Megiddo

  Megiddo

     As the year 2000 approached, Hollywood was producing a glut of  “End of the world” type films. We had the end of the world happening, threatening to happen, made possible, brought on by accident, on purpose, by man, by God, you name it. We got all manner of end of the world scenarios. We even got “End of the World”, in some of the titles. Not into the end of the world? How about the end of life as you, or we, know it? We got something for everyone! Oh my God! We’re all gonna die! This type of thing, happened again, or continued on, (Take your pick) as 2012 approached, and we reached the end of the Mayan calendar. It amazes me, sometimes, when I think of what people can be manipulated, or coerced, into believing. Especially when you consider that according to the Jews, and the Chinese, the year 2012, came, and went, a long time ago. Of course they are wrong, and Hollywood is correct. Deal with it. 

     The following, is a short list of “End of the World,” or “Life as we Know it” films, that either myself, or one of my friends, worked on. The time period is the same, as this writing. 1994 to 2004. The dates are release dates, and do not indicate, when we worked. 

“Crimson Tide” 1995 Oh my God! Nuclear war, with Russia! Again!

“Strange Days” 1995 Oh my God! Machines are stealing our memories!

“Virtuosity” 1995 Oh my God! Clones!

“Waterworld” 1995 Oh my God! The world is underwater!

“Outbreak” 1995 Oh my God! A killer virus! No worries. Our hero will find a cure, right on time. Just like Dr. McCoy did, on “Star Trek.” 

“The Arrival” 1996 Oh my God! Aliens are invading!

“12 Monkeys” 1996 Oh my God! Another killer virus!

“Escape from L A” 1996 Oh my God! The mother of all earthquakes! Wasn’t this done before?

“Mars Attacks!” 1996 Oh my God! There is an exclamation point, in the title!

“Independence Day” 1996 Oh my God! More invading aliens!

“Starship Troopers” 1997 Oh my God! I need a can of RAID, the size of Jupiter!

“The Fifth Element” 1997 Oh my God! Satan from outer space!

“Armageddon” 1998 Oh my God! Rocks, from space! Oh my God! Bruce Willis dies! No f*****g way! I know people who wanted to see this film, just for that. 

“The Avengers” 1998 Oh my God! It’s an angry weatherman, and you are thinking of the wrong movie!

“Deep Impact” 1998 Oh my God! It’s not a porn film! It’s more rocks, from outer space!

“Godzilla” 1998 Oh my God! A giant lizard, that will not die! Even when we kill him, he won’t stay dead! It does not matter what we do! These movies will suck!

“End of Days” 1999 Oh my God! It’s 1999! If Satan gets laid, We all die December 31st, at midnight!

“The Matrix” 1999 Oh my God! We are all just a computer program! 

“Planet of the Apes” 2001 Oh my God! A bad remake of a cult classic! 

“The Time Machine” 2002 Oh my God! We are eating each other, and it’s not a porn film!

“The Core” 2003 Oh my God! You paid, to see this!

“T3: Rise of the Machines” Oh my God! They made another one! The “Terminator” franchise, is a classic example of how Hollywood will keep milking the same cow. Sometimes after it is long dead.

“Day After Tomorrow” 2004 Oh my God! Roland Emmerich is killing us! Again!

“War of the Worlds” 2005 Oh my God! Why did they do this? If I may quote HG Wells, “There is no passion in the world, equal to the passion to alter someone else’s work.” Maybe that is why they did it. I prefer to think they did it, for the same reason, Hollywood does anything. Now what could that be? I am sure there are many more “End of the World” type films, that I did not mention. Of the ones listed here, I worked on at least 10 of them. One film, not on the aforementioned list, that I worked on, was called “Megiddo: The Omega Code 2.” This film was released in 2001, so I probably worked on it, in 2000. 

     The film “Megiddo” deals with the ultimate battle, between the forces of good, and evil, as foretold in the Holy Bible, according to the book of Revelation. “Then they gathered the Kings together, to the place, that in Hebrew, is called Armageddon.” Megiddo? Armageddon? Pretty simple math. It fit right in, with all the other films, being made, at that time.  According to Hollywood, there is supposedly a code, hidden in the bible, that when decoded, will reveal, to the world, exactly what God has planned for the world, and it’s future. It can be used to predict natural disasters, and other major events, as well as a cure, for all manner of sickness, and maybe even eternal life. Whoever owns the code, owns the world. Yawn.

     The first day, on set, extras holding was in a public park. After dinner, when it got dark, everybody pretty much stayed near the set, which was a church. Oh my God! We are all gonna die, in a church!  The first fun thing that happened, was when catering gave a nice Hollywood meal, to some homeless people, in the park. I can’t remember exactly what it was, but it was nice. Not steak, and lobster, but not junk food either. They were pleasantly surprised, and we were all happy to see this. It would have looked pretty bad, if someone, producing a film, for TBN, allowed hungry people in their yard, so to speak. I like to think this type, of thing, happens, all the time, but this was the only time, I witnessed it. 

     Another fun thing occurred when we were all filming a scene, where the church was giving food, to all the scared people, in the church. One of the extras complained that he did not like the food, he was given, and another extra, dressed as a priest, said, “God told me, he hates you.” We laughed about that, all night. 

     I worked several different scenes, in this film. Michael Biehn, and Michael York, play brothers, at odds with each other. Sort of like Cain, and Abel. Coincidence? What do you think? Our hero gets his faith tested, and at one point, finds himself, in church, with us. We believe he can stop our impending doom, so we are chanting, “Save Us.” Nobody got paid more, for speaking, even though some of us, are clearly speaking, on camera. Mr. Biehn did not save us. He ran from us. In his defense, we were pretty scary. We kept trying to touch him, while chanting, and we scared him pretty good. During this scene, my friend, the “Danimator,” is all over the place. When Mr. Biehn is finally able to exit the church, he gets into a military vehicle, and heads off, to meet his fate. 

     I was there when our hero arrived, while he was there, and when he left, I was the homeless guy, on the sidewalk, wrapped in a blanket, next to a burning trash can. Production placed me there, too. I was all over this film, but I don’t know if you can see me, or not. If you are able to see me, I don’t know if I am recognizable, or not. Kind of like “White Mans Burden.” I am visible, as a homeless guy, sleeping on the sidewalk, but I am the only one, who knows, it’s me. 

     Later, some of my friends, got a chance to work on this film again. At first I was jealous, but then I found out they had to wage war, in the mud, and rain. My attitude changed immediately, and I was grateful, I had not been booked. I was even more grateful, when my friends told me how miserable, it was. 

     “Megiddo: The Omega Code 2,” ends when our hero is forced to pray to God, for help. His brother, who is really Satan, kills him, but it takes him a long time, to die. He lives long enough to see Satan destroyed. While this is going on, the Mexican Army is destroying everything else, and killing off all of Satan’s followers. Viva La Raza! Our hero makes it into heaven, and Satan is bound up in chains, in the lake of fire. I liked working on this film, and I liked watching this film. It, despite the subject matter, is a fun movie, and the prayer, at the end, reminded me of the first “Omega Code” film.