Killing time until "The Continental: The Movie"

No, that's not a real upcoming feature film. But one can hope. (Need a refresher? Click here.)

So guess who turns 65 next week? Yep, everyone's favorite crazy-eyed, stilted speaker, Christopher Walken. Hard to believe, huh? Actually, maybe not. I mean, the guy has been in a lot of movies -- apparently, he never turns down a role (really) -- and is in demand as much as ever. (Pause ... summon Walkenesque cadence ... ) It's crazy!

To mark the occasion of the big Six-Five, let's look at two movies that illustrate two very different stages of Walken's career. One I hadn't seen but must confess being curious about. The other is the movie that made him a star so long ago.

A wing and a terror: "The Prophecy"

No question, this movie looked bad when it came out, and bad when it popped up on cable the other day. But come on ... it's Walken! Doing the horror thing! Why not give it a try?

And the opening credits sort of got my hopes up. Elias Koteas? He's not bad. Virginia Madsen? Cute. Eric Stoltz? Interesting. Viggo Mortensen? Very interesting. Throw in Amanda Plummer -- calm down, Dad -- and Adam Goldberg, and there's a nice mix of talent here. What could go wrong?

Well, for starters, a plot along the lines of "Dogma," only without the laughs. (And those weren't all that abundant in "Dogma" beyond the Matt Damon scenes.) Apparently, angels are at war in heaven, and one group is trying to find a human soul that can end the brouhaha. Baddest among the winged ones is Gabriel, played by our man Walken. It takes a while for him to show up, and even longer for the lines to get hammy, but rest assured, we get there.

Koteas is cop who flunked out of the priesthood, while Madsen is a teacher whose student -- a young girl -- is involved in this soul business. Stoltz is another angel, and Viggo is the most famous fallen angel of all. Alas, my interest in seeing all of the above was quickly offset by a ponderous pace, silly special effects and other assorted shortcomings.

While watching, I thought "The Prophecy" had a "Highlander" feel, which makes sense because the same guy wrote both scripts. At least the silliness of "Highlander" is pure science fiction, not based in the Bible.

Not as poignant as "Rambo," but what can you do? "The Deer Hunter"

Yeah, this is a movie that takes a little bit out of you. Imagine if it had been released in the original four-hour cut. Just shoot me in the head. (Pa dum dum.)

Here, Walken is buddies with Robert De Niro and others in a Pennsylvania steel town. Those two and John Savage leave behind the others -- among them John "Fredo" Cazale and George "My Daughter Doesn't Look Like This Guy, Dammit" Dzundza -- and go to Vietnam. Surprise, surprise ... they all end up damaged goods in some way. You know, I am sick and tired about people making movies about the negative stuff about 'Nam. Like these soldiers would have gotten a free trip to Asia anyway ...

The plot is pretty simple: Buddies go to war and come home -- or don't -- as broken men. But director Michael Cimino paints a deliberate, nuanced portrait of their lives. In other words, this is a three-hour movie. Whoa. Um, "Rambo" wasn't even two, Mike.

I kid, of course. While "Hunter" is a tad long -- I can see cutting 15-20 minutes, easy -- most of it is worth it. And there are some fantastic scenes and transitions. Early on, we see what kinds of guys these guys are, bonding over beer and singing "Can't Take My Eyes Off You." It's actually not cheesy. We also see guys both "doing the right thing" -- marrying a pregnant woman -- and revealing their true individual natures (mainly Bobby D.).

The protracted set-up before the guys ship out ends in a touching bar scene, then jumps to the war. And how. Rather than waste much time with battle, we see the trio in a POW camp, and it is not good. I'm ruining nothing by saying Russian roulette is involved, and stays involved as Walken is psychologically scarred and remains behind in Vietnam. This makes it tough for De Niro and Walken's girl, Meryl "I Was a Dish Before I Started Winning Oscars" Streep. And eventually De Niro has to do something about it.

Like I said, long movie, and I might have shortened the pre-war stuff to make this more manageable. Still, some powerful filmmaking and impressive acting -- De Niro, Savage and Streep along with Walken. Good as he was, though, it would have been nice for Walken -- when he sees De Niro as Saigon is about to fall -- to stare at him for a minute, then whisper, "More cowbell."