Six: The Mark Unleashed

After the somewhat scathing replies I got regarding my review of the Christian film, Gone, I am somewhat reluctant to step up to the plate again. Regardless (or irregardless if you want to annoy people), I will now attempt to convey my thoughts on a film I viewed today.

$\"six1.jpg\"$ Six: The Mark Unleashed is a futuristic end-times thriller focusing on the coming one-world government and the ubiquitous \”mark of the beast\” which must be taken in order to live in society. Those who take the mark become drones of \”The Community\”. Those who do not are hunted down, imprisoned, and given an opportunity to cooperate, lest they be tortured and beheaded. Naturally, the worst consequences are saved for those who claim Christ as their Savior.

$\"six2.jpg\"$ Six stars Stephen Baldwin (the youngest of the Baldwin brothers), David White, Kevin Downes, Eric Roberts and Brad Heller. Baldwin became a Christian recently and he is involved in several ministry-related projects. Can you imagine what holidays must be like at the Baldwin household, especially with ultra-left brother Alec? Anyhow, I digress.

I don\’t want to give away the plot, though it is rather thin. You\’ve got some bad guys. You\’ve got some good guys. Some of the bad guys get worse. Some get better. There is a lot of end-time dialogue, most of it quite cliched. There is some decent acting. As prisoner Luke, Baldwin is on death-row for professing belief in Christ and refusing to take the mark. He handles the role well, despite the lack of a good screenplay.

David White has made several films of this nature and it was good to see him as an anti-hero for a change. Usually he is the guy that ends up getting saved.

Anyhow, let me get to the rant part of my commentary, with bullet-points to make your reading experience more enjoyable. Here are some lessons I learned from viewing Six: The Mark Unleashed

The mark looks like a cheap dollar-store tattoo.

Brad Heller as baddie, Preston Scott, reminds me of Dr. Evil. His makeup was attrocious. Imagine a bald head with pale skin and huge dark circles around his eyes. Not UNDER his eyes. AROUND his eyes. Very scary indeed.

Prison guards in the end-times will be small, attractive women with attitudes and big guns.

Insert corny dialogue like this bit that takes place when two of our lead characters are tossed into a prison cell, knowing that they have a future date with death.

Prisoner 1: You seem depressed.

Prisoner 2: I usually get depressed when I am getting ready to be beheaded

End-time films attempt to be \”epic\” but always end up feeling \”small\”. One day, a producer is going to do a BIG budget end-times feature that looks like a big budget feature.

Christian filmmakers preach to the choir by repeating the same end-time cliches

Stephen Baldwin has his heart in the right place. I hope he can find a script worthy of the talent God has given him.

Every end-times thriller needs a few good car chases just for kicks

Every end-times thriller needs a few good guillotines for dramatic beheadings of true believers.

In all honesty, Six wasn\’t bad. It just wasn\’t good. I enjoyed Stephen Baldwin much more as the foul-mouthed Michael McManus in The Usual Suspects. The DVD does have a few extras on it, such as a blooper reel. I think bloopers should be standard on every DVD. ;-)

I would like to see Christian filmmakers deal more with everyday life issues and explore how a real faith in Christ plays into those issues. The end-times script is a dead horse. Can we stop beating it, please?

Six: The Mark Unleashed

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