The one book that can change the world

I thoroughly enjoy re-watching Road Warrior and would probably have sought out this film just because its subject involves a loner in peril from the forces of evil in a post-apocalyptic world. Also it stars Denzel Washington. I'm not certain giving it explicit religious significance will make it easier to enjoy - my hypercritical inclinations may be triggered.

Carl Kozlowski at Big Hollywood reviews "The Book of Eli":

.... Eli is carrying a copy of the last Bible on the planet, since all other religious texts – including Torahs and Korans – were rounded up and destroyed 30 years before after religious strife was believed to have caused a devastating global nuclear war. Eli believes he’s heard the voice of God telling him to bring the Bible to an unspecified place in the West, but a ruthless despot named Carnegie (Gary Oldman) knows that if he gets his hands on the precious book, he can distort its teachings and have total control over the minds and spirits of the people who live in his empire of revived, Old West-style towns.

With Eli joined by Samara...the race is on between the duo and the tyrant’s small army of henchmen and weapons to maintain final control over mankind’s destiny. And that means Washington will slice, dice, sever or shoot anyone who gets in his way. ....

The Book of Eli wears its heart on its sleeve from beginning to end, clearly crediting the Bible as the one book above all that can change the world. And while Oldman’s Carnegie has plenty of fun as the film’s face of evil, the film as a whole never strays from its vision of Eli and Samara as unshakably right and Oldman as unmistakably wrong..... [more]

Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » REVIEW: ‘Book of Eli’ Finds Perfect Mix of Action, Religion