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How A Year Without Superhero Films Rebooted Our Universe
Articles | Jason Joyner, Jan 28, 2021

New Book ‘Reading Evangelicals’ Will Focus on Famous Christian Fiction
News | E. Stephen Burnett, Jan 27, 2021

Introducing Superhero Novelist and New Lorehaven Writer Jason C. Joyner
News | Lorehaven, Jan 27, 2021

Militant Secularism Could Force Christians to Create New Subcultures
Articles | Mike Duran, Jan 25, 2021

‘One Piece’ Manga Reaches Chapter 1000: How Did This Pirate Become King?
Articles | L. Jagi Lamplighter, Jan 20, 2021

To Shape a Story is to Shape a Soul
Articles | L.G. McCary, Jan 18, 2021

Author Ted Turnau Finds The Hidden Grace of Pixar’s ‘Soul’
News | E. Stephen Burnett, Jan 15, 2021

Introducing Thriller Novelist and New Lorehaven Writer L. G. McCary
News | Lorehaven, Jan 15, 2021

Join Our Jan. 21 Livestream: How Can We ‘Terraform’ the Church to Enjoy Fantastic Fiction?
News | Lorehaven, Jan 14, 2021

How Political Punditry Has Taken Over Christian Popular Subcultures
Articles | E. Stephen Burnett, Jan 14, 2021

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The Terran Summit, Anna Zogg
The Xerxes Factor, Anna Zogg
The Paradise Protocol, Anna Zogg
The Awakened, Richard Spillman
The Ascension, Richard Spillman
Love's Sacrifice, Kelsey Norman
Unbroken Spirit, Kelsey Norman
Seed: Judgment, Joshua David
The Rooster and the Raven King, John Paul Tucker
Brimstone 1, Jasom William Karpf
The Horse Queen, Lavay Byrd
King of Aethon, Lavay Byrd
Tales of Elhaanai, Nicole Thomas
Still Small Voice, Allen Brokken
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Flight of the Raven
“Exciting twists make Morgan L. Busse’s Flight of the Raven, book 2 of the Ravenwood Saga, a very enjoyable read.” —Lorehaven

The Eternal Struggle
“Esther Wallace’s novel The Eternal Struggle forms a dark sequel that brings hero and heroine into close fellowship with loss and brutality.” —Lorehaven

Dark is the Night
“Mirriam Neal’s vampire novel Dark is the Night keeps the punches and the fangs rolling.” —Lorehaven

Blood and Bond
“This book is brilliant and engaging, expanding on the series’ world and characters while building its own plot.” —Lorehaven

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49. How Can We ‘Terraform’ the Church to Enjoy Fantastic Fiction?
Fantastical Truth, Jan 26, 2021

48. What Were the Top Seven Issues for Lorehaven Readers in 2020?
Fantastical Truth, Jan 19, 2021

47. Why Do Some People Long for Escape to a Galactic Community?
Fantastical Truth, Jan 12, 2021

46. Ten Years Later, Why Did ‘Dawn Treader’ Sink the Narnia Movies? | with Rilian of NarniaWeb
Fantastical Truth, Dec 22, 2020

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Stargate SG-1 Update: Christianity in the Episode “Demons”
Travis Perry, Jan 28

What Tolkien Taught About Fighting Evil
Travis Perry, Jan 21

The Messages of Black Horror Films
Parker J. Cole, Jan 20

The Worldview of Biocentrism–You Are One With The Force
Travis Perry, Jan 14

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Does ‘Engaging Popular Culture’ Include Right-Wing Talk Radio?
E. Stephen Burnett, Oct 9

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E. Stephen Burnett, Oct 6

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‘Left Behind’ Comes To Netflix

“Left Behind” is a disaster, but not for reasons you may think. Now you can see for yourself.
E. Stephen Burnett | May 6, 2015 | 5 comments |
"1.3 stars" is an egregious overestimate of my response.

“1.3 stars” is an egregious overestimate of my response.

Left Behind1 is now available to stream on Netflix.

Three brief observations:

First, several reviewers are trying to defend it with phrases such as “not nearly as bad as the reviews would have you believe.”

Second, NIcolas Cage is one of the best parts of the film. However, Cage and Chad Michael Murray (last seen helping own the Marvel miniseries Agent Carter) escape the cinematic apocalypse but only as if through fire.

Third, the movie is not bad just because it’s based on what many critics argue are poorly written books (that’s another issue) or poorly made end-times theology (also another issue). The movie is worse because it cannot even begin to approach the potential apocalyptic awesomeness that the infamously 12-volume Left Behind series (flaws and all) was always building toward.

Even if you see or support the Evangelical Cinematic Universe only to “use” the products “for evangelism,” Left Behind fails.

After seeing the film I concluded this at Christ and Pop Culture:

Any adaptation of the novels could have been sincere about the series’ evangelical themes and its chosen genre, an accessible potboiler thriller. But the Left Behind movie had another aim: to sell itself. And not even as a movie, but as rapture-insurance. To this end, the film forsook the novel’s plot and characters, rejected actual evangelism and any inspired vision of storytelling as mimicking God’s creative act, and sold its own soul for a bowl of cinematic pottage.

The book’s opening alludes to wars and rumors of wars, indicating a world ready for the end times. The movie bizarrely skips all that, showing instead a sweet little world in which even a Christianity-hating big sister takes her kid brother to a mall. So why does God bust in to ruin everything with the rapture? Only after this event do people actually start screaming and looting. Movie-Left Behind asks me to believe this nice world actually exists while also believing that this world is overdue for apocalypse.2

If you dare, head over to Netflix, start up Left Behind and possibly fashion the rules for a new drinking game. But don’t forget to weep first for the missed opportunity — and not just a missed Evangelism Opportunity™.

Meanwhile, I won’t shut up on SpecFaith about Left Behind. Explore more with the series Twelve Reasons Why the ‘Left Behind’ Series is Actually Awesome. Or consider a compare/contrast between Left Behind novels and its bestseller-list competitor the Harry Potter series in The Magical Worlds of ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Left Behind’. On CAPC I also looked back on my ‘Left Behind’ series experiences — pre-, mid-, and post-fandom.

  1. (2014), that is, the remake and not The One with Kirk Cameron. ↩
  2. The Left Behind I Wish I’d Seen, E. Stephen Burnett at Christ and Pop Culture, Oct. 9, 2014. ↩
E. Stephen Burnett

E. Stephen Burnett creates sci-fi and fantasy as well as nonfiction, such as The Pop Culture Parent: Helping Kids Engage Their World for Christ (coauthored with Ted Turnau and Jared Moore, from New Growth Press). Stephen explores biblical truth and fantastic stories as publisher of Lorehaven.com and cohost of the Fantastical Truth podcast. He and his wife, Lacy, live in the Austin area, help with foster parenting, and serve as members of Southern Hills Baptist Church.

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  1. David James says:
    May 6, 2015 at 10:01 am

    Completely agree with you E. Stephen on all points!

    I had not gone to the theater for this, and really wasn’t planning on watching it. When it came up on my TV when I was scrolling through the new stuff on Netflix I decided since I wasn’t doing anything else that particular night, and since I didn’t have to pay an extra penny for it, I’d see what they came up with.

    The things they got right were the things the previous film version was lacking on. Unfortunately, they then threw out everything the previous version had right.

    I said to myself, “so Chloe’s going to save the day” when they got off the phone at that one point near the end. Little did I realize just how true that was going to be and how God-awful it played out.

    This movie is not helping the impression people have about Christian movies. Indeed, I think it’s made it quite worse, and in a direction one would not have even thought a Christian movie could have done.

    Hated this movie.

    Reply
  2. dmdutcher says:
    May 6, 2015 at 11:11 am

    Well, to be fair and argue against point 3, the total budget for the movie was sixteen million. A disaster movie like 2012 cost 200 million five years ago. There are some movies done on that budget or less, like Skyline or Night Watch, but they tend to be more intimate disaster movies.

    What’s sort of odd now that I think of it…did anyone see The Remaning? The found-footage rapture film?

    Reply
    • E. Stephen Burnett says:
      May 6, 2015 at 11:22 am

      I appreciate the optimism — believe me, I tried it myself above and beyond what many Left Behind series critics would expect — but in this case the “special effects” were passable for what they were trying to do. Character development and even C-grade passing dialogue are much less expensive. And that was just awful all over.

      Reply
      • dmdutcher says:
        May 6, 2015 at 12:31 pm

        Yeah, I figured. I think something like A Thief in the Night works, because even with it’s flaws it can evoke a camp sensibility. But a lot of rapture films are bad enough where they can’t even do that. Shades of Syfy original movies.

        Reply
  3. Lisa says:
    May 8, 2015 at 5:12 pm

    I have to say I’m not really interested in watching the movie. I really didn’t like the book (s)…I got half way through book one and I just couldn’t go on. So, although I was interested to see how “Hollywood” was going to make this movie, I think I will skip it. Thanks for the heads up!  🙂

    Reply

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