Celestine Prophecy, The Redfield, James New Stuff Root/Video / Inspirational and Religious Films Root/Video / General Inspirational Video and DVD DVD Sony Pictures 2006 / Running Time: 100 Min. 1-4248-3359-0 $19.95 Register for Discount!

"This delectable fusion of New Age babble and luridly bad filmmaking may not 'open' you up, to borrow one of the film’s favorite verbs, but it might leave your jaw slack and your belly sore from laughter.

Based on the best-selling book by James Redfield, first (self) published in 1993, this cornucopia of kitsch tracks the spiritual awakening of an American history teacher (Matthew Settle) who, on traveling to deepest, darkest, phoniest Peru and sniffing either the air or something more potent, discovers that there really is more to life. Namely what he discovers is a schlock Shangri La populated by smiling zombies who may be nuts or just heavily medicated, perhaps because they’re often accompanied by a panpipe flourish and an occasional shout out from a celestial choir. Although there’s a lot of talk about 'energy,' that quality is decidedly missing from the motley cast whose numbers include Thomas Kretschmann, Annabeth Gish, Hector Elizondo and Jurgen Prochnow, all of whom are now firmly ensconced in the camp pantheon. For those who care, the plot involves the military, terrorists and the Roman Catholic Church; Armand Mastroianni provided the inept direction while Mr. Redfield, Barnet Bain and Dan Gordon wrote the hoot of a script." ~The New York Times Review "Much as with the What the Bleep Do We Know? films, it is difficult to assess Celestine without acknowledging the extent to which an individual viewer buys into the particular brand of spiritual guidance the movie is pushing. By severely compacting much of the talk from the dialogue-heavy source novel, the film is unlikely to win new converts to its ideology but may also alienate some of the faithful, who will find only a cursory overview of the book's notions about energy and coincidence. Strictly addressing the filmmaking involved, as directed by journeyman veteran Armand Mastroianni, the movie is flatly acted and extremely ill-paced, lacking any sense of urgency, momentum or fun. Romancing the Stone it is not." ~Los Angeles Times DVD Features: Region 1 (US and Canada Only) Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 English, French Subtitles "The Making of The Celestine Prophecy" featurette