Doomsday Prophecy

In defense of 'Doomsday Prophecy', this isn't the worst SyFy Channel original movie ever produced (which is akin to comparing which bunion is worse than the other). When you're stacking up against other pieces of junk like 'Metal Shifters', 'Ice Quake', and the ever-popular 'Mongolian Death Worm' it's not all that hard to rise to the top of the pack. 'Doomsday Prophecy's relative success relies on the fact that they actually got notable, competent actors to fill some of the roles. Not that the roles they're filling are any good, but at least we've seen these people in better movies and TV shows and know they know what they're doing.

The SyFy Channel is obsessed with ending the world in as many ways as they can. This time a giant black hole is traveling toward earth, sucking up everything in its path. Physics are done away with, since physics just don't make traveling black holes as much fun as they should be. I had to laugh at one part where a scientist says that the black hole is, "at the outer edge of our galaxy and headed right toward us." It's funny because they constant show the black hole traveling near Saturn and Jupiter in terrible CGI. I think that constitutes as being a lot closer than the outer edge of the galaxy. But, what can you expect from a movie that also decided that a good explanation for the Easter Island Moai heads was that they're an ancient defense system set up just in case a black hole comes traveling our way?

The task of earth saving rests on the shoulders of a proofreader from New York Eric Fox (A.J. Buckley) and an archeologist from the Pacific Northwest, Brook Calvin (Jewel Staite). They've been thrown together in an unlikely world-saving duo by the self-proclaimed prophet Rupert Crane (Matthew Walker). Crane predicted all kinds of calamities and tragedies that soon came to pass, like 9/11. After his first book, which was eerily true, he disappeared. Now he's resurfaced and has more information about the perceived end of the world. He tasks Eric and Brook with the saving, but gives them little in the way of prophetic knowledge to go on.

"In rod we trust" should've been the tagline for this movie, since all of Crane's prophetic visions, which have now been passed to Eric, are seen by holding onto what appears to be an ancient piece of rebar (I wish I was making this up). Once Eric grips the Future Rod he can see everything that's going to happen, which eventually leads them to their world-saving antics.

Before that though, they must run from devious government agents who want the rod for their own devious purposes. General Slate (Alan Dale) heads the military complex tasked with trying to get the future-seeing rod into their hands. While dodging bullets Eric and Brook must also escape SyFy's patented horrific CGI as the ground crumbles beneath them opening up huge canyons where mountains once stood.

It boggles my mind why anyone would purchase a SyFy original movie on Blu-ray anyway, since so many of them are downright terrible. If you're hell-bent on soiling your film collection with these movies then I guess 'Doomsday Prophecy' is your best bet. It's harmless enough to be mildly entertaining at times, especially when we get a glimpse of an ancient Star Wars defense system that would've made Ronald Regan proud.

The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

This is an Anchor Bay release. It comes in a standard BLu-ray keepcase. The movie is on a 25GB Blu-ray Disc. It's a Region A release.

Like all SyFy original movies 'Doomsday Prophecy' has absolutely awful CG and it looks even worse in 1080p. But you expected that right? I mean, there's no getting around the fact that these low-budget sci-fi movies end up having terrible graphics. It's just that being on Blu-ray accentuates them even more.

'Doomsday Prophecy' actually has a nice, albeit digital, look to it when the lights are up and running. Colors, like the greenery of the northwest, are vivid and well rendered. Detail is soft at times, but there is some fine detail to be had in mid- to long-shots. Close-ups do feature a good amount of facial detail like Buckley's action hero beard or Staite's smooth skin. When night arises though, all bets are off. Noise crackles over the screen and everyone in it. Blacks are flat and tinged with an awful gray-blue color. Crushing is a major factor here. So is banding which can be seen in the night sky and also in the movie's fade-ins and -outs. It's a very average looking presentation for a below average movie.

A Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track has been commissioned for 'Doomsday Prophecy', but it does little in the way of really making an impact on all of the end-of-the-world shenanigans going on. The most noticeable thing is how light and ineffective that LFE is here. Gigantic chasms open up right beneath cars and people, yet the low-end frequencies seem light and only provide a little rumbling where there should be tons.

Dialogue is clear though. Panning effects are forced as helicopter noises or spreading cracks in the earth's crust seem to jump from channel to channel instead of creating a smooth transition between them. Rear channels are underutilized and never really capture any of the movie's perceived action and adventure. Like the video presentation the audio underwhelms just about whenever it can.

• 'Doomsday Prophecy': The Stories are True (HD, 21 min.) – Typical making-of featurette where the actors feign enthusiasm for a movie they can't possibly think was a good idea to make. Lots of promotional interviews which discuss the movie's plot over and over again.

Well, it's another SyFy movie. So, if you're planning on collecting them all then you might as well pick this one up too. Even though this one is marginally better than the other crap that SyFy has put out that's still no reason to run out and buy it. It has both lackluster audio and video. Just avoid it and move on.