriously though I found the conversations which often were about religion very facile. An example was when the man and woman were in the kitchen talking about religion and she asks him if he believes there was even a person called Jesus. He tosses his hands around and says "Of course I do." And then gives as the reason he believes this as millions of people celebrate Christmas. But it is clear they have been having this discussion for years and that was the best he could think of? A reasonable response to that question was "No." Then the reason could be given that there is no evidence at all for such a person, and that no contemporary writers who wrote anything whatsoever about such a person have been found. We know that many other people existed because they were written about but not a man who supposedly fed thousands, walked upon water, raised the dead, and many other things.For my money acceptance was too easy in this movie of the mass delusion called religion, be it Christianity or Moslem-based.