Customer Reviews

Left Behind the Movie

5 star:		(495)
4 star:		(191)
3 star:		(68)
2 star:		(72)
1 star:		(112)

 

 

Christian films made for wide distribution are relatively new. The studios are fledgeling studios, operating with low budgets. Therefore, one can't expect Lord of the Rings style production values. This is the Christian equivalent of a Roger Corman film. If you can accept that, you just might like this little yarn.

As compared to other Christian films such as the disastrous Omega Code, this film is a solid, well-paced and enjoyable flick. One thing it has going for it is a VERY attractive cast (at least from a male perspective). I kind of fell in love with Janya Stephens as Chloe. She is sweet, charming and loveable. Her soft skin, warm smile, and big brown eyes kept me glued to the set.

Oh, and it had a darn fine message too.

I can see that most of the complaints here are clearly from a case of reading the book first and feeling the movie falls short. But I ask you to name a movie where that's not the case. There is sooooo much that takes place in the book, how could you possibly get it into and hour and a half movie? Look past that and see it for what it is... A Movie BASED ON the book.
I think they did a Great job with this Movie. It was very well acted, very well cast, and as far as I am concerned, a must see for any Left Behind Fans. I am anxiously awaiting the 3rd movie, in hopes that they will make one.
Where I come to recommend this movie and the Tribulation Force Movie the most is, for those who haven't yet read any of the books. I have shown them to many people and it has led to many of them reading the book and loving it.
If you have yet to get into the Left Behind Series, or wonder what all the hype is about.... The Movies truly are a great place to start!!

I caught "Left Behind" on tv the other night, and somehow sat through the whole thing. I found it amusing later on, when Roman Polanski's "The Ninth Gate", a film about the devil and satanism told from a more objective point of view, turned out to be a far better film as far as style and storytelling went (not that that was news to me: I saw "The Ninth Gate" for the first time four years ago, bought it three years ago, and have watched it regularly since. It just happened to be on the other night, and I was glad to have an opportunity to see it again). In spite of the good intentions of the filmmakers, the movie still does not become watchable.

Bringing to mind memories of watching Steven King's "The Langoliers" on tv around a decade or so ago, the crux of the movie's action is based on an event that we see occur in an airplane, which has also occured everywhere else around the world. Lots and lots of people vanish away, leaving a selected few behind (or is it the other way around as far as selection goes?). The filmmakers at least DID do something right by having the clothes remain when the people were taken (unlike "The Langoliers" ... where only metal objects like wristwatches and braces for teeth inexplicably stayed behind, but that's not enough to merit this film more than a half an extra star). Also, there was more blood than I expected considering the wholesome demographic I know the makers were aiming for, but that isn't really a positive or negative remark so much as a semi-interesting observation.

First off as far as my complaints go, this movie looks cheap. That isn't necesarily a bad thing; I know that great things can be done with a limited budget (my own favorite "Doctor Who" for one), but if they aren't done properly than the thing won't have a chance to even begin doing its job: that is, entertain. "Left Behind" fails at this; it looks amateurish, feels amateurish, and is therefore no fun to watch, like a bad TV movie (which is all it really is, in spite of its theatrical release).

Second, the acting is atrocious. I wasn't convinced by a single character (well, halfway by the Israeli scientist at the beginning, but I've got a fondness for those "elderly wiseman" types of characters), and therefore had no emotion or care invested into who they were or what happened to them. The dialogue they were forced to say was either unconvincingly phony or sitcom-stupid, or at best somewhere in between (say, bland).

Finally, there was the story, besides the characters themselves. Okay, my religious views just don't fall in line with those presented in this movie, so I suppose it is here fair to say that the problem is to a point on my end in this regard. But the thing is, I would have enjoyed seeing some other reactions to the supernatural occurances in the film besides those of complete unbelievers and evangelical Christians, such as Hindus, Muslims, or those of my own faith, Roman Catholics, as they attempted to deal with and understand the problem. Also, the fact stands that the prophesies of the Bible more than likely could have more than one interpretation, or could in fact prophesy events which occured in the future for the writer but in the past for us (The Book of Daniel predicting the coming of Alexander the Great, for example, or Revelation's Antichrist being none other than Nero Caesar). The writers limited their possibilities, and the narrow scope of the movie's story really works against it.

I will finish up by saying that "Left Behind" was a real waste of time for me, and I honestly wish I had now done something else with my free evening. Contrasting it with a really great movie like "The Ninth Gate" really worked against it too. Even if you are an evengelical Christian and buy into this whole Rapture thing, I still wouldn't give this piece of crud my time or money ... I'd just move along and do something, anything else.

Carry on Carry on,

MN

Like a lot of others I was very disappointed. I'm on book 8 at the mo' and my wife is rabbidly awaiting book 10(!) We got the DVD on noticing it in the local Christian book-shop. No arguments, we just bought it as we loved the books. It's a good film, not badly acted - bit dodgy on the special effects, but . . . Well right from the off you notice the differences. Buck is a TV journalist, most of the action takes place in the US, with no proper European/UK scenes. Chloe's story-line is all wrong etc etc . . . Things happen in the book as they don't happen in the film. I think it was the director who said - in the extras - that they felt the weight of expectation due to the fact that so many had read the book/series. Maybe so, but it didn't stop him or the writers & producers producing a sadly lacking movie with little or no relevance to the book, except maybe in the character names. I'm not gonna buy the Trib Force movie, as I can only imagine what they've done to that one(!)

"There probably isn't a God..." proclaims 21st century cultural philosophers.
But what if there is?
Choosing to ignore reality doesn't lessen the consequences. The movie "Left Behind" seeks to confront us with the ultimate "what if?" What if what has been recorded over thousands of years is true? What if there really will be a time when those who have not chosen a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ must face the consequences of that choice--or lack of it? The movie is not an attempt to scare anyone into belief, but a challenge to both mind and heart to be open to what has been foretold.
Those performing the roles in this story give a very credible interpretation of events which propel them into the need for decisions with eternal consequences.

I rented this movie becaue I was curious to see how good a job they could do, and thought it might make an entertaining evening, like any other end of the world, action adventure or sci-fi fiction flick, but was soon enlightened to the fact that is a pretty exclusive audience type film, not suited for everyone, or if it was intended for everyone, it is in the same way Evangelism is, insulting and unintelligent in it's vain and embarrassing attempt to gain more believers, and re-assure themselves that they are right. I was insulted by the treatment of atheists and everyone else who isn't a believer in this film. It is sad to think great swathes of the populace believe such utter nonsense. They certainly didn't convince me! The acting is poor and the lines are pathetic. If anything, watch this to see how ridiculous this lot can be, but be prepared to be insulted, as all they seem to be saying here is that it's a case of "us" and "them", and "them" are posessed by the devil.

I've seen a handful of these religious, post-apocolyptic films, and the majority stink. Too much preaching at the audience. This is the first one that feels like just a regular movie that happens to be about biblical concepts, rather than a sermon disquising itself as a theatrical release.

Kirk Cameron and Brad Johnson are a TV news reporter and airline pilot, respectively, who meet during a flight to London when, at 37,000 feet, a bunch of the passengers up and disapear in thin air, all the children and many of the adults, leaving all their belongings (including their clothes) behind. And it seems to be happening all over the world. Those that are left behind find themselves confused by it all as the world goes into a state of panic; after all, those that are left behind are the non-believers, who maybe had heard of the coming rapture and didn't believe it, or simply never heard at all.

The rest of the film follows the two main characters as they begin sorting out just what happened to their families and friends, while a subplot unfolds with the secretary general of the United Nations, Nicholae Carpathia, quietly siezing power all over the world. Biblical scholars may immediately recognize Nicholae as the Antichrist of the book of Revolation.

For the most part, Left Behind spends its time establishing the foundation for what follows, either in the very popular book series by Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins or the later films being produced straight to video. But considering the subject matter and the low, indie film budget, Left Behind does a very decent job of it.

One of the things that Left Behind does right is it's inclusion of the scriptures. Even as a Christian, I prefer a movie that doesn't get too blatant with it's scriptural message but simply focuses on the story at hand. Past films of the same nature as Left Behind fell into the trap of essentially stopping the storyline so one of the characters could espouse scripture to the audience; Left Behind does include the scriptures, but it just manages to blend them in to the overall story arch more smoothly. I mean, I'm a Christian and it bothers me when movies get preachy, so I can just imagine how much a non-Christian wouldn't want to see a movie like this if they thought it was going to spend two hours sermonizing them. Left Behind is very, very subtle about the sermon.

The DVD is also packed with extras -- including a special about the Hollywood opening of Left Behind (with a surprising number of Christian celebrities coming out of the closet to support the film) and several music videos of MTV quality.

In the end, we have a film and a DVD package that very much has the feel of a Hollywood blockbuster, one that just happens to be based on the Bible. I highly recommend it, even if you aren't Christian -- whether you believe in the book of Revolation or not, this is simply an exciting, well made movie. And it doesn't let it's source material get in its way.

Okay, my review title isn't really accurate; I just wanted to make that bad pun. I am a big fan of the Left Behind novels, and when I saw the trailers for this film, I thought it looked great and pre-ordered it. I've never seen a Christian film before, and so I wasn't sure what to expect, although I realized it probably wouldn't be as good as a "normal" film.

This movie reminded me a lot of a USA or TNT made-for-TV film. It obviously didn't have a large budget, but despite the lack of expensive special effects and big name actors, it is mildly entertaining. I just wish I had rented it instead of buying it.

First off, I had some problems with the casting. Kirk Cameron did not envision my idea of Buck, and Chloe was WAY off. When I was reading the book I never imagined that she'd be some Goth punk with a nose ring. This type of character is never even hinted at in the novels and I think they probably took some creative license to give their film a little more "edge." I tried to forget about the novels to enjoy the film, but I still couldn't believe in the actors as my favorite characters from the books. And Gordon Currie as Carpathia was an AWFUL choice. The guy just isn't tough enough to be the anti-Christ. He seems whiny and weak, not anything like the Carpathia portrayed in the books.

Despite all of these problems, "Left Behind" isn't a completely horrible film, especially not if you're judging it based against other Christian films. But as a stand-alone movie, it has a lot of problems, most notably poor acting, a weak novelized screenplay, and a dissatisfying ending. After reading the novel, I was disappointed with the film.

As far as the DVD goes, the video transfer can be a bit grainy and shaky at times, although instances of this are few and shouldn't bother you too much. Sound quality is not really taken advantage of for a movie that had a theatrical release, and almost all audio is presented from your front speakers, so it doesn't matter if you have surround sound. Basically, it looks like you're watching a television movie instead of a feature film.

DVD extras include a 30-minute "making of" special, cast and crew interviews, music videos, and previews of upcoming films. No commentary on this one. Overall, if you're a big fan of the book, I'd recommend checking out the film, but advise against purchasing it. It's not something I'm likely to watch again.

I have to agree in some part with the other person who commented on the "budget look" of this movie. I am a huge fan of this series, whether or not the writing is good, the message is clear. However, I worry that some will see this movie and never feel any interest in the books at all. We watched the movie after reading the book, and were very dissapointed that there were some major differences. Characters that werent even mentioned in the movie, such as Steve Plank. Buck plays a TV journalist instead of the News journalist and I dont feel they portrayed him as intellegent and 'go get 'em' as he is described in the book. It also seems, that they cut out MAJOR details of the book that make in more interesting. It seems they were trying to cram too much into too short of a movie. I almost wish they would have just read it word for word instead of taking the liberties they did.

Bottom line: read the book first, if you want to watch this movie. Then decide from there.

On a footnote: I am amazed at those who think the portrayal of the end times is not biblical. It is VERY biblical. Those who say it is not, rarely have any 'proof' or reasoning for the statement.

This movie is very touching film, especially if u know well about the bible (revelation) even non believer will get head shake are some scne, this movie is perfect for a group to watch ! not to sure about the dvd, but the movie is very good !