Rating: 
Summary: Can this series really meet it's lofty goals?
Review: The production studio that is currently filming Left Behind has two goals: to be the box office's highest gross the weekend it's released, and to open in more theaters than any movie previously ever released. Can they truly accomplish this? Though the film's inspiration, the left behind series of books, will obviously help draw crowds, the movie is looking quite shaky. So far, aside from Kirk Cameron (HAH!) as buck williams, not a single known actor is working in this film- and though a 17 million dollar budget is accurate, several of the scenes in Left Behind will not correspond with these relatively cheap effects. Though it could be a wonderful telling of a christianly educational series- proceed with caution.
Rating: 
Summary: Trash
Review: Stupid protestant false stuff! There is no such thing as a pre-trib rapture! Thank God I'm Catholic!!!!Rapture will be AFTER the trib. not before!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't be left behind
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Will Hollywood See The Light
Review: Usually the difference between a Hollywood movie and a low budget or "b" movie is "quality." The story can be great, but the quality usually makes it hard to watch. Bad acting, bad special effects, bad everything. I say usually because Left Behind: The Movie is the exception to the rule. For a low-budget small studio production, Left Behind has the excitement and awe af any big budget thriller out there. The Lalonde brothers did an awsome job in casting and filming. The special effects are top notch. Yes it was a direct to video movie. But that doesn't mean it was too horrible to go to the big screen. Cloud Ten Productions has an inspired idea to release the movie to video then create an excited climate to allow the film to be released in theaters. This is just the first movie that is based on a series of books by Tim LeHey and Jerry Jenkins. I hope Hollywood can see that there is a audience for a christian themed movie. With prayer and support they will see that the No. 1 one direct to video movie can become the No. 1 movie in America. When it is released into theaters in Febuary 2001, I will be there to see it and I will cast my vote for it being the best movie of the year. Until then I encurage you to watch it and read the book series. It can truly change your life.
Rating:
Summary: Get the Audio Dramas Instead!!!!!
Review: I saw this movie and couldn't believe how far they strayed from the Book. Kirk Cameron and his lady, along with the rest og the cast, are all fine actors.....but this movie was a yawner, and though I really hoped it would be supported well, I couldn't bring myself to recommend it to anyone. My opinion is that anyone interested in dramatization of LEFT BEHIND should get the Audio Dramas on CD (the ones produced by Gap Digital). They are FAR better than this movie...
Rating:
Summary: far from dreaming
Review: As far as the movie itself goes, I enjoyed it, it wasn't classic cinema, but for an entertaining low budget movie it was fine. What I mostly want to respond to is all the people posting here who think it's ridiculous that God would pour wrath and hell on people just based on a belief system because that's the whole basic premise behind the movie (and book, which is definitely better).
I used to have a problem with that idea too. Even though I called myself a Christian, the idea that some people would suffer for eternity just because of their religion seemed cruel and unjust to me. The problem was that I had no idea why He would do that. First off, the validity of the Christian faith compared to other faiths is much more provable than I thought (see www.marshill.org and click on the MP3 Audio link on the left, for starters. If you're one of the people who want to think that the Bible and science are natural enemies, you definitely need to check out www.answersingenesis.org ), but even with that it still seemed petty to damn people for believing the wrong thing. The problem was that I had absolutely no concept of who I was. I assumed God would let me (and others) into heaven just because I was a "good person." Then when I actually decided to read the Bible (it's amazing how many people who profess to be Christians have never actually read the Bible), I realized I was nothing of the sort. Just look at God's ten commandments.
1. I thought I was fine with this one - I didn't believe in Allah or Zeus or any other gods. Of course, I was still nowhere near keeping this one ("don't have any other Gods before me") - there were plenty of other things I put in my life before God. I'd rather sleep in than go to church. I'd rather watch tv than read the Bible, etc.
2. I thought I was fine with this one because I didn't make any silly carved gods or idols. But I still made a god in my image. Every time I would say "why would God..." or "my God wouldn't..." or "I don't think God would...." I was making up a god in my image. Coincidentally enough, it was always happy with the things I was doing, but He was going to get all those other "bad" people.
3. OK, I knew I was guilty of taking the Lord's name in vain and using it as a profanity, which was bad enough, but I was even worse than that. I was calling myself a Christian, yet I lived with my wife for years before getting married, never attended church or even had any idea what the Bible said and basically just living a competely ungodly lifestyle. While using God as a profanity is violating this commandment, what I was doing was taking the Lord's name (i.e. calling myself a CHRISTian) in vain in an even worse sense.
4. I would also admit I was guilty of this one. No matter how you want to interpret the sabbath law, I wasn't putting aside any days for God, they were all for me.
5. Honor your father and mother? Not even close. 'Nuff said.
6. Don't murder? Good, I'm fine on that one - oh wait, Jesus said that whoever hates anyone is a murderer. Got me on that one too.
7. No adultery? I was fine on this one too, I never cheated on my wife. Of course, as I already mentioned, I lived with her for years before we got married. I didn't see this as wrong because I had no idea whatsoever of the seriousness of this in God's eyes. Under God's law the penalty for adultery or any sexual sin was the same as murder. In the New Testament, it is clear that even professing Christians who don't honor their marriage commitments are only fooling themselves. That's because marriage isn't about us. Sure it's a wonderful, beautiful thing for us, but more importantly it was designed as an earthly expression of God's love for His people. Corrupting that gives a distorted picture of who God is which is why it is so badly under attack today, even from professing Christians. Some people think that if you're a Christian, you have to stop liking sex. Not true at all, I love sex. The Bible has a whole book in it about sex. According to 1 Corinthians 7 saying "not tonight dear, I have a headache" is a sin (and just before the guys get too excited about that one, it says that our bodies don't belong to ourselves, but to our spouses, and while the concept is obviously sexual, I think that if your wife wants to use your body to take out the garbage or do the dishes, that qualifies too). But God designed it and it needs to be done his way (and of course I disagreed with this, which took me back to the second commandment). But even more so - I was really in trouble with this one because Jesus said that whoever looks at a woman with lust has already commited adultery. Well, I was in trouble there.
8. Don't steal anything? Well, I never stole anything big so I was fine. Doesn't matter, even when I stole toilet paper from the buildings on campus so that we wouldn't have to buy any for our apartment in college, that's still stealing.
9. Don't lie. See my comments on honor your father and mother (which is actually kind of ironic, since when I tried to proclaim my honesty, sometimes I'd say "well, I lie to my parents sometimes, but that's ok.")
10. Don't covet. See those same comments again. Don't want something that doesn't belong to you - if I told you that I've always kept this commandment, you'd probably die laughing and you don't even know me.
Looks like I'm sure in trouble, I haven't kept a single one!! If I were to be judged by God, it wouldn't be because I chose the wrong religion out of a hat, but because I'm a blasphemous, adulterous, thieving, greedy, lying murderer. Even breaking one of those commandments can keep me out of heaven because heaven is perfect, but I broke all then - repeatedly!!!
That's what Christianity is. It isn't a religion or a belief system, it's God coming to earth in human form to take the punishment that I deserve for my sins. Jesus said "it is complete" before He died, so my sins are paid for and there's nothing I can do to help Him (despite what the Roman Catholics, Mormons or any other group that adds to Jesus' teacings tries to claim) and all I needed to do was turn away from those sins - STOP DOING THEM (as best I can, of course, Christians aren't sinless, they just sin less) - and accept Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. If I refuse to do that - if I deny Jesus (or worse yet, confess Him with my mouth, but deny Him with my actions), then that's what puts me in the place of the people in this movie. If you have a problem with that aspect of the movie, you're just wrong! The problem isn't "how can a loving God send someone to hell?" it's "how can a just God send anyone to heaven?" It's not a shock that there's only one way, it's a shock that there's any way at all.
It's amusing (or it would be if the results weren't so tragic) how many people want "justice" but when a movie like this comes along and points out that justice is just as much due to us as it is the guy on death row, we have a problem with it.
Rating: 
Summary: The Gospel was Left Behind
Review: The video/DVD starts with beautiful shots of the city of Jerusalem and then pans out to a wheat field in the desert where Cameron Williams, is interviewing the Nobel Peace Prize winner in chemistry and Times Man of the Year...Chiam Rosenzweig about Project Eden that had this field of wheat grow in the desert. Then the next scene is waves and waves of Syrian and Iraqi fighter jets and other Arab states attack Israel. But this is where the story has problems with the film adaptation. First...it is outdated...now that we occupy Iraq. Second Ezekiel 38:1-39:16 speaks of major air and ground offensive by Russia and her Arab allies.
In the movie the time gap of one year and two months between the Invasion and the Rapture mentioned in the book is erased. Both the time gap in the book and the removal of the time gap still posess problems in that Ezekiel 39:9 says it takes Israel seven years to burn the weapons....this has to puss the Invasion back to three and a half to seven years....since at the mid-point Israel under go sever persecution.
Third reason for my disappointment is that the Rapture portrayed in both the book and mvie is that millions of Christians will disappear.
The true Rapture decribed in the Bible is that will take more departed saints than living. True, born again Christians are a minority...and our number is decreasing as the Gospel is compromised for a watered down, market tailored version. When the invisible Church is raptured...the Visible Church and the world will hardly know we have left...and could careless.
Additionally baby's and young children are raptured. Though I would for emotional reasons say babies will be raptured...there is no scriptural ground for this. But young children are a different matter. If they know the difference between good and evil...the Bible says they are accoutible for their sins without setting a specific age for children.
This is only the tip of the iceburg of problems....from the rise of the Antichrist to take over the UN and other events conflict with what the Bible teaches about prophecy.
In the video/DVD we do get a slice of Rayford's life and how unhappy he is with his wife and son being religious which the book presents as flashbacks. But nothing is said of their faith in Jesus as their Savior.
The Gospel of Jesus that changed their lives is short changed in both the book and the movie.
(see my book review on Left Behind)
But for all its flaws...it does start a seeker to try to find out more about what does the Bible teach about prophecy. This is its one redeeming quality. Could I tell the story better? Yes....but I am not an author.
Rating: 
Summary: xtian dreaming
Review: The film is not nearly as bad as you'd expect. The production is comparable to any indy out there. Kirk Cameron was not at all bad. Film looks clean and well lit. This film is entirely watchable. In a free society, people are afforded the option of choosing what to believe. We all agree there are fringe belief systems that don't always make logical sense. Ingrain a set of beliefs at an early age, or instill it during a period of mental duress, and a belief can become cemented, regardless of it's logic (or illogic). David Koresh/Branch Davidians are an example. Malleable minds that follow after charisma rather than sensible thought. Never mind that Koresh was a child molester, he had a following based on his ability to communicate a message. Same is true today of christianity. Raised as a southern Baptist, I am all too familiar with the "rapture" concept. Truth is, that's not the way the universe works. Period. People don't, and won't, disappear based on a belief system. Christian leadership has been selling this for a millenia not for sake of "saving" anyone, but rather to maintain control. And there is no greater motivator than fear. Doesn't it seem strange that the return of the "prince of peace" would be accompanied by death and pestillence - by "His" own hand? The truth of the matter is all humans want to feel their existence has a purpose and there is a happy conclusion to life. Christians make themselves feel special by creating this exclusive club whereby they can refuse entry to heaven to anyone they deem threatening. Imagine if the makers of "Clash of the Titans" believed literally in that mythology, and then set public policy by it. We'd all think they were off their rocker! But it's perfectly acceptable to believe literally in christian mythology? If there is ever an Armageddon, it will come not from god, but from christians turning the Revelations story into a self fulfilling prophecy.
Rating:
Summary: Unqualified greatness!
Review: It's like reading the best parts of the Bible without having to read at all!
Rating:
Summary: A MUST SEE ALONG WITH PART 2
Review: READ MY REVIEW OF PART 2. I WAS GLUED TO EACH DVD. COMPLETLY PROPHETICLY TRUE TO THE BIBLE. HIGH QUALITY. I ONLY WISH THERE WERE A PART 3 & 4.
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