The Prophecy 3: The Ascent (2000)

A nephilim (half-man/half-angel), guided by visions and aided by the ex-arch angel Gabriel, finds himself hunted and forced to confront Pyriel, the Angel of Genocide.

Director:

Patrick Lussier

Writers:

Gregory Widen (based on characters created by), Carl V. Dupré (as Carl Dupre')

Stars:

Christopher Walken, Vincent Spano, Dave Buzzotta

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Walken	...	Gabriel
Vincent Spano	...	Zophael 'Jones'
Dave Buzzotta	...	Danyael
Kayren Butler	...	Maggie (as Kayren Ann Butler)
Steve Hytner	...	Joseph
Brad Dourif	...	Zealot
Scott Cleverdon	...	Pyriel
Jack McGee	...	Detective
Sandra Ellis Lafferty	...	Madge (as Sandra Lafferty)
Mark Prince Edwards	...	Donut Guy
Tyrone Tann	...	Kyle
Moriah 'Shining Dove' Snyder	...	Mary (as Moriah Shining Dove Snyder)
J.D. Rosen	...	Tail Man
William Stanford Davis	...	Portly Coroner (as Stan Davis)
Drew Swaine	...	Young Danyael

Storyline

The conclusion to The Prophecy Trilogy. Once again, Christopher Walken returns as the Arch-Angel Gabriel. As the War in Heaven and on Earth rages on, Pyriel, the Angel of Genocide, rises to power, intending to destroy all of mankind. The only one who stands in his way is Danyael, who was born of an Angel and a woman, but Danyael is unaware of his purpose, until he runs into Gabriel, who has now become a human after the events of The Prophecy 2, and is acting as his secret guardian. Now, the fate of the world hangs in the balance as Danyael sets out to confront Pyriel and finally fulfill his destiny.

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | bare breasts | archangel gabriel character | shot in the chest | reference to rasputin | 

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Taglines:

Mankind's Last Hope From Total Destruction!

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for graphic violence, and for some nudity and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is also the third time Steve Hytner has played the coroner 'Dr. Joseph'.

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Goofs

When Danyael jumps on the motorcycle he hits the gear pedal first, then we cut to see him pull the clutch lever. Since the motor is already running, punching in first gear without pulling the clutch would cause the motor to die and the motorcycle to make an abrupt leap forward.

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Quotes

Maggie: Do you really believe that?
Joseph: Look. I've had four gutted hermaphrodites burn to black pitch right under my nose. I've had one cop, my best friend, driven insane by the angels shrieking in his head... before somehow spontaneously combusting in a madhouse he had mistaken for a monastery. A pretty young woman, now dead, knocked up by a stranger who left her three months pregnant in only 48 hours. And just yesterday, a young man, allegedly her son, shot up six ways to sundown, crawled out of a drawer ...

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Connections

Referenced in Jersey Girl (2004)

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Soundtracks

Telstar
Written by Joe Meek
Copyright 1962 (renewed) Campbell Connelly, Inc. (ASCAP)
Performed by Steve Beodekker & David Hannibal
Trumpets by Olu Dara, appears courtesy of Atlantic Records

User Reviews

Pretty Good, if you've seen 1 & 2

This film follows the original and the first sequel very closely. In fact, you could put the three movies together back to back to back and have a coherent movie and think you're watching one big movie. Long story short: Gabriel (Walken) is leading a band of rebel angels who in the original and first sequel is bent on destroying the human race so they can become God's favorite kids again; this sequel, Gabriel is reduced to being a human (you become what you hate, et cetera), and is somewhat of a good guy (or is he?)?

This movie itself was pretty good. I especially like the continuity from sequel to sequel, kind of like catching up to familiar old buds. The acting was pretty good, the terminator/bad angel was pretty appealing, and Danyael was played well. No big sfx to speak off (this is a dtv, after all), and the female lead goes from mediocre to just plain can't-act-her-way-out-of-a-bag bad. In fact, the movie lags only when the Maggie character is onscreen. She has very little charisma and has even less talent. Everything rings fake, and in a movie where there are angels running and walking around in longcoats, credibility is already stretched thin -- it doesn't help if your female lead looks like she got the part not because of her acting skills, but because she looks good in a shirt that shows off her midriff.

Good movie if you like the Prophecy storyline, which I think this movie was made for. Budget couldn't have been more than a few million, and I'm pretty sure most of that went to Walkens, who got top billing despite being a supporting character. The kid who played Danyael was also pretty good, and the terminator-angel was also good.

At the end of this movie, I can't help but hope for a 3rd sequel. I just love this storyline, it'd be nice to see what happened in a Prophecy 4. Since they spent so little money on this, and I'm pretty sure the returns are pretty good, here's hoping for a 3rd sequel.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 March 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Prophecy 3: The Ascent

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dimension Films, Neo Art & Logic, Overseas FilmGroup

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1