Product Details

• Actors: Mimi Rogers, Darwyn Carson, Patrick Bauchau, Marvin Elkins, David Duchovny
• Directors: Michael Tolkin
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: New Line Home Video
• DVD Release Date: November 2, 2004
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002XNT1C
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,791 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Once upon a time, in the 1980s and early 1990s, American independent movies did not seek to merely ape Hollywood formulas. They were more than just feature-length resumes for shrewd, enterprising filmmakers who had nothing to say, but dreamed of saying it with a big-studio budget. Back then, independent films provided a different kind of movie experience; they challenged and provoked audiences--and none more so than 1991's The Rapture, written and directed by Michael Tolkin, the man who wrote the screenplay for The Player, Robert Altman's scathing anti-Hollywood comedy. Mimi Rogers plays Sharon, a lost soul who gives up her hedonistic life of sex and drugs when she finds God and becomes a fundamentalist Christian fanatic. Her pilgrim's progress, presented in a deadpan, nonjudgmental style, culminates quite literally in the title event--the Second Coming, the Apocalypse, the end of the world, or whatever you want to call it. Rogers's fearless performance becomes all the more provocative when you recall that the actress is a lifelong member of the Church of Scientology. The Rapture is a mind-boggling, wildly ambitious movie that's open to myriad interpretations. But no matter what you make of it, it's sure to leave you engaged and shaken. --Jim Emerson

Product Description
A beautiful telephone operator tries to spice up her otherwise boring life by having sex with strangers. Studio: New Line Home Video Release Date: 11/02/2004 Starring: Mimi Rogers David Duchovny Run time: 100 minutes Rating: R

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

86 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A movie that will definitely provoke thought/discussion!, July 12, 2005

By	Mir (North Miami Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Rapture (Widescreen Edition) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I've read some of the reviews already posted (from Christians who are touchy about the subject through to those who clearly are Anti-Christian and delight in poking fun at believers). The diverse opinions suffice to tell you this is not as simplistic or poorly done a film as some might suggest. I do not understand the reviews that say they are confused and don't understand. The movie is hardly that complicated that you can't get some coherent understanding of the plot.

NOTE: I may review more detail than you wish. Consider this a spoiler warning, although I don't give it all away, I wouldn't want you to feel cheated.

First off: I'm a believer. Yes, I believe in God, Christ, the Bible, the historic creeds and in the Rapture to come (I'm post-trib, for those who care). With all that, I liked this film. I enjoyed Mimi Rogers' performance and I enjoyed seeing the journey of this troubled character. We're not dealing with a character who does things in moderation. When she was pre-Christian, she didn't just have sex, she had SEX!, promiscuously, in groups, etc. We learn it's her way of filling this void she feels, the boredom of her meaningless existence. She attempts suicide. She's a mess. BUT...she has a vision of "the pearl" and it gives her a sense of peace and soon she's turned her life over to God and she's a Christian with a Z for ZEAL, evangelizing anyone she can--on the job, on the phone, friends, strangers. To some believers, this seems quite fine and laudable. To some, it will seem strange and immoderate. I think that's part of the interest. Where is this woman going now?

The movie has this haunting air about it. You get a sense of being on the edge of doom, which is suitable given the subject matter. Even when she's all aglow and talking about God, you get the sense this character is rushing headlong into another type of excess. The character may have found something that gives her purpose, and a stability, but something about her is still unbalanced emotionally. Even her "peace" is an excessive peace. Tragedy befalls her--SPOILERS--stop reading if you don't wanna know:--when her husband is murdered in a killing spree at work, and still she keeps this strange calm. You don't see her really break down or do anything a normal grieving woman--Christian or otherwise--would do. It's rather spooky.

When she has visions that beckon her to the desert, visions that gave me the willies and seemed kind of sinister, like a haunting--visions that have even her church's Prophetic Boy warning her that they stand unconfirmed by other believers and might be from Satan--we have a growing suspicion that something will go terribly wrong.

And it does.

One can look at this story as the descent into madness of a never very stable woman and wonder if anything in those last minutes is real or if it's all imagined, sanity banished.

From a Christian perspective, I take enjoyment in a more literal reading that, despite any directorial intention is the most taken away from the film. This is a woman we've seen crack up, a woman whose been kept in check by her faith, her husband and her church. When she loses her ties to a husband, who never had that weird, glazed look like the main character, and when she then distances herself from the accountability and safety net of a church by heading for the wilderness, and then when she allows her faith to buckle, she's left with nothing to stop her from rashness and crazed decisions.

What should this woman know? She should know from her church sermons that to go into the desert is typically a sign of temptation to come: Jesus went into the desert and the devil tried to get him to move away from his mission and disobey God. Here, we see a woman who is tempted, perhaps not by Satan, but by her own desires. She wants to be raptured. She wants to go to heaven. She wants to be done with life down here. She wants the culmination of her faith. She's tried to die before and failed, she wants to go to the better place. The temptation is great, so great, she forgets simple admonitions she surely knows by heart--
Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt love the Lord thy God, thou shalt not put the Lord thy God to the test.

A simple prophetic warning that is uttered by the Prophet Boy and subsequently by the character's daughter, one that is ambiguous at best--"Don't expect God to meet you halfway"--is twisted, as any advice can be, to suit one's emotional needs or fears.

To Christians, some things will irk. For instance, the innacurate rendering of a well-known Biblical doctrine/verse: We love Him because He first loved us. Well, here it becomes, "He loves us because we love him." A total turnaround of truth.

The Controversial Ending: To any orthodox (not as in Greek Orthodox but as in traditionally doctrinal) Christian, the ending is not controversial. Are we suprised that God both showers grace and forgives at the last minute or that he implacably judges and condemns? I think not. We know He does both.

However, God shows his grace by giving the character multiple opportunities to make a different decision. Providentially, someone she knows from her past shows up near the end. Then another character counsels her. Then another gives her an example. So many chances....Then character chooses her final fate, all the while unwilling to see where she is at fault. It's easier to just blame God.

The director/writer may have meant this to be Anti-Christian. Dunno. I didn't HAVE to take that away from it. I could choose to see it as an examination of a particular character with specific weaknesses and how it manifests in the context of Christian eschatology. The other Christians aren't shown being cruel or harsh or encouraging disastrous outcomes. Ultimately, this is about this ONE woman. One woman's choice. A very pro-choice film, actually. And the ending may cheer fans of INVICTUS, but it will make most of us feel pity.

If one wants to see it as a mental degeneration of a troubled woman, that works, too. But I don't think it works as well as accepting the ending as "real". The film's power works only if the woman's choice is a true-life scenario and not the mental figment of a lunatic.

The Rapture can lead to fruitful and interesting discussion after viewing, even for believers. I recommend it.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars QUESTIONS OF FAITH...., November 21, 2004

By	Mark Norvell (HOUSTON) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Sharon (Mimi Rogers) is a phone operator who leads a hedonistic lifestyle of swinging sex. But she's empty and tired inside. She discovers a religious sect who follow the prophecies of a child ("...and a child shall lead them...") about the rapture, the second coming of Christ and judgement day. She is hesitant at first, but after a near suicide, she crosses over and becomes "saved". She marries an old boyfriend from her past (David Duchovney) and has a little girl. When tragedy strikes and she's troubled by an apparent vision, she steadfastly believes the rapture is here and takes to the desert with her child to await God. There, her faith will be put to the ultimate test. While some may find this film arty, far-fetched or even pretentious, I found it excellent and quite unlike anything I've ever seen. Rogers is marvelous as Sharon and believable as a modern woman who has questions about faith and God. Duchovney is also good as Randy who sticks by Sharon because he loves her. The film has shocking moments to be sure but it has a dream like quality which gives the subject matter an eerie edge. There are times when it even approaches spellbinding. For those who enjoy challenging films that leave you talking about it later, this is one to watch. Even if you don't like it, you'll think about it. "The Rapture" is not a religious film nor is it preachy. It takes no stand on anything really but it does leave you wondering about faith and what heaven is. The DVD has interviews with Rogers and others involved in the film. Recommended and very watchable.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christians, Please View! Tolkin Takes You Seriously!, December 28, 2004

By	Chris Ward (Costa Rica) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Several reviewers below knock this film's low budget (undeniable) and some committed Christian believers are shocked by Tolkin's protagonist's final word on "The Rapture." BUT SEE THIS AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF! Writer/director Tolkin does you the not insignificant favor of treating "The Rapture" as something REAL- he doesn't mock it or water down its significance. And for that you should be grateful. This is a film about IDEAS and not for those who can't think for themselves. It is, however, a film for adults, as early scenes show major characters adrift and leading abundantly "sinful" lives.

See this movie and discuss it with those you love. If you're an agnostic or atheist, it's a fascinating window into another world, with a first-class script and sterling performances. If you're a Christian, especially one who believes in "The Rapture," there's much here to both challenge and confirm your thinking. Don't look for a big Steven Spielberg ending-- the budget is too low for that. But the IDEAS found here are worth any amount of Hollywood flash.... An excellent film.