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(Volume 3: Number 4) -- November 1, 1999

The Omega Code
A film review by Alan Scholes

As I walked into one of the smaller venues of my local multiplex last week to see The Omega Code, my expectations were so low, the movie hardly could have crawled under them. I was genuinely surprised and pleased. No shoddy sets or unintended laugh lines. No community-college-level acting. Instead I, and a pleasantly-full auditorium of moviegoers, were treated to a film with many strengths and only a few regrettable drawbacks.

First the strong points, and they are many. Most impressive to me were: 1) the direction by relative newcomer, Rob Marcarelli, and 2) the consistent and occasionally even innovative cinematography. Considerable credit for the overall pacing and look of the film must rightfully go to Oscar-winning film editor, Peter Zinner. The special effects, while not groundbreaking, are up to the high standards of audiences jaded by decades of stellar sights from Industrial Light and Magic.

The acting was very good and sometimes excellent. Standouts were the elegantly underplayed malevolence of veteran villains, Michael York and Michael Ironside.

Now some quibbles, mostly of the minor sort. The only publicity I saw for the film was the poster outside the theater. The first line of the poster read, "Revelation foretold it, Nostradamus predicted it." As far as I could tell, the name, "Nostradamus" was never mentioned in the movie itself. So why was he so prominently mentioned on the poster? Is this some misguided attempt to attract the grocery checkout tabloid crowd? It makes me shiver to see his name even mentioned in the same sentence with a book of the Bible. Too many people lump biblical prophecy and that of Nostradamus in the same category already without TBN's encouragement.

The poster also quoted Hal Lindsey (who is listed in the movie's credits as Biblical Prophecy Consultant) as saying, "This film is going to open people to the gospel." The very presence of the quote on the poster sends a garbled message. I can't imagine any but the most sympathetic non-believer would actually be drawn to a movie that was supposed to "open them to the gospel." And after seeing the movie itself, I was even more confused as to its intended audience. Much of the movie, and especially the ending would be, I believe, quite hard to follow for anyone who did not already know a good bit about the biblical prophecy in general and the book of Revelation in particular. Following my own viewing of the film, I read interviews of the producer, Matt Crouch, by CNN, The New York Times, and others. Based on those interviews, it appears that Crouch was aiming the film primarily at an evangelical Christian audience. This makes the Lindsey quote all the more confusing. In my opinion, the only way the film would be effective in evangelism would be if a Christian went with an interested non-believer and then went out for coffee and discussed it. I think many unchurched people might wonder, "What in the world was supposed to be happening in that film?"

The script, while serviceable, did not tackle the many meatier personal, social, political, or spiritual issues this subject could have allowed. Unfortunately the weak link among the actors was Casper Van Dien whose uneven and occasionally hammy portrayal of the lead character left a partial emotional vacuum at the center of the film.

My final, and most significant, quibble is that the film may lend further credibility to the bogus belief that there is some kind of secret code hidden in the Bible. Fueled by Michael Drosnin's 1997 bestseller, The Bible Code, too many Christians already believe that hidden in the original text of the Bible are prophecies of twentieth century events which can only be read by splicing together every 7th, or 21st or 1064th letter. While respected evangelical (and even Orthodox Jewish) scholars have thoroughly debunked this myth, its nearly-urban-legend status will likely be enhanced by naive Omega Code viewers.

Minor quibbles aside, it is gratifying to this media watcher to see a $7.2 million film done with quality by an evangelical producer. I hope and will pray that the film's financial success will encourage Crouch to tackle with increased excellence some of the wide range of serious subjects that the medium of film can powerfully treat, in which an evangelical voice is normally omitted.

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Alan Scholes is Associate Professor of Theology at The International School of Theology and a 30-year staff member with Campus Crusade for Christ. His newest book,What Christianity is All About: How You Can Know and Enjoy God is published by NavPress.