Thursday, October 13, 2022
Left Behind Trilogy
- Commentary: I know, I know, what the hell am I doing with the following three movies?! It's complicated. I've never been a Christian but I am related to some people who were, back in the day, rabid evangelistic Christians. I don't know if they've ever seen these movies but I do know that they were far out and away from Rabid Evangelical Christianity when the first movie was released. They were, in fact, extraordinarily dismissive, and sometimes, it seemed like they were secretly afraid, of Christianity in particular and religion in general, by that time.
My story with these movies is a bit different. When I was a teenager and my relatives (mentioned above) were rabid evangelical Christians, I became fascinated with Rabid Evangelical Christianity because I knew both of these relatives to be intelligent and thoughtful, so I had an impossible time understanding why, why, either of them not only became REC's but quickly rose to the rank of leaders among their Christian cadre.
At this point, not being a believer, in the strict Abrahamic sense or in any religious or philosophical sense, I began studying the tracts they were distributing, going to a meeting, here and there, featuring Brother Burke (this link is to Brother Burke's son, who continues his father's pentacostal ministry on the same island, out of the same church where my relatives were churched), the local REC head. I even went to a Billy Graham "event" in a large arena and collected literature on REC beliefs. And read it. And remained flummoxed. How in the world, I wondered, could anyone fall under the spell of these beliefs, especially since they were unfalsifiable?
Within a year or so I put my curiosity aside. I think I wasn't interested in knowing what, exactly, attracted my relatives to these beliefs and this community. I had more interesting, and more urgent, things to do. Then, in 1995 the first Left Behind book came out and I couldn't resist, even though my relatives had long ago renounced their REC beliefs. I read it. It was a fairly fun read. Kind of exciting. I knew all the faith details so none of it was shocking, nor did I take any of it personally. Five years later, though, the story was produced as a movie, the first in the trilogy which I, just today, added to my movie collection. At this point I have to tell you, I cannot remember when I first viewed the first movie, but it was a hell of a lot of fun, a real popcorn-and-soda pleasure. All the actors were so earnest, despite often being bad at what they were doing. The scenery was mostly, well, meh, but sometimes interesting, even eye-popping. The story flowed well. It was an emotionally romping good couple of hours. As years went by, when I was presented with the chance, I often rewatched the first movie and the other two. Just plain, good, afternoon fun. So, I decided, if I could find a good cheap price (which I did, recently) I'll add them to my collection.
The catch is, these movies are still being churned out. Nicolas Cage starred in a 2014 reboot of the first movie in the trilogy. I haven't seen that one. Perhaps, some day, I will. Kevin Sorbo also mixed story lines together from the trilogy and has a movie in post production which will be releasing soon. I have no idea if I'll be seeing that one. Depends on whether I can see it, initially, at least, for free. If you are at all familiar with Kevin Sorbo's last some years of movie work, your response to the news of him joining the Left Behind franchise is, likely, "Of course he did!"
Frankly, I'm only mildly surprised at Nicolas Cage's involvement with a movie based on these, ahem, stories. I mean, the possibilities for a real, secular blockbuster certainly reside in the pages of these novels. I can think of only one movie that incorporates this belief system into an excellent production: The Rapture. Yes, I own a copy of it. If you've ever experienced astonishment and disbelief over REC, you might enjoy The Rapture. It wasn't an audience attracter, although critics loved it. I'm thinking the reason it's so hard to produce an audience-rousing and critic-delighting film from these story elements is that anyone from the U.S., anyway, is frightened of the belief system these stories portray, even if they, themselves, don't believe in it.
Anyway, this is just an initial post, no official movie write-ups, yet. I need a fresh watch of the movies listed below to really get into individual write-ups. So, yes, this post is Under Construction. I'm not sure if I'll be writing up the individual movies separate from one another or, for that matter, separate from this post. Stay tuned. I think this might be fun.
Left Behind I: The Movie
Commentary: Under construction.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Kirk Cameron Buck Williams Brad Johnson Captain Rayford Steele Gordon Currie Nicolae Carpathia Janaya Stephens Chloe Steele Clarence Gilyard, Jr. Bruce Barnes Chelsea Noble Hattie Dunham Colin Fox Chaim Rosenzweig Daniel Pilon Jonathan Stonagal
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2000
Directed by Vic Sarin.
Left Behind II: Tribulation Force
Commentary: Under construction.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Kirk Cameron Buck Williams Brad Johnson Rayford Steele Clarence Gilyard, Jr. Bruce Barnes Janaya Stephens Chloe Steele Gordon Currie Nicolae Carpathia Chelsea Noble Hattie Durham Krista Bridges Ivy Gold Lubomir Mykytiuk Rabbi Tsion Ben Judah
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2002
Directed by Bill Corcoran.
Left Behind III: World at War
Commentary: Under construction.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Louis Gossett Jr. President Gerald Fitzhugh Kirk Cameron Buck Williams Brad Johnson Rayford Steele Jessica Steen Carolyn Miller Gordon Currie Nicolae Carpathia Janaya Stephens Chloe Steele Chelsea Noble Hattie Durham Charles Martin Smith Vice President John Mallory
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2005
Directed by Craig R. Baxley.
Labels: apocalyptic, popcorn-and-soda7, religion2
