The Late Great Planet Earth

THE LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH was a book that was like nothing before it. Using cold war era interpretation the book and film heralded the second coming of Christ Jesus and the rise of the Antichrist. The film and book were smash hits because they catered to fear. People scared of the imposition of a mark on the right hand or the forehead went to see this film and read the book only got even more afraid because there was nothing it seemed they could do to stop these events. The book and film use use scenarios featuring a clash between the united states and NATO vs. Russia and the Warsaw PACT. China also flex's her military muscle and the Arab nations attack Israel. This series of clashes leads up to Armageddon. This is great but the Warsaw pact is disbanded (as of this writing)and Russia is no longer the threat it once was since 1989-1990 with the reunification of Germany. Still Lindsy clings to his suspicion of Russia invading Israel when he speaks on TV and in print. Some weeks it's demons invading as alien grey like beings. The problem with Lindsey is he can't make up his mind. The film is not a bad film for collectors of Christian cinema but on a intellectual level be wary.

Orson Welles hosts and narrates this Christian docudrama, based on a popular book, about biblical prophecies and then current events that foreshadow the coming End Times. Obviously they jumped the gun on that last part as we're still here nearly forty years later. I generally enjoy stuff about prophecies and the apocalypse and all that jazz. That this has a religious bent doesn't bother me. It obviously triggers Certain Types. But then again the list of things those people are offended by grows every day. The dramatizations, filmed on location, are well done for this type of thing. Orson Welles had one of the great voices in movie history so having him be the narrator of this is a huge plus.

Nothing about this is going to convert you, hurt you, offend your deity of choice, or effect you in any way at all beyond the entertainment value you do or do not get out of watching it. It's just some speculation about the world ending thirty-eight years ago. It's fun and even silly at times, despite (or because of) its earnestness. The seventies was full of "the world is coming to an end" fear-mongering. This one takes the Biblical prophecy route but I've lost count of how many books, TV shows and movies back then claimed the world was in dire trouble and would be overpopulated and unlivable by the 1990s. That the air would be unbreathable, the oceans would be pure sludge, and the few brave souls who dared venture outside of their caves would be stung to death by hordes of killer bees. If nothing else maybe we should view movies like this whenever we get to thinking we're so special and our generation is going to finally be the last one. Because we're not and it isn't.

I can't say you'll like this movie. Maybe it'll send you into a white knuckle rage. If so, call up your local pharmacy and get a price check on chill pills. If, like me, you enjoy films like this or Chariots of the Gods and you aren't bothered by this being made by people with religious beliefs you may not share, then seek this out. It's entertaining if you go into it with the right frame of mind.

"The Late Great Planet Earth" is narrated by the late great Orson Welles. The film is a pseudo-documentary that purports to portray the events which lead to the rapture, as described in the book of Revelations, according to the deluded minds of evangelical Christian (kooks),Hal Lindsey and CC Carlson- who wrote a book of the same name.

The film blends documentary and stock footage, with interviews and fictional (well...biblical) re-enactments. The purpose of this loony Christian propaganda piece is basically to argue that the "prophecies" contained in the book of Revelations- discussing the lead up to the rapture- were being fulfilled by world events in the late 1970s.

The collection of people who participated in this film are, to say the least, odd- from Welles, to Noble Prize winners, to Physicists- a seriously weird array of characters, which might lead you to believe the whole project was actually undertaken as a joke. Cause if they were serious?...that's pretty sad.

5 out of 10.

The simplest way to tell if you'll enjoy this movie is to read the other reviews here and see the type of person drawn to comment on it.

That is if you can actually interpret(and stomach) the ramblings.

In reality, it sums up nicely the 'Age Of Aquarius' paranoia so rampant in the '70s, a decade where lifelong borderline personality disorders could be mistaken for immediate divine insight. And its this very outlook which dates it so badly.

If you keep an open mind, it can be amusing in a certain way. I saw it, for instance, shortly before the 1st Gulf War, and wondered how many people watching it on late night cable TV believed they had found the reason for, and ultimate outcome of, the approaching conflict.

But reality prevailed-it has a nasty habit of doing that..

Definitive proof that people will take meaning from just about anything. Even worse, proof that poor Orson sadly outlived his talent, reduced to shoddy documentaries like this to keep him in cigars.

Kane would Weep!

They may call this a documentary but what I call it is something Hal Lindsey dreamed up and decided to write down as a book about the future. What makes it funny is how he is using the Bible as prophecy about nowadays. To me it sounds crazy to be using a book that was written 1,900 years ago to describe today's events. It's like someone in the year 2860 using Karl Marx's theories to explain current events that are going on.

Seriously I do not doubt the world is coming to an end but it certainly won't be in the near future. Besides, Jesus implied to his disciples that world would end when some of them were still alive. That didn't happen, did it?