A Distant Thunder (1978) - Disappointing follow up to "A Thief in the Night".
One theological sort of issue I had was: If you get Left Behind what is the point of not getting the mark of the beast? Obviously you weren't Christian enough to be zapped into space so... what exactly are you proving by avoiding the Beast goons? It might make sense after a long lecture on it (please don't give me one), but it didn't in this movie.
I read your request to not give you a long lecture about this last night, resisted manfully for almost 24 hours, then I succumbed.
You're right, there's an apparent flaw in the logic of LEFT BEHIND and other similar Christian-lensed films about the Rapture (Tolkin's THE RAPTURE obv notwithstanding) but I think plebs like you and me just fail to get it 'cause we're not fundamentally devout enough. I suspect the entire point of LEFT BEHIND and the films you've been reviewing is not to invite the target audience to identify w/ the main characters, who are suffering in the aftermath of a Rapture - it's to allow the target audience
to feel superior to those characters and enjoy watching them flounder, suffer, et cetera while presumably (in the given film's diegetic reality) the sufficiently devout audience members live it up in Heaven. The point is not, I suspect, to watch flawed protagonists strive to evolve, improve themselves, and maybe escape an even worse fate... it's to gloat at fools who, having heretofore failed to make the right choice, now are screwed and will never manage to redeem themselves... for approximately 90 minutes. Y'know, the old "You'll all be sorry when it turns out I was right and you were wrong!" perspective that permeates many different religions as well as political factions and online sub-cultures....... they just want to celebrate how right they know they are and how wrong they know we are.
Why do I suspect this? I was raised Catholic and have remained a non-denominational Christian for my entire adult life (which means I believe in and pray to Jesus Christ but I think most organized religion is sketchy at best, toxic at worst). I cannot tell you how many times in my life (okay, I'll try - it's more than I can count on both hands) I've been approached by a stranger in public and they've asked me if I believe in Jesus Christ or if I've accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, et al. I always automatically and pleasantly answer "Yes", because, well, it's the truth. I don't think I've once been met with an "Oh, that's great, me too, God Bless and have a nice day!" Usually the response is something like, "Can I tell you about the Lord Jesus Christ?" or "Are you free tonight because I'd like you to come to my church so you can learn about the Lord Jesus Christ" or "Would you like to kneel down with me and I'll pray for you?" It's like they didn't even hear or process my affirmative response. These are people who literally cannot take "YES" for an answer! Best possible case scenario is that, after a few more exchanges, I manage to convince the person that I know Jesus and they don't need to worry about my salvation and can go off on their way and have a nice evening.
This is why I suspect the actual, practical conversion of non-believers is maybe not even a big priority. The performance of the overture to Save me isn't for me - I've told 'em right away that I'm perfectly okay w/ Jesus. I think the performance is purely for their own gratification. And likewise with LEFT BEHIND et al. It's fait accompli. It's pageantry. (The Mystery Play was the biggest and pretty much the only show in town (i.e. Europe) through most of the Dark Ages.) The outcome is never in question and is besides the point. They're just pattin' themselves on the back.
(Sorry for the lecture! Like the folks I just described, I too sometimes just like talking to hear myself talk.)
