Movie Info

RATING:

PG-13

RELEASED:

(in churches) October 21, 2005
DVD -- Oct. 25

GENRE:

Thriller

STARRING:

Kirk Cameran, Louis Gossett, Jr., Brad Johnson, Gordon Currie, Charles Martin Smith, Jessica Steen, Janaya Stephens, Arnold Pinnock, and Chelsea Noble

WRITERS:

Paul Lalonde, Peter Lalonde, and André van Heerden

BASED ON THE NOVELS BY:

The Rev. Timothy LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins

DISTRIBUTOR:

Sony Pictures Entertainment

OFFICIAL WEB SITE

 

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MOVIE REVIEW

Left Behind: The World at War

Dr. Ted Baehr
MovieGuide Magazine

What's This?

CBN.com – Sony Pictures has decided to take over the distribution of the Left Behind franchise. Therefore, Left Behind: The World at War is bigger and better. It plays much more like a Hollywood feature film. A 21-year-old who saw it commented on how much better the explosions, missiles, gunfire, and special effects were.

At the beginning of the movie, the President of the U.S., Gerald Fitzhugh, played by Oscar winning actor Louis Gossett, Jr., is siding with Nicolae, whom anyone who reads the books knows is the emerging Anti-Christ. The Vice President, however, is siding with the Christian rebels. The Vice President tells President Fitzhugh that Nicolae is planning to destroy the United States. Almost immediately, world troops come and try to take out the President. They blow up a lot of cars and kill the Vice President, but the President escapes.

Cut to the marriage of our heroes, Buck and Chloe, Rayford and Amanda. Rayford, played by Brad Johnson, is Chloe's father and an airline pilot who is the pilot for the world leader, Nicolae. Buck, played by Kirk Cameron, is a reporter who has found Christ. All of them get caught up in Nicolae's plan to destroy America.

In the process, Buck leads the President to Jesus Christ, and the President witnesses to others. Nicolae demonstrates his powers, but the President is clearly being protected by God.

Left Behind: The World at War is much more of a standalone movie than the first two movies in the series. Sony's involvement has improved the quality.

However, it is still clear that this is a serial, like the old cowboy movies, or a TV series. Therefore, the movie is perhaps not as satisfying as a truly standalone feature film, with a clearly defined beginning, middle, and tend. Although the movie moves briskly and is entertaining, some of the dialogue and acting are still weak.

The good news is that this movie will revive interest in a series that actually witnesses to Jesus Christ. The not-so-good news is that it could have been a little better if there had been more money poured into it and the writers had given up on the serial format to tell a more cohesive story.

Please address your comments to:

Michael Lynton, Chairman/CEO
Amy Pascal, Chairman - Motion Picture Group
Sony Pictures Entertainment
(Columbia Pictures/TriStar)
10202 West Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232-3195
Phone: (310) 244-4000
Fax: (310) 244-2626
Web Page: www.spe.sony.com/

NOTE from Dr. Ted Baehr, publisher of Movieguide Magazine. For more information from a Christian perspective, order the latest Movieguide Magazine by calling 1-800-899-6684(MOVI) or visit our website at www.movieguide.org. Movieguide is dedicated to redeeming the values of Hollywood by informing parents about today's movies and entertainment and by showing media executives and artists that family-friendly and even Christian-friendly movies do best at the box office year in and year out. Movieguide now offers an online subscription to its magazine version, at www.movieguide.org. The magazine, which comes out 25 times a year, contains many informative articles and reviews that help parents train their children to be media-wise consumers.