ScoobyWell Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Ortiz Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

MrJordan_Number23 I went into this movie hoping for an imaginative twist on the Second Coming. Boy, was I ever wrong. BBC are dullards at pacing a movie, total idiots at creating suspense, fools at building intensity. And this movie is no exception to the rule of how much BBC sucks.Ugh, the pacing and time-wasting laborious dialogue was just painful to sit through. The first 30 minutes felt like 2 hours. I kept looking down at my watch wondering when the pointless, monotonous drivel would end. They wasted a perfectly good actor in the lead role, because the material is so lazy, and sloppily, written. Everything that happens is just to kill time.Out of 155 minutes, only 15 minutes are interesting (the controversial ending). What a shame. Reading the plot summary is more interesting than watching the movie. The preaching, the "am I God" endless blah blah blah-ing, the dumb as doornails boring miracles... UGH.DO NOT WATCH THIS CRAP.

Chancery_Stone As I don't have a TV, and had never heard of this mini-series, I didn't know what to expect from The Second Coming and hired it purely on the strength of its plot synopsis, which sounded interesting.Dear God! (Every pun intended.) If someone told me that this had been written by a class of thirteen year olds who had been given the project of turning the second coming into a school play I wouldn't have been surprised.Why, oh why did they decide to portray Jesus mark II as what amounted to an idiot savant? Is there anything in any of the gospels to suggest this? Okay, an ordinary bloke, but a Great Northern Moron. I don't think so.Apparently all Jesus did to impress people was his miracles, because according to this take his preaching sure as hell never impressed anyone. Certainly without the night into day stunt Mr Jesus Eccleston would have been floundering without a canoe, a paddle or any kind of following at all.And the odd little gay polemics put in willy-nilly, without rhyme or reason. Other than, of course, Russell waving to his QAF fan base. Jesus turns up in the pub to recruit 'disciples' (more gormless Northern losers and, of course, the gay writer's standby - the harpy woman, nag, nag, nagging away). Gay rights are rammed down his throat to no real purpose, almost like Russell thought he 'owed it to the lads' to put Jesus on the spot. I can't really see the real Jesus coming out with "Well, I've nothing against it personally, mate." Only someone truly middle class and woolly could imagine Jesus to be quite this wet.And don't start me on the ending. 'Please come in and eat rat poison because the only way we can be truly free is if God dies'.It was like an Eddie Izzard sketch of God as Bill Gates. "Hello, I'm Bill Gates, and now you've pointed out to me that my global domination is cramping your style I'm going to give it all to you, my customers." And eat the rat poison, of course.I'm often mystified by the ratings on IMDb, but the high rating on this one takes the biscuit.Never mind Jesus for the new millennium - this is Jesus for brainless MTV lads.God help us all indeed.

gribbles1 Just discovered The Second Coming as a new release in our local DVD store. Was intrigued by the synopsis and thought it was worth watching. I'm so glad we did. Why hasn't this thought provoking film been aired in Australia? This is the sort of drama that would have fallen in a heap without the right lead and Christopher Ecclestone doesn't put a foot wrong. He is an excellent actor and this part allows him to show his range. (Can't understand why the Brits don't like him as Doctor Who!) He is ably supported by Lesley Roache in particular.Other reviewers have criticised the ending for being lame compared with the rest of the movie. But surely after all you'd been through you didn't want a typical "Hollywood" candy coated ending? This makes you talk and think long after watching.Highly recommended for anyone who can keep an open mind.

Caps Fan Maybe only British television could have got away with something like this, or would have been likely to try.Christopher Eccleston gives us a rousing performance as Stephen Baxter, an ordinary "bloke" from the north of England who, having disappeared on bleak moorland for 40 days and 40 nights, turns up again, claiming to be the Son of God.Nothing new about that, you might say - plenty of people have claimed that. The difference is that, in Stephen's case, the claim is true and he gives the human race five days to come up with a "Third Testament" or face Judgment Day and possible oblivion. To make sure he gets the world's attention, he throws in a couple of miracles for good measure.The portrayed response of those around Stephen - friends, foes and in between - is plausible and interesting. I particularly liked Peter Wright as Len Chadwick, the sympathetic policeman placed in charge of protecting Stephen, and Lesley Sharp who, as always, turns in a strong and wholly credible performance as Stephen's nearly girlfriend.Good music punctuates an intelligent and witty script that sometimes strays towards the cheesy, but usually veers away. The special effects are adequate, but nothing more, though the actual photography is spectacular at times.I wasn't totally sold on the conclusion - it seemed, somehow, a bit of a letdown, even a copout, but maybe that was inevitable, given the buildup.The DVD version is divided irritatingly, but that detracts little from the impact of this gripping, mature drama. Strongly recommended.Rating: 8/10.