Blu-ray Review – Left Behind (2014)
Once in a while a film comes along that begs the simple and short question: “Why?” One of those rare films is Left Behind, starring the one-time Oscar winner Nicolas Cage. It’s based on the Christian-right Left Behind series of books. Stuntman Vic Armstrong helms the picture, and that kind of says it all.
Millions of people start disappearing, and the end times are near. There are a small group of survivors, including Cage and his daughter. The world is naturally plunged into chaos, but due to budget restraints that vision is never fully realised on screen, even though this film cost $16,000,000 to make! Despite promises of a full-fledged Rapture throughout the film, Armstrong never fulfils that promise, which could have been the film’s saving grace.
The film, however, is never boring… simply because from the moment it starts to the moment the pain ends, you are truly stunned that a film this bad exists. It is a laugh riot for most of its 110-minute running time, because the editing, the cinematography, the effects, the storytelling and of course the acting are amateurish to a point of making you feel sorry for everyone involved. The fact that somebody thought remaking Left Behind (yes, there was a earlier version) as a big-budget feature with Nicolas Cage is simply gobsmacking. Cage must really have serious issues with his taxes or debts to have signed on to this turkey.
The film quite stunningly got released theatrically in the United States and made almost $20,000,000, which is depressing considering all the great films that made next to nothing over the pond last year. However, it has only been released direct to DVD over here. It may have some interest to Cage fanatics who revel in his over-the-top performances, but it’s actually sad to watch him in dreck like this when he did Joe this past year and proved yet again how good he can be—after all, he won an Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas.
Worth seeing only to remind you how abysmal a film really can be.
0.5/5 Stars
Ian Schultz
Genre: Sci-fi, Thriller Distributor: 101 Films BD/DVD Release Date: 5th January 2015 (UK) Rating:15 Director:Vic Armstrong Cast: Nicholas Cage, Chad Michael Murray, Lea Thompson, Cassi Thomson Buy:Left Behind [Blu-ray]
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