The Prophet's Game (2000) User Reviews

Great cast, interesting story line, but does not deliver.

[KSprowl · 5/10 · 2 June 2005]

Movie has a wonderful cast of talented actors in off-key roles for each; Dennis Hopper at the "good guy retired cop", Stephanie Zimbalist as a church-going cop with cropped hair (looks nothing like she did when in the series with Pierce Brosnan!) and Sondra Locke as the serial killer running the game. She is short cropped and looks very different than she did in any Clint Eastwood movie...I did not recognize her face, only her voice, and had was surprised at the end of the film to see it was her. Another recognizable voice is Michael Dorn (Who played the Klingon in Star Trek - The Next Generation) as a very authoritative, convincing cop.

Worth it to watch for the cast and their wonderful performances alone and potentially great storyline...just something must have gotten lost between the translation and the story comes off as stiff and unbelievable in parts. Great special effects and still recommend renting this movie.

DVD surprise

[bigowl-sat · 5/10 · 23 October 2006]

I don't really have strong feelings about the movie. I paid $1.00 for the DVD at WalMart and I think I got my money's worth. I watch a lot of movies and am surprised I had never seen this one. Dennis Hopper is dependable in most any role and this one was no exception. The story was OK, but the ending was no great surprise. What was surprising was the quality of the video. I have bought cheap DVDs before and they varied from average to crummy. This one was sharp and had good color throughout. No extras, of course, like director's comments, subtitles or other goodies, but the movie ran full length without any gaps or pixelating and with decent enough sound. A pleasant surprise.

Nice Thriller

[whpratt1 · 6/10 · 14 March 2006]

This film was on sale in Wal-Mart and I decided that for the price it was worth purchasing. As soon as the film began, I knew right from the start that I was going to enjoy this type of film. Dennis Hopper(Vincent Swan),"20th & Wolf",'05, played a retired detective who had some experience with a past serial killer whom he had killed. Vincent is called back to Los Angeles where the crime had taken place years ago and tried to assist the police department with this Cold Case. Stephanie Zimbalist,(Francis Aldobrandi),"Malpractice",'01, is assigned to Vincent Swan to work on the case together. There is an appearance of Sandra Locke,(Adele Highsmith),"Clean & Narrow",'99, who gives a great supporting role and it was great to see her acting without her ex live in bow, Clint Eastwood. If you like a mystery story from 1999, this is not a bad film to view.

Interesting idea, badly done.

[cbing4 · 3/10 · 17 April 2001]

Dennis Hopper is intense. He is by far the best thing in this by the numbers serial killer 'thriller'. The idea of the prophet's game itself is interesting, and could make a pretty good movie, but this isn't it. It's too bogged down in revenge, police politics, and laughable action to go anywhere, and the ending is unbelievably unsatisfying, with so much still left unanswered. As for the direction, there is really nothing to distinguish The Prophet's Game from a million other B movies, and although the supporting cast try hard, (with a few notable exceptions) they can't lift it from its dire script.

Where did don swayze go

[freeholidays · 18 September 2001]

The most puzzling part of this film was where don swayze went. he had finished his role in the film even before the opening credit s came on. pretty strange. Dennis hopper did his best here obviously he's getting on & his judgment is clouded now so no sane actor would have their mame on this film. he chases a man over half his age for about 2 minutes & isn't even tired - strange cause he's 65. There are numerous bad takes in the film - one where a girl looks straight at the camera looking like she's taking instructions from the crew. The plot rambles along with some decent twists but the idea wasn't worked on well enough so in the end the film is disappointing.

Silly and ponderous all at once

[elsbet-3 · 2/10 · 29 June 2001]

I started rooting for one character to be the next to die just because the actor's performance was so God-awful. Thankfully, my wish was granted. Dennis Hopper was likeable and gives a good performance. Stephanie Zimbalist's performance was marred by a now-you- hear-it, now-you-don't Noo Yawk accent. Other than that, a silly plot with a one-trick pony of a twist, cheap psychological background, stupid police tricks (don't they go to some police school that teaches them to disarm suspects and carry their cell phones with them rather than leave them deep in the woods, in their hidden cars?), and ponderous music make this a movie to miss.

Yawn

[thefolks · 1/10 · 19 May 2002]

The plot of this movie sounded fairly interesting so I tried it. All I can say is, 'don't waste your time.' The plot was poorly explained. The cinematography was amateurish. The acting was bad.

We have become used to seeing so much better that it is jarring to see a movie done this badly. This movie was truly awful.

Dennis Hopper as a retired detective tracking down a serial killer with Stephanie Zimbalist

[Wuchakk · 6/10 · 27 August 2016]

Dennis Hopper stars as Vincent Swan, a retired detective from Seattle who is asked to fly to Los Angeles to help solve a new rash of murders similar to a case he supposedly solved a dozen years earlier. Stephanie Zimbalist co-stars as "Al," a frustrated officer assigned to keep an eye on Swan while the hardboiled chief of detectives conducts the investigation (Joe Penny). Robert Yocum, Shannon Whirry, Greg Lauren, Michael Dorn and Sondra Locke are also on hand.

"The Prophets Game" (2000) is a crime thriller that went straight-to-video in the USA & most other countries, but it had a theatrical release in Spain and Korea. With a budget of $28 million (which is nothing to sneeze at), it has a more modest budget than blockbuster thrillers and therefore lacks the polish of the similarly themed "The Dead Pool" (1988), not to mention it lacks a super-cop like Dirty Harry and the corresponding fast action, although it has some action.

What the film has in its favor is an impressive character-driven script by Carol Chrest only hampered by convolution (but that's what repeat viewings are for). On top of this you have zesty performances by all the principle cast members. Both Swan and Al are nicely fleshed-out and you care about them and the outcome of the story. Penny and Locke also give knockout performances, although their roles are relatively minor. Meanwhile Shannon Whirry shines as one of the most beautiful women to walk the earth in a peripheral part.

This is an R-rated flick and therefore contains cussing, gruesome gore and female top-nudity, but none of these are overdone. Some people don't like it because of the limitations of its budget, but I was nicely entertained from beginning to end. You'll probably like it too if you favor dialogue-driven stories and don't insist on blockbuster polish. I wouldn't want to pay top dollar to see it at the theater, but it works well for TV, DVD or rental.

AN INQUIRY: There's a scene about 90-minutes into the film where Swan (Hopper) is walking with two other characters through a campus and a few extras pass between the camera and them. One is a woman wearing white pants who is talking to another person. She is seen again in the same sequence in the background. I need to know who this woman is. I presume she's an extra provided by the casting agency that hired extras for the movie. The world of cinema needs this woman.

The movie runs 1 hour, 46 minutes, and was shot in the Los Angeles area as follows: Ventura (Santa Ventura Studios) and Santa Barbara (University of California).

GRADE: B-

(PS: The "INQUIRY" is a joke, sort of)

Rather Pathetic

[myspecialparadise · 3/10 · 22 October 2013]

The job of the director is to pull a performance out of an actor. This director couldn't pull a tab off a can of Dr. Pepper! Maybe the director was having a bad year?! All of the performance were lousy ... which basically shows you that some of our favorite actors aren't as talented as we thought we were. Stephanie Zimbalist basically played a character somewhat reminiscent of Valerie Harper, in voice only. She looked horrible with freckled and blotchy skin. Get with it people ... we don't want to see her looking bad, takes all the fun out of watching her. Dennis Hopper was his usual boring self ... just kidding! Dennis is Dennis ... nothing more, nothing less. Just an average actor. Joe Penny ... what a let down! The man was two legs short of a roasted boar ... a total disaster area! Do we really want our hero types playing villains? I think not! Basically, the movie is a flop ... and somewhat boring. Nothing new ... old dialogues, and old plots! Oh ... and Sandra Locke ... guess she's only good in a Clint Eastwood movie, because she stunk worse than anyone else! Over-acting, with no sincerity what-so-ever.

I WANT TO PLAY

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 19 June 2019]

The movie starts with a 1969 flashback before the credits. Any horror mystery watcher worth their salt know who the killer is before the credits is over. It is just a matter of figuring out which person that is years later. 10 minutes into the movie, you should know why they are killing. It is just that predictable.

Knife stabs- When you play the Psycho sound track and make cartoonish squishy sounds with each plunge are we to assume this is a comedy?

The killer sends Dennis Hopper a post card and calls him at home. Apparently the killer knows him. He gives Hopper the first clue..."I'll leave the light on for you." Immediately our minds race...Is it Tom Bodett?

There is an Internet game being played called the Prophet Game, based on kid's game I was not aware existed. The game consists of riddles and players are pitted against each other. Patrick Thomas, an admirer of Curly plays a character reminiscent of the more disgusting Curly Joe.

Dennis Hopper plays Swan a retired detective who is helping the LAPD find the copy cat serial killer who kidnaps the losers in the game and kills them along with celebrities. Overly predictable. The clues apply to fictional characters the audience doesn't know so you can't play along.

Brief Nudity (Zoe the stripper) no sex, no f-bombs

Horrible script

[fallout-ag · 3/10 · 9 March 2001]

The storyline of this movie had the potential to be good and intriguing, however the writer massacred it. The characters' motivations where sketchy and overacted, even by the usually charismatic Dennis Hopper. Some of the lines had me laughing when it was obviously meant to be suspensful, serious, or cathartic.

Overall, it is worth a watch for a Dennis Hopper fan. He saves this otherwise sinking ship.

Good movie with interesting twists. Who will win the Prophet's Game?

[MacrosTB · 9/10 · 23 July 2000]

Dennis Hopper plays Vincent Swann, a retired detective with a personal vendetta, to perfection in this movie. As the retired detective whose daughter was killed by a mass murderer, when the tell-tale killings start again, he starts to wonder if he got the right man. Famous people are randomly murdered and body parts taken. The players of the Prophet's Game decide who lives or dies.

Although the movie is a little slow, there is enough intrigue to keep you hanging on to the last minute. The movie is directed very well, with a good supporting cast. (Michael Dorn's distinctive voice is used to good effect as the Police Commissioner.)

As the players start disappearing, and Vincent is taunted, the winner of the Prophet's Game is always the Prophet...

A game without interest!

[gazineo-1 · 3/10 · 12 September 2001]

Disappointing police drama concerning the challenge between an old detective (Hooper) and a weird and uncanny serial killer. Tired formula with a plot that goes along in a peasant pace with no real catch or interesting situations and characters. I give this a 3 (three).

WHAT A WASTE.......

[Buzz-17 · 30 June 2001]

O.K. Here is what happened. I went to the VIDEO STORE to rent THE TAO of STEVE and did not look carefully at the DVD case and ended up renting this stinker of a flick instead. Now don't get me wrong, this film had potential. Dennis Hopper is always at least tolerable or better, and is not bad here. The problem was the poorly explained plot, the numerous bad performances, and the director's insistence on using every police cliche going. The film uses the venetian blind shadows in just about every scene. I really cannot express the multitude of reasons no one should see this. Seems to me it went straight to video for a reason.

Not Very Good

[Dead_Mann · 4/10 · 16 June 2006]

it actually turned out to be a little better than i thought this cheap budget would be, but still very bad...............................

Dennis hopper was pretty good, and the rest of the cast was OK, it was shot pretty well, and has a storyline, that makes you want to see it, but don't please..........

its about a serial killer known as the prophet and has killed again,and sends a postcard to Vincent swan(detective, but detective swan(hopper) had killed him a few years ago, but he come to a conclusion that hes a copycat or he actually didn't kill him, so in the rest of the story the prophet leaves clues with his mutilated victims and detective swan tries to solve the mystery

The best part

[captaintorvin · 5/10 · 20 February 2007]

My very favorite thing about this movie was how a bunch of the central characters were apparently supposed to be college students, but they were all in their thirties. They kept on trying to act young. The fat guy was stereotypically obnoxious, and the female lead's sex drive was clearly well-in-place for the age, and they were all playing some trendy new game on the internet, yet their physical appearances made them woefully ill-suited for the parts they played.

I especially liked the one main dude with his backwards cap who was always riding his bike around and such.

So believably youthful!

Kept viewers in the dark

[jordondave-28085 · 4/10 · 5 May 2023]

(1999) The Prophet's Game THRILLER/ HORROR/ SUSPENSE MYSTERY

At the first few minutes, has father-in-law forbidding a young boy and his little sister from playing an offensive board game called "the Prophet's Game", and rips up a bunch of celebrity pictures. It is then the present time, and homicide detective Vincent Swan (Dennis Hopper) is forced for an early retirement for it has something to with the Prophet's Game serial killings, in which he purposely killed the person thought to have killed his daughter. Calls then come back to haunt him telling him that he's going to go on a killing spree, leaving him with clues, and if he fails, this person is going to dismember some well known people. The boss Walter (played by Joe Penny who was the star of a show called "Riptide") of this new homicide group thinks that Swan is still somewhat connected while he has only one cop who doesn't think he's nuts who is Homicide Francis Aldobrandi played by Stephanie Zimbalist, who once made a name for herself by playing detective in the syndicated show "Remington Steele". Meanwhile, the Prophet's Game is being played on-line for viewers are oblivious how that came about for it's just is and stalking a particular student of a university. Both the student and Swan are eventually going to team up to catch the killer. After the revelation toward the end, the movie still didn't make any sense, since police officers are supposed to help each other rather than fight against one another. Also, viewers are still oblivious how a single person are able to get away for such a long time, for we are still oblivious about the killer's motivations for doing the killings in the first place.

Never trust your vanity

[Dr_Coulardeau · 10/10 · 20 July 2007]

A fairly good suspense film, even a thriller, with a serial killer who comes back after having died on the scene of his last or latest crime. And he gets into a new series. We know from the very start who the killer or killers is or are. But we will only understand that very beginning at the end. It is a game among anonymous people with enigmas and riddles that prophesies the next victim. If you want the next victim to be saved you have to give the solution to the latest riddle you received. Of course the game is rigged. The killer gets some guarantee by menacing the players with some reprisal on some close relatives or friends. Of course the object of the game is to bring the cop who put an end to the first series of serial killings into the game to get some kind of vengeance. It's well done and it shoots in all directions with a few elements that will not get explained here and there. The riddles are obscure and the explanations are too quick for us to wonder what it really means and how they manage to get the solutions. We can also wonder how this killer can single-handedly kidnap or abduct an adult. But I guess everything has to remain slightly mysterious. The happy ending is of course very optimistic. The killer could have done a lot more damage if the end had not been too vain and had only considered vengeance. That killer being insane, definitely schizophrenic, does not explain why in the last moments of the adventure criminal reason departs and vanity takes over. But that's good entertainment.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine & University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne

Disturbing, occasionally graphic, with some good performances

[vchimpanzee · 18 April 2011]

At the start of the movie, a farmer wonders if his lack of success is due to God punishing him. He catches his son and daughter playing The Prophet's Game, which he considers evil. Since he believes his son killed a dog (the boy denies it) and the son doesn't want to stop playing the evil game, the father believes he must beat his son (this is implied, not shown) to keep him from going to Hell. The mother, despite pleas from her daughter to stop the beating, can only comfort her daughter; she appears afraid to confront her husband.

In present-day Seattle, retired detective Vincent Swan receives a phone call from the Los Angeles Police. The LAPD needs help with another serial killer whose pattern appears the same as that of a killer in Seattle; not only did Swan catch the man, but his daughter was one of the victims. Either Swan caught the wrong man or there is a copycat.

Alan is a teaching assistant at a Los Angeles college. His beautiful blonde fiancée Barb is a medical intern working for the morgue, and his roommate is happy-go-lucky Lewis. Their first scene together suggests this will be a comedy-mystery, but there is little to laugh about after the one scene. Barb knows yet another celebrity has been murdered; we saw it happen but couldn't see the face of the killer, who dressed in black. The killer dismembers the bodies, and while we don't see it, there is plenty of blood on the screen and it's still quite disgusting to watch.

Lewis and Alan both play The Prophet's Game, as do several students at the college. They look a little old to be students, but some students are older. The killer is offering clues about his victims through the game, and the police figure this out too late for one of the celebrities. Furthermore, they cover up the fact that this celebrity is dead, but Barb knows. And Alan, contacted by phone, is told to correctly answer the questions of the killer, whose voice is disguised, or else. He gets several answers wrong before he is told it is his last chance. Will the cops figure out what is going on in time to stop another murder?

The mystery is not anything groundbreaking, but it is chilling to hear the killer harass Alan, knowing this person seems to have no conscience. And the riddles must be solved, or else, which can be interesting. And there's a pretty good chase scene where the detectives run after a suspect.

The biggest reason to watch this movie is for two great performances--Dennis Hopper as the Seattle detective who tries hard to catch the killer, and Sondra Locke as Adele (yes, she's capable of much more than those silly orangutan movies with Clint Eastwood, which I enjoyed).

At the same time, toward the movie's end, I saw one of the must graphic and disturbing dead bodies I have ever seen on a TV screen. Perhaps the great horror classics have this and worse, but I don't watch those.

Stephanie Zimbalist does a good job as one of the Los Angeles detectives, and while she is a Christian (apparently Catholic because she prays to Mary at one point), she demonstrates her faith more positively than that farmer.

I never heard of the actress who played Barb, but she was pretty good, especially when she walked around Alan's apartment in just a shirt and made every effort to call attention to her legs. Actually, if you look closely, she is wearing a bra, but still ...

Is it worth seeing? I guess it depends on what type mysteries you like. I prefer less blood and more laughs.

Copycat copy

[sibisi73 · 27 December 2001]

Following in the footsteps of 'Seven', yet another copycat psycho thriller, this time with famous folk being bumped off as part of a game played over the Internet. Without the two leads this really would deserve the bargain bin, Hopper and Zimbalist at least keep their characters interesting. Which is more than can be said for everyone else. Would've been nice to have had some real celeb cameos to be killed off, but maybe they thought that was tempting fate!

Some Deja Vu Here

[loueva · 20 February 2001]

I saw the DVD version of this mystery/thriller. I must say that Dennis Hopper and Stefanie Zimbalist are highlights of the movie but it kind of ends with their performances. Hopper shows he can act with his face and develop the unsaid script. Zimbalist is a revelation as she portrays an aging, slightly dumpy vice cop who has about had it. Remembering her TV work I gained respect for her acting and personal strength in avoiding face lifts et al. The movie is a bit formula although it has its moments. I cannot determine if the director feels the audience remembers "Psycho" or has forgotten it, but there are references. Many scenes are too long and others, especially the finale and tie in explanations, too short. People who like the serial killer genre with game playing and shock effects will probably like it. It is nice to see Michael Dorn without his Star Trek makeup but his part is much too small. How much mystery can there be when you are almost through the movie and Sandra Locke has not shown up yet? The DVD is full screen, sharp, but a little grainy on my system and DTS sound is an option. Overall a disappointment but Hopper and Zimbalist are worth every penny of rental money.

Hopper and 2 chars walking though a (college?) campus

[lmp741 · 13 November 2006]

i did not sit through this movie, but i remember one specific scene: Hopper/Swan was walking with two other characters through a campus of some sort, and some extras pass between the camera and the trio. One is definitely a woman, wearing white pants, and she is walking and talking to another person. Later in the scene, we see them again in the background, and it appears the second person is also a woman.

Does anyone know who the woman in white pants is or how to find out? I presume she is an extra provided by the Entertainement Casting Company, the firm who provided the extras to the set for this film. I would really like to see more of this actress, for sure!

How would I learn more about her?