Left Behind II: Tribulation Force (2002)

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

What begins as a feel-good-human-interest story turns into a mystery, then a tragedy, and ultimately an outrage.

Some people suggest that it is not our place to criticise Christian films, and while a film about the end times may be interesting, I think we can get to the point where we dwell so much on them that we fail to see the bigger picture. The book, written by so called End Times expert Tim Lehaye, is simply a piece of speculative fiction that would be entertaining if not for the scary fact that some people believe that these stories are true. Look, Christ actually warned us against attempting to predict the end times, even with vague ideas by suggesting that because something is happening then Christ must be coming soon. Well, the bible pretty much says that Christ has been coming soon ever since he ascended into heaven. Also, I am sure that the ancient Christians thought that the end of the world was upon them when Rome was sacked, and that the tribulation had began, yet 1500 years has now come and gone since that happened.This movie is a little better than the first one though because at least it does give an outline of who Christ is and what he done, despite the fact that it still seems very contrived and forced. Okay, saying that somebody is in heaven is all well and good, and to some of that saying things like that is fine, but when we notice that theologically nobody actually goes to heaven, but rather inherits a place on the restored Earth then it can also come across as a little cheesy. Even then, some of the conversions are quite stomach turning (and this is all this movie seems to be, people becoming Christians), particularly with the guy named Chris (where did he come from). We have Ray sitting in his room telling Chris that he has a choice to either accept or reject Jesus, yet it is quite clear that Ray isn't going anywhere until he gets the answer he wants.As for the character of Nicolae Carpathian, he was just pathetic. In fact the character, and especially the accent, were just plain annoying. It was not the uncomfortable cringe you get when you encounter a character you do not like, but rather that intense irritation you get when you are confronted with a character that is so shallow and pathetic that you simply cannot stand watching him, and almost want to run from the room whenever he appears. Also, as I have mentioned, I think it is also insulting to Eastern Europeans to suggest that the anti-Christ comes from Romania.Oh, and then there is the so called climax of the film. First of all there are two witnesses at the 'wailing wall' who are being cordoned off and silenced. As it turns out these guys are actually Moses and Elijah (though why Moses since he was not taken up to heaving in a fiery chariot, he simply dies), but I wonder if this guys can go around torching people with fiery breath, and that they have an important message to tell, then why do they let themselves be imprisoned at the wailing wall. The second part of the climax (and this appears in the book as well) is when this super hardcore Jewish Rabbi comes to the conclusion that Jesus is the Messiah. Look, stranger things have happened, but I did find this to be somewhat insulting.

I can appreciate that evangelical, rapture-focused Christians want their own entertainment, and that said entertainment probably won't have major-studio-level production resources to call upon. But this attempt to mix sermon and action-movie conventions panders so much to its audience--there are token minority characters, but the principals are thoroughly WASPy- -that genuine evangelical intent is hard to swallow. (Just check out the director's resume to see how deep his faith-based focus is.) Christians of other ethnicities, let alone nationalities, are pretty well ignored. The antichrist is a stereotypical evil Russian mogul, as in so many mainstream genre flicks of recent years. If Jesus is coming back, surely he won't be so exclusively concerned with middle-class U.S. whites. (This even extends to soldiers protecting the Wailing Wall under orders--our heroes' angelic protectors fry the poor guys via fireballs radiating from their eyes. So, God views them as sinners?) This movie (among others like it) preaches to the target audience by suggesting the people who will primarily be saved--and are most worthy of God's direct interventions in End Times--are those just like "us." Meaning just like the film's mostly Caucasian, mostly Heartland consumers. This earnest yet cheesy middle-chapter in the "Left Behind" saga ends on a wimpy note that practically requires follow-up. As indeed it got.

Enjoyed the first film,"Left Behind", and found this film contained fantastic scenes of the Crying Wall, and a Rabbi who declares that Jesus Christ is the Lord. There is even a portrayal of the Anti-Christ himself who plans on taking over the world and a TV reporter who is determined to stop him in his tracks. The excellent cast of Christians once again tells the Story of a portion of the Book of Revelations, the last book in the New Testament. Many of the people lost their loved ones, and different people have various sides to the story they want to tell. This film clearly says that if you have Faith in God and Jesus you will never be alone and by His Grace, you will be saved from Eternal Judgement. Amen

I'm amazed that someone would be so naive as to think that a movie trying to present the good news of the gospel to a world that is already saturated with the polluted wells of mass profanity, immorality and violence for violence's sake would criticize a film for NOT having these features in it.In case the reviewer is interested, the Bible presents many accounts of people who sinned for our learning and instruction so that we wouldn't repeat the same errors without giving pornographic or explicit depictions that do more to encourage people to seek drinks from polluted wells of ignorance than direct them to the water of life, found only in Jesus Christ, who stated that once a person truly drank of the water of eternal life He gives will never thirst again.I agree that not all the acting in these films is "A list Hollywood acting". Much of what is in Oscar winning movies these days is not "A list Hollywood acting" either.People are entitled to their opinion that perhaps these filmmakers are relying too much on the message and not on the acting. I think many films rely too much on filthy language, big effects, and sensuality with much less plot and storyline than is shown in the "Left Behind" movies.So if you want more raunchy supposedly 'realistic' language and sin depicted, there are plenty of other movies out there to choose from. There is less and less originality in film today and more and more depending on moving the emotions or visceral than on reaching the mind of someone.I also wish the movies had stuck more to the original story. The same as I wished that the Lord of the Rings stuck more to the story and Oscar winners such as Chariots of Fire and Ghandi which also deviated from the stories. None of John Gresham's novels transferred to film stick to the story either. (Runaway Jury changed cigarette industry into the gun industry for example).Show me a film that is entirely sticking to the story and I'll show you an author that wrote a screenplay and not a book. :-) They are two different mediums and very rarely is the screenplay also written by the book's author.I rated this highly for what it attempted to do. I think the first part did not do very well in the first half and improved in the second half. This movie wasn't perfectly even either, but it did attempt to get a message that was in the book out in a way that was entertaining. Apparently even to those who thought it was funny.For the one that found it funny: did you equally laugh and find funny Tom Hanks in "Castaway" for performing the longest known commercial for FedEx in it's history? How about "Million Dollar Baby" for it's showing a 32 year old woman who can't box a lick and then supposedly becomes a one round wonder only to be taken out by a dirty boxer and left as a vegetable who no longer has an ounce of fight in her? She has the guts to tell her no good family to take a flying leap and then has no guts to live? These were hit movies, perhaps with better acting, but equally funny because the message outshone any script or plot and many people came away with the impression of "That Fed Ex movie" or "that Right to Die" flick. I guess these "Left Behind" films aren't alone in being funny or having script and other errors that for some can overwhelm the message, eh?