"The "Left Behind" series of books had the is very popular yet the movies suck because the storyline doesn't flow smoothly and the acting is 2nd rate at best. The books talk often about prayers and the individuals' spiritual transformations to Christianity, yet the movie seems to be afraid of being "too churchy" and edits them out.
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You're right. I've read the entire series and have viewes all the films so far. I thought the books were a bit wooden. They didn't live up to my expectations for novels, but I read them anyhow. The movies, on the other hand, were just execrable. Virtually unwatchable, and not because I'm an atheist. I have a very broad range in film-watching. Sad.
A "bit" wooden is putting it nicely, in reference to the writing of the Left Behind series. When I found myself *still* rooting for the antichrist in book three, I thought that perhaps I hadn't emotionally connected with the main characters, and perhaps I'd best stop reading.
Quite a few movies are being made in the Intermountain West (Utah, Idaho, etc) lately, with limited theater release in the area, and good DVD sales after... as digital technology gets even better, expect to see more and better movies from a Christian perspective.
But as another poster said, it's going to take time.
Time, and some heavy-duty editing. I really adore good books, and generally, when I see "Christian fiction" as the category, I can count on it being fairly trite, some really bad dialogue, terrible plot sequencing--if it was a great book, it could make a great movie. Mediocre books make for blah movies, though.
I don't want to see a sermon--but I do want a good movie, and if it happens to have some prayer, or spiritual stuff, then that's great!