I have a weakness for so bad they are good Christian films so I watched Jerusalem Countdown and was not disappointed. Jerusalem Countdown is a wannabe thriller about FBI agents trying to stop radical Islamic terrorists from a terrorist attack on US soil and against an Israeli ambassador.
Jerusalem Countdown stars famous Christian action actor, director and producer David A.R. White, whom you may know from such Christian film hits as End of the Harvest, The Moment After, The Moment After 2: The Awakening, The Encounter: Paradise Lost and the Revelation Road franchise. Jerusalem Countdown also features Stacy Keach, Lee Majors, Randy Travis and Christian singer, Jaci Velasquez. Everyone has bills and an agent.
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Jerusalem Countdown’s big twist is that the CIA is actually working with radical Islamic terrorists and the Russian government to execute a nuclear attack. Oh man, is Jerusalem Countdown going to get banned after January 19, 2017 because it casts the Russian government as the bad guy? Oops! While Jerusalem Countdown is probably Islamaphobic, it is so clumsy in its depiction of the terrorists that I skipped offended and went straight to laughing and pointing.
Jerusalem Countdown is unintentionally funny in several scenes. Some random, normal writer dude who could star in a CBS sitcom with his hot wife randomly figures out that his next door neighbors are terrorists then decides to break into their house to figure out if they are. At one point, the writer’s wife is so angry that she puts the cup that she just washed back into the sink. And why are the terrorists randomly quoting Revelations? Dear FBI agents, you made the librarian work after hours just so you can read the Bible! The badass chick FBI agent’s dad has been trying to convert her since the beginning of the film, borrow his copy! I lost all suspension of disbelief when writer neighbor called 911 and was patched through to the FBI seconds later. Sorry, after 9/11, we know that the government cannot effectively communicate within the different bureaucracies so he would be dead, and the bombs would detonate.
Jerusalem Countdown gave me a rapture so I’m a happy camper, but in the sequel, please don’t use the gimmicky “how we got here” trope opening. If we are willing and intentionally watching a Christian film, chances are we know what the rapture is so beginning with it ruined the surprise.