Left Behind II - Tribulation Force

Rating:
Summary: Much better than Left Behind, the first movie!
Review: Okay, if you read my review of the first Left Behind movie, than you know I didn't like that one as much because it presented a vague Gospel message...the crucial focal point of the Left Behind series itself.

In Tribulation Force, it's much better. The Savior's name, Jesus, is mentioned a good dozen or two times. There are several touching salvation moments. The characters interact better. The groundwork was laid in the first movie, and now the second movie got better. Granted, it still has a slight air of cheap-ness, but not as bad as the first. (Example, the set for The Wailing Wall just looks like a Wall in a sound stage...I wonder why?)

There are a few changes which kind of throw you off...Tsion Ben-Judah doesn't look very good at all for his character, but he's...at most, acceptable. Besides the actor, the movie guys changed the plot so that Ben-Judah isn't a Christian until halfway through the movie! Big change, and rather unnecessary.

Readers of the book will remember a mix-up between Chloe Steele and Buck Williams. This was portrayed rather differently in the movie. And I was not pleased with the change at all. Chloe actually DID find a woman living in Buck's apartment. For WHATEVER reason, Buck allowed a friend of his, Ivy, to "crash at his place" for a few days. There wasn't any sin per se, implied or other, but the implications for public movie-goers could be less than sterling.

The Witnesses - TWO this time - are pretty well-done. The fire-breathing is a little disjointed. First they blow CGI fire, and then some stunt-soldiers have flames on their backs/fronts. To me, if fire were actually BLOWN onto you, you would be engulfed in flames. A little unreal the way they did it.

All-in-all, I give this movie high marks, because they do a better job in comparison to the first movie.

Rating:
Summary: Left Behind II...Well, their heart was in the right place
Review: Let me start by saying I am a Christian and I am a graduate from the Berklee College of Music. Having worked in musical theatre and worked on movie soundtracks I know a little bit about acting, film making and story writing. I wanted so for this to be a continuation of the original. I wanted this to be taken to the next level because the first one was quite nice. I wanted this to be the sleeper hit of the year.

Sometimes the problem with making a book into the movie is that you don't have the "film" time to develop certain characters or plot lines, so they try to re-arrange events to make them "flow" better. Unfortunately, this did not work with LBII. If I had not read the book, it would have been more difficult to follow than it was. There were many holes in the movie version. Yes, you can follow what is given, but if the story line had not been as disjointed and some of the crucial parts of the book included; this could have been a very good movie.

Some of the writing could have been better thought out. Unlike the first movie, I felt they tried too hard and thusly wound up creating amateurish scenes instead of great movie meat and potatoes. By trying to compress some of the story lines of the book, you created scenes that were forced, lacking in credibility and sometimes quite difficult to watch.

Now since I'm a music grad, let me tell you the inclusion of sweet strings was over used to try to "mellow" or "pretty-up" a scene. They would have been better served to just create more "generic" classical music. The angel at the Wailing Wall scene was painful to watch. It was confusing; the use of Amazing Grace (musically) did not work and the way the scene played out seemed to need a magician's wand than the grace of God. I know what they were ATTEMPTING to do. That attempt just fell short, in my opinion. I don't know whose idea it was to alter the order of scenes that was so well developed and arranged in the book, but that should have been thought again as well. Don Sebesky (a famous Jazz composer and arranger) once stated, "There should be a reason for every note". I didn't get the feeling there was a reason for every bit of dialogue in this movie.

This movie will work if you don't compare it to the first one or definitely not to the books. There is no mandatory sex scene 20-30 minutes into the movie. There is no foul language. Unfortunately when I see a movie, the previously mentioned is not a stellar endorsement for that movie. It's like when asked how the blind date was and the response comes back "he/she has a nice personality."

I wanted this to be a really good movie. I wanted this to be something I could recommend. I wanted this movie to work well. God bless all the people involved. Their hearts were in the right place. It's just that their ideas weren't. I do hope they keep trying. I'm sure Oliver Stone's first attempts were not great either.

Do yourself a favor. If you want to be entertained, read the book or get the audio book with Frank Muller narrating. His presentation is "FABULOUS" and his Nicolae is both engaging yet evil. Mr. Muller never misses with any of the accents and they all sound different and enjoyable with which to listen.

Rating:
Summary: Left Behind II Tribulation Force
Review: I give this video a big thumbs down! This movie takes a 5 star spiritual book and reduces it into a terrible sci fi/horror disaster movie. I was so disapointed in this movie that I almost threw it away after viewing it. It DOES NOT follow the events in the book. I wonder if the script writer and the director ever even bothered to read the book. Some events in the movie are the opposite of what took place in the book. My first example concerns the events surrounding the two witnesses at the wailing wall. Carpathia has placed armed guards at the wailing wall and bans the public from seeing or hearing the witnesses. This does not happen in the book. Also in the movie, Rayford is present at the wailing wall when Buck and Tsion Ben-Judah first speak with the witnesses. This entire event is not even close to way it happens in the book. Another example is that Carpathia attempts to alter Dr. Ben-Judah's speech to proclaim that Carpathia is the messiah. Didn't happen. There's nothing like it in the book. Also, Carpathia's reaction to Dr. Ben Judah's speech is the opposite of his reaction in the book. This is so different from the book that it actually changes the significance of the event. And one more thing about Dr. Ben-Judah , he's described in the book as a man in his late 40's that's in good shape. The movie portrays him as someone looking similiar to Chaim Rosenzweig. These are only a few examples of how this movie has changed characters and the spiritual significance and meaning of some very important events in the book and reduced them to common B movie genre. If you've read the book, you will be disappointed. If you haven't read the book, you will be misled and you will not experience the beautiful spitiuallity that fills the pages of these great books in the Left Behind series.

Rating:
Summary: Left Behind The Movie
Review: What can I say but WOW.. This movie is by far better than the original. They must have learned from their mistakes with the first one. I left this second movie wanting more.

Rating:
Summary: Rapture & Tribulation - Left Behind I & II
Review: Great movies about the rapture and the tribulation times that our world will experience some time in the future. This is better than any fictional movies. Though we do not know precisely how and when it will happen, we know for sure it will come "like a thief in the night", without any warnings. I wish the movies would come out faster. I can't wait for the next one in the series!! This is the beginning of the end of our world ...There is hope for everyone, nobody has to be left behind, it's just a question of making the right decision. Watch and enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Terrible
Review: Not for children. I can't believe people aren't outraged by this antisimitic, hateful film. I think that the reason people aren't is that it's so unbelieveable, so rediculously stupid that nobody sees a point in wasting their time.
Besides, the fact that fundamentalist Christians seem to enjoy this movie indicates that they derive their pleasure, not from seeing a well made film: a film with good acting, good plot, etc. They derive their enjoyment from watching and fantasing about the complete destruction of their enemies.

Rating:
Summary: A MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT
Review: I was really looking forward to this next movie installment on the "Left Behind" series but was extremely disappointed in how boring and amateurish it turned out. This fits the stereotypical low-budget Christian movie to a "T." The crowd scene especially during Tsion's speech was almost laughable--the people looked like American stand-ins who had run to the linen closet for appropriate dress and headgear. The filmmakers might do better to either start combining two books into one movie, just do a better and more professional job or forget it altogether (and leave out all the preachiness! One would assume that intelligent people know what these films are about by now and they seem to be aimed primarily at a Christian audience anyway!)

If you want to see a couple of really good "end times" movies, get The Omega Code and Omega Code II. They're excellently done and really WILL "keep you on the edge of your seat."

Rating:
Summary: Insulting on a number of levels
Review: This movie fails on a number of levels. As it can be viewed on strictly religious terms or as an action thriller, I will address both.

First, let's just talk about it terms of an thriller film. It fails in this regard because it simply makes no sense. People don't act in any sort of real manner. It's simply not how people would act if this were a real situation of millions of people vanishing. You would think the Bible is some book that was only known to the people who vanished and no one else. Everyone else seems to be completely in the dark and don't even make the connection this might be the "Rapture," yet, millions of Christians vanish overnight as Christians have been saying they will. I don't know about you, but if that happens in real life, me and most of the planet would be rushing to Church the next morning. It seems implausible no one would. Everyone goes about their business as if some mugging happened in the neighborhood. The most ridiculous thing is that most people accept the disappearance as some sort of nuclear radiation when that is the most insane excuse that could be even offered. This film is incredibly outdated, a complete fabrication of how and what the U.N. is and how it works. Acting and dialogue are unintentionally hilarious, setting off streams and fits of laughter. In one Church scene, there is a bulletin board and six pictures of people on it with the caption, "OUR MISSING" A Church and there is only six missing people? How funny is that? What was it, The Church of Satan? There's no surprises and no tension, especially among the people who are not saved and whom you know will be calling out for Jesus by the end of the picture. There's a lot of talk about the "Wailing Wall," yet what is supposed to be the wailing wall, I guess, looks nothing like the real "wailing wall," as if producers have no clue about the "wailing wall" or don't think it's important enough to make a reasonable close simulation of it. The whole movie treats it's audience as simple-minded, uneducated couch potatoes.

Seeing this as a religious film, it is incredibly insulting. This lies the main offense. It's not powerful enough to convert anyone and not realistic enough to make anyone want to know more. It's most heinous crime, though, is how it uses the Jews. If the Jews made a big-budget multi-million dollar film and a huge media campaign about how the Pope came to his senses and announces to the world how he has come to the conclusion that Jesus Christ was not GOD after all and everyone should know that and see the truth, there would be an UPROAR in the Christian community. But they seem to have no problem committing that perfidious insult onto the Jews. Rabbi Ben Judah, the most learned and respected scholar in the world, announces to the planet that Jesus Christ is indeed God and he has been wrong and now knows the truth. This is terrible, terrible injustice to the Jewish faith. Besides the fact that it is simply ludicrous to think that a Rabbi could sit on a podium in Israel and the entire world of different religions is going to sit back and take his word for it just because he thinks so and these other religions be converted (What planet is this film on? Certainly not Earth.), but to put words like that in the mouth of the head of another religion and have them say how wrong they were, well, it's just hateful and disrespectful, that's all. It's also disturbing that the whole conspiracy of trying to take over the world comes from INTERNATIONAL BANKERS, which has always been another word for Jews when it is in this context. It's just another example of the total disregard for the integrity of the Jews. It feigns respect for them while denigrating their beliefs. Coupled with a preposterous plot and representation, this film fails as both an action thriller and as a religious film.

Rating:
Summary: The Second Installment in the Left Behind Film Series
Review: (Minor Spoilers Ahead)
In every way that counts, Tribulation Force, the second installment in the Left Behind film series, is the first film's equal, at least when it comes to tone and spirit. However, this one is better than the first. Director Bill Corcoran has done a
tremendously well done film. Tribulation Force is more enhanced than the first installment, enhancing the religious message. Yet, amazingly, Corcoran manages to enhance the Gospel message without shoving it down the viewer's throats, and although it does get a tad bit preachy at times, it is nonetheless a very vivid and well done continuation of the Left Behind saga.

The film opens with Cameron "Buck" Williams reporting live from GNN Studios, reporting on the mass chaos and anarchy that has engulfed the entire world caused by the disappearance of hundreds of millions of people suddenly vanishing into thin air.
Thousands upon thousands have perished in accidents caused by the vanishings. Mass numbers are choosing suicide. And martial law is in effect worldwide. The world looks to Nicolae Carpathia for hope. He is seen as a savior of mankind. The four post-rapture Christians, Buck, Rayford Steele, Chloe Steele, and Bruce Barnes are the ones who see him as he really is - the Antichrist - the one who will slaughter every Christian he can possibly find. As Bruce Barnes puts it, "Becoming a Christian in this time of tribulation is just like marking yourself for death." The four companions are determined to spread the Gospel message to any who will listen, despite the persecution they know will ensue. Bruce is an expert on end-times prophecy and the other three learn of the coming judgements - the Antichrist will rule the planet, a devastating war will erupt, worldwide famine will strike, and a fourth of mankind will perish. With even worse judgements still to come after that. Throughout the film, the first judgement takes place, and Carpathia conquers the world through diplomacy.

Then, Ray Steele takes a job flying Nicolae's private plane simply because he knows the Truth and must find information concerning Carpathia. Buck goes along. They land in Israel and Buck and Rayford meet Rabbi Ben-Judah in Jerusalem. Buck figures one sure-fire way to get the Truth out to the world is to somehow infiltrate the Wailing Wall, which has been closed off and is very heavily gaurded by the Israeli militia because of the mass controversy and mystery centering around the two Witnesses, the ones prophesied in ancient Scripture as the ones who would raise up the 144,000 witnesses from all over the world. Buck uses the cover that he wants to discredit the Witnesses, thus convincing Ben-Judah to accompany him. They are supernaturally spared from the deadly threat of the heavily armed gaurds and find themselves in the presence of the two witnesses., where Buck, using his GNN rights granted to him by Nicolae himself, records the Witnesses speaking out truths of God. Then, suddenly, the gaurds attack! As Buck and Ben-Judah try to take cover, the two Witnesses suddenly breathe out fire from their mouths and the gaurds are incinerated, engulfed in flames. When Buck returns to Rayford, he learns that the broadacast got cut.

But Rayford has acquired information from Carpathia's computer files, and the two of them check it out, discovering that the file is a listing of Messianic prophesies that the Antichrist is comparing to himself. Nicolae is planning on using this as a speech that Ben-Judah will declare to the world . They realize they must change the speech in order to attempt once again to get the Truth out to the world.

Although this film has more of a somewhat pastoral setting than the first one did, it is nonetheless very worthwhile. When one thinks about it, the main quibble is that one would have to see the first film before seeing this film. It is somewhat mandatory. Tribulation Force picks up a week after the the events of Left Behind. The first film had no real ending, since it is picked up with almost seamless continuity. You will no doubt be confused if you see this film without having seen the first one, because hey, first things first! But that is a very minor inconvenience.

Tribulation Force has no real beginning and no real ending. Yes, there will be a third Left Behind. This second installment, like the first one, has a cliffhangar ending. A short trailor for Left Behind 3 is shown before the feature presentation, at least on th VHS.

Rating:
Summary: This long of a wait, and you give us.... WHAT??!?!?!!?
Review: I will have to say, I hated the first one. I got this from the library. It was ok, but it got really cheesy. Especially Tsion Ben-Judah, he was like "But... isn't Carpathia the Messiah?" While in the book, he kept hidden his opinions from Buck, and he actually was a believer. Also Chris comitted suicide in the first book, before Rayford even left the ariport in the first book!! The angelic girl was annoying. Just skip this movie and read the books and/or listen the the "experience in sound and drama" a great alternative to the movie.