The Late Great Planet Earth

Rating:
Summary: I WAS HORRIFIED .... I want to know how to Survive-healthy.
Review: First viewed in 1986! Now purchasing this video to find clues.
HATED the TOPIC .... IN AWE of the VIDEO ... Subsequently I have never forgotten the content. It is ultra - frightening to see the present day being talked about, by Orson Wells, on this video produced in 1976.
I always remembered how the narrator and Nostradamus were not sure of where on the east coast the new city was; nor were or what the fire in the sky was, as well as location of the twin brothers falling. I still do not know where or what the temple or church they spoke of is located - only that when it is destroyed it marks the beginning of the reign of a new [evil] leader ... IT WAS THE BEST VIDEO EVER SEEN on this depressing topic. The topic offers no SOLUTIONS, only mentions there are survivors of the chemical war. Was horrified by the mention of the land producing no growth for more years than you could ever stock pile food or water ... bringing man to eat man, as a result of chemical warfare . LIKED the fact that this IS ALL FOR A GREATER PURPOSE: which brings about 1000 years of World Peace.
Hence the topic, a bit depressing, once you realize you are living in this mess RIGHT NOW, and you may or may not live to experience the beginning of 1000 years of World peace. Suppose we all have to find our own methods for security, food, water, & health. Money in the bank certainly isn't going to be important with all the RAMPENT LOOTING from HOME TO HOME. Security, Food and Health seem to be the biggest issues. NOT TO MENTION ~ avoiding being killed by your fellow man to be a meal!

Rating:
Summary: great late planet earth
Review: I really like the movie ,but i had seen it on cable a long time ago ,and at the end there are parts cut out , this is very sad to do this to the movie , sense Hal Lindsey lost control of his movie , who has control seems to feel they can cut out some of it ,i was going to buy 6 more copys for my family ,but i won't now ,

Rating:
Summary: The Later, but not Greater, Planet Earth
Review: I saw the film in 1979, and it had a tremendous impact on me. Hal Lindsey, while obviously further removed from the last days than we are now, did a tremendous job of paralleling the prophecies of the Bible with the current events of the late 70s. While the pace drags a bit here and there, and some of his speculations on possible fulfillments of Scripture obviously did not happen (the "Jupiter Effect"), the LGPE is still a good documentary on how the Second Coming of Christ, for the first time in history, has the potential to come to pass in our lifetime.

Rating:
Summary: The Later, but not Greater, Planet Earth
Review: I saw the film in 1979, and it had a tremendous impact on me. Hal Lindsey, while obviously further removed from the last days than we are now, did a tremendous job of paralleling the prophecies of the Bible with the current events of the late 70s. While the pace drags a bit here and there, and some of his speculations on possible fulfillments of Scripture obviously did not happen (the "Jupiter Effect"), the LGPE is still a good documentary on how the Second Coming of Christ, for the first time in history, has the potential to come to pass in our lifetime.

Rating:
Summary: "the Rapture" is better
Review: I watched this at the theatre a long time ago. It's full of naivete

Rating:
Summary: "the Rapture" is better
Review: I watched this at the theatre a long time ago. It's full of naivete

Rating:
Summary: Great, for what it is...
Review: Post-Vietnam and post-Watergate, Americans back in the mid-1970's were, frankly, afraid. The world had turned upside down, and people were looking for something, anything, to say that we would be alright, or taken care of, or most especially, that we were not alone. Could we rely on a benign force of Nature, or God, or aliens, or other mysterious forces to save us? This fear and wonderment took the form of a blossoming interest in ESP, witchcraft, UFOs, Ghosts, Bigfoot, the Burmuda Triangle, and the mysterious magic of pyramids, King Tut, Stonehenge, and Easter Island. To fuel this public interest and acceptance of the Unknown, a new genre sprang up in film and television; the pseudo-science documentary. "The Late Great Planet Earth" is one of the earliest of these anecdotal, half-baked suppositions based on misread documents, bad science, and wishful thinking to justify its bizzare claims.

Toward the end of his life, Orson Welles hosted a number of pseudo-science documentaries, and even had his own TV show about the mysteries that surround us (think, a low rent version of "In Search Of"). "The Late Great Planet Earth" is one of these projects, and one of the better ones. In fact, it is actually one of the better examples of the genre.

The production values are surprisingly good. The re-enactments are, for the most part, well handled. And of course, we have Welles, intimidating in his silvered beard and black suit, posing the questions of bible prophecy in that powerful voice. Certainly worth a viewing, even if you don't buy into bible prophecy.

Of course the "science" here is worthless, and has been debunked a million times over. However, that isn't the reason people read Lindsey's book or watched this movie.

The film is actually quite well made, so I encourage you to check it out. The opening sweep alone of Earth in space is a better-looking planet effects shot than any I can recall. And again, we have Welles.

Pseudo-science documentaries died out in the early 1980's when the national mindset changed, and are deucedly hard to find today, especially on DVD. Perhaps it is a sort of national embarassment that keeps them from being more readily available, or perhaps the copyright holders of these films feel there is no value or profit in releasing them. This is unfortunate, for they need to be viewed, not only for comedy value, but as a window into the thinking of a past generation. After the events of September 11, the innocence and wonder on display in these projects is all the more poignant.

Rating:
Summary: Late Great Planet Earth Showing Its Age
Review: The "Late Great Planet Earth", based on Hal Lindsey's book of the same name, was released in 1976. Watching this movie shows how much the world has changed in 23 years. It also shows how heavily current culture and society flavor intrepretations of biblical prophecy.

Some parts of the film are forward looking (cloning is mentioned long before there was a "Dolly".) Computers are identified as a way to control the masses--and that may yet come to pass. However the film doesn't see the Internet and the personal computer revolution.

The cold war, Russia and the fuel shortage of the early 70's figure heavily into the film's predictions of the immediate onslaught of the seven-year tribulation period. (Which the film boldly states will begin in 1982.) Opps!

As a period piece, this film is interesting. It also gives pause to think about prophecies yet to come to pass, but watching it is like getting into a time machine.

Rating:
Summary: Late Great Planet Earth Showing Its Age
Review: The "Late Great Planet Earth", based on Hal Lindsey's book of the same name, was released in 1976. Watching this movie shows how much the world has changed in 23 years. It also shows how heavily current culture and society flavor intrepretations of biblical prophecy.

Some parts of the film are forward looking (cloning is mentioned long before there was a "Dolly".) Computers are identified as a way to control the masses--and that may yet come to pass. However the film doesn't see the Internet and the personal computer revolution.

The cold war, Russia and the fuel shortage of the early 70's figure heavily into the film's predictions of the immediate onslaught of the seven-year tribulation period. (Which the film boldly states will begin in 1982.) Opps!

As a period piece, this film is interesting. It also gives pause to think about prophecies yet to come to pass, but watching it is like getting into a time machine.

Rating:
Summary: Anything For Money.
Review: This film attempts, in its own ridiculous way, to show the viewer that we're living in the "last days", before Jesus' Second Coming. (You know, the Rapture, the Antichrist, and other weird stuff that's been written about for the last 35-40 years.) Hal Lindsey tried to do the same thing, in his best-selling, but far-fetched book, upon which this film is based. Supposedly, both ventures make the claim that that it's all based upon the Bible. I guess that statement is supposed to make it all true, and cause us to quake in our boots.

Unfortunately, the film doesn't make its case. Not even close. Like the book, it simply piles claim upon amazing claim. In the process, it quotes, what look like, authoritative Bible passages, as "proof". But all of those verses are either ambiguous, taken out of context, or irrelevant to the issue being soken about. To say they pertain to the 20th, or 21st, century, is seriously distorting the plain meaning of the sentences. It's reading too much into those passages, for the sake of getting people to make impulsive faith decisions out of fear. And, quite frankly, to make some big bucks. The bottom line is that the existence of unicorns has more "proof" than any of these supernatural claims.

The sad part about it is that otherwise intelligent people have fallen for this claptrap, and invested a good part of their lives in these beliefs. For many believers, as long as an authority figure guides them along, they'll believe anything. When did Orson Welles become a Bible scholar? Mr. Welles might have been one of the greatest film directors and actors of all time -- and I'm a BIG fan of his cinematic efforts -- but he was also a great showman and magician. (He would take on any project for the cash.) The problem is that there are too many gullible people who will fall for these wacko theories.

When I say that the book and the film are both absurd examples of hucksterism, it's after I've read the book, and viewed the film. Then I asked myself the question: "Is this REALLY what the Bible is saying?" Do yourself a favor, and think, think, think, before you take that leap of faith. Stop, relax, check it out. Listen to what he's saying. And ask a lot of questions. Are all of these Bible passages describing events before the end of the world? Or are many of these verses describing things that already happened? Orson Welles, or Hal Lindsey, for that matter, won't tell you that these verses have been interpreted in five different ways, throughout the last 2,000 years. Check out a library book about the history of Bible theology. It's all documented.

Shame on Orson! This was not one of your brighter moments.