In 1995 Christopher Walken stepped onto the big screen as the Archangel Gabriel who is searching for an evil soul on Earth and only a teacher and a cop with no faith stand in his way. This was a pretty effective movie at its time of release, mostly thanks to the menacing brilliant performance by Walken. The rest of the cast did and ok job, but it was Walken’s evil performance that really gave this movie it’s much needed bump. Visually this film took the Angel ideal to another level having them perching like evil birds above the humans and really giving them an eerie feel. In addition to Walken, the film also starred Elias Koteas, Eric Stoltz, Virginia Madsen, and a great performance by Viggo Mortensen as Lucifer. His small role really stole the show and gave Walken a run for his money on the evil front.
After the success of the first film, in 1998 they debuted the first of four sequels with The Prophecy II. In this sequel Walken returned as the Archangel Gabriel, this time attempting to stop the birth of a nephilim child. Although this was a straight to video sequel it still held up as being a decent film. This addition to the series seemed a bit faster paced, but not so much that it hurt the film. Walken stepped back into the role and killed it as usual, brining the same swagger evil he brought to the original. In addition, Walken was joined by Russell Wong, Jennifer Beals, Eric Roberts, the late Brittany Murphy, and Steve Hytner, who reprises his small role from the first film, but here with a bit bigger part.
In 2005, another addition to the series was released straight to video titled The Prophecy: Uprising. This was the first film in the series to not include both Christopher Walken and Steve Hytner, but instead Kari Wuher, Jason London, John Light, and Doug Bradley of Hellraiser fame step in this film to take over. The story follows a young woman who gets a hold of an ancient manuscript, which throws her right in the middle of the war with the fallen Angels. This film has less of the dark Angel horror vibe and is a lot slower overall. It’s not a horrible film, but when compared the rest of the other films in the series it falls a bit short.
Also in 2005, another addition to the series was released called The Prophecy: Forsaken. This film was shot simultaneously with Uprising and stars the same cast with the exception of Bradley, but with the addition of Jason Scott Lee and Tony Todd of Candyman. In this continuation of Uprising, the Angels continue to try to capture the ancient text and the young woman who possess it. Again this film picks up where the last film leaves off and maintains its slow pace and really doesn’t add much to the series other than continuing to slow it down. Much like the previous film, it’s not horrible, it just doesn’t have the same tone or Walken presence to make it a worthwhile sequel to this franchise.
This is a great set for a low price, but only missing one thing, the Prophecy III: The Ascent. There is a third film in the Christopher Walken series, but not included here. Luckily it doesn’t affect the overall collection much, since these two sets of films are not collected.
For more information on this set go to www.echobridgeentertainment.com.
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