Gabriel

Plot synopsis:
Since the beginning of time, Heaven and Hell have fought over Purgatory and the souls trapped inside it. Each side has sent seven warriors: archangels (Arcs) from Heaven, fallen angels (Fallen) from Hell. They must assume human form to enter purgatory. Hell has attained control, transforming purgatory into a dark, seedy city. The last of the seven archangels, Gabriel (Andy Whitfield), endeavors to discover what has become of his comrades and to restore the Light.
Upon Gabriel entering Purgatory, four of the seven Fallen—Sammael (Dwaine Stevenson), Asmodeus (Michael Piccirilli), Balan (Brendan Clearkin), and Baliel—gather and Sammael kills an insubordinate Baliel, so reducing the Fallen's number from seven to six. Meanwhile, Gabriel visits the archangel Michael's apartment, finding it abandoned. He finds a note from Michael in the apartment, saying how hard it is to stay pure in purgatory. While walking through the city, Gabriel receives a vision about the whereabouts of his comrade Uriel (Harry Pavlidis). However, the leader of the Fallen, Sammael, senses Gabriel’s presence and sends the Fallen Molloch (Goran D. Kleut) to kill him. Gabriel fights and kills Molloch, then proceeds to the city's outskirts. He finds a dishevelled and alcoholic Uriel hiding in a rundown bus. He explains that the Archangels all assumed human form and became subject to human desires and feelings which weakened them. Cut off from their power, the Archangels were eventually worn down and fell prey to the Fallen who thrived and became stronger the longer they stayed in Purgatory. He reveals to Gabriel that this is what eventually led to the downfall of the Arcs sent before him. Uriel warns Gabriel that if they die in Purgatory, their own souls will die too, they completely vanish. To encourage and remind Uriel of his identity, Gabriel mortally wounds Uriel, convincing Uriel to heal himself. Though surely aware of Gabriel's presence, Sammael commands the Fallen to wait before taking any action against Gabriel, even though they could defeat Gabriel; Sammael threatens the Fallen if they do anything to Gabriel. Uriel then explains to Gabriel that the Fallen can sense Archangels when they use their powers, and teaches Gabriel to conceal his bright blue angel eyes. Uriel also explains that due to the nature of the evil and darkness that controls purgatory that Gabriel will be cut off from the "source". He also reluctantly tells Gabriel what happened to some of the other five Archangels: Remiel was killed before Uriel arrived; the whereabouts of Ithuriel (Matt Hylton Todd), Raphael (Jack Campbell), and Michael are uncertain, but Raphael is most likely hiding in the East Side of the city and it is thought that Sammael has killed Michael; and Amitiel (Samantha Noble), who now calls herself Jade, was defeated by Sammael, stripped of her wings, and forced to work as a prostitute. Hearing this, Gabriel goes off into the city to search for Amitiel.
Gabriel travels back to the city, and finds the brothel where Amitiel works. He also encounters Asmodeus, the Fallen who runs the brothel. Gabriel rescues Amitiel and kills the Fallen Balan who tries to rape her. He then heals her of the drugs she has been taking to dull the pain of her job. As Gabriel's use of power makes his presence known in Purgatory, the Fallen grow weary and impatient of waiting. Amitiel takes Gabriel to the soup kitchen where the Archangel Ithuriel hides. Initially angry at Ithuriel for abandoning his mission of seeking out and destroying the Fallen, Gabriel eventually shows him compassion and understanding. Ithuriel takes Gabriel to the abandoned tunnels beneath the soup kitchen where the gravely wounded Raphael dwells. Gabriel heals Raphael, expending much of his strength. After rebuking Gabriel, Raphael explains that Sammael draws his immense power from the other Fallen. Gabriel proposes to take out the remaining Fallen one by one, before finally facing Sammael. Raphael is unconvinced, as Sammael has already killed the stronger angel Michael.
Gabriel fights and kills the Fallen Ahriman (Kevin Copeland), then returns to Michael's apartment where he sketches a picture of Amitiel. At the same time Gabriel begins his campaign against the Fallen, the Fallen Lilith (Erika Heynatz) kills Uriel, Asmodeus kills Ithuriel, and Sammael kills Raphael. Driven mad by anger, Gabriel’s eyes turn bright brown, the colour of the Fallen. He returns to the brothel seeking revenge against Asmodeus, randomly killing anyone he finds behind a hotel room door. He eventually finds Asmodeus and discovers that he's using his nigh unconscious female sex slave, whom of which he's been consistently and forcibly giving plastic surgery to in an effort to make her facially identical to himself so as to satisfy his narcissism, as a hostage. Asmodeus takes Gabriel's shock and sympathy toward the girl to his advantage, discards her and begins assaulting Gabriel. Gabriel gains the advantage in the fight, viciously scars Asmodeus thus enraging him and then kills him. Gabriel halts his own imminent fall when he heals and restores the young woman held captive by Asmodeus to return her to her original appearance and depleting the anesthetics given to her. Shocked by his near fall, Gabriel returns to Amitiel. Amitiel comforts Gabriel and they strip naked before copulating. Gabriel then travels to a nightclub and kills Lilith, injecting her with several full vials of Ahriman's drugs. Gabriel chases Sammael to the nightclub’s rooftop.
Sammael refuses to fight Gabriel, instead asking him to listen to what he has to say. He explains how he despises being an angel, a being created entirely to serve others. He sees purgatory as a chance to take control of his own destiny and lets Gabriel know that it was him all along keeping Gabriel protected and alive in a city amongst all the Fallen, and asks Gabriel to join him. Refusing his offer, Gabriel unwittingly realizes that "Sammael" is actually the Archangel Michael, his closest friend (who had actually killed the real Sammael and assumed his identity). The two Archangels fight, but because Gabriel has used up so much of his strength helping the other Archangels, Michael has the advantage. Michael ultimately impales Gabriel’s chest with a metal pipe. Gabriel admits that during his time as a human he has felt rage and anger, but he has also experienced things that Michael hasn’t. An impaled Gabriel embraces Michael, which drives the metal pipe through Michael’s chest also, and tells Michael that he forgives him. Both Archangels collapse. Michael uses the last of his strength to heal Gabriel’s wound, then dies. Light returns to purgatory.
Kneeling in front of Michael's dead body, Gabriel shouts up at God asking "Is It This That You Wanted?, Is It This You Wanted?". The healed Gabriel moves to the edge of the rooftop, and muses that he needs to understand why all this happened. He outstretches his arms, and lets himself fall. His final words are, "Forgive me... I hope I see you again..." A post-credits scene shows Gabriel, (wearing different clothing, minus angel wing tattoo and with brown eyes), joining Amitiel and smiling. (The DVD version of the film does not contain the post-credit scene.)

Tags: good versus evil, paranormal, gothic

Review:
Their is action in this film, but it is depicted a lot more realistically than most people probably would have liked.At the end of the day, this is not the horrible movie that the first reviewer is making it out to be.
Oh sure, it has a Jesus-like story arc much like the Matrix and a good vs bad that pretty much every fantasy film has.What I liked about this one was that the story didn't follow the usual formulaic storyline that you can almost time down to the minute.
I found it to be a story of great substance, and bears watching a second time in order to fully appreciate it, much like films such as Donnie Darko.I liked that the cast was filled with people I didn't know, it gave it a freshness and allowed one to view it without the context of the actors cluttering the story.
It is a look typical of many Australian films, such as Wolf Creek, but the comic-book look of the film gives it a sense of fantasy which suits the story perfectly.One thing I particularly liked was the way the fight scenes were realised - a fresh approach to supernatural battles which, I think, works well.I found the effects a little over-done at times, and some of the visuals could have used a bit more polish, but considering the film's budget (or lack thereof), I think it's very impressive.Sure, it's no Hollywood blockbuster, but that's kind of the point..
The unknown actors give universally fine performances, and in the case of bad guy Sammael (Dwaine Stevenson) a deeply charismatic and disturbing one.I was a bit worried by the wordlessness and flat grey look of the earliest scenes, but as soon as we hit the first dialogue two-hander, I got pulled into the characters' situation.
But to adopt the mortal form is to become vulnerable to human weakness, and that's what Gabriel has to struggle with as he tries to rally his angel pals who've failed before him for one last battle.Freakin' good film!.
Consider all these when you watch the movie and you might forgive its short comings.Sure a lot of idiots complain that there are better movies with lower budget, yes, well ask how many of them are effects driven action movies with such a large scope like GABRIEL.
However having said that the film looks great (especially considering the very low budget), the action is okay, and the acting is competent.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting much of this film, but I am happy to say that I was completely blown away by it.The lead actors Andy Whitfield (Gabriel) and Dwaine Stevenson (Samael) were amazing, I couldn't believe that neither of them had done much work before, in my opinion, these are two men who have the potential to go far.
Not that the supporting cast wasn't brilliant, Harry Pavlidis (Uriel) stole his scenes completely and Michael Piccirilli (Asmodeus) portrayed his character so well, he made my skin crawl.When I read that the film was made on a ridiculously low budget, I was shocked, it didn't get in the way of the film whatsoever.The plot and premise it very original and is carried out in an interesting and often spell-binding way.
I didn't particularly like the writing or most of the acting, but I really like the look of the film (reminiscent of Sin City in a lot of ways) and some of the camera work was great.
It's an interesting concept but I felt the execution of it was a bit lacking, for me it doesn't even fall into the category of guilty pleasure kind of bad.The film felt like it was trying too hard to be cool with it's stylization and it came off very, very poorly.It drowned in the stiff and unnatural dialogue and the intrusive musical score was more irritating than rousing.
one thing that may have deterred most is the seeming 'off' quality that a lot of the camera work has, but this personally did not detract from my experience.In retrospect, I feel that this movie shares similarities with 'The Crow', in regards to many stylistic choices, and in some aspects of character development.Either way, decide for yourself..
To go on about the major plot flaws, a plot twist you see coming a mile off, characters so clichéd as to be almost offensive and all the other aspects of the film that make this film so unwatchable would be to miss a perfect opportunity to go on about the painful accents that most of the cast put on, where there seems a real attempt to sound legitimately American, but it's like watching someone try to lick their elbow.
It runs the gamut of bad movie ideas done bad.The premise is that in Purgatory, a city that is envisioned as a rundown dilapidated city where every occupant is homeless or destitute in some way, a battle is being fought between 7 Angels and 7 Fallen of which the fate of the universe lies.Sammael, one of the fallen, has found a way of harnessing the powers of those he has bested among the Angels, and all but one is left, Gabriel, who is obstinate and eager to take on these bastions of evil.The premise isn't new, and a Gothic metropolis being a battle ground of individuals who look like extras in a Nine Inch Nails video may be tempting as a concept to some, its execution is agonizingly bad.The pacing of the film is lax to begin with, and never does the film step up from it's first gear of painfully drawn out and wooden-eared dialogue, and even when action takes place, it is painfully short and garish rather than stylised.
A particular action sequence with machine gun fire in a strobing effect should come with a surgeon-general's warning because those with epileptic tendencies might fit from the visuals.The characters are stereotypical and flat and from the number of people leaving the movie halfway, it should not be under-emphasized why you should not pay to have such celluloid agony imposed on your poor selves.This review aims to warn those unsuspecting but those with a penchant for very bad film may take a liking to it out of morbid curiosity.Lowest score possible..
Unfortunately, those elements aren't terribly original and have been given better treatment in other films, like PRIEST (which still wasn't good), BLADE RUNNER and DARK CITY.
I don't normally write reviews but people need to be warned about this movie after friends dragged me into seeing it last week.Apart from the shallow storyline, dodgy acting and image quality, I have to say the terribly poor special effects never convince you the actors aren't in front of a blue screen during the entire film.Some movies can be made on a low budget, but sci-fi movies never should.If you want to see it I would recommend waiting for it to screen on SBS late at night, which I'm sure won't be far away..
It's got a nice poster.Everything nice about the movie ends there.You can tell the movie was bad the moment it started.The movie was more shot like an afternoon program for a TV holiday Special, watching something like Dark Angel would have made me happier.The fight sequence was unnatural, the actors look stiff and choreographed.
Firstly, I was actually surprised that this film was Australian considering the virtually unknown cast bar one recognisable name.The film itself is spectacular to watch in terms of effects and visuals that could stand up to any Hollywood blockbuster, and on only needs to compare that budget aspect of this film to Night Watch to know that it stands some chance at success overseas.Just seeing the trailer, one assumes a film in the manner of The Matrix meets Underworld.
Most of the actors I see for the first time and as far as I checked for some of the leading actors this was also the very first or the second movie (no hard feelings here).Basically the idea is good I liked it but the performance suffered serious lack of acting skills.
Appalling, direction, sound, writing, and acting.And, if that wasn't bad enough, the trailer, did in fact appear interesting.I have never been so board by such a film, that is truly without any merit.Whilst the Matrix trilogy, and Underworld had PLOT, as everyone knows, this clearly doesn't and self destructs faster than a "Falling Angel." Obviously the film-makers failed Hollywood 101, here quite convincingly.Anything else...yes the cinema was overflowing with people...including myself there were...wait for it, only three others in the cinema.Currently this is tied with Death Proof as the Worst film of 2007..
Gabriel had no plot, poor dialogue and what storyline there was lacked depth - I'd like to blame the actors but that wouldn't be fair because it appears that they really had nothing to work with in the first place.Special effects on their own cannot make a movie hit, they will always be a supporting product that can only be used to bolster a good plot.
In the case of Gabriel any plot at all may well have helped remarkably.Loved the swearing - if there was an award for gratuitous swearing this film would certainly have won it; the 'F' word really helped to disguise a lot of very poor dialogue.Summing up; I believe that a primary motivator here was a sort of "build it an they will come" philosophy with regard to some outstanding special effects.
For me it felt like they tried to put all the cool moments from other great movies into one film, but ruining them.I give 1 point for the fact that the movie was realized with that little budget and one for the special effects, that were after all not too bad sometimes.The moment I realized it was a low budget film I accepted it and tried to give it a fair chance, but the pathetic dialogs that were way too long and the bad plot (too often I sat there and asked myself "why did he do this?
why didn't he do that...", although the story itself had much potential as I like the stuff about good vs bad angels) made me sick after a while.As I said: impressive work for that little budget, but anyway not entertaining at all..
The lead actor came across as very wooden, sex scene absolutely pointless, action scenes and special effects amateurish & the plot just kept spiraling downwards into nothing-ness as time went on.If its any consolation we were laughing so hard throughout the whole film, probably harder than any comedy I've ever seen, but only because of how hopeless the entire thing was.
a totally waste of time as there is lack of direction in the movie and no sign of any kind of story in this movie...never understand from where he comes and what he wanna do...director shows the enemy is too much powerful ...but at last when he fights with the hero..it looks like a normal man fighting with a simple man...
The film is where Goth is at in 2007, post The Crow, post-Matrix, post-many vampire movies including Queen Of The Damn and Underworld, and affordable digital independent film making.It's the story of Gabriel, arriving to this dark, rainy city, to meet back with the six other archangels who have been fighting, and loosing, against a fallen angel, Sammael.The film avoids actually referencing hell and heaven, or a specific religion.
Although it is never clear in these films how such extreme world can function, effort have been made in the writing to show the fallen believably enjoying their dark side and giving as well as receiving pain.Unfortunately, once released from the wonderful atmosphere of the film, we realize that there wasn't that much actually going on here.While the film utilizes archangels for its characters, it turns out that they fight the fallen angels with fists, guns, and knives.
The Actors must have choked getting some of the dialogue out with a straight face.As far as character development is concerned the audience is considered to have a high degree of prescience (and liberal use of colored contact lenses has been added to shortcut/assist realization of who is a main player and who is not insults the intelligence)Gabriel would have benefited from a bit more skill script-wise and this may have given a better base from which to edit final product.If I had known it was made on a limited budget I would have viewed the film less cynically - I should watch it again now but can't be bothered - I understand ...
I knew nothing walking in, not that it was made in Australia(like me), or that it was a low budget film, but it didn't take too long guess this.The filming and acting of the main hero is quite beautiful, dark, and real, as were the fights, and some of the other actors were great too.
Better to let the audience adjust to one sound, or justify the differences.By the end of the movie I had correctly guessed this was a low budget film made in Australia, and I really wish I hadn't, and perhaps- that's the challenge for independent film-makers here.This was shot beautifully, it sounds great, it has brilliant locations and sets.
With a scene stealing performance by the excellent Micheal Piccirrilli as Asmodeus (a real sleazy treat) and a couple of hot S&M style femme fatales in Samantha Noble and Eryka Heynatz, Gabriel is a well rounded horror pic in the same vein as Night Watch, Matrix and Blade.Not dissimilar in ambition from MUFF hits Narcosys and Reign in Darkness, Gabriel succeeds extremely well in its ambition to become a cult horror flick.This film looks like it cost around 10 to 20 million bucks to make and from what I've heard had a cash budget of around 200 thousand.
They have to remember that a lot of movie goers are not grade A media students so lighting and sound quality does not make a lot of difference to how we enjoy the movie.I would say that if you are looking for a good action film filled with heart and hope and some fantastic actors and action sequences, then watch this.
give this a 10-15 million American budget...some more recognizable actors...tighten up the story...add some more...change the ending a little bit...make earth purgatory (los angeles)...add the 7 deadly sins and virtues per angel...you could really have something...get the right director and producing team together...imagine what a ridley scott or doug limon could do with a better script and bigger budget...i hope an maerican company or at least writer thinks about making an American version in the future...really not bad for the small budget...actually impressed they even finished it...not cheap putting any movie together...gives these guys all the credit for sticking it out and having their dream come together....
Being a low budget movie, I didn't have high expectations but ended up really liking it.The story is quite interesting, good fight scenes and the end is thought provoking.I am not into religion but have done some study in the past in regards angels and demons therefore could understand certain things and appreciate the movie better.It is worth watching for entertainment, contains some coarse language and violence but with a story to support it.The acting is OK, nothing terrible, nothing amazing..
OK let's get the bad stuff out of the way first, it's a low budget film, the actors aren't great and generally quite bad a times but that is easily forgiven.To me there is a lot of truth within this film and the story is good which is ultimately what makes this film good and it's a great example that you don't need millions to make a decent film as well as the artistic feel (at times) it's just let down by some terrible acting, corny moments because this could have been a masterpiece if they worked on those things.They are actually working on a sequel and I for one am very exited, hopefully they'll work on the aforementioned negatives and make a brilliant next movie..
First of: If you don't feel like reading all the review, at least read the Bottom line at the end, it will tell you all you need to know.I was surprise to see this movie has just 5 stars accumulative in IMDb. Usually IMDb is a great place to get good references for movies, but this time, don't pay too much attention to bad reviews.I can understand if people didn't like the movie, but the comments from people who rated the movie low just doesn't make sense.The acting is good, specially coming from unknown actors...
But most other characters did a very good job as well.The setting was portrayed adequately, and the effects, I believe, for the most part where good, not over-done or exaggerated.Truth is, I would change a few things from the movie, but that is also true for most movies I see, possible exceptions include Training Day and The Matrix...If you are looking to compare this movie, you need look no further than Constantine, but it is in no way a copy, it just resembles in how it feels for the viewer.I personally think that a low budget didn't hurt this movie that much, and the people involved did a far better job than with bigger, higher-budget blockbusters.Bottom line is: If you think the premise of the movie seems interesting, you will probably like it.
It's like the had a checklist as they went: Good vs Bad: Check Love interest: Check Facing past friend as foe: Check Drugs are bad, mmkay: Check Make your own choices: Check Save a friend: Check Token black guy: Check Use of film effects/filter (regardless of need): Check Stupid shot of guy/girl in front of window in rain in dark: Check Face your inner conscience: Check Moral battle: Check Everything else people expect from a high budget 'student film': CheckActually, I must admit the end 'twist' and some of the shots were cool, (so I gave the film 2 instead of 1) but really awful still, people were walking out in masses (including 5 people I was with, only one stayed with me to the end) by the halfway mark.
So, on the whole, I'd call the acting forgettable.Effects: pretty good for a low-budget film.