Left Behind II: Tribulation Force

This movie fails on a number of levels. As it can be viewed on strictly religious terms or as an action thriller, I will address both.

First, let's just talk about it terms of an thriller film. It fails in this regard because it simply makes no sense. People don't act in any sort of real manner. It's simply not how people would act if this were a real situation of millions of people vanishing. You would think the Bible is some book that was only known to the people who vanished and no one else. Everyone else seems to be completely in the dark and don't even make the connection this might be the "Rapture," yet, millions of Christians vanish overnight as Christians have been saying they will. I don't know about you, but if that happens in real life, me and most of the planet would be rushing to Church the next morning. It seems implausible no one would. Also, everyone goes about their business as if some mugging happened in the neighborhood. The most ridiculous thing is that most people accept the disappearance as some sort of nuclear radiation when that is the most insane excuse that could be even offered. This film is incredibly outdated, a complete fabrication of how and what the U.N. is and how it works. Acting and dialogue are unintentionally hilarious, setting off streams and fits of laughter. In one Church scene, there is a bulletin board and six pictures of people on it with the caption, "OUR MISSING" A Church and there is only six missing people? How funny is that? What was it, The Church of Satan? There's no surprises and no tension, especially among the people who are not saved and whom you know will be calling out for Jesus by the end of the picture. There's a lot of talk about the "Wailing Wall," yet what is supposed to be the wailing wall, I guess, looks nothing like the real "wailing wall," as if producers have no clue about the "wailing wall" or don't think it's important enough to make a reasonable close simulation of it. The whole movie treats it's audience as simple-minded, uneducated couch potatoes.

Seeing this as a religious film, it is incredibly insulting. This lies the main offense. It's not powerful enough to convert anyone and not realistic enough to make anyone want to know more. It's most heinous crime, though, is how it uses the Jews. If the Jews made a big-budget multi-million dollar film and a huge media campaign about how the Pope came to his senses and announces to the world how he has come to the conclusion that Jesus Christ was not GOD after all and everyone should know that and see the truth, there would be an UPROAR in the Christian community. But they seem to have no problem committing that perfidious insult onto the Jews. Rabbi Ben Judah, the most learned and respected scholar in the world, announces to the planet that Jesus Christ is indeed God and he has been wrong and now knows the truth. This is terrible, terrible injustice to the Jewish faith. Besides the fact that it is simply ludicrous to think that a Rabbi could sit on a podium in Israel and the entire world of different religions is going to sit back and take his word for it just because he thinks so and these other religions be converted (What planet is this film on? Certainly not Earth), but to put words like that in the mouth of the head of another religion and have them say how wrong they were, well, it's just hateful and disrespectful, that's all. It's also disturbing that the whole conspiracy of trying to take over the world comes from INTERNATIONAL BANKERS, which has always been another word for Jews when it is in this context. It's just another example of the total disregard for the integrity of the Jews. It feigns respect for them while denigrating their beliefs. Coupled with a preposterous plot and representation, this film fails as both an action thriller and as a religious film.

This was a good movie as it takes us further into the teachings of Revelations and what is to come. We see the Tribulation Force coming together and working to defy the Anti-Christ. Also, Buck and Chloe getting together is nice and in the books, they wind up staying together. I look forward to the 3rd movie in this series as it is also a good tool in making others aware of what is to come after these last days. Great movie!

I felt the first Left Behind film was such a corny lark (if people leave behind dentures and hip replacements, does that mean they also leave behind breast implants when they get Raptured?) that I had to see what Kirk Cameron and crew were up to for their second turn at bat.

I will state this as clearly as possible - nothing happens in this film, absolutely 100% nothing. There's no progression, no forward momentum, nothing. The only thing you could classify as character development is the believers patronizingly preaching to the uninformed. Does anyone want to get their religion from the kid from Growing Pains? The plot consists of our four left behind-ers forming a group (Tribulation force, unite!) that wants to warn the world that the leader of the UN is the, wait for it, Antichrist. This plan goes nowhere. Two of the Tribulation force members contribute nothing to the cause except wistful praying.

The crux of the film is on a learned Rabbi who is to reveal to the whole wide world that Jesus is actually the Messiah. In what universe would a single Rabbi saying something about religion have the world's eyes and ears? And why would everyone systematically accept one man's words as the divine truth? If this was the case couldn't we end this boring movie with Cameron yelling, "I loves me the Jesus" and be done with it? I enjoy the Rabbi's slow reveal in his speech. He starts talking about how he's proven who the Messiah is (though we see nothing of his findings) and says it's a man who was born in Bethlehem and betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. Then he says it's Jesus. And the audience literally gasps. This whole plot device couldn't be any more insulting.

Overall Left Behind 2 is far worse than the original film, and that is something of an accomplishment of itself. I challenge you to stay awake and interested into what's going on, because there may be more nothing going on in this film than in the entire history of cinema. Cameron is the best the world of journalism has to offer? And anyone else notice that if you're not Western European in ethnicity you're either evil or dead wrong with your religious beliefs. Take that 4/5 of the world!

There are so many laugh-out-loud moments (like the explanation for millions instantaneously vanishing as "nuclear radiation," are we in 1955 all over again?) but the largest drawback of Left Behind 2 is how horrifically boring it is. The Omega Codes were equally atrocious but campy and slightly entertaining in an I-Can't-Believe-People-Spent-Money-On-This kind of way. Left Behind 2 on the other hand has no sense of humor and no sense of style, let alone competent pacing, directing, and acting. I know sixth graders that could blow the socks off these Left Behind thespians.

I can think of no possible reason anyone should every view this film at any time. I have never been more bored, and I fell asleep during The Thin Red Line three separate times when I saw it in theaters. The only reason you would recommend this film is if you wanted that person to die of boredom.

For my money, the DVD menu screen is the funniest and most entertaining part of the film.

After millions of people all over the earth mysteriously disappear, the world turns to a charismatic man to lead them, the new president of the U.N. (Gordon Currie). A small band of believers in Chicago recognize him as the Antichrist and work together as the "Tribulation Force" to save as many as they can. The group includes a renowned reporter (Kirk Cameron), a formidable pilot (Brad Johnson), his daughter (Janaya Stephens) and the pastor of their assembly (Clarence Gilyard Jr.).

Released in 2002, "Left Behind II: Tribulation Force" is the follow-up to "Left Behind" (2000) with the same cast, which was remade in 2014 with a bigger budget and truncated plot.

The story is based on prophetic accounts of end-time events from the Bible, e.g. the "Rapture" based on scriptures like 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and Luke 17:24,34-35. Of course the Left Behind series is a fictional story and you don't have to believe in the Bible whatsoever to enjoy the movie for what it is, a "What if the Rapture really happened" mystery/drama/thriller. I don't believe in powerful androids that time-travel from the future, but that doesn't prevent me from enjoying the Terminator flicks.

This sequel cost a little less than the 2000 film ($3.8 million) and is less busy story-wise. It has the confidence to take its time with convincing acting in challenging roles. I read the book and wondered how it could be made into a compelling movie because it's more dramatic than the first one; in other words, there's far less thrills until the last act, not to mention a considerable romantic subplot. The screenwriters did a great job of cutting out the fat and strategically adding some well-done evangelical bits, which aren't overdone. The apocalyptic ending of the book was obviously omitted because it would've added 20-30 minutes to the runtime and would've cost significantly more. The filmmakers did a good job of finding the right place to close.

Being shot in Toronto, I was wondering how they would pull off the Jerusalem sequences at the end, but they did a splendid job with the studio sets, particularly considering this is a low-budget flick.

The film runs 1 hour, 34 minutes. ADDITIONAL CAST includes Krista Bridges as the journalist's assistant and Chelsea Noble (Cameron's wife) as a flight attendant working for the Antichrist.

GRADE: B

It is interesting to approach a dogmatic movie w/out allowing my own personal values system to intrude on my aesthetic judgement - and it was in this spirit of adventure that I decided to watch this appalling excuse for a TV movie.

It is ironic, but I find that - for some reason - many of these flawed attempts at grand Christian filmmaking have much in common with their cinematic-theological antithesis : the seventies cycle of cheap, rip-off Satanic Posession movies. Primarily, derivative pulp thriller scripts with religion awkwardly shoehorned in, poor production values, hollow rhetoric, Soap Opera standard actors and absolutely no love of the medium whatsoever.

It is strange that this cycle of films has now created a cliche so strong that christian filmmaking now has such a bad reputation amongst moviegoers (whatever their religion), that the genre is a byword for pictures to avoid. This should not necessarily be the case - look at the big budget biblical epics of the 50s and 60s or the thoughtful (and occassionally chilling) deconstruction of fundamentalism in Bill Paxtons "Frailty".

Nevertherless - this movie is possibly one of the worst films ever made, right up (down) there with "24 Hours in London" & "Camp Blood" (the latter I only saw by accident - honest). Perhaps I'm being a little bit harsh, but you've got to be cruel to be kind and I think its time for this cycle of movies to be put to sleep.