Sonofamoviegeek This must be the only movie with serious pretensions that exceeds in cheesiness Steve Martin's production in the movie "Bowfinger". To be fair, the people who made Ba'al may have had a smaller budget than Steve Martin's character had. Let's face it, the Black Sea doesn't really resemble an inlet on the West Coast of Canada. After all, it's a SEA, people. Sebastopol isn't ever visible from Turkey, not even on a clear day. Plus BC Parks information boards don't mark archaeological sites on the Turkish Black Sea. Plus, the construction crew look as if they're right out of a bar in Prince George, BC rather than Turks. Finally, the Dead Sea Scrolls are kept in Jerusalem. They're so important to the Jewish people that Israel doesn't let them out of the country, not even on tour. They have squat to do with Sumeria and the Hebrew alphabet was invented a millennium later. The Sumerians wrote on clay in cuneiform. Finally, the Dead Sea Scrolls are not written on stiff hand-tooled cowhide. They're written in ink on fragile sheepskin parchment that sometimes took a year to unroll. See them for yourself at the Shrine of the Book.I can forgive a low budget if the actors and screen writers turn in a decent effort. Nobody shows up for work in this turkey. The actors don't even try to make the stilted dialogue work. Lexa Doig turns in a particularly shameful performance, substituting a deer-in-the-headlights expression for emotion. The script writing appears to be the result of a committee. (OK on the rogue geologist versus the military, Mort but we also need a dying Indiana Jones plus we'll have four McGuffins, not one.) I could go on but you get the idea. See this only if you want to add more goofs to the list.

aliway I went into this film expecting a terrible piece of film that should not ever see the light of day. It's probably because of this I actually started to enjoy it.Don't get me wrong, the special effects are as good as other bad films such as 'Boa vs Python' and 'Megashark vs Giant Octopus', some iffy acting here and there, and a bizarre plot, but somehow I started to get into it.Lexia Doig, however, despite being a good actress, always seems to make me develop a hatred for whatever character she plays. Elias Toufexis I really like and, unfortunately I can't remember who plays the FBI guy who tries to arrest Helm (played by Jeremy London), but he was the best in my opinion.There are some other downsides, such as Doig somehow hearing a beep in her van whilst inside the house, and travelling seems to take 5 minutes. Oh, and I missed the meeting when blood was classed as water.But strangely enough, despite this being a bad film, I can't stress this enough, I actually enjoyed the film. For once I will not say "ignore this", give it a chance. It's most likely a hit and miss, but it's worth a shot.

Rabh17 This was looked like a cheap, "Dig-up-old-things-and-people-die" boilerplate Mad-Scientist flick.But wait. . .Old Archaeologist (Mad) starts digging up buried amulets-- except he's not after them for Archaeologist fame. By the time the other scientists realize he's (Mad) and up to no good, the God of Storms is already wrecking havoc and creating superstorms.Meanwhile, a Gov't Weather Watch bureau is tracking the unexplained storm growths and trying to dispel them without sparking an international War. The meteorological hand-wavium isn't overwhelming but adds enough of a scientific pseudo-explanation of a supernatural event to give a facile ring of believability to the story.The God Ba'al itself is pretty cool. It's done well as a nice FX. And it's plausible: Ba'al is supposed to be a God-- not a creature. And on the ground, the viewer is taken along on a nicely timed build-up of tension as the Mad Archaeologist keeps skipping ahead of everyone to get the next amulet.This movie is a well-turned gem of a lite Friday Night pop-corn thriller that doesn't fall into the rut of cheap ridiculousness. So within its merits, this Made-For-Cable "B" movie is darn good!Now having said that. . .this Movie doesn't win any awards; this Movie isn't a pack-tha-house blockbuster; this Movie isn't tour-de-force Cinema. People-- it's JUST LITE ENTERTAINMENT!! Don't try to be a New York Times Critic! Just Watch it! I call this one a Friday Night flick for a reason-- Powerhouse flicks are for Saturdays in my book. And for you Military Buffs out there-- remember that most of us civvies don't know a Lieutenant from a Corporal. If Military Rank Inaccuracies bother you that much-- don't watch this one.Oh. . .and this movie is Kid-friendly and Girlfriend Neutral.

lloydjw This film ticks all the boxes, and then more. It is distinguished by the use of at leas three replacement actors - fake Brendan Fraser, fake Woody Harrelson and fake Terence Stamp. I also loved the extravagant flight simulation usage. Most impressive was the fact that one of the ancient sites was a picnic spot - they could have just read the information board to locate the amulet. Also, you'd think that a storm that destroyed the golden gate bridge and most of London would have caught the attention of some people higher up than a lieutenant in a corporal's shirt, the G man and a pretty girl with a satellite dish on her truck.