So much average

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

I am frankly stunned by the generally positive responses to this dreadful film. 'Star' of the production, Tchéky Karyo does not even seem to be able to act in the conventional sense. He is completely expressionless throughout the film, and portrays Nostradamus as a rather dislikeable, arrogant person who seems to inexplicably attract the ladies at will. Why anyone would deign to talk to him, let alone screw him is a genuine mystery. At one point, Nostradamus is in a carriage, having visions of WWII, shouting 'Stop Stop!' over and over. I wonder if the real Nostradamus could indeed see the future, and if so, could have foreseen this horrible film and been suitably upset by it. Perhaps he was really shouting at the director and writer in this scene. There are some very clumsy moments, such as when our visionary shows a pal a symbol that has been perhaps tormenting him - difficult to tell with Karyo's complete lack of facial expression - which is of course a swastika. Cue ominous music etc.Each scene is also longer than it really needs to be, with lots of silence and blank expressions supposedly conveying - well, what exactly? The film has the feel and style of a made for TV movie, just made longer with these pregnant pauses. In fact, I think the film is so bad that any change made to it at all could only improve it.If I could take anything away from this film, it's that Nostradamus could not see the future at all, and was perhaps interested only in promoting himself at any price. A shoddy and pointless affair that in some ways trivialises Nazi atrocities by not even addressing them.

This is a real great movie about the Life of Nostradamus,if true or not, well that`s another question,but here you have some real great actors in very good roles first of all T.Karyo as Nosdradamus,he played the way as somebody who`ve lived all those things.In another role you have Rutger Hauer one of the best and underestimated actors in the Whole world in my opinion(have a look at Hitcher,Blade Runner,Soldier of Orange),he stars as the mystik monk only appears a few minutes but impresses a lot more.The Cast was filled up with F. Murray Abraham,A. Plummer and a lot more ofgreat actors,this all was mixed with some very good special effects(Nostradamus Visions)and good screenplay,wonderfull combine to an excellent picture by R.Christian(who also worked on Star Wars).A clear 10 out of 10 for me.

Tcheky Karyo, most familiar to American audiences as Bob, the enigmatic secret agent by way of Pygmalion in Luc Besson's NIKITA, has his first English-language lead role as the 16th-century physician and prophet Michel de Nostradame, who predicted various events occurring hundreds of years into the future.Filmed in Romania, the film is a grim, grubby depiction of the renaissance era, but seldom reaches any moments of true insight into Nostradamus' life. Instead of taking a scholarly approach required of the subject, and concentrating on the man's vision, director Roger Christian (whose claim to fame is being the art director on Ridley ScottÕs ALIEN and directing the pretty much forgetable horror flick THE SENDER) panders to the lowest common denominator by focusing on his love life, and his run-ins with pugnacious Inquisitors.When he is shown having his prophetic visions, most of the sequences are stilted and hokey. Only one prediction sequence has any power, the vision of the Black Rain, filmed in Copsa Mica, which the National Geographic Society once branded as the most polluted city in Europe.Academy Award Winner F. Murray Abraham (AMADEUS), called in to save the acting day, does serviceable work as Scalinger, Nostradamus' sometime mentor, and Rutger Hauer is weird and funny as the Mystic Monk. Do I hear laughs? His turn is actually quite enjoyable, with his candle-lit hat and his demolition of the loathsome flagellates.Karyo consorts with a bevy of bold European actresses, including Julia Ormond, Maia Morgenstern (THE OAK), and Assumpta Serna (MATADOR, THE FENCING MASTER.) He makes a noble effort with his calm, cultivated, at times endearing performance but he can't carry the whole film.The movie eventually dissipates in the scarcity of its low budget, borrowing footage (ironically enough) from ALIENS for its final sequence which depicts space travel.

I watched this movie in 1998 and would like to know whether this movie told exactly about his life. Although i never read the prophecy of Nostradamus but i am amazed that he can know that there will be three world war. The fact is there were two already and the third one, we still can't judge it by ourselves. What i have to say is an excellent movie with huge casts and it has been narrated carefully by the writer and producer. Why not a remake? Will that be better?