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Left Behind - The Movie

Left Behind - The Movie

List Price: $19.95
Your Price: $15.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Just beat me over the head with the Bible, OK?
Review: Never before have the motives of the producers of a motion picture been more transparent. Let's see: FIRST, they get every willing televangelist to hype this film as the greatest thing since sliced white bread. NEXT, they encourage as many fundamentalist Christians as possible to purchase copies of the film so as to recoup its paltry production costs and pump up its advertising budget. And FINALLY, when the film hits the theaters, get as many said Christians as possible to see it yet again, bus them into the multiplexes if necessary, NOT on the merits of the film itself, but because a #1 box office opening will be seen as some sort of profound spiritual victory.

But THAT, of course, won't be enough. I imagine that any film critic with the audacity to give "Left Behind" anything short of a glowing review will be deemed "anti-Christian."

Of course, this shamelessly manipulative marketing campaign shouldn't surprise anyone. It is, after all, good old fashioned Capitalism at work. What DOES surprise me is how many people have been suckered into the whole "Left Behind" mindset. As someone who tries to balance his spiritual beliefs with some sense of reason and rationality, it leaves me scratching my head. It would appear that there are many, MANY people who actually believe that sometime in the near future a "Rapture" is going to occur, and that millions of people all over the Earth are going to simultaneously vanish INTO THIN AIR. What kind of reality, I wonder, are these people living in? Is this "Rapture" something they actually believe in, or is it something they fervently WANT to believe in?

In a way, I almost wish that such an event would occur! What an interesting day that would be! What would be even more interesting is if the Apocalypse were to occur in a more spectacular fashion, not in the anthropomorphical sense the authors of the "Left Behind" series have portrayed, but as more of a Stephen Spielberg production, with boiling clouds, trumpets, angels descending out of the sky, Moon turned to blood, the whole nine yards. Imagine coming to the realization that it was all coming true, just as the evangelists had been warning for years, and that there was something more awesome than just the cold, hard, physical reality we inhabit. Wouldn't THAT be something???

Yet in the final analysis, it's that cold, hard, physical reality that I will content myself with. My life is not so meaningless that I need the fear of a "Rapture" and the "End Times" to make sense of it all ... nor do I need Heaven or Hell to bribe me into behaving decently, thank you very much.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A groundbreaking Christian movie!
Review: WOW! First "The Omega Code" rocked Hollywoods charts! Now the 'Left Behind' series is a movie and will blow away Hollywood yet again! This film is excellant in everyway. Great acting with the Growing Pains star brings wonderful emotions. The budgets are getting bigger in Christian filming and it shows. Support these awesome projects and more will come! In 'Left Behind' the special effects are great and I loved all the explosions. The story is gripping especially when Nicholae comes onto the scene. Everyone will love this film even if you aren't familiar with the books. Support it in the theaters February, way to go!!!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not all that we wanted out of this movie
Review: First of all, let me just say that Christians giving a movie 5 stars to boost it's rating online?....shame. That's flat out lying, and we should be above it.

The movie has it's moments, but overall it's slow, it deviates from the plot, and the effects are B-rated at best. We all wanted this movie to succeed, because we all loved the series. And we all wanted this movie to succeed because we all believe in the message. But this movie fell short of what it could have really been--as a movie and a message. Loyal readers especially will feel disappointed.

Perhaps the producers were just counting on the "fanatical followers" of this series to be an "untapped billion dollar resource" in preselling the videos. Too bad they didn't use that resource to make this movie what it could have been.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent Music, Acting
Review: After watching the movie twice, I can safely say this is a great movie, but there were things I would change. I think the disappearance of the people (which we see first on an airplane) would have been a bit more dramatic with some sort of flash, hum, whatever. I think some in the audience might be a bit confused by the disappearances, which could be alleviated by hearing Rayford's take on the disappearances right away. His obvious grief over rejecting his wife's beliefs and being left behind would have made for a good scene...wrestling to control himself as he pilots the airplane back to Chicago.

I also believe there would have been a lot more chaos and confusion after all the disappearances. How did they keep electricity, television, and telephone service? I would have liked to have seen more world-wide mayhem depicted. Seems like it would be more realistic. (Maybe there wasn't enough money in the budget for that kind of thing.)

The mothers hugging empty strollers, and the dogs running around on leashes with no owners in site, was a good touch. The music throughout the movie was just plain great.

Throughout the movie, there are some very funny one-liners that you have to strain to catch. (Maybe they will come over louder/clearer on the big screen.) Raymie had one ("Sunday School" is the punch line.). So, I think I'd adjust the gain a bit in parts.

I enjoyed watching the character Dirk "You Need Some Sleep" Burton (grin) and Ken Ritz. Both of these men played small parts really, really well, and provided some comic relief (especially Ken).

Nicolae Carpathia was cast well (Gordon Currie, I believe, is the actor's name)...little boy innocence all tossed together with venomous evil. The scene in which he "deals with" Stonagal and Cothran is RIVETING!

There is a bit of blood and gore that might not be suitable for young kids, but I'd guess this movie is probably going to be rated PG.

I didn't really feel the film was slow in any one part. I thought it moved along well. I was disappointed when it ended, and I'm anxiously awaiting a sequel. All in all, a great drama, with plenty of intrigue and action...make sure you watch it, and make especially sure you're not...left behind.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Look what they've done to my song......
Review: I can only imagine and hope that the above review title is what LaHaye and Jenkins can say about the screenplay. To be fair, to turn book one into a movie was a very difficult task. Secondly, the acting was OK. Thirdly, for any movie production to stick to a mostly literal Biblical interpretation was admirable. However.....to say that the film is "incredible" or "anointed" is going way too far. Count the number of times "Jesus" or "Christ" is mentioned throughout the whole film and the BEST one could say is they got a taste of "Gospel Lite". Most viewers will leave this movie still wondering why people are really going to be raptured. The scenes tend to shift wildly throughout the movie, hurting the flow. The most moving part of the book (my opinion), when Rayford returns to his home pretty much knowing what he'll find, is well preserved. Overall, non-Christians will feel it's too preachy, real Christians will say "where's the Gospel?". A nice try, but stick to the books.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Better than Expected
Review: I read all these reviews saying it was good but not good enough...not true. This movie was better than i expected, Cloud Ten Pictures(who made and distributed the movie) is known for making cheep rapture movies. Well they broke their record because this movie was very interesting. Naturaly it wasnt as good as the book. But it comes very close. This movie explains alot and it portrays the book VERY acurately, maybe they took some shortcuts, but that doesnt mess with the quality. I recomen this movie for drama/ suspence lovers of any beliefs. I also recomend this movie for teens, because it is aimed at adult audience, but the excitement will grab teens, since i am one. There are only 2 slow moments which end rather quikly.

GREAT MOVIE!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I saw, I scratched my head, I wrote an online review
Review: Sat down and watched this creation of celluloid last night. Hmmmm, I guess all those millions of dollars these authors are making aren't taking their chances of losing any of those dollars after looking at the quality of this half-baked movie version of the popular series. It's kinda sad, I love the books! The soundtrack is really good too and you would think the premise of this film would inspire many to support it's cause. Unfortunately, this movie falls on it's face halfway through the film. This movie requires more action and suspense if you're going to market a film of apocalyptic proportions to win the masses into theatres come February. I do have to say that the Michael W Smith song in this movie is hands down one of the best songs Michael has ever written. This movie starts out really well though. Plenty of action and suspense. It just loses steam concentrating too much on Rayford Steeles quest for faith. Kirk Cameron does fine in this movie! He fits the character of Buck Williams to a T! I think they need to concentrate the film more on Kirk Cameron in future films. I also think the characters need to be (I hate to say it) "more sinful." I understand how people would want to steer kids away from this movie but the characters that are "left behind" just don't fit the mold of clean mouthed do-gooders gone bad. The characters need to be much more raw than what is shown here. Nicolae is a bit disappointing as well. He's too skinny and weak looking. When I read the book Left Behind the first time, I visioned someone like Christian Bale playing the role of Nicolae. He just has that boy next door, cute and innocent but scary as hell quality he so wonderfully possessed in American Psycho. Overall this movie is somewhat entertaining for the simple fullfilment of seeing what's envisioned from a book to seeing it in a movie. If plans are to create sequels, they need to stick to the straight to video format for now and stay away from theatres because this movie doesn't ride this story simply on entertainment (which is what theatres really are for). This movie rides on a message that needs to be addressed in churchs, schools, between friends and family. That just can't happen in a theatre since most people are not going to a theatre to be preached to, which this movie to some degree does. Proceed with caution.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome!
Review: I saw Left Behind last night, and I found myself watching it twice! This is by far the very BEST christian film I have ever seen! This is a movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat from the begining till the end. I thought the book was good, but the Movie is GREAT! The movie differs slightly from the book storyline, but it really enhances the story. Great script! I am certain you'll enjoy this movie!

I only wish the DVD had the widescreen instead of full frame :0(

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: So much unrealized potential...
Review: Left Behind was one of the most amazing books I have ever read. What was so amazing about it was that it was Christian and yet it was still QUALITY. I cannot say the same for the film. The film tries HARD but misses the mark. Kirk Cameron puts in a decent performance as Buck Williams and Chloe is also played well.... but Rayford Steele? Who is this guy? It is one of the WORST performances I have ever seen in my life. I laughed out loud as he delivered some of his lines. For someone who was supposed to have just met the Creator of heaven and earth, he was surprisingly stoic...

I could go on... but why? The filmmakers tried. It wasn't a complete waste, but if you haven't read the book, prepare to be LOST. They crammed 400 pages into 95 minutes... I gave them two stars for trying. Just because something is Christian doesn't mean it's quality.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Left Behind-The Movie
Review: The movie is great! Only 2 complaints, it's too short and there is not a real clear presentation of the gospel. It follows the book closely and just like the books; you are left begging for more! This movie will definetly spark your interest in Bible prophecy and could start a great fire under your kids. The actors do a great job and should be commended for being part of such a worthy project.


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