Saturday, January 5, 2013

MOVIE REVIEW - " THE MARK"


JULIA ROBERTS’ BROTHER IN END TIMES THRILLER!
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If a movie can hold your attention at 3 o’clock in the morning on New Year’s Day, you know it was well put together! One of PURE FLIX’s latest offerings fills that bill and more! “THE MARK” is a very well written, produced and executed. Released in 2012, THE MARK is serious business! Troubling End Times days are already here, where the world systems have already developed the microchip which is termed “The Mark of the Beast” in the Book of Revelation (Chapter 13:16-18).  Just briefly, the movie takes place almost entirely on a Boeing 747 flight on “Pacific Airways” to Berlin (apparently from Thailand).  Viciously evil mercenaries, led by the Gary Daniels character (Joseph Pike) are on board the flight to capture a human guinea pig named Chad Turner (Craig Sheffer) who has been implanted with a microchip that a shadowy “political figure” badly wants!  

Through a fast moving sequence of events, Chad becomes the unlikely hero (somewhat) and rescues what is left behind of the passengers on the aircraft, which includes a “Christian” pastor! They were all left behind when a sudden flash of light from Heaven removes all believers in Jesus Christ (the Rapture) and the pastor and Chad realize that his implant is really the “Mark of the Beast”! In a surprisingly turn of events,  famed Hollywood actress Julia Roberts’ brother Eric turns in an extremely credible and revealing performance as the corporate mastermind behind Chad’s implant. Eric Roberts is lesser known than his famous sister, but he has been showing up more and more in faith-based movies.

The rest of the movie, which will be continued in a sequel to be released later this Spring (March/April 2013) according to a tweet I received from the great folks at PURE FLIX, is the beginning of the path to REDEMPTION (title of the Sequel) by Chad and the stewardess he rescued from the doomed plane. I am eagerly awaiting this sequel as one who has studied these microchips. What makes this movie so gripping and believable is that these microchip implants are already in use in America and probably around the world!  Like the one in Chad’s right arm, which cannot be….and will not be removed from those who actually take the Mark of the Beast (according to Revelation 13:16-18), the ones currently in existence do become part of the bloodstream. They also identify a person via the wireless signals from the RFID device’s transponder to the future government official, who has the microchip reader.

Since this is an entertainment review, I will not go into all that technical stuff. However, it is the knowledge of the existence and sophistication of this same “technical stuff” which makes the thriller in the night skies, at 30,000 feet in “THE MARK” even more compelling.  The increasing professionalism of PURE FLIX and its production techniques are a beauty to behold. The photography can match any secular mainstream Hollywood thriller and the life-like feel of the 747’s Cabin and layout is perfect. I can just imagine how this looks on a HD 70 inch or a theater screen! The film edits and special effects, especially in some of the tighter settings are expertly done. 

If you have a good theater sound system at home, warn the kids and crank it up! Pure Flix, with whom I hope to have a long relationship with, in our monthly movie ministry outreach here at First Baptist Church, Springfield has a long track record of fantastic and spiritually challenging movies with the themes of Redemption, Salvation, Pro-life and the Hope which is to come. Like “THE MARK”, Pure Flix also has the ability to draw in well known top Hollywood favorites like Lee Majors (Jerusalem Countdown); C. Thomas Howell (Escape etc); the late Della Reese and the popular Tamera Mowley-Housley (Christmas Angel). They also have produced excellent evangelistic movies starring my favorite actor who has ever played Jesus in any capacity – Bruce Marchiano! If you ever have a chance to purchase the Book of Matthew DVD with Bruce as Jesus, please do. It brings across the full love and scope of the message of the Savior.

“THE MARK” is recommended top drawer entertainment/wake-up call for a cold wintry night and should send us searching our own souls. The movie ends with a brief preview of the soon to be released sequel “THE MARK – REDEMPTION”!

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