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Dispatches from Armageddon: Making the Movie Megiddo...a Devilish Diary!
Michael York takes you on a thrilling journey to the hidden world of moviemaking, where stars people the scenery and every day is an adventure. Witness the day-to-day drama behind the drama and have access to Hollywood as you've never seen it before.
Through the senses of this acclaimed actor, producer, and author, you'll learn about what it takes to make a movie from start to finish. From the moment the cast meets for the first time to the final day of shooting, you'll be there for the joys, the pains, and everything in between. Join York as he travels from Los Angeles and the California desert to Rome and the Italian countryside, revealing in Dispatches from Armageddon: Making the Movie Megiddo the world of Hollywood you won't see in the movies.
291 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 18, 2020
Good insight into show business. Interesting cover. Checked out this book through intra library loan from the State Library of Louisiana. Learned about this book from an interview with the author on the Trinity Broadcasting Network.
March 21, 2026
Michael York's diary of the making of the Christian exploitation classic, Megiddo: Omega Code 2. York has played a long litany of intellectual types but, it transpires, he isn't a great thinker himself. Little insight into the apocalyptic mindset of the American Evangelicals who are both the target market and the funding behind this film. While he doesn't himself align with their beliefs he tacitly endorses them and seems excited that the film represents some sort of spiritual awakening.
Mostly, he wants to talk about his travels in Europe and his famous friends such as former PM John Major. We don't learn all that much about the process of filmmaking, though there are a few occasions where he builds scenes with Udo Kier; the two seem to play off each other well and that chemistry is evident on screen. (Putting aside the worldview it espouses Megiddo is enormously entertaining and York romps his way through it like a champion).
Alternative medicine and other forms of woo-woo (astrology, chiropractors, psychics) come up every few pages. More frustrating is York's habit of comparing any figure who comes to mind to his Antichrist character, Stone Alexander. Figures who apparently reflect aspects of Alexander include: Bill Clinton, Al Gore, George W. Bush, Silvio Berlusconi, York's friend John Major (with friends like these!), Camilla Parker-Bowles, Pope John Paul II, Henry Kissinger, Osama bin Laden, Hannibal Lecter, Oliver Stone, Timothy McVeigh, Slobodan Milošević, Adolf Hitler, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Field Marshal Montgomery, Napoléon Bonaparte, Julius Caesar, Frida Kahlo, Graham Greene's character Eric Krogh and even his own producer Matt Crouch and Crouch's televangelist father Paul Crouch. It's difficult to see what purpose these comparisons serve when they can be applied to just about anyone with any kind of power or any kind of charisma, though there is something endearing about how much mental real estate York evidently gives over to a character he's playing. There are more comparisons but the cheaply-printed book has no index and I didn't feel like rereading it from the beginning, so all of these occur in the second half of the book after I started making notes. Because the book is so short this happens every few pages. On that note the book is in a smaller format than usual and the print is quite large, so it's much shorter than its 300-odd pages would indicate. An easy if shallow and frustrating read; can be finished in a few sittings.
Incidentally, the text at the bottom of the page, near the page numbers, which identifies the book title correctly reads "Dispatches from Armageddon: Making Megiddo " until the "Epilogue" chapter where it becomes "Megiddo : Making the Movie". In that same chapter York speculates on toning down the book's apocalyptic title in the wake of the 9/11 attacks so this is presumably a remnant of that.
Mostly, he wants to talk about his travels in Europe and his famous friends such as former PM John Major. We don't learn all that much about the process of filmmaking, though there are a few occasions where he builds scenes with Udo Kier; the two seem to play off each other well and that chemistry is evident on screen. (Putting aside the worldview it espouses Megiddo is enormously entertaining and York romps his way through it like a champion).
Alternative medicine and other forms of woo-woo (astrology, chiropractors, psychics) come up every few pages. More frustrating is York's habit of comparing any figure who comes to mind to his Antichrist character, Stone Alexander. Figures who apparently reflect aspects of Alexander include: Bill Clinton, Al Gore, George W. Bush, Silvio Berlusconi, York's friend John Major (with friends like these!), Camilla Parker-Bowles, Pope John Paul II, Henry Kissinger, Osama bin Laden, Hannibal Lecter, Oliver Stone, Timothy McVeigh, Slobodan Milošević, Adolf Hitler, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Field Marshal Montgomery, Napoléon Bonaparte, Julius Caesar, Frida Kahlo, Graham Greene's character Eric Krogh and even his own producer Matt Crouch and Crouch's televangelist father Paul Crouch. It's difficult to see what purpose these comparisons serve when they can be applied to just about anyone with any kind of power or any kind of charisma, though there is something endearing about how much mental real estate York evidently gives over to a character he's playing. There are more comparisons but the cheaply-printed book has no index and I didn't feel like rereading it from the beginning, so all of these occur in the second half of the book after I started making notes. Because the book is so short this happens every few pages. On that note the book is in a smaller format than usual and the print is quite large, so it's much shorter than its 300-odd pages would indicate. An easy if shallow and frustrating read; can be finished in a few sittings.
Incidentally, the text at the bottom of the page, near the page numbers, which identifies the book title correctly reads "Dispatches from Armageddon: Making Megiddo " until the "Epilogue" chapter where it becomes "Megiddo : Making the Movie". In that same chapter York speculates on toning down the book's apocalyptic title in the wake of the 9/11 attacks so this is presumably a remnant of that.
August 26, 2019
Dispatches from Armageddon is a great (quick) insight into the movie making process from the always excellent Michael York. I would have liked to have some more of York's reflections on the final film and audience response to it's release.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews