Omega Code

When it was released in 1999, The Omega Code surprised Hollywood by scoring $2.4 million in its opening weekend, following a promotional blitz on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. The Christian televangelical outlet, which funded this chaotic biblical thriller, had built widespread awareness among its viewership, and the film attracted an appreciative Christian audience. While it's true that The Omega Code offers a wealth of biblical prophecy that Christians will study for years, it remains a pedestrian, headache-inducing movie that's too busy "decoding" the Bible to make any dramatic sense. With a cast that could populate an Aaron Spelling miniseries, it's too badly written to inspire serious religious discussion, and not terrible enough to qualify as entertaining schlock. It's just painfully, pretentiously bad. Rife with snippets from the book of Revelation, the convoluted plot finds a famous motivational speaker and "Bible Code" expert (Casper Van Dien) under the influence of an ultra-wealthy philanthropist (played by ultra-hammy Michael York) who schemes to crack the Bible's secret codes and take over the world. He's a vessel for the Antichrist (with snidely Michael Ironside as his henchman), and by the time Van Dien gets a clue from a pair of resurrected prophets, The Omega Code has jettisoned any pretense of religious importance. Rather than dare a meaningful examination of faith and the power of evil, the movie opts instead for cheesy pyrotechnics, hackneyed action, and enough bad acting to make Arnold Schwarzenegger's End of Days look like a masterpiece. Do you want to feel closer to God? Just read your Bible, forget about the code, and avoid this gawd-awful movie. --Jeff Shannon