Scott Amundsen I've been a Christian for nearly fifty years, and as I do not happen to believe in the pre-tribulation Rapture, approaching this movie as a work of fiction seemed wise. And as it turned out, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.As storytelling goes, it isn't half bad, and the acting is serviceable and even touches the heart or chills the bones at times. By now even those who have never seen it (and wouldn't if you paid them) probably know the basic plot: the Rapture, which is basically the sudden disappearance from the face of the earth of everyone who was "right with God" (meaning of course the sort of Christian who reads the Bible as if it were a "Dick and Jane" reading primer), leaving behind friends and loved ones to muddle about in confusion until they figure it out for themselves.The principle players are reporter Buck Williams (Kirk Cameron), airline pilot Rayford Steele (Brad Johnson), Steele's daughter Chloe (Janaya Stephens), and the Reverend Bruce Barnes (Clarence Gilyard), the obligatory minister who finds himself "left behind" and thus forced to face up to his inadequacies as a man of God.There's nothing inspired in the casting; the characters are stock and the actors inhabit them surprisingly well, Johnson especially (his grief when he comes home and discovers that his wife and son are among those taken is one of the more genuine moments in the whole picture).Since this is taken from the novel by Tim LaHaye, a proponent of the pre-tribulation Rapture, we all know what comes next: the tribulation and the rise of the Antichrist. It's all muddled up with a man in Israel attempting to combat world hunger and the move towards a single world currency (which is never explained; Christians who follow this theology have this particular theory about money but how it ties in to the return of Christ they can never really satisfactorily say). In addition, the nations of the world are declaring peace, which is a good thing, right? Not on your life. It takes a while to find it out but what this world peace really means is that there is no God so no need for any of the religions of the world.The United Nations takes a real beating in this movie; it is painfully obvious that the people who wrote this thing suffer from a xenophobia so deeply ingrained that anyone who does not look, speak, walk, or think as they do is at the very least suspicious and probably headed for the lake of fire.As for the Antichrist, this is where the movie slips, and slips badly. He arrives in the form of Nicolae Carpathia (Gordon Currie), a rather blank-faced man with a pronounced Russian accent. (Well of COURSE it would be Russian; remember those damn Commies??) The scenes in which Currie appears are the silliest ones in the film and frankly he comes across as comic relief most of the time.The film doesn't really end; the credits just roll. Two more films followed this one and they're all fun to watch if you do not take them too seriously.Haven't seen the remake yet (Good God, Nicolas Cage must have been desperate for money), but I'll review it when I do.

Michael_Elliott Left Behind (2000)* (out of 4) Reporter Buck Williams (Kirk Cameron) and pilot Rayford Steele (Brad Johnson) are shocked with several passengers from the plane go missing with only their clothes left behind. Once back on land their shocks continue as millions are people are missing including Steele's wife and son who he always made fun of for their religious beliefs. Soon the reporter confirms their worse fear.I haven't read the novels that this film is based on so I can't compare the two and I understand that many religious people hold them and this movie in high regard. I'm not here to bash religion or anyone's beliefs but this movie was pretty darn horrible from the start up until the very last frame. I'm sure many will say everything in this movie is true and a warning for us but Cecil B. DeMille made some of the greatest and most entertaining religious pictures out there but he wasn't afraid to change things in order to make them more entertaining.I think the biggest problem with this movie is that it was made on such a low-budget and it contains so many bad things that it just never stood a chance. I mean, take a look at the horrid CGI at the start of the film as various planes fall from the sky. Things don't get any better once the "story" sets in because the performances and the direction are so awful. There are countless scenes where family members are crying because they realize that their loved ones are gone. Do these scenes make the viewer cry with them? No, we're actually laughing at them because of how poorly acted and staged they are. I mean, the scenes with the clothes just laying there like someone had set them out for work the next day was laughable enough but throw in actors who can't cry right and the scenes are even worse.Obviously this movie is meant for Christians but not for a second do I believe you have to be one in order to enjoy a movie like this. No matter what your religious beliefs are you should be able to find a movie entertaining. LEFT BEHIND is awful in every way imaginable. In fact, I'm really shocked at how big of a following this movie has because of how poorly made it is. Even if you believe the message it's giving, it's hard to get past the bad acting and various other issues. Is there anything good here? I'd say it's badness is so incredibly awful that the film remains entertaining throughout simply at how many laughs it gives you. Unintentional laughs certainly isn't what the filmmakers were going for but that's the only thing they were able to deliver.

Tyshay Baker I enjoyed the movie more and more as it went on but the ending falls short. There could be a whole sequel movie to cover what the results of the situation is. There was mystery and build up in seeing why people were disappearing but once that was all settled it was like, and then what? But I guess the point was that they can't stop it. 1 thing I couldn't understand was why the minster friend didn't disappear. Maybe the ending would have been better if all the main characters had disappeared. Once someone believes or figures something out in a movie, you expect there to be a climax afterward and taking action and the problem being solved. But this was like, OK he believes, the end. However, the only thing I can really complain about is the ending but I've seen worst endings than that. Overall, I think it's a fairly goo, enjoyable movie.

Steven Vp I first watched this movie after seeing an amarican dad episode that I thought was parodying this movie. Boy was I wrong... The first 5 minutes almost leads you to believe that this is isn't going to be completely devoid of any action and some things will genuinely amuse you. After watching 45 minutes of this film I noticed that it was almost entirely composed of people sitting at home and doing nothing... literally nothing. I had enough of watching basically nothing and so I hit fast forward and being a VHS tape I could basically see everything that was going on. after countless scenes of people still sitting at home doing nothing and occasionally looking at bibles or going to church or doing other boring things, I finally got to something that was sort of interesting and started watching. I had almost entirely forgotten how bad the acting was. It seemed whenever they tried to make a scene dramatic or intense they would drag it on forever until it just kind of became boring and meaningless. before I knew it I was glancing anxiously at the fast forward button until I couldn't take it any more. Literally the moment I reached for it though, the credits started rolling and despite being completely unfulfilled by the story, I felt entirely satisfied that it was over. I don't want to keep this movie on the shelf anymore for fear that someone might think I have the kind of taste in movies that would make this film bearable... maybe masochist or something.