The Omega Code (1999)

Well, it's obvious why I bought this movie. It has Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers), Michael Ironside (the King of C-list sci-fi) and Michael York (Logan's Run) in it, a shiny cover, a religious supernatural thriller plot summary and a sweet title. I did get a little bit suspicious when I saw that it was distributed by GoodTimes Home Video, but thinking little to nothing of it, I confidently purchased the VHS. A couple of bad previews from Gener8Xion Entertainment and a public service, 'use the crosswalk,' ad later, and I wasn't so sure about my previously acquired video. Once the movie actually started, it didn't take long for me to dial up imdb and confirm that this was, in reality, written by a televangelist and released for the religious community. Damn, how did they get roped into this? Probably the exact same way I did. If they had told us that the book it's based on was actually called "The Bible Code," maybe York and I would have ditched this project (Ironside will do anything, and he's worked with Van Dien before; and Van Dien is Casper the 6th and therefore has a religious background [conservatives...]). What really gives it away is the main character's pathetic attempt to argue against the existence of God. Only the believers use the argument that "I don't believe in God because something bad happened to me and if bad things happen then God can't exist," because they know precisely that they can refute it. It's the most ridiculously useless way of not believing in God. The whole movie is pretty pathetic actually. They (the Christians) use abstract and wholly unbelievable phrases and events, in effect mimicking and drawing attention to the absurdity of whole sections of the Bible. I mean, why do they believe in that historic piece of fiction? We're taught not even to believe the history books, so why would we believe in something whose validity has only been passed down through generations of tradition? Especially when people are so useless and gullible and idiotic? WTF? I digress. Another fascinating fixation is that many viewers describe the film as being "a James Bond film without any of the immoral parts," so I guess all that violence and killing was not upsetting to them (don't worry, they work for the Antichrist so it's to be expected). Only in America is god-given nudity considered immoral while bombings and automatic weapons are just 'run of the mill' (wait...maybe not). So that's a downer: no tits. But lots of killing. Also, the Antichrist becomes "The Chancellor of the United World," by following clues hidden in a 3 dimensional version of the Torah while freaky old dudes claim that "there is a war going on between angels of light and dark." Basically, good vs. evil where only God is good and evil is always in bed with Satan. And then the protagonist accepts Jesus as his lord and saviour just in time for God to send out some nuclear pulse of goodness that destroys a CGI Satan/demon and saves the world. Many people seem to love it because "in the end God wins and the movie ends with hope rather than despair." And as some intelligent lady on imdb states, all that and "this movie just happens to be based on a true story." Yikes! Other imdb lovers alternately hate it or love it, most likely based on their religious orientation. There are some good vision scenes, and Ironside wears Hasidic facial hair. And it's filmed in Jerusalem and Rome, a definite plus. Believe it or not, the film actually did astonishingly well, making more money per screen on its opening weekend than Fight Club which came out the same season. Double Yikes! And because three's a charm, I found this "awesome" website that talks about the movie, shows stills, and helps you learn how accept Jesus into your heart. The arguments they present are just as convincing as the ones in the movie, that's for sure. Oh, and they made a sequel.

Final Judgment: "More an anthropological atrocity than a supernatural sizzler (I mean, can you believe this shit?); or The DaVinci Code meets VeggieTales. "

"BUT HOW CAN WE KNOW JESUS IS LORD?
The same Bible that prophesied so many other events with such accuracy has recorded over 300 prophesies about a Messiah who would be God in the flesh, come to redeem the world. All these prophesies were fulfilled in the life of Jesus: from his lineage, place of birth, and miraculous conception, to his divine ministry, betrayal, and most importantly his crucifixion and resurrection three days later.

The odds of one person coincidentally fulfilling just eight of these 300 prophesies has been figured as one in ten to the seventeenth power. These are the same odds as spreading silver dollars two feet deep across the state of Texas, then marking just one of them, burying it somewhere in the state and blindfolding someone and having him pick the marked coin on his very first try!"

Whoa. I'm definitely convinced.
And for a second, more political, verdict:
I deem it: "Quite an insight into the delusional thinking that runs our country."