19/05/2012: Doomsday Prophecy [2011]

Doomsday Prophecy is a SyFy original movie. I think that would probably scare off many, but there are those of us who enjoy throwing on the SyFy channel and watching whatever the channel has managed to scrape together. However there are usually a few golden nuggets in SyFy originals and Doomsday Prophecy may have a few if you pan hard enough.




SyFy original movies are not synonymous with good quality, scripts, big budgets, or famous actors. Generally they involve some very low budget effects and the combination of a couple of random animals (Sharktapus, Eyeborg and Dinocroc) to create some science fiction disaster. There are however some good SyFy movies such as Splinter, Infestation and Dog Soldiers. As such I am not one to shy away from the SyFy channel on a Saturday morning.

I was flipping through the channels and couldn't find much to watch and so I started to info the random movies on. Doomsday Prophecy as usual had a lame description with little information, but it did however have a name that caught my attention. Jewel Staite, is a name that many SyFy fans should be familiar with from her roles as Kaylee in Firefly and Dr. Keller on Stargate: Atlantis. Team her up with A.J. Buckley from CSI: New York and we have SyFy's standard of gathering great actors other don't give the proper chance. 

There must be an alien spore on the back of his neck.

 So what is the Doomsday Prophecy? This SyFy movie uses the current fear of the end of the world and doomsday theories instead of the usual killer animals story. In Doomsday Prophecy, the world is experiencing major environmental changes caused by an alignment of our solar systems equator with the galaxy's equator. At least it was original and didn't just use a currently existing end of the world theory. So with major tectonic movements happening under the earth's crust natural disasters run rampant, cities collapse and seas disappear.

So who can save the world? Apparently a published doomsayer and prophet who calls to him a publishing company employee and a specialist in those Easter Island stone heads. I won't ruin the rest of the story, all though I will tell you that, there is some government conspiracy and gunfights to satisfy your action cravings between major disasters.

Anyone else get a Dharma Initiative feeling from this picture?

I am a person who when I watch a movie or T.V., I watch the movie or show. I don't often put it on while I do something else, I like to devote my entire attention to what I'm watching. However Doomsday Prophecy was one of the few movies I didn't devote my entire attention to, and I don't think I missed anything. The story wasn't hard to follow, the special effects are pretty cheap and generally this movie is just a time killer. Personally I'm amazed this movie was even released on Blu-Ray.

The one reason I watched this movie, the golden nugget I mentioned, was of course, Jewel Staite. While she could undoubtedly act in bigger things, she chooses to stick around in the Sci-fi circles for us fans. and we appreciate the hell out of it. While Doomsday Prophecy may not require oscar winning performances, she is still great to watch, and always creates a great character. Lets be honest, Jewel Staite is the only reason to watch a lot of the things she is in, there's an IMDb forum backing up that statement.

So, yes, Doomsday Prophesy is not a cinema masterpiece. In fact as a made for T.V. movie it will never grace cinema screens. However, unlike many movies, SyFy originals don't try and be anything more than they are. Anyone watching them knows what they are getting and that is what they deliver. I put on Doomsday Prophecy knowing it was going to be a decent C-movie (SyFy movies are in the definition of C-movies), and that it was. So when it comes down to it, I'm not going to recommend it, and unless it is a buck. However if you're flipping through the channels, Doomsday Prophecy makes a good excuse for watching Jewel Staite.

Link:
Doomsday Prophecy IMDb