Recently, I came across a National Review Online ranking of what it considers the 25 "best conservative movies" of the last quarter century.

The notion that films are inherently conservative or liberal depending on the political sympathies of the director is one that has been batted around as discussions about James Cameron's "Avatar" have heated up.

To its credit, NRO refused to subscribe to narrow political criteria when it compiled its list. That's why Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ," the most profitable "Christian" film of all time, doesn't make the cut, but "Braveheart" does.

The latter film, also directed by Gibson, is lauded for having the pagan ethos necessary for a hero like the Scottish warrior William Wallace to fight a war on terror.

Despite being among the bloodiest films ever made, "Passion" extols too much passivity in the face of evil. It's too Christian for NRO's list of conservative films.

Fresh from cleaning up at the Golden Globes two nights ago, "Avatar" also isn't on NRO's list, which includes "The Dark Knight," "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "300" and "Brazil."

The new blockbuster's green politics, anti-imperialist stance and pantheistic spirit aren't designed to pass muster with NRO's judges. The tale of 10-foot-tall blue aliens who fight off an invasion from Earth, mounted by galactic Marines intent on stealing their planet's resources, is subversive from beginning to end.

Denounced by a few wild-eyed critics as "the most anti-American film ever made," "Avatar" has proven itself impervious to bootleggers, denunciations by the Vatican and borderline hostile reviews during its initial rollout.

Having made more than $1 billion worldwide and closing in on a half-billion dollar box office domestically, nothing is going to slow the film's ascent to becoming the top money-making film of all time.

Mr. Cameron's "Titanic" occupies that spot currently, so the director will be in the enviable position of dethroning himself in a few days or weeks.

Still, another science-fiction film debuted last week that has the distinction of being the "anti-Avatar" for knocking Mr. Cameron's film off the top ledge for a day.

Albert and Allen Hughes' film "The Book of Eli" is so good, I've already seen it twice. It is a moody, spiritually resonant post-apocalyptic morality tale starring Denzel Washington in the uncharacteristic role (for him) of action hero.

Unlike "Avatar," which feels bloodless at times despite the amount of carnage on screen, "The Book of Eli" is a violent film that asks profound questions about the depths to which humans will resort to survive just another day, and the cost of following a higher calling in a ruthless world.

With the earthquake in Haiti still so immediate, thinking about a post-apocalyptic future isn't hard, especially when images of desolation are such a prominent part of the evening news.

But it is the religious subtext of "The Book of Eli" that I found most compelling. The Hughes brothers have constructed a smoldering, big-sky parable about faith and the power of isolation unprecedented in its dark lyricism.

The America that the Hughes brothers have imagined is a scourged and desiccated frontier where the comforts of modern life have given way to a Hobbesian status quo of bandits, cannibalism and Old Testament justice. Everything is covered with dust and blood.

While traveling west to complete a mission that has occupied him for three decades, Eli (Mr. Washington) crosses paths with a ruthless book collector and gang leader named Carnegie (Gary Oldman). The movie is about their deadly dance and the lengths to which each is willing to go to achieve his ultimate goal.

I suspect that even the good critics at NRO would see much in this film that would redeem it despite its pessimism about America's future, especially since it features a man of faith resorting to tactics Christ would never sanction.

I give "The Book of Eli" the edge over "Avatar" in all categories except special effects. "Eli" did something that "Avatar" never came close to doing for me -- it shook me up. Days later, I'm still thinking about its desolation and wondering how much of it could double as prophecy.

Tony's Take on Comix by Tony Norman is featured exclusively in the Opinion section on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.