Dr. Massey (Bill Pullman) is an astrophysicist recently shattered
by the death of his daughter at the hands of a Satanist, Isaiah Haden
(Michael Massee). As he brings Haden back in captivity, he is
confronted by a nun, Sister Montefiore (Natascha McElhone), who was
led to him by a girl in a coma. Massey's daughter is speaking through
the girl, urging him to help the Sister investigate the signs now
occurring that point to the end of the world.
CRITIQUE
The topic of religion has always, paradoxically, divided the world.
(Isn’t it supposed to bring people together?) And it has been my
experience that people always have a lot to say about the end of the
world. Armageddon, the end of days, whatever you want to call it, may
lead to sometimes profound discussion, but in Revelations it is
the subject of sometimes intriguing and entertaining television.
Revelations'
premise is its main selling point. Fans of apocalyptic horror will
probably be enthralled (though the scary element is a bit tame, as
this is television). Everyone will probably be at least mildly
interested. One of the trademarks of the series is the periodic titles
that appear throughout the episodes with quotes from the Bible. This
may have the effect of leading viewers back to that, which is not a
bad thing, of course. Make no mistake, though, this is TV and drama is
the focus. Within the series-long main plot of trying to stop the "End
of Days", subplots like Massey's daughter's stepbrother getting
kidnapped, the Satanists pursuing the girl in the coma, and Haden
breaking out of jail provide the episodic conflicts and cliffhangers.
Some of it is more successful than the rest but it's never really
boring. (Some people might be thrown off by the appearance of Fred
Durst, the lead singer of Limp Bizkit, as a Satanist.)
The birth of a baby who will be Christ is seen at the series'
beginning and the anti-Christ is born in the final episode. (I haven't
got to Revelations in my Bible yet, is the anti-Christ really born
from a goat? 'Cause that's what it looks like. EWWW!) The opening news
footage about Middle East bombings and other uprisings and things are
not that different from what we already hear every day, but no matter
what your opinions are on those things, everyone will like that the
birth of the anti-Christ near the end of the final episode is balanced
by a final image of a beautiful baby boy under a comfortable tent in
the desert looked after by a priest. Yes, it's the Christ child and it
gives you hope. A really nice end to all the sometimes-depressing
stuff.
Bill Pullman is an actor I've always liked in films like While
You Were Sleeping and Independence Day. Here he even gets a
fairly good fight scene! Natascha McElhone is quite good as well, and
Michael Massee (Season 1 of 24) just looks evil, all wiry
muscle and broad mouth. They are all well served by the gorgeous
worldwide locations used by the directors. Lili Fini Zanuck and Linka
Glatter make the most use of their time behind the camera (David Semel
only helmed the pilot). Slow motion and split screen appear, and
Glatter does a couple of nifty transitions. These people are the
biggest reason why Revelations is the above average viewing
experience it is.
THE VIDEO
Transfer from its small screen original format to widescreen does
the visuals of the series right, except Universal rushed the DVD and
neglected to feature the video in anamorphic widescreen.
THE AUDIO
The sound is fine in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. No extra language
tracks, but English and Spanish subtitles are included.
THE EXTRAS
On-Set
Featurette:
This is typical a far as content goes and is VERY brief, at about 3
and a half minutes. Clips and bits of interviews would have been much
better serviced in a longer featurette.
Deleted
Scenes:
There are about 8 included. On the whole, they don't add much. Only
one is truly memorable, showing Dr. Massey and Sister Montefiore
meeting at Massey's book signing. The scene where they meet in the
series is a bit ordinary by comparison. The others are only okay at
best, with one, the final one, being kind of offensive as Satanist
Haden and his fellow-prisoner followers make up a kind of "Evil Last
Supper." It was a good choice to cut that out.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Revelations
is an interesting watch for anyone but only devoted fans of the genre
may want to buy it. The performances and some of the style and plot of
the series are well done, keeping some viewers who aren't usually into
this type of material (such as myself) entertained. The extras do
leave something to be desired, though.
