DVD Review: Revelations
I find the concept of television mini-series to be a good idea. It provides a platform for telling a story that could not be done justice if squeezed down to 90 minutes, yet it doesn't take an entire season of watching the show each week in order to make it though the entire thing. Of course, all that is in theory. In practicality, I've found that most mini-series just don't turn out to be something worth watching. The good news is that Revelations makes the cut, and is one worth watching. I missed this series when it was broadcast on television, but that's okay because watching on DVD is definitely better. Since there are no commercials on the discs, each of the six hour-long episodes are now only about 45 minutes each, bringing the total run time from six hours down to somewhere around 4 1/2 hours. And you get to see it all at once.
The story revolves around a famous Harvard scientist named Bill Massey. He likes to use science to debunk the mysticism of the bible, which apparently pissed off a certain satanist, who "allegedly" kidnapped and killed Massey's daughter by cutting out her heart. I'm sure if the makers of Assault on Precinct 13 had there way, the show would have opened with this scene, but luckily the makers of this series started out with Massey accompanying the captured satanist on a flight back to his home town where the evil one is to stand trial. While on the flight, the plane encounters some minor turbulence. Isaiah Haden, the satanist, counts down from three to one, snaps his fingers, and the turbulence stops. Is it just coincidence, or does this guy really have some kind of supernatural powers?
After a minor argument with her dad, we see a young teenage girl running through a golf course during a rain storm on her way to school when she is suddenly struck by lighting, leaving her lightly toasted and tossed her into a nearby tree... where she is again struck by lightning, this time leaving her more than just a bit toasted. Wow, rough day. After she is officially declared brain-dead by the docs, she begins speaking the Book of Revelations... in Latin. Oh yeah, and she starts drawing to, with a little help from the investigating nun, Sister Josepha Montefiore, who assists with holding the pencil. One of these drawings leads the nun to the office of Bill Massey, who eventually decides to come check it out for himself once he sees a certain doodle on the drawing, a doodle that looks exactly like one his daughter drew for him.
Sister Josepha is on a mission to find the newly reborn Jesus Christ, and Massey's curiosity secures his place in the journey, so off they go to track down the miracle baby who was the sole survivor of a downed ferry, and the babies mother, who claims to still be a virgin. So while these two are off on their adventure, the evil Mr. Haden converts pretty much the entire prison population into an army of satanists, leads a revolt, and finally escapes. By the time we get here, Massey's stepson, Hawk, as been already been kidnapped and brainwashed by Haden's followers, and is apparently being groomed to become the sacrifice for the birth of the Anti-Christ. So, did I mention that Haden was evil? Because he is. You know, in case I forgot to mention it.
I don't know very much about what the bible says in regards to the end of the world, but since this is a fictional thriller and not a documentary, it never mattered. What's good is that this mini-series was really made well. It seemed to have some very high production values, and pretty much felt like a movie. The fact that it's in wide-screen helped add to that effect. There were a few slow parts scattered throughout, but they really didn't hinder the otherwise continuous thrill of the series. I really liked the way they didn't wrap up everything at the end, almost like they were planning a sequel mini-series or perhaps even a full TV series. Personally, I'd like to see a second mini-series, since I doubt a TV series would be able to have the budget and thus would have to make some sacrifices.
This DVD release comes with two single-sided, dual-layer discs, with each disc containing three episodes. The second disc also has some deleted scenes and a little featurette. On the back of the case for the first disc, the running time is listed as being 2 hours and 10 minutes, while on the back of the case for the second disc, the running time is listed as being "Run time for Disc". Seems their proofer had the day off. Both cases slide snuggly into the included box, which has a nice piece of cover art, and on the back lists the running time as being 4 1/2 hours, so maybe that screw-up on the second case was actually intentional, as a means to get us all to brush up on our arithmetic.
Revelations is being released by Universal Home Video on DVD starting June 28, 2005. It stars Bill Pullman as Bill Massey, Natascha McElhone as Sister Josepha Montefiore, Michael Massee as (the evil) Isaiah Haden, Finonnula Flanagan as Mother Francine, John Rhys-Davies as Professor Lampley, Mark Rendall as Hawk, and Fred Durst as Ogden. Also check out the official website for Revelations and the official website for the DVD release of Revelations.
