The Order (2001 film)

Infobox Film
name = The Order


image_size =
caption = "The Order" DVD cover
director = Sheldon Lettich
producer = Avi Lerner
writer = Les Weldon
Jean-Claude Van Damme
narrator =
starring = Jean-Claude Van Damme
Charlton Heston
Sofia Milos
Brian Thompson
Vernon Dobtcheff
music = Pino Donaggio
cinematography = David Gurfinkel
editing = Donn Aron
Alain Jakubowicz
distributor = TriStar Pictures
released = December 13, 2001
runtime = 89 min
country = ARU
USA
language = Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
English
Arabic
Aramaic
French
Hebrew
Ukrainian
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0193364

"The Order" is a 2001 20M action thriller film about a religious order, written by Jean-Claude Van Damme and Les Weldon and directed by Sheldon Lettich and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. The cast also includes Sofia Milos, Brian Thompson, Ben Cross, Vernon Dobtcheff and Charlton Heston. It is available from Columbia Tristar.

Plot

In the year 1099, during the Crusades in the 11th Century, Christian soldiers arrive to Jerusalem and slaughter the local population.

Christian soldier Charles Le Vaillant (Jean-Claude Van Damme) becomes demoralized by the horrors of war, and he decides to create a new religious order. This new order brings together, in a peaceful manner, members from the three main religions of the region: Christians, Jews, and Muslims.

As a self-imposed leader and messiah, Charles writes the sacred texts of the Order. The Christian Crusaders accuse Charles of heresy, and attack him and his disciples. During the attack, the last chapter from their religious text becomes lost in the desert.

In modern-day Israel, a devout contingent of Le Vaillant's followers continues to practice his peaceful teachings. But a disciple named Cyrus (Brian Thompson) has a distorted view of the Order's ecumenical intention.

In present time, Rudy Cafmeyer (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a thief and smuggler of valuable historical artifacts. Rudy manages to break into a high security building where he steals a precious Faberge Egg, the kind decorated with precious stones and manufactured expressly for the Russian Tsars. Needless to say, the alarm goes off and Rudy has to fight his way out of the building.

Despite his thievery, Rudy is not really a bad guy. He stole such a precious object from the personal collection of a powerful Russian mafia boss. As a matter of fact, Rudy is a good and loving son, who would do anything for his father Oscar "Ozzie" Cafmeyer (Vernon Dobtcheff).

Ozzie, an archaeologist and museum curator, discovers the manuscripts that were lost during the crusades. The manuscripts clearly extol interfaith harmony.

In those manuscripts, there is also an ancient map of Jerusalem, which shows the location of a mythical Jewish treasure. Ozzie travels to Israel, where Cyrus has him kidnapped.

Rudy, who heard the abduction take place while talking to Ozzie on the phone, travels to Jerusalem to rescue Oscar. Oscar's associate, Professor Walt Finley (Charlton Heston), hands Rudy the key to a safe-deposit box in East Jerusalem before being gunned down by unknown assailants.

Israeli Police Chief Ben Ner (Ben Cross) views Rudy's arrival with hostility and takes steps to have Rudy deported, but police lieutenant Dalia Barr (Sofia Milos) risks her career to help Rudy -- she was once a disciple of the Order, but she left when she was 18.

Meanwhile, Cyrus assassinates the Order's leader, Pierre Gaudet, and steps up his inflammatory rhetoric, hoping to inflame his followers.

Rudy opens the safe-deposit box and finds a map that shows a series of tunnels and a treasure room beneath Jerusalem. Ben Ner, who has partnered with Cyrus, just covets the gold that the underground tunnels lead to, but Cyrus hopes to plant a bomb during Ramadan that will turn the Israelis against the Palestinians.

Dalia and Rudy must infiltrate the Order's monastery, free Ozzie, and prevent an explosion that could push tensions in the Holy Land past the point of no return.

Box Office

In Spain the movie was seen by well over 100,000 people with total gross at almost 600,000 euros. In Mexico the movie did just as well grossing over $560,000. Though not issued in cinemas in the United States the movie did well on rentals, netting over $18 million [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0193364/business] . "The Order" was also issued on Video and DVD in the United Kingdom.

External links

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