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The Second Coming (2003)

Starring: Christopher Eccleston, William Travis Director: Adrian Shergold Rating: NR (Not Rated) Format: DVD

3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Actors: Christopher Eccleston, William Travis, Ahsen Bhatti, Lesley Sharp, Annabelle Apsion
Directors: Adrian Shergold
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, NTSC
Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
Subtitles: English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number of discs: 1
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Shout Factory Theatr
DVD Release Date: February 17, 2004
Run Time: 145 minutes

Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

ASIN: B00013D526
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #37,386 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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For more information about "The Second Coming" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Actor Christopher Eccleston (28 Days Later) is superb as a modern-day messiah in this captivating drama written by Russell T. Davies, author of the original British Queer as Folk series and the lovely Bob and Rose. Eccleston plays Steve Baxter, a mild-mannered, Manchester pub-crawler called one night to his true destiny as the second Son of God. After a couple of convincing miracles, the world looks to Steve for guidance, but he gives mixed signals: on one hand, he calls for a Third Testament to establish a foundation for living in the modern age; on the other, he predicts an imminent Judgment Day. The confusion causes mass mayhem, and Steve's disciples, especially an almost-but-not-quite love of his life (Lesley Sharp), try to make sense of the conflict while preventing devils, in human form, from undermining his mission. Ultimately, Davies's story concerns profound questions about human freedom and choice. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

In the mini-series opener, Christopher Eccleston stars as Steve Baxter, a man who is found incoherent by the English roadside, mumbling that he's the Son of God. His old school friend, Judith (played by The Full Monty’s Leslie Sharp), thinks he’s gone mad.

Steve quickly discovers it's not easy to convince everyone that he's the Second Coming, and decides to stage a major event in a soccer stadium to gain the world’s notice. A miracle ensues, and he tells onlookers that mankind must write its own Third Testament or face Judgement Day in five days time. Pandemonium develops, inflamed by a full media-circus, as people try to understand what is happening. Excitement, fear, cynicism and violence erupt everywhere, as the drama speeds towards its surprisingly powerful conclusion.

• Written by Russell T. Davies, award-winning creator of the popular Showtime series Queer As Folk and Bob & Rose.
• Program first aired in the US on BBC America in October 2003.
• The ITV airing in Britain outdrew the TV debut of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and met with both critical acclaim and controversy.
• Stars Christopher Eccleston (The Others, Elizabeth, Cracker) and Lesley Sharp (Bob & Rose, The Full Monty.)
• Nominated for a mini-series award at the Monte Carlo TV Festival.
• DVD features director’s cut which includes additional 40 minutes of exclusive material.
• Presented in original widescreen format.
• Audio commentary by writer Russell T Davis and director Adrian Shergold.

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

3.8 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking drama, September 10, 2005

By	mathew (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

When TV drama is this intelligent, I suppose it's only to be expected that many people will miss the point or misinterpret it. The movie is not an ironic joke or an atheist manifesto. It's made quite clear that Steve Baxter is the messiah, the literal son of god made mortal in human flesh, with all the imperfections and limitations that implies. Yes, he's angry and offends people--just like the last messiah was angry and offended people.

Whether you agree with the final choice made by the protagonists or not, is not the point. As we see in the epilogue, even five years later they aren't sure whether they made the right choice themselves. The purpose of this TV movie is not to tell everyone what to think or to decide, it's to spark debate, to get people to ask questions.

Yes, it's flawed. Ironic, really, eh? The ending simply can't keep up the tension of the middle of the story--but then, once judgement day has been announced, you can hardly expect it to. Still, a great piece of drama. The sad thing is that this movie could never be shown on US TV, and it almost didn't make it to UK TV.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Hope, October 25, 2005

By	Padderz (London, UK) - See all my reviews

For all the theological babble the premise behind this TV drama is simple. What if God was one of us? Well his son anyway.

I saw this on TV about a year ago, and the fact that I am writing about it now means that for some reason it has stayed with me.

Watch it if you can and make you own mind up.

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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking, but not satisfying., November 4, 2004

By	Russell Fanelli (Longmeadow, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The two-part television movie called the Second Coming appears to be influenced by one of the great poems of the 20th Century by William Butler Yeats. The following lines of Yeats' poem The Second Coming that are appopriate for the film are these: Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are filled with passionate insensity. Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

The revelation at hand is that Steve Baxter, the main character in the film, is the Son of God. Standing in the middle of a soccer field at night, he tries to tell the assembled crowd in Manchester, England that he is God's son. No one pays much attention to him until night turns into day at the soccer field. This miracle astounds the crowd and can be seen for many miles, drawing the attention of the media.

Baxter becomes an immediate, world-wide celebrity. He challenges the people of the world to send him something he calls The Third Testament, a new rule for mankind. Within the space of a couple of days thousands of testaments are sent to Manchester. Steve can't possibly read them all and quickly gives up trying. In frustration he announces that the end of the world is at hand. Soon after Steve's announcement, everywhere on earth people believe that Doomsday has arrived. As Yeats says, Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.

A day or so later Baxter is sitting in a pub with his friends when a bomb explodes, destroying the entire pub, but not Steve or any of his disciples. Steve believes that this second miracle is a sign that he is indestructible, and it appears for a time that he is correct.

This brief plot summary is all that I can share without spoiling the ending of the film. At this point in the story I was intrigued. The miracles I described did occur in the film. Baxter might be who he says he is. Unfortunately, as Yeats says, The Best (Steve and his disciples) lack all conviction while the worst (devils hiding in some of the citizens of Manchester) Are filled with passionate intensity.

The director of what turns out to be a most confusing plot seems unable to cope with Yeats' vision. From truly miraculous occurrences we move inexplicably to the conclusion that God is dead and we are on our own to make the best of things. How we arrive at this ending, given the evidence at hand, was a disappointment to me. Instead of a denial of the reality of the dramatized miracles, the director needed to be true to Yeats' last lines: And some rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?

At its best, the film The Second Coming is thought provoking. At its worst it reduces a complex vision to a made for television sitcom.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots to think about
This is a really good BRITISH made-for-TV movie. I emphasize the Britishness of it because nothing this thought-provoking is likely to turn up on American TV unless it's an... Read more

Published 8 months ago by Barbara J. Wertz

2.0 out of 5 stars I, for one, wish he'd never come back at all...
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

As I don't have a TV, and had never heard of this mini-series, I didn't know what to expect from The Second Coming and hired it purely on the... Read more

Published 14 months ago by Chancery Stone

3.0 out of 5 stars Good beginning, good acting but ultimately unsatisfying
As much as I wanted to love another piece starring Christopher Eccleston and directed by Russel T. Davies, I just couldn't get behind this one. Read more

Published on April 19, 2007 by Tim Lieder

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling Drama from Maverick Writer-Producer
This 2003 UK made-for-TV movie attempts to deconstruct Western sacred myth, plays around with established religious dogma, and hopefully shakes up people's worldview a bit. Read more

Published on December 23, 2006 by E.A. Week

4.0 out of 5 stars Dark and disturbing look at the 'Death of God'
The Second Coming is a short telemovie written by the screenwriter Russell T. Davies, who is also the main screenwriter for the new series of Doctor Who. Read more

Published on November 16, 2006 by Greg

3.0 out of 5 stars acting good, plot falls apart
I found this to be first an interesting idea for a plot. Jesus Christ comes again as Steve Baxter. Perhaps the most interesting idea was the question on how to understand Steve... Read more

Published on July 7, 2006 by Patrick L. Havel

2.0 out of 5 stars preachy - but not in the way you'd imagine
I checked this out because I wanted to take a look at what the new Doctor Who people have been doing in the recent past. Read more

Published on April 14, 2005 by Mr. Geoffrey Phillips

2.0 out of 5 stars Left nothing but fog in my brain and a hole in my wallet
I'm a great fan of apocolyptic and futuristic drama -- everything from 1984, to Twilight Zone, to Mad Max -- and I know when the message is profound and communicated effectively,... Read more

Published on May 8, 2004 by paul_howard

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Thoughtful
This is fantastic stuff. There aren't many pieces of drama that could tackle material like this and work and be challenging for people of a wide variety of religious beliefs --... Read more

Published on May 4, 2004 by Michael Lee

5.0 out of 5 stars An astounding movie!
I saw this a long time ago on the Showcase Channel, having heard about it through the local TV-Guide-ish magazine. Read more

Published on April 16, 2004 by temporalstorm

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