Don't judge a book by it's movie. - Left Behind (2001) Discussion

[–] MetalMiike 17 years ago

It did blow. I'm a raving aetheist but it's a bloody brilliant concept for a film. One of the great missed oportunities if ever there was one. I'd never read the books but as soon as I heard what this movie was about, I thought "Wow, that actually sounds pretty scary". The trouble is, it's a cheap cash in; blasphemous to those who believe, obvious to all.

Timbo Dyes His Hair (Never Quite The Same Shade Twice)

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[–] MetalGeek 17 years ago

Read the book, thought it was a pretty cool adventure story. Didn't bother with the movie simply because the "biggest" star they could get to be in it was Mike Seaver from "Growing Pains."
From the comments I've read on the movie, it doesn't sound like I'm missing much.

Your Favorite Band Sucks.

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[–] psmith-30 17 years ago

I must disagree.

The first book is hands down the worst book I've ever read.

Here's one example of many of what makes this book so terrible.

Roughly 1/3 of Americans disappear including every single child. One of the main characters, Rayford Steele, has his house robbed right afterwards. A policeman comes to his house and tells him that this kind of thing is happening everywhere. "It's like the inner city has moved out to the suburbs".

Besides the fact that the authors think that policemen will have the time to track down something as mundane as a burglary a few days after 100M Americans went missing, just think abut the premise for a second. All these people just disappeared but thieves break into occupied houses instead of thousands of newly empty houses there must be all over.

To add to the absurdity of this premise, the authors tell us that the thieves took the main character's son's toys. Who has ever heard of a burglary where the thieves stole TOYS? And who are these toys getting sold to? In a world with not a single child in it, I imagine the stolen toys market would take a bit of a hit.

I'm sorry, but that is horrendous writing. What about this?

THe other main character, Buck Williams, one of the most respected journalists in the world has uncovered a conspiracy in which one of his friends is murdered. WHile investigating that (instead of paying any attention to the disappearances like he is assigned to do) another of his friends is murdered while Buck is with him. Buck eventually discovers that the President of Romania (Carpathia, the anti-CHrist) is a conspirator.

When he meets this person face to face, now get this, Carpathia denies involvement and then picks up the phone and blatantly tells his co-conspirators to leave Buck alone. After the call is over, he AGAIN CLAIMS HE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.

TO make matters worse, Buck, who we are supposed to believe is a morally superior and uncorrupted person, just forgets the conspiracy as if it's no big deal. The heat is off him, so everything is cool. It's not like he's an investigative journalist or anything who has uncovered a huge story involving the the very guy that the entire world is talking about (instead of the most important thing that has ever happened on Earth), no he's content to just forget the whole thing. Worst reporter ever.

I've read stories written by Junior High Schoolers which are better. How about this?

Nicolae Carpathia, the anti-Christ, has become (for no reason that is explained) the most popular person in the world. People completely forget that there are no children left in the world and instead focus on him.

Carpathia comes to the United States to speak at the UN. He gives a long speech in which all involved are completely blown away by what an amazing speaker he is. After this speech (Which is broadcast worldwide) everybody loves him and wants him to be the Secretary General of the UN (which for some reason LeHaye and Jenkins think is the most powerful position in the world).

What was his incredible speech?

A recitation of an alphabetical list of all the nations who are members of the UN, a recitation of all the branches of the UN, and a recitation of all the important positions and who holds these positions.

When he is finished, the crowd leaps to their feet.

Seriously.... WTF?

There are idiotic things like this on almost every single page of this piece of *beep* book.

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[–] TheSolarSailor 17 years ago

There's one MAJOR thing you forgot to factor in, psmith-30...

You are actually using logic while reading these books, believers only care about using faith...faith that automatically trumps logic for no particular reason other than their thinking they are right. You can point out these fallacies all day long and the believer will simply stick his head in the sand and have "faith" instead.

Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed your critique!

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OK, so what's the speed of dark?

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[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] MonkeyVooDoo 17 years ago

So I'm assuming you read one or two (maybe even three) of the books out of the 12 that make up the main story ( and about 4-6 more that make up the prequel and sequel)... the story as a whole was awesome, I didn;t bother with the prequel because it didn;t seem important.

"...history from this moment forward is yours to make."
The Nightwatchman

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[–] jlgreenlee 13 years ago

I know this is an old comment, but I had to say something. I decided to read the Left Behind series a couple of summers ago. It was a pop culture gap in my mental rolodex, and I wanted to know what it was all about. I read books 1-8, then 12. Why did I skip three books? Because I figured out that at least 1/3 of each book is recap. BORING recap. While I don't for a second believe the rapture and tribulation stuff, it should make for exciting, thrilling reading. I mean, I loved The Exorcist and The Omen, and didn't believe in the underlying story.

The writing quality of the LB series is as the previous poster said, amateurish. The characters are flat and interchangeable. The exciting things are glossed over, and then you'll have thirty pages of the minuteia of a single conversation. Nobody talks or acts like an actual person. Horrendous, earth shaking calmities happen, but mankind just kind of adapts to it, shrugs it off. The series is very padded, and so, so, so dreary and boring.

But, perhaps the worst part is that it is literally preaching to the choir. A non-believer is not going to be converted by Left Behind. Jesus/God (they're treated as one) is responsible for all manner of horror, torture and bloodshed. But at least every other page, there is a mention of God's greatness, Jesus' love, all leading to the Glorious Appearing, where Jesus comes back and SLAUGHTERS remaining unbelievers. There isn't a single demonstration of any goodness. You have to come into the story already believing it.

I could go on and on. I mostly wanted to say that having read 3/4 of the main series--and couldn't possibly tolerate any more--I too can say unequivically that the writing contained in this series is just terrible.

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[–] SorrowNoMore 17 years ago

Don't forget the whole thing about the Russian invasion at the beginning. That insulted my intelligence: how could the Russians amass such a big force and take off just like that without anyone noticing? It takes awhile to mobilize everything you've got when you've got as big a military as Russia. NATO would notice. The US would notice. China would notice. The authors didn't seem to mention what happened to Russia after that. It must have made things more than a little awkward at the UN, for sure.

Not only was it insulting to the intelligence, but I also found it particularly offensive. The Russian attack on Israel is supposed to show the reader how evil (read: "nonchristian") the Russians are. Christianity has existed in Russia for over a thousand years now. It has existed there longer than Tim LaHaye has been Christian; it has existed there longer than his alma mater, Bob Jones University, has been around. For all those that insist that the US is a Christian nation, Russia was Christianized in 988-- longer than the US has been in existence.

But since these Russians-- who lit candles in churches when the "Kursk" went down-- are not Fundamentalists, then who cares about all that? They may call themselves Christian, but they're not the "right" kind of Christian, according to the authors. It is also mentioned in the book that Russia had a secret agreement with Ethiopia, which not only has an ancient Christian tradition of its own, but a significant amount of Jews who emigrate to Israel.

Christianity in Russia has survived despite the twentieth-century state oppression against it. It is an ingrained part of the Russian culture. Therefore, I was offended that the authors would ignore all that in their attempt to wedge Russia into their end-times fantasy.

...and speaking of the "right" kind of Christian, well, if Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins think that the Russian Orthodox Church is not actually Christian, well, they should know that the sentiment is repaid in kind by the Russian Orthodox Church itself. Frankly, this is a case where the ROC has the benefit; they have the centuries-- the millenium!-- of history, experience, and development, compared to the faddish moneymaking enterprise that LaHaye and Jenkins are profiting off of at this moment.

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[–] TheSolarSailor 17 years ago

That was a very interesting post your submitted, SorrowNoMore. It was full of great insight and things I had never even bothered to consider when watching LaHaye's fantasy unfold.

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OK, so what's the speed of dark?

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[–] SorrowNoMore 17 years ago

Thanks for the shoutout DFJ. I think that the more compelling thing found in "Left Behind" is not the "message" the books and movies give, but what you find when you deconstruct and analyze the series to figure out what the creators and authors were thinking.

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[–] psmith-30 17 years ago

SorrowNoMore

Although most of what you say is on target there's an aspect of the Russia attacking Israel thing you're not aware of.

Biblical Prophecy.

THe Authors of Left Behind consider all the End Times stuff they read in the Bible to be literally what is going to happen. This casues hilarious attempt to take things from the Bible and depict them in the real world.

The movie downplays the utter absurdity presented in the book concerning this event. THe Bible says something about Israel getting attacked from a nation to the north and a nation to the East. It also says that they use every single weapon in their arsenal but God defends Israel and not a single person is hurt.

In the book, Russia not only sends thier entire military (every last man) but they also launch every single nuclear warhead at a tiny nation.

Ridiculous.

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[–] SorrowNoMore 17 years ago

Oh, I'm very much aware of the "Biblical prophecy" involving Russia, in which Russia is "Gog and Magog." But the identity of Gog and Magog differs according to the person's interpretation. Not only is the whole Russia-as-Gog-and-Magog thing unlikely now that the USSR is gone, there's also the issue of Russia as a majority Christian nation. That's not to say that the majority Russian religion would stop that country's government from doing bad things (it sure hasn't in the past), but I find it condescending of those who cast Russia as G&MG to completely ignore the fact that the Russian people were Christianized in 988.

Let's also not forget the whole thing about Germany (Gomer) and Turkey (Togar-Mah) in "Bible prophecy." I got those last two from Jack T. Chick, whose work I am quite familiar with.

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[–] christopherparra 17 years ago

so uhm.... theres some prequels that show how rayford and nicholae grew up and their moves to the postions they are at today..... I know you wrote this forever ago, but I thought maybe you'd like to know.

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[–] bog042-mailing 16 years ago

You are assuming that

1 The burglars know that all the kids have gone

2 the burglars have thought through their crime

3 they didn't just go out robbing on a spree because being left behind was just too much for them to handle.

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[–] kaydenpat 13 years ago

Your post is brilliant and applies to every LeHaye/Jenkins book out there. I've read a few and they are all over the top right wing Christianist fantasies that make no sense to outsiders like little old liberal me.

But the Righties love them. Oh well.

P.S. I actually thought the movie wasn't too bad -- better than I expected. If you believe in the Rapture, I guess the Left Behind movies are just for you.

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[–] strangenstein (683) 3 years ago

ps, I’m responding to your comment, not to to personally. People without hope - the hope of Jesus - always have two big fears: the future and death. I say that because when the end times begin, the world will look for “hope”, and they’ll be willing to accept about anything. The anti-Christ will easily slip into the role of world savior.

I don’t know what you personally believe, and I don’t know when the end times will begin, but I encourage you to check out what the Bible has to say. If nothing else, you’ll be able to recognize events as they happen.

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[–] psmith-30 17 years ago

I forgot my favorite piece of crap detail in this piece of crap book.

Carpathia has become the world's darling. Everybody in the world loves him to death. He comes out of nowhere and dazzles all he meets to the point where just about everybody wants him do be in charge. There has never been a more popular person in the entire world (during their lifetime at least).

How do LeHaye and Jenkins show this? How do they think popular people are recognized in popular culture? What is the highest honor that can be bestowed?

I'm not making this up.....

He becomes People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive".

I *beep* you not.

Seriously WTF?

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[–] Katachthonios 17 years ago

I mean, seriously, the main characters are named Rayford and Buck. Not just Rayford, though, but Rayford Steele.

And the villain is named Nicholae Carpathia?! Dear God...

*****
Like most problems, this one can be solved by bending.

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[–] Tanz-Metal 17 years ago

The 'Left Behind' book series would have been better off adapted as a TV miniseries with a very good director, imo.

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[–] keitwa 17 years ago

I loved the books, they're my favourite series ever. I mainly liked the bus chase out of Israel and everything with Mac and Abdullah together. I don't like the movie as much, though. There's some slightly funny parts, but the changes they made really disappointed me. I liked how the actor did Bruce Barnes, though I think they really did some things wrong. Buck being a newsreporter instead of a journalist may not be that big a deal at the beginning, but when you get later in the series he needs to be a journalist. Also, although character appearance shouldn't mean much, I don't like how Chloe's brunette. She's supposed to be beautiful, blonde and analytical. The person who plays Chloe is good, but I thought of Chloe as having blonde, medium-length hair and DEFINITELY not a nose piercing. Where does that go to, anyway? It just suddenly disappears.

Sorry if the next part goes into the second movie, I'm not sure which movie it comes in as.

When I thought of Tsion Ben-Judah (my favourite characters are Abdullah, Mac, Albie, Chloe and Tsion) I thought of him as a really kind person. The angular face and voice are good for certain characters, but not for Tsion.

Sorry, I've rambled. Anyway, I really agree that the books are better.

Tsion: "Cameron! Are you planning to blow up this bus?"

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[–] Anakin_McFly 17 years ago

The movie was crap. But I liked the books a lot (come on; it's about the end of the world!), to the extent that I wanted to make the film adaptation. Then I found out that it had already been done, took pains to get hold of a copy, and then became utterly disappointed and mad at the world when I finally watched it.

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[–] feariedaisy 17 years ago

I didn't think it was that bad. It was christian actors who work for a christian company making a movie based on a bestselling christian book. Considering I thought it was a pretty good movie. I would actually love it if they kept going and finished all the movies although I wouldn't mind if someone stepped in and made it a higher budget film for a great story.

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[–] Henchperson 17 years ago

I read the book before I saw the movie, and I have to disagree. The *concept* is brilliant - the writing is wooden and amateurish. The storyline wanders all over the place, the point of view is inconsistent, and it's badly edited. I was really disappointed in the book, and the movie? The less said about that, the better.

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[–] Blueghost 17 years ago

I could've turned this thing into a blockbuster smash-hit. Better films have been made from essentially the same material, but when you plot the business model for a film you need to know your audience. When you start to prosteltyze is when you lose people.

So, in this regard, the film makers were at odds with their audience and themselves. Or, as Maxwell Rocketansky once said, "Five miles from here I saw a rig that could that fat tanker of yours. You want to get out of here? You talk to me." :-)

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[–] psmith-30 17 years ago

So, in this regard, the film makers were at odds with their audience and themselves. Or, as Maxwell Rocketansky once said, "Five miles from here I saw a rig that could that fat tanker of yours. You want to get out of here? You talk to me." :-)

Sorry to be knitpicky but the quote is actually

"Two days ago I saw a vehicle that would haul that tanker. You wanna get out of here? You talk to me."

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[–] Blueghost 17 years ago

DOH!

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