Left Behind - The Movie

Rating:
Summary: HOW DO I GET THAT ONE WAY TICKET TO HEAVEN?
Review: First let me say that EVERY character was casted to perfection!! Especially Kirk Cameron... THERE COULD NOT BE A BETTER BUCK! Rayford (played by the former Marlboro Man) couldn't have been more perfect... definitely the kind of guy you would picture as being an "I'm a hunk who could have it all" kind of guy (pre-rapture of course). I've seen a few reviews criticizing the choice for Carpathia, but I disagree. After all, wouldn't we all just EXPECT the Anti-Christ to be of a "strong and powerful" stature? A perfect example of the wolf who came in sheep's clothing. Bravo for all the choices of character portrayals!!

I felt the movie lost one of it's possible 5 stars for falling short in 3 areas; the first being in not demonstrating the more far reaching effects of the rapture. The scenes they did show were EXTEMELY powerful, but it just fell a bit short on the full scale (where were the downed planes, the miles of jammed highways, etc?)... due to the limited budget, however, it can be easily overlooked and left to the imagination. Another area I felt was a little weak was that they tried to squeeze too much information into 90 minutes. Why not go 2 hours, or more, the way most movies are doing? Characters and ideas were too often just tossed into the loop without enough explanation and the viewer who has never read the book might have a bit of difficulty following. But the main area I felt the movie fell short was in its salvation message. There really seemed to be no clear direction as to what is salvation and how to receive it(which the books delve into continually.... no missing the message there!). However, knowing that this movie is hoping to catch the eyes of the general public, it is understandable that the producers may have been a bit fearful of turning off viewers and instead hoped to merely raise the questions of "what if?" and "could it really happen?" and "how do I get that one way ticket to Heaven?".

Over all, a fantastic movie that leaves you wanting more and asking yourself, "when's the next one coming out?"

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the book...
Review: I have borrowed and read the book, and I thought it was phenomenal. It was deep, intriguing, and really left the reader on the edge of their seat. Cheers to Tim LaHae and Jerry Jenkins.

This movie on the other hand is a joke. Bad acting, bad scripts, bad production. Cheesy music, and it reminds me of a Lifetime special. I really wish the film followed the book better. They left out alot of important details, and summed a 500 plus page book into a 90 minute film. Talk about pushing the envelope. I think the film would have done much better without actors from the Mickey Mouse Club and stuck with better scripts. There are a few good points in the movie, such as when Rayford Steele notices his wife gone, he totally ruled that scene. Great job on that one. Nicolae looks like a choir boy, but once again, the innocent can fool people. I think the film would have been more exciting had they included a more "orchestrated" music piece. They stuck with Newsboys and all of those other Christian pop bands that sing pretty and try to be cool (no offense to the newsboys, but yeah). It shuts the film down completely and makes it seem like a pop teen flick.

The story is good, and it is surprising how accurate some of that interpretation was by the authors. Only if they knew that Revelation would soon be unravelling in real life after they wrote that book.

The film leaves alot to be desired by the viewer. The first time that I had viewed it, I had felt empty because I was expecting more. That 90 minutes went way too fast and it didn't hardly touch the magic that the written novel had.

So if you're a fan of the book, it might be a good idea to skip this one if you don't want to be terribly disappointed. Once again, great book, poor movie. Most transcriptions from book to movie are poor in the first place, but alot of this gibberish is unexcuseable. I really wish the directors, producers, and actors had polished up their technique a little bit before filming this for the big screen.

Keep God in your heart, time's almost up! Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, and He will accept you into His Kingdom! God bless you all.

Rating:
Summary: A Movie to be Watched with Your Heart
Review: I have not read the Left Behind series, but now I will. I found this movie in a Christian book store and was inspired to buy it and watch it at home. As is true for any movie or book or piece of art, the way people react to them is a very personal and subjective experience, based on their own beliefs and what has happened in their lives so far. So no matter what people say in these reviews, you need to make your own decision about this movie's value. I watched it with my 11 year old daughter and one of her friends. We were all totally caught up in the characters and the story, as well as the music (we have since bought the sound track and love it!). It made us cry, and more importantly, it made us think about what we need to do as Christians to help non believers (including my husband) begin to ask the question: if all of this is true, and if Christ does return to take His believers away from the horrors of the end times, where will I be? If you believe that it could be God's will to get this movie out in as many theaters as possible and move people to change their hearts, then join in the efforts to get sponsorship for this movie in your area. All the criticism about special effects is moot since the movie producers have already enhanced those scenes for the movie release. We thought the actors were very well cast, especially Kirk Cameron as Buck Williams. It was also a treat to watch a movie that you could immerse yourself in with no worries except when it would end. But the main point is this: if you open yourself to the message here, you will feel it as we did, and you will want to share it with anyone you care about or love. Leave your worldy views and prejudices behind and watch this with your heart.

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: Leave This One Behind
Review: Let me say up front that I'm a Christian who has devoured the books. The first one, Left Behind, on which this movie is based is a thriller on par with any Ludlum or Follett novel. The fact that it deals with what I believe to be the truth, makes it even more impactful. But as far as the movie goes. I was greatly disappointed. To be fair, a 90 minute movie can not do justice to a book like Left Behind. But here's where the movie falls apart. Kirk Cameron still looks like he's 15. He's totally miscast as Buck Williams. However Brad Johnson is excellent as Rayford Steele.

The movie meanders from one scene to the next and I kept thinking that if I wasn't familiar with the story, I'd be totally lost. Part of the problem may have been the fact that neither Jerry Jenkins nor Tim LaHaye had anything to do with the screenplay. And with only 90 minutes to work with, the plot speeds along without establishing any of the characters, much less their relatioships to one another. For example, Buck and Chloe spend a total of about 5 minutes together before they make a love connection.

If you manage to sit through the whole film, you'll be really disappointed in the ending. They just ... Well... They just end it with a scene of Buck coming back to Rayford's house, following Carpathia's mind controlling murder of Stonegal and Carthern and Buck falls into Chloe's arms at the front door. That's it. That's the end! No hint of a sequel, nothing. It just ends.

As a book series "Left Behind" is gripping and compelling. Once you finish one book, you can't wait to start the next. But after watching "Left Behind - The Movie", I can only pray that they don't make another one. If you're just getting exposed to Left Behind, save your money on the Video or DVD and read the books.

Now I know why they released the film this way. If you'd paid 6 or 7 dollars to see this in a theatre, there's now way you'd schell out $30 for the DVD like I did. Even at Amazon's $20.00 price, it's not worth it. This page also has a link where people who've seen the film can sell their videos or DVD's. The resale on this is gonna be huge.

If you must have this movie in your collection, buy the video, not the DVD. The DVD has no worthwhile extras, aside from the usual Cast & Crew segment and The Making of... segment. There's no language choices and no subtitles. Oh, by the way, did I tell you I didn't like anything about this film? Blessings to you all!!!

Rating:
Summary: this is a great move!
Review: On an overseas flight to London, Journalist Buck Williams (Kirk Cameron) and pilot Rayford Steele (Brad Johnson) are caught in the middle of the most incredible event in history. Suddenly, without warning, dozens of passengers simply vanish into thin air. But it doesn't stop there. It soon becomes clear that millions of people are missing from around the world. As choas and anachry engulf the world, both men set out on vastly different paths in a desperate search for answers. Based on the New York Times best-selling novel, Left Behind is overflowing with suspense, action and adventure. This riveting motion picture will take you on a spellbinding journey through the most mysterious book of the bible The Book of Revelation. The acting of two of the movie's main actors (Kirk Cameron and his wife Chelsea Noble) is excellent. This is an excellent movie. I checked it out from the library and I stayed up until 3:00 in the morning watching it. If you like movies overflowing with suspense, action, and adventure Left Behind is the movie for you. Enjoy!!!.

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!