User reviews

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.

THE PROPHECY is great schlock, elevated by a wonderful Christopher Walken as the archangel Gabriel. Elias Koteas (who I mainly know as Casey Jones in the firts and third Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, so THAT was weird) plays a detective with a religious background who gets mixed up in a second war in heaven. To be honest, the storytelling is a bit messy, but the whole thing is so gloriously entertaining that I cannot help but recommend it, mainly for Walken. His archangel villain is crazy powerful and shrewd, but he also cannot drive a car or find good help from the lost souls he recruits as minions.

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.

Good movie in a forgettable sort of way. Give an actor a role as a vampire, angel, or Satan and you will see what they are made of. The writing ranges from so-so to pretty good, the visuals are dark and amazingly compelling, but the acting from Christopher Walken alone is worth the watch. Eric Stoltz, Viggo Mortenson, Amanda Plummer, and Adam Goldberg also turned in great performances.

The highlight of the movie is a brief monologue from Walken, the king of monologues, about what it means being an angel.

This movie feels like a competent mashup of Supernatural and a procedural cop drama. This is the first time I recall seeing angels portrayed in such a way, human yet somewhat avian, detached, and not always very pleasant to deal with.

Invest the time, less than 90 minutes, and you'll enjoy be glad you did.

A movie with an interesting concept--a second angelic war in heaven, brought down to earth--but bogged down with unnecessary elements. First, the idea that the offending angels needed a particularly dark human soul in order to win their war--and, further, that this soul turn out to be an unknown Korean War veteran living in a tiny western town--is ludicrous. The movie would have been better served had the "soul searching" been replaced with a more unique gimmick. Second, the film would also have benefited with the absence of the Indian "exorcists," who did nothing but shake feathers, chant mantras, and talk in that slow-paced, no-contraction English that Hollywood always has Native American actors speak in. And the "possessed" girl was totally unconvincing.

The angel characters were all excellent. But Lucifer could have done without his diminutive, hooded, white-faced imp-assistant, who, apparently offended his boss in some fashion at one point, and became the object of a short but ferocious growl. It gave Lucifer a chance to flex, but hey, why cart along a trouble-making imp? But apart from little Baron von Imp, ole Lucifer really helped this movie. At one point he informs the main character, a priest turned cop, that he, Lucifer, really WAS under his bed sometimes! And Walken was excellent as a bad angel.

But the ending, oh, the ending--not good! A regular god-in-the-machine cop-out. Watch the movie and count all the missed opportunities for good horror.

Religion based horror movies have long been one of cinema's staples, and while that sub-genre is massively overpopulated; The Prophecy represents a more than decent entry in the cycle. The film reunites Pulp Fiction cast members Christopher Walken, Amanda Plummer and Eric Stoltz, and that's quite apt as this film is like a pulp fiction bible story. I dread to think what god fearing folk make of this movie, as we have popular bible figures such as Gabriel and Lucifer spitting out crass one liners and getting involved in punch-ups. Things like this make the film hard to take seriously, but it's also deliriously entertaining and the plot offers more than enough thought-provoking elements to keep the film ticking over nicely. The story follows a war in heaven, which was kicked off by the way that God decided to give souls to humans and not angels. The soul of an evil war general is the Holy Grail, and the Angel Gabriel has come to Earth in order to claim it. However, fellow angel Simon has had other ideas and has taken it upon himself to hide the soul from Gabriel.

The cast is the film's main strongpoint. I'm not a big fan of films like this, but I had to see this one simply because it has Christopher Walken playing Gabriel. Walken plays the character a lot like he would a mob boss and it really works rather well as he ensures that every moment he is on screen is a treat, and of course, his screen presence is immense. The talented Virginia Madsen takes a lead role and finds herself paired up with the weak link of the cast, Elias Koteas who is flat and hard to like in his starring role. A pre-fame Viggo Mortensen delivers a memorable performance in the coveted role of the Devil and the central cast is rounded off by the charismatic Eric Stoltz. The story moves well, and it's real strongpoint is the way that it gives you enough to think about during the less exciting scenes by way of it's many plot points. The situation is brought to the screen well, and Gregory Widen's screenplay is good enough to ensure that every character is given enough screen time for us to get to know who they are. The special effects are fine and the film is well directed by Widen in his only feature film director's role. This film is, perhaps, not for everyone; but its good enough entertainment and I enjoyed it.

.......and there rose a second war in heaven.

Gabriel is a rogue angel intent on capturing the black soul of a recently deceased war criminal general. Standing in his way is the good angel Simon, who hides the soul in a child, a couple of honest citizens, and Lucifer himself, who has his own vested interest in proceedings.

Largely ignored on release, and badly marketed as a horror film, The Prophecy, in this day and age of torture porn and slasher overkill, is crying out to be seen more by a jaded horror audience. For it be a film that has an interesting theological heart, that matches its daring and deeply provocative ideas. Here is a film that adds another chapter to the bible, the result being a battle for a soul on Earth that will have major repercussions for both heaven and hell. Gabriel (Christopher Walken) is even (poignantly some might say) using would-be-suicides as his unwilling helpers, their paths to peace blocked by Gabriel in his cunningly crafted intentions-yes this is pretty tight stuff indeed.

Flecked with the odd bit of humour (zip code wise cracks for heaven and hell), Gregory Widen's film perhaps is guilty of not fully realising end of the world promise. But this is a minor itch come the finale, because really the picture should be judged as one complete and intelligent whole. Cast wise you will search in vain for a weak link, because there simply isn't one. Walken is suitably gargoyle like, slick black hair and pasty faced, he induces fear whilst simultaneously charming the beejesus out of the humans, re: talking monkeys. Elias Koteas (a candidate for most undervalued actor of his generation), Virginia Madsen, Adam Goldberg (suicide Jerry), Amanda Plummer (suicide Rachael), Eric Stoltz (Simon) and Viggo Mortensen (Lucifer), all deliver top line performances to ensure the piece lives up to its billing as one of the best acted cult films from the 90s.

It had enough support to warrant a direct to video franchise, with mixed results following each subsequent sequel. But it's here where it matters, a fine film that deserves far better than the bad reputation it gets from those who expected a straight out horror film. I urge anyone who hasn't seen it to give it a go, open your mind and hope Gabriel doesn't come a wandering in. 8/10

CHRISTOPHER WALKEN makes the most of his meaty role at the center of THE PROPHECY, an offbeat horror fantasy about good and bad angels and a war in heaven that involves Walken's desperate search for a dark soul on earth.

VIRGINIA MADSEN is effective as a schoolteacher protecting a girl who inadvertently has the dark soul implanted in her by a stranger she trusts. ELIAS KOTEAS is the intense young man who abandoned his plans for the priesthood and has become a detective on the hunt for a killer of souls. VIGGO MORTENSEN does a sinister job as Lucifer, whispering his lines with a rasping intensity and making a vivid impression in a brief role.

Like THE DA VINCI CODE, it takes religious elements and weaves them into a story of good vs. evil using angels in a way that is seldom ever done and making an intriguing tale of suspense based on the darkness of the human soul.

CHRISTOPHER WALKEN has a great time as the Archangel Gabriel, ruling over everyone with a number of nasty lines and knowing winks, with overtones of humor throughout his devilish performance.

Strictly for horror fans who want their imagination to turn on a different sort of fantasy with religious motifs--the sort of horror film that some will find offensive and other will enjoy tremendously.

Summing up: Good, intense performances from the entire cast.

This is my first IMDb movie review so bare with me!

I had very high hopes for this film as two of my favourite actors (Christopher Walken and Viggo Mortensen) star in it and also because even though I am an atheist, I enjoy movies with a religious context to them especially if they are of the horror or thriller genre.

By the synopsis, this film sounded okay, nothing great but nothing terrible. The film starts off slow and I kept waiting for it to pick up but it never did. It fell flat on every scene. I was bored rigid watching it which isn't like me watching a film. I can usually find something riveting while watching a movie.

The actors done their best with a weak script but it wasn't enough to make this movie entertaining.

I'm usually quite generous with films. I know that most of the films I watch will never be amazing or memorable, they will be average and passable. Sadly, this one doesn't even cut to average.

I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone unless its on the TV one day and you have nothing to watch while you sit and text your friends and don't actually pay attention to what its on the TV, you just have it on in the background.

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!!

The movie is about a war angels have waged amongst themselves. It turns out there is a bit of jealously about God placing humans in the same esteem as angels. So the angel, Gabriel, decides to lead an army of angels against God.

The story sounds pretty good at this point. Gabriel is played by Christopher Walken and Eric Stoltz plays the angel Simon. Other stars are Virginia Madsen as a schoolteacher and Viggo Mortensen (Lord of the Rings) as Lucifer. All of them play a great part in showing the relationship between angels, man, and god. Where things get a bit confusing is in Gabriel's search for the most evil human soul. Apparently this can act as some weapon against God, ultimately giving Gabriel his vengeance. The story behind the WHY or HOW of all of this really isn't given. The story just plays along showing the humans protecting the soul, which is hidden in the body of a little girl. The soul's location does well to get the audience to sympathize. Yet the whole "possessed bit" in the film feels off and a little weird.

Otherwise, it's not a bad idea for a movie and certainly creative. And a great cast is there to deliver the goods. I just think the director maybe got a little carried away with an already-fine story. 6/10

There is a thin line between exploring new fields, and simple trash. "The prophecy" is moving on this line, and it doesn't decide itself for none of both sides. It isn't trash because of the interesting theological question (how can we love god if he is absent?) and the strong appearance of Christopher Walken and Viggo Mortensen; it isn't convincing either because of the non-development of the supposed main character, the unsatisfying end and the absolutely not convincing nexus between celestial and secular business.

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.

THE PROPHECY, the first in a series of films about fallen angels warring on Earth, is a hoot. It features some truly zany scenes, usually involving 'good' angel Eric Stoltz fighting against the forces of evil, and a stand-out performance from Christopher Walken who toplines as the angel Gabriel.

Walken is one weird guy, and he's never been weirder than in this film. Writer/director Gregory Widen gives Walken some great dialogue to play with, which adds immeasurably to the fun. The storyline is all over the place really, mixing in some police procedural stuff with De Niro-lookalike cop Elias Koteas, a cameo for Lucifer himself (Viggo Mortensen, raising his profile) and a superfluous appearance for CANDYMAN's Virginia Madsen.

Despite the film's sometimes slightly aimless feel, for the most part it works. The storyline is punctuated by moments of creepiness and graphic violence and for the most part it feels fresh and original. In fact, it did so well that sequels followed...

Thomas(Koteas, determined) was going to be a priest, but he saw a horrifying vision(I won't give it away here), and became a homicide detective instead. But he might still cross paths with the divine. Simon(Stoltz, kind) hides something important from fellow angel Gabriel(Walken, as usual letting loose and stealing the show). And he wants it back... can our lead stop him, perhaps aided by a young girl(Snyder, brave - one of the numerous funny aspects, and I won't give away why) and a small-town teacher(Madsen, gutsy)?

This is immensely creepy. That atmosphere engulfs it from start to finish. The darkly comic elements fit well within that, allowing us to laugh without breaking the gloom. The dialog is where a lot of the humor comes in. This has a warped ruleset that builds upon its religion, such as using someone recently deceased as a right hand man(abusing him all the while) by not allowing them to actually die, blasphemy being the worst thing(ever), etc. The effects vary some but tend to be pretty good. This is 90 minutes not counting the end credits, and 94 with them.

There is a lot of disturbing, bloody, violent content in this. The DVD comes with trailers for this, Seduction, Children of Corn IV and Split Second. I recommend this to fans of thrillers. 7/10

I just watched the Harbinger, which has its own unique mythological storytelling in its own right, and was discussing how I've never seen a native American element employed in a Devil movie before. And they said watch the prophecy.

Both movies are great, but this one obviously has a much higher budget. I love Christopher Walken and Viggo Mortensen.

I thought the concept of the war between the Angels and trying to gain a soul was interesting. I can see in both movies how if you don't have the great acting the overall concept could go south real quick.

With guys like Walken and Mortensen the acting definitely brings the entire movie up. Fun watch!

Thomas Daggett (Elias Koteas) loses his faith after receiving a vision. He quits the seminary and becomes an LAPD detective. An angel named Simon (Eric Stoltz) appears in Thomas' home and later in front of Mary, a native American child in Katherine (Virginia Madsen)'s class. Archangel Gabriel (Christopher Walken) recruits distressed human Jerry (Adam Goldberg) in his quest to win the war in heaven and destroy the talking monkeys. With the situation coming to a head, Mary and Thomas are offered help from Lucifer (Viggo Mortensen).

The first half is a little muddled. Expositions aren't necessarily the best parts of most movies but they are usually the necessary parts. This movie needs an exposition dump when Simon first meets Thomas. It can't be all flash visions and cute non-reveals. Simon needs to tell Thomas about the situation and Thomas needs to not believe. There is a weird kiss with a child. Some of it needs to be explained or else, it's too awkward and confusing. Once Gabriel dug up the military man, the plot gets a lot clearer and the movie works a lot better. Still, scenes keep cutting short. They end before their endings. Some go off screen. This could actually work as a very long pilot episode of a show. It does have great movie acting from Walken and Koteas. Filmmaker Gregory Widen is more of a writer than a director. That makes a lot of sense. The directing in this is problematic but there is good material in this muddle.

I can't believe that I wasted an hour or so of my life watching this god-awful movie. The acting is stilted and the dialogue is complete tripe. I tend to have a "thing" for these kinds of movies but I can't really say anything gracious about this movie. There have been some great concepts and ideas with respect to the legends and myths of the war in heaven. It's just a shame none of them managed to make it into this movie. I know that it was 1995 and Viggo and Christopher Walken have done some great work before and since and I'm clinging to the hope they they lost a bet and had to star in this thing as a "community service" or some other form of penance.

Filmmaker Gregory Widen learned a little, I think, from his previous outing with Highlander: it's not enough to get Sean Connery and have ridiculous immortals and beheadings. You need some fresh ideas that can live past their shelf life of the 1980s without going into complete repetitive mode. With the Prophecy he has a sturdy script chronicling the lapse of faith with an ex-priest played by Elias Koetas and how he comes into the investigation of a series of crimes involving burnt up dead people and lots of signs pointing to a prophecy of thins involving the word "dark".

On the side of themes, things are fine. But he knew that his script needed some uplift and, as with Highlander, needed a star to carry it over past the genre fans. Christopher Walken was his key, and it's one of his true-blue "Walken-iest" performances. He's playing a supernatural creature of the underworld in the guise of himself, so he knows it's time to go to town, and he does. I can imagine Widen smiling to himself as he wrote such lines as "Study your Math, kids", wherein Walken could sink his teeth in and make it an awesome nutbar of a performance. He still brings the creepiness when he needs (in this case all he needs to do as Gabriel is to stare), but it's the superfluous sense of humor, a timing that might be deadpan if it weren't for the evil angle, and it works wonderfully.

The rest of the film is good, I should still say. This is one of those underrated 90s movies that has people who like it or don't, which is the way it goes sometimes (at the least, I would imagine, the first film has a better rep than the sequels, filling up a trilogy which is slightly inexplicable given the ending of this film). Actors like Virginia Madsen, Eric Stoltz, Adam Goldberg and Amanda Plummer take up very good space for what they need to do, but it's Viggo Mortensen who comes out on top as the most inspired casting after Walken. His scenes as Lucifer are tense but calm, if that makes sense, and he has that quality that one may have seen in De Niro in Angel Heart. He's so convincing as him that he makes his own a character that's been repeated countless times - and not just because of the "Mother's feces" line. He notches up the rank of a solid genre piece like the Prophecy into something of a kind of minor must-see - at least for those of us that will dig Mortensen in almost anything.

The archangel Gabriel (Christopher Walken) wages a heavenly war that spills over into New York, and it is up to a priest turned police detective (Elias Koteas) and the angel Simon (Eric Stoltz) to stop him. Greg Widen directs with sombre conviction and pic is dead serious but the prcoeedings still doesn't hold much water and finally unravels in a rather rote final act. However, movie is always interesting due to Chris Walken's usual magnetic presence - his Gabriel is all menacing whispers, odd flourishes, piercing glares and strange line readings - you know, the usual Walken repertoire. Meanwhile, Viggo Mortensen pops up in a late cameo looking like Robert De Niro wandered in from the set of Angel Heart. Maybe they share the same tailor and makeup artist. It's all highly watchable, but the pic cannot possibly deliver on it's hokey premise convincingly.

First separate the story from the film. The story about a second continuing war in heaven is good, very good. Religious themed films aren't the main choice for a lot of people but angels at war is. I really loved the story, and some of the imagery provided to back it up like the field of angels on spikes....awesome imagery. The actual film though was just poor, i can't find any reason for the main character - the priest-cum-cop being in there at all. The lead female also...no reason to be there, the main characters dialogue was just empty, it had no substance, the story could have been told well without them. Now, some sterling performances did feature, Walken, Stoltz and Mortensen pulled off some wingers, though their scenes were mostly with the lifeless leads.

One other thing i am not getting from this film is why it features native American rituals to purge the dark soul. The child that carries it is clearly of native American origin but apart from the end scenario there is nothing that connects here with that heritage. The plot concerning the dark soul itself it barely told, odd considering that the dark soul is the driver for the whole premise of the film. The back story of its original owner (the colonel) is briefly touched but not enough to allow understanding as to why its his soul that is the special one.

I cannot find a justification for the scrolling scenery shots in this film either, several of the plains around 'chimney rock'. I get the feeling they had a helicopter and wanted to make the most of it as none of the shots have any relevance, nor are they in keeping with the mood -> Horror. The film falls into the sci-fi category more than it does horror. There was no real shock or scare scenes, some mild gore and blood but no fear element.

So, aside from 3 roles played damn well this film is a big ole' dud. Unfortunately the dud factor outweighs the good acting factor, just too many weekend actors.

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!