Left Behind: The Movie
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| Left Behind: The Movie | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Vic Sarin |
| Starring | Kirk Cameron Brad Johnson Chelsea Noble Clarence Gilyard, Jr. Janaya Stephens<br Gordon Currie David MacNiven Colin Fox Krista Bridges Daniel Pilon Anthony DeSantis |
| Music by | James Covell |
| Cinematography | George Tirl |
| Editing by | Michael Pacek |
| Distributed by | Cloud Ten Pictures |
| Release date(s) | February 2, 2001 |
| Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Followed by | Left Behind II: Tribulation Force |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Left Behind: The Movie is a film released on video and DVD in 2000, starring Kirk Cameron and Brad Johnson. It was directed by Vic Sarin. Left Behind is touted by its creators as the biggest and most ambitious Christian film ever made.[citation needed] It is based on the popular Left Behind series of books. In the words of star Janaya Stephens, "Left Behind is not the story about those who were called to Heaven, it's about those who were left behind."
Andre Van Heerdon of Cloud Ten Pictures summed up Left Behind: The Movie's chances in the secular marketplace by saying, "I think the success of this film depends on a lot of people going to see it." Producer Peter Lalonde has jokingly stated, "It isn't a real movie until you blow something up!"
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[edit] Production
Cloud Ten Pictures bought the rights to the first two Left Behind novels from its authors. Filming started in early May 2000 on a budget of $17.4 million and commenced for a total of 31 days.
An Ontario quarry was used for the scenes of Israel. Natural forces stood in the way of early shooting, flooding the set, requiring it to be pumped out. However, as noted by Bowmanville Zoo's Mike Hackenberger, "Camels sell the look.... As a prop camels are great. You can move 'em around, you can stick 'em there, and you see a camel on sand, you know it's desert."
Before Janaya Stephens took the role of Chloe Steele, it had been given to Lacey Chabert, who dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.
Some of the extras who played the saved were various Christian ministers who used the movie in their sermons, most notably John Hagee (who is featured on the airplane shortly before the mass disappearance, and who was also very instrumental in the movie's promotion) and T.D. Jakes (who appears in the video that the group watches, telling them what to expect). Christian music artists were also used as extras, such as Bob Carlisle and Rebecca St. James, who appear as news anchors, and the Christian group Clay Crosse, who appear as police guards towards the end of the movie.
[edit] MPAA rating challenge
On the final week of shooting, Cloud Ten Pictures approached the MPAA board. The film originally received an "R" rating due to the climactic shooting scene. Cloud Ten Pictures challenged the decision. A 14–1 vote modified the MPAA rating down to "PG-13". Cloud Ten Pictures believes it is fighting the idea that Bible films have no place in Hollywood.[citation needed]
[edit] Response
Critics were generally not kind to the movie, such as the Washington Post's Desson Howe, who described it as "...a blundering cringefest, thanks to unintentionally laughable dialogue, hackneyed writing and uninspired direction. The more this movie tries, the worse it gets. Its sincerity ends up becoming a bulging bull's-eye for rotten-tomato throwers." [1]
The movie received a 16% rating on the Rotten Tomatoes website. [2]
One of the authors of the book series, Tim LaHaye (who along with Jerry B. Jenkins, never received any credit) was outraged over this, as he was promised a movie version on a $40 million budget and a two-hour adaptation, and sued Cloud Ten for $10 million. Many fans speculate this was the main reason for the three-year gap between Left Behind II: Tribulation Force and Left Behind: World at War, the second and third film installments.[citation needed]
[edit] Deleted scenes
The following scenes were deleted from the movie. They were filmed, but as of 2005 have not appeared on the DVD version yet.
- An extended version of the conversation between Cameron "Buck" Williams and Chloe Steele on their way to see Ken Ritz (supposedly revealing more about their thoughts as to the disappearances)
- Bruce Barnes' search for Pastor Vernon Billings' videotape concerning the Rapture.
[edit] Parodies
The movie was parodied in The Simpsons episode "Thank God It's Doomsday" where Homer watches a movie called Left Below. The premise being that all Non-Christians (or Secular people) are "Left Below", such as a Buddhist priest (who laments "I thought all religions were a path to God; I was wrong!"), a Scientist and a Homosexual man (who screams "Oh why did I choose to be gay?!).
[edit] References
- Washington Post review
- All quotes from people affiliated with Left Behind: The Movie are from the "Making of Left Behind" featurette.
