Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24368 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-08-31
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 96 minutes

Amazon.com
Part conspiracy theory and part religious message, Left Behind (based on the first in a series of runaway bestsellers by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins) is a passable, occasionally compelling thriller that turns the rapture and the ascendance of the Antichrist into something resembling a Robert Ludlum espionage potboiler. The beginning, though, is pure Stephen King: as morose pilot Rayford Steele (Brad Johnson) steers his jet plane toward London, comely flight attendant Hattie Daniels (Chelsea Noble) informs him that a number of passengers have disappeared--at 37,000 feet, leaving their neatly pressed clothes behind. And they're not the only ones who've gone missing. The mass disappearances throw the world into chaos, and the sinisterly compelling Nicolae Carpathia (Gordon Currie), head of the U.N., selflessly steps in to help broker peace among the world's nations. But is he as good intentioned as he seems?

Turns out the appropriately named Mr. Carpathia is behind a plot to rule the world and control its food supply, and intrepid reporter Buck Williams (Kirk Cameron, better than you'd expect) is onto him--with a little help from some biblical prophecies. Suffering the problem that befalls most first installments in a series of books and movies, Left Behind busies itself with the task of introducing characters and setting up expository plot lines, and audiences may be frustrated by the lack of action--Rayford's somewhat labored crisis of faith takes up a good chunk of the film. Still, it's an intriguing premise that should satisfy fans of the novel and possibly pick up a few more converts along the way (be warned, though, this is a modestly budgeted film that looks more like a cable TV movie than the latest James Bond extravaganza). And, if like a fair number of the film's characters, you can't figure out that someone named "Nicolae Carpathia" is a bad guy, then, well, you need to bone up on your evil villains. --Mark Englehart

From The New Yorker
If the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "Rapture" is Blondie, then start stocking up on food and water. This movie, based on the first book in a best-selling series of fundamentalist-Christian novels, takes the events of the Book of Revelation and transposes them to modern times. The result looks and plays out like an after-school special about the Apocalypse. Kirk Cameron is Buck Williams, an intrepid reporter for GNN who "would have reported on Hiroshima from ground zero if he'd been there." Millions of people all over the world have vanished, and those "left behind" can't quite figure out why. Buck investigates various angles-radiation, alien interference-and the movie documents his lengthy procession toward belief. Read your Bible carefully. A global currency, the ascendancy of the U.N., the telling detail that the Antichrist will have a Russian accent-it's all there. -Michael Agger
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

The Shaking Truth
Many times I find myself indulging in a movie to escape the reality that surrounds my daily life. LEFT BEHIND is anything but an escape from reality. Rarely do I find a form of mass media that causes me to evaluate my actions and their reprecussions to the degree that this movie did. Though the books, which were filled with scripturally grounded truths, insued extreme conviction, the movie captured the same elements without the actual process of reading having to be done. My roommate, who has yet to read the books, was able to follow the story and catch the intended message just as easily as I was. The spontaneously occurring incidents kept the attention of the watchers without overwhelming them into confusion. I walked away with just a glimpse of what one would feel like having walked through the rapture. I especially admired the way that the director captured the change that occurs in people's personalities when shaken to such an extent. Buck, although following his investigator instints, is clouded with a sense of confusion. Rayford sees for the first time the pieces of what his wife was saying fall into place. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone willing to face the true of what lies ahead for us as humans. For those who don't want to invest in buying the movie, or for those who want to support the makers of this film, or for those willing to give it a chance on the big screen, LEFT BEHIND will be released on February 2 in theatres. I would highly encourage everyone to go out an see it opening weekend.

Don't Let this one be Left Behind
You don't have to be a Christian to enjoy Left Behind. Nor do you have to even read the books as some have said. I'm a Non-Christian who has not read the books and I absoulutely loved this movie.

Left Behind is the story about mankind's last days on Earth and what causes it's destruction. Delicately touching upon biblical verses of Earth's final days, Left Behind takes us through a journey of those left behind after many people have disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Amoung the cast is Kirk Cameron who plays Buck Williams, a journalist witnessing first hand these odd days and doubting with everyone else that they are happening.

While Left Behind certainly contains Christian and bibilical views, it is also certainly not attempting to convert non-Christians with it's material. It's a movie with a well writen story, and not intended for only Christian audiences, but for all.

The movie isn't perfect, nothing is. But with a story so interesting and that could possibly happen, Left Behind has all it needs in it's story and suberb acting by it's stars. Don't be put off by its above average special effects that you see near the beginning of the film, for they more than aducately do the job. Like I said, it isn't about special effects, it's about story.

I strongly encourage everyone to purchase this movie, watch it and then spread the word. The success of this film relys upon the word of mouth generated by those who see the film on video before it's release to theaters in February 2001. The more people that spread the word, the more screens it will open on. Left Behind is well worth your time, don't leave it behind.

I think it's great!
I did not buy this movie in order to pick over the special effects (which, by the way, I have no complaints with)or complain that it couldn't compare in quality to all of Hollywood's big budget movies. This is a movie with a message and it comes across loud and clear to me. I've watched this movie almost daily since I got it and each time I see something that I didn't see before. When it hits the theater next Feb I plan on loading up the van with a bunch! And for those who complain that Christian movies don't compare with the ones that Hollywood generates, thank God! Because you spend more doesn't make it better.