Left Behind: World at War (2005)

Too much of everything

Overrated

As Good As It Gets

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Left Behind: World at War is a Christian apocalyptic/thriller and the third film that was based on the Left Behind book series particularly the novel entitled Tribulation Force.It stars Kirk Cameron,Louis Gossett Jr.,Gordon Currie and Brad Johnson.In it,the countdown to Armageddon continues as the world leader Nicolae Carpathia brings peace to the world.U.S. President Gerald Fitzhugh ensures his country will not stand in the way of the historical peace pact.But when the President almost got assassinated,he realizes that Carpathia have other things in mind.With the future of world uncertain,President Fitzhugh decided to seek the help of investigative reporter Buck Williams' Tribulation Force to dethrone Carpathia before the what is written in the of the Book of Revelation becomes a reality.The film was definitely filled with nothing but cheese and silliness particularly the story involving the President of the United States being able to stop Satan's plans for the world and being able to stop Rapture and the predictions of the Book Of Revelations to finally come into fruition. It is more of a action/science fiction thriller rather than a Christian film.But nevertheless,it had did have some moments in it.

This religious-propaganda series have never hid from what they were trying to be. Constant praying and Christian values play a central role in these movies but is that all really that fitting and interesting to watch when the entire world is going to hell in this movie. I wanted to see global chaos and panic but none of that ever happens, cause everything is going to be alright when you put your faith in God's hands. At least that has always been the message these movies were trying to send out.It was not all that bad to watch though. Luckily they had a decent budget to spend, which can be seen in the movie its look and some of its action and effects. It makes the movie a bit more credible to watch than its predecessors.It still is an odd thing what an incredible big leap with its story this movie suddenly makes from its last movie entry. Supposedly 8 books or so were simply skipped to come to this finale to the series. Probably because they knew that there was going to be no way that they could film all of the books out of the series, most likely due to budgeting reasons. Somehow I think this movies never really have been very profitable ones to make. It makes it all the more disappointing that the climax of this movie really isn't very satisfying. Seriously, what did even happen at the end? When you have an open ending you should at least provide some more information at what could be happening afterward.The movie tries to be fast and spectacular to watch but it has far too many slow and dull moments in it for that. Out all of the Left Behind movies, this is the one in which the characters also work out less well, even though it has exactly the same characters and mostly the same actors portraying them. The Anti-Christ for instance gets far too less to do. This guy is supposed to be the biggest villain to have ever walked the Earth but he just sits around at his office pulling the strings, without really coming across as dangerously villainous.Not the best end imaginable to the series.5/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

After watching this movie, I felt an obligation to warn people of it's true nature. It is not an "Action/War/Thriller" genre movie as it is marked in several movie renting facilities. This is simply religious propaganda, Christian propaganda, in this case (driven to almost the point of fanatics). And a really bad one at that.Instead of following the footsteps of other religious films, giving people material to think about, facts about this or that religion, this movie basically has the characters in the middle of World War 3 (started by none other than the anti-Christ himself), praying.An unknown biological-weapon contagious disease at lose? No problem, let's walk among the infected and pray with them, we don't need biohazard suits or vaccines for the lord is with us... World War 3 just started, shall we proceed to the nearest bomb shelter or find a safe spot? Nay, let's hold hands and pray.This movie could possibly be enjoyed by the people who feel the need to have a capital letter every time they refer to a religious character such as He, His etc... (or you could end up offended by it as well)All others who are not interested in watching a bad Christian propaganda film should look elsewhere. The acting is nothing special, the special effects are pretty outdated (and are few and far between), the story is fantasy, where no one responds to the presented situations as a normal human being would. No distinct musical score, and looped sound effects (at the burning white house you hear the same helicopter pass 3 times).All this put together, it makes for one "hell" of a bad movie. Pardon the pun!

In a world of chaos, evil, anarchy, and war, a group of people united to form the Tribulation Force.That was a year and a half ago.Today, 18 months later, Bruce Barnes, Buck Williams, Rayford Steele, Chloe Steele, and newcomer Amanda White are underground tribulation saints fighting for their lives and for the Word of God.Left Behind: World At War begins on a completely different note than the others. President Fitzhugh is recording a log while in the White House as it is under attack.And a good note it starts out on. "Funny thing about a dream..." is the beginning of Fitzhugh's log. And it's a good one too. With this opening scene, you can tell the acting will finally be better, the film will have a much darker atmosphere, and there will be way more action than before.But will this darker atmosphere and more action make this movie any good? Well, in some cases, yes it's brilliant. But like the first two, it does manage to take you into areas you don't want it to go, and the scene falls apart.When does it do good? Suspense. Ms. Miller makes her way through a dim hall... someone's coming! RUN! In this case, it does a great job.When does it do bad? Fitzhugh is lifted up by the neck by an invisible force and thrown out the window... what the heck was that all about? Another major problem in the originals was acting. Brad Johnson has finally become better... not to say he doesn't have flaws; the flaws are nearly unnoticeable. Kirk Cameron is a little bit better- his two best scenes are when he's yelling at God and when Fitzhugh interrogates him. Janaya Stephens is the same... Chelsea Noble is good except for one stupid scene where she tries to seduce Rayford. Newcomer Amanda White does pretty good. Lou Gousset Jr. is brilliant, and is especially powerful when he becomes saved. Gordon Currie- he steals the show! Even in the one strange scene he's in, he keeps the scene from becoming a disaster. finally, we have the new Bruce Barnes. He's not half as good as the original, but he's not horrible.The budget of these films has gone up: special effects are present in much more parts, and the action is more present.But most important of all: the message of Jesus Christ. I hate to say, but it won't have any more impact than it did in its original films: as a matter of fact, the film focuses more on Fitzhugh defeating Nicolae than the tribulation saints in the past films. This time the tribulation saints don't try to save anyone except for Hattie or Fitzhugh...instead they mostly spend there time hiding or trying to save Chloe and Bruce from certain death.So there it is: better acting, less impacting messages, more action, some weird scenes, and a darker atmosphere. The Left Behind series has finally gone where it should go... let's just hope it doesn't mess up Left Behind III: Nicolae.