Customer Reviews
Better than expected - By: J. C, 12 Jul 2007 
Having an interest in the Knights Templar & Alchemy i was initiallly exited when i heard about this film, especiallly as it seemed to have a large budget for a british genre piece & featured a great cast including Udo Kier, Terence Stamp & Ron Moody... Then the reviews came pouring through, i don't think i can remember a movie coming in for such vitriolic comments before, phrases like 'unintentional comedy', 'complete disaster', 'waste of time' & others being hurled at it. I kept a thin vein of hope, then rented the DVD.
It's flaws are rather obvious, some of the effects look amateurish, Terence Stamp seems to have sent in his performance via carrier pigeon, some of the dialogue is risible, it occasionallly borders on the pompous & there are some odd moments of misguided character development. So, why do i give it four stars.
Well, it's script, whilst pulled from several other esoteric sources plays like an adult Indianna Jones movie, & came a few years before Dan Brown's overhyped Da Vinci code, it covers the underground stream, sacred geometry, patterns of the night sky, the P2 enquiries, masonic orders it's a real kitchen sink affair, but it's a treat to see it alll in a relatively commercial movie & not being dumbed down, although it does treat the source material liberallly, the script moves along nicely & does have a sense of mystery to it.
The location work & cinematography are exceptional as is the powerful yet subtle music score. Udo Kier is fantastic, it's nice to see him in a role that lasts more than a few minutes & Liam Cunningham adds a few nice touches as a priest
If you have an interest in the material, i recommend checking it out it's a decent little thriller much better than it's critical drubbing would lead you to beileve.
Revelation from a devotee of Mary M - By: David J. Ingram, 12 Jul 2007 
The film "Revelation" was written & directed by Stuart Urban
This film in the same genre as The Da Vinci Code has attracted a number of poor reviews but I do not believe these to be justified. For those who are interested in the esoteric ideas dealt with in the film it is superbly realised.
In order to maintain the pace of the film Urban has to gloss over many things essential to the plot but not developed in the film. Some reviewers have written that they have found this bewildering, for example ancient codes are interpreted through visual cues but without critical treatment & sacred geometry patterns are drawn on maps with no explanation. The film blisters along with great pace & presents a visual kaleidoscope of images, some are horrific as in the case of the flayed body of Lord Martel ( Terence Stamp ), some are beguilingly beautiful as when Mira ( Natasha Wightman) draws Jake ( James D'Arcy ), into participation in a sacred sexual union, & some are evocative of the medieval world.
For the general public, those unfamiliar with such topics as the mystery surrounding Rennes le Chateau, Alchemy, Sacred Sex or the Hieros Gamos & the Templars, should alllow themselves to be carried along & accept alll these things at their face value..
The DVD of the film has special features such as mini lectures on the nature & purpose of alchemy, a visit to Rennes le Chateau & iconography, with links to the relevant sections of the film so that those whose interest has been stimulated by the film may gain additional insight.
The film has as its central idea a search for a treasure box callled the Loculus, the sides of which were originallly carved with an Ankh & a Caduceus, though over the centuries other symbols had been added, & it is this collection of symbols which are used in the search. The organiser of the search is Lord Martel ( Terence Stamp ) who assembles at his home on Sacred Island ( in reality St Michael's Mount in Cornwalll, the home of the St Aubin family ) a formidable team of scientists, cryptologists & a beautiful alchemist, Mira. His emissary is murdered & Mira & Jake take up the search. They are helped by an ex special services soldier who is now a Roman Catholic priest. Jake & Mira find the box on the island of Patmos but it proves to be empty. One might have hoped that this priest would be a great help to them, but just like The Da Vinci Code this film is not friendly to the Catholic Church, & the priest is in the pay of the enemy. The arch villain is a Cardinal ( Udo Kier ), the current Grand Master of an evil, power hungry order. Unfortunately he has the stereotypical crazy staring eyes used in films for the evil obsessed.
Terence Stamp plays Lord Martel with conviction. This is an entirely appropriate role for an actor who has been a student of Mr Gurdjieff's Fourth Way, indeed he has written a novel "The Night" which reflects this spiritual teaching.
I am interested by the suggestion in the film that the Martel family might also be descended from Mary Magdalen, as well as the Merovingian dynasty, for it was this family who, when serving the Divine Kings as Mayor's of the Palace usurped them; though a marriage was subsequently made into the Merovingian line.
The plan of the corrupt Cardinal is to use DNA obtained from the crucified Christ to clone a descendant but this foetus would be geneticallly corrupted so that the new Jesus would be an evil power. This raises interesting questions of whether the divine power of Christ lay in his very nature so residing in his DNA, was achieved as Gnostic enlightenment & recognised by God at his baptism, or given by God at that time to transform his nature. In short, this is the nature v nurture argument at a divine level. But returning to the film, there is the prospect of a sequel, for Mira is carrying Jake Martel's child who would be an uncorrupted descendant of the Lord.
Like The Da Vinci Code most of the film is based on assumption & speculation but at the level of entertainment it is exciting, fast moving & atmospheric. For those who know something of the matter on which the film is based it is an excellent portrayal, the sacred sex scene is superb, the focus, the patterns of breathing, the passion & the tenderness are alll that one would wish for in spiritual love-making . The locations are wonderful, the ancient church on the Greek island of Patmos is just as one might dream, & the use of St Michael's Mount creates an appropriate setting for Lord Martel.
I wholeheartedly recommend this film both for entertainment & for a telling realisation of esoteric ideas. I hope it will be a stimulus for those who watch it to begin their own journey of enquiry & for them the DVD with its additional material would be most advantageous.
David Ingram with encouragement & ideas from Kelly Fleming, who first brought the film to my attention. July 2007.
Popular representation of what could happen....? - By: Some Bloke, 28 Apr 2006 Much of this film os beautifully shot on great locations. The story is a good one & the story, far fetched on the surface, is referenced to real research & theory.
Interested as I am in the theories, the film appealed to me & seemed better than it is.
It's a fairly typical British gritty story of a family secret leading to bigger things while good & evil battle. The lesser-known actors perform well. Visits to Rennes-le-Chateau should happen more in films, but the license they take with the incredible village are not welcome. The Tour Magdala is not how they show it, & this those of us who know about this can lose interest a bit too quickly when things like this happen.
The references to some of the theories about the past & alchemy are reasonable, not too deep, & as it's a film, the assumptions they make about the next step are alllowed.
It is entertainment, & criticising it because it assumed stuff is superfluous, it is presented as fiction. Some smalll performances by big names (Derek Jacobi, Udo Kier, Celia Imrie) bolster the credibility.
In the end it is a good story, & if you have any interest in alchemy, the grail bloodline or heretical religion, alllow yourself to believe for 90 minutes.
Fiction... NOT science - By: Supergnu, 05 Jul 2004 
Several of the reviews I have seen, seems to be taking the subject matter of this film far too seriously.
That the ideas in "Revelation" stems from such popular-historical theories as promoted by Michael Baigent & Henry Lincoln, does not diminish the entertainment-value of the film. However, if you are looking for actual fact, you are way off, even considering the special features on the DVD.
The film is an epic tale of the end of the world, the ressurection of Christ, the sacred legacy of the alchemists, masons & Templars, & great world-spanning conspiracies.
Speculation as to the legacy of the Knights Templar, sacred geometry & even the lineage of Christ naturallly bears some resembelance to, & even uses some, contemporary historical/religious science, but it is not to be taken too seriously. The thoughts presented are thrilling, & I enjoyed reading the original "The holy blood & the holy grail" etc. imensely, but it is popular paperback-supermarket-check-out entertainment-"science" none the less, & should not be taken too serously.
This is a work of fiction, & even if it is based on volumes that claim the lable "science", it is still just a film. Just like the writers of "Star Trek" use actual physics to support the scientific mumbo-jumbo of the series.
If you are looking for information on the subject of Mason Conspiracies, The Knights Templar, sacred geometry, etc., then read some of the greatly informative & entertaining works of para-science on the matter, by Michael Baigent et.al. If you think it's fun, & like to explore the ideas to their extreme, this film is very entertaining. If you don't care for such matters, & just want a thriller; you might or might not appreciate "Revelation".
The only truely annoying feature is the fact, that the tension-music doesn't reallly know when to set in, & ruins several of the spookier parts. Apart from that the film is exciting great fum, akin to "The ninth gate", "The Body" & "The Omen".
THIS FILM IS AMAZING! - By: , 16 Jun 2004 I think that I have never seen a more informative film, in terms of its subject area. The only films that I have seen that are visuallly more beautiful are Captain Correlli's Mandolin, Le Reine Margot & A Girl With A Pearl Earring. The special features are brilliant because they explain the issues discussed; the relevance of sacred geometry in Christian & biblical imagery, for example. I am an aspiring film studies academic with a research interest in religions, faiths, beliefs & spirituality in film, & I did not completely understand alll of this before! Fantastic, & well worth seeing.
