The Man Who Saw Tomorrow

This movie and I have a very interesting history. I first heard of Nostradomus when I watched an "In Search Of.." special on his life and times. They said he predicted King Henry's death in a jousting tournament and all kinds of other things. I remember watching this film in the 1980s and it scared me to death, especially the part in the end about the third Anti-Christ, the evil Warlord in a blue turban who will start WWIII. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, I read an article that said he was the third anti-Christ and it scared me even more. I served in Desert Storm with the National Guard and I can remember all the time I was over there I thought the world was going to end just like it showed in this ridiculous film, I about drove myself crazy worrying over nothing! My father always used to tell me that I was foolish even thinking about Nostrodomus. Well anyway, I read a book on this prophet by a man named James Randi and he pointed out that Nostrodomus was really a fraud. His predictions are so vague that they can be twisted and turned to mean almost anything. All right, he talks about something called Hister in his predictions, in this movie they try to make it out like he predicted the rise of Adolf Hitler. But if you do a little bit of studying, you find Hister was the name of a river in France! Friends there is nothing to worry about! In the wake of these terrorist attacks, people have tried to make it out like he predicted those as well. Dont make the mistake I did, its not even worth thinking about. Orson Welles has a great narrator's voice and makes the story come alive, but just watch it and laugh. Looking back, I feel so foolish that I let this film frighten me so much, I should have listened to my father.

Every time the world faces a disaster, somebody intones, self-righteously, "Nostradamus PREDICTED it..." Be it a flood, an earthquake, an assassination, or anything in-between, the sixteenth century French cleric wrote about it, somehow, in the midst of his hundreds of ambiguous quatrains. His writings have become the nonbelievers' Book of Daniel and the Revelations of St. John the Divine, reference works almost occult in stature about the future of the human race.

As a potential source for a 'cheap buck', his writings are invaluable, as they can so easily be twisted to mean ANYTHING, so low-budget documentaries pop up frequently with "definitive" interpretations, and THE MAN WHO SAW TOMORROW is, perhaps, the most famous of the lot. Best-known for having Orson Welles, looking suitably Satanic, as the Host/Narrator, pouring over ancient documents and looking up at the camera as if he were 'channeling' Nostradamus' spirit, himself (Once a ham actor, always a ham actor...), the documentary jumps to stock footage of natural disasters, the Nazis, Hollywood renditions of Napoleon, and newsreels of John and Robert Kennedy, all the while stating how dictators ('Anti-Christs'), Popes, Kings and Presidents' lives and deaths were foreseen with unerring accuracy.

The problem arises when the 'future' is predicted, using his writings. Whether our world survives or falls into chaos, there has NEVER been a 'fortuneteller' who predicted what lies ahead correctly. It is only AFTER the fact that one can 'interpret' the writings to 'fit' what has happened. It reminds one of the old joke about fortunetellers...if they are so accurate, why aren't they all rich from winning lotteries, horse races, and such? From Nostradamus to contemporary 'visionaries' like Jeanne Dixon, what HASN'T happened that was 'predicted' as coming to pass always trips them up...while their supporters quickly offer excuses that we simply 'misinterpreted' what was foreseen.

So don't face what lies ahead with fear, when watching THE MAN WHO SAW TOMORROW...just enjoy it for the cheesy spectacle it is, and perhaps mourn the fact that non-film fans may remember Orson Welles more from his overripe performance, here, than for CITIZEN KANE or TOUCH OF EVIL.

Nostradamus probably predicted THAT, too...

I remember this being on Cinemax all the time back in the early 80s, I taped it, and when I was in high school, I mentioned it to a teacher, and she had me bring it in and the class watched it, and then the school library borrowed it and made a copy. I wonder if they still have it, they should be ashamed of themselves if they show it to any more classes, I was just a teenager, but these were educated adults taking this nonsense seriously. I saw it again recently, I remember being absolutely mesmerized by it at the time, I'm almost embarrassed that I was ever naive enough to take this for anything more than base entertainment. The whole production is just so cheap and silly looking, and most of the predictions haven't panned out, I'm sure Nostrodamus was a slick talking con man of his time, sort of like Sylvia Brown now, just say a lot of vague things and hope people overlook it when your wrong. All of that being said, Orson Wells has a great presence, and he almost makes this tripe seem plausible, if you close your eyes. If you saw it way back when, it's kind of fun to revisit it and goof on it, but you've never seen it, there's no need to.

Of course this documentary is now viewed with a certain amount of hilarity. However when it came out in 1980 it was received quite well. Chock full of stock footage from David L. Wolper past productions it tells the tale of the legendary Nostradamus and his predictions of the future. The tale of the three anti Christ make up a bulk of the film. The third (and yet still unknown) is the mysterious Blue Turbaned man from the middle east who will cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war in the 90's. The film is entertaining in it's own little way even though it is now obviously riddled with predictions that didn't happen. Then again who knows maybe the dates of the predictions are wrong. Orson Welles adds his special touch

I can't understand why people feel the need to have a controlling influence in their lives, be it God or any other channel. Why can't you take control and responsibility for your own actions and make the world a better place with a positive influence.

Bad things happen, they have always happened and they always will. Any event in our recent memory will be served as a spectacular event but looking at events in our time they are all insignificant compared to historical events.

Hitler is always vaunted as an anti-Christ when (obviously he was a despicable tyrant) Stalin was responsible for far more suffering.

Live your lives and take control of them or someone else will at your behest.