Release Date: January 6, 2015
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 110 minutes
After millions of people around the globe disappear in the Biblically prophesied rapture, Ray must fight to protect the passengers that remain on his flight. Trapped at 30,000 feet, he must find a way to safely land the damaged plane and comprehend the chaos that awaits as the most devastating event in history unfolds.
It’s been fourteen years since the release of Left Behind: The Movie starring Kirk Cameron which I absolutely loved. The only reason why I was excited about this version starring Nicolas Cage was because I was looking forward to what would be done with a bigger Hollywood budget. I was also intrigued by Hollywood’s recent fascination and coverage for Christian stories so I was very interested in seeing how they would cover this.
Well. As far as the budget goes, the stunts were indeed very exciting to see. The cinematography was great. Seeing certain members of the cast also brought a smile to my face. Cassi Thomson and Lea Thompson who both star in ABC Family’s Switched at Birth played mother and daughter in this film and that was weird at first to see but also very engaging as I hung onto every word and movement in this new dynamic.
But other than that, there wasn’t a whole lot here to love. I wasn’t a huge fan of the directing. The script was good but it could have been better. The event of the rapture itself is thrilling but the before and immediate aftermath were not all that thrilling on the screen here. The sense of immediate danger and loss felt muddled to me. I also think the character of Chloe Steele was perfect but maybe there was so much focus on her that it didn’t give the right amount of time to flesh out every single character to the best of their ability. Ray, Hattie, and Buck were fairly fleshed out but Chloe definitely was the most compelling.
Speaking of Chloe and Ray, it was disappointing to see that this film only focused on the Steele family. There is SO much more to this story. While I totally appreciate this movie focusing on the rapture and its immediate aftermath, literally the movie was split up into Act 1: Character Development and Act 2: Rapture. This might have actually been okay had the movie not been so centered on two people and really embraced the ensemble storytelling and grabbed ahold of as much intensity as possible.
Knowing what comes ahead in the book series and then watching two hours of what could be whittled down to a few chapters was kind of boring. It left me wanting more because I know what comes next not because the movie itself compelled me to want more. I think the movie missed a huge opportunity to tackle what wasn’t tackled before in the original film which is taking stories from the Left Behind kids book series which follows a number of teenagers. Not a single teen character from that book was translated to film. Again, no ensemble storytelling here.
All of that said, the messages about family and love and faith and commitment did shine through. I don’t think the actual explaining of the rapture was as well relayed as it could have been. It didn’t really dive deep into the why nor was the tribulation mentioned. I understand the need not to make this movie message heavy since it is a Hollywood film but not giving enough time to explain the whole point of the movie, the rapture was bizarre. I hope this film is thought provoking enough for those not familiar with the rapture and tribulation to look into the book series and the bible. For me, I appreciate the effort but will stick with re-watching the original movie over and over again. Kudos to Nicolas Cage for taking on this role. I love his choice in movies and this is no different. Bottom line, Left Behind is good but not great so I wouldn’t take the time out to watch this but if you find yourself with two free hours, maybe pop this one in the player.
Cast and Crew Interviews (31 minutes) – This comes with the option to play all or individually. There are eight cast and crew interviews with Nicolas Cage, Chad Michael Murray, Cassi Thomson, Nicky Whelan, Jordin Sparks, Alec Rayme, Paul LaLonde, and Vic Armstrong. If you watch the Behind the Scenes Featurette, I would say skip the cast interviews because enough snippets of these interviews are edited into that feature that you don’t need to watch both.
Behind the Scenes Featurette (20 minutes) – If you watched the cast interviews, there’s a bit of overlap with those interviews here but I’d say even knowing that, this is still worth checking out for the behind the scenes footage and extended interview coverage.
Appearing in this Feature:
Authors, Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins
Screenwriter, Paul LaLonde
Cast, Nicolas Cage, Cassi Thomson, Han Soto, Jordin Sparks, Alec Rayme
Director of Photography, Jack Green
Special Effects Supervisor, Matthew T. Lynn
Behind the Scenes Slideshow (3 minutes) – This behind the scenes slideshow is not interactive (Thank God! I hate interactive slideshows.) and is a mix of beautiful stills and behind the scenes shots.
Author’s Reflections (6 minutes) – It was great hearing from Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins though if you’re looking to hear what they think of this film, that’s not in this feature.
Own Left Behind on Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow.