Left Behind: The Movie (2001)

In the Holy Bible, the Book of Revelations speaks of an event called "The Rapture," in which it is believed God will call those who have been saved to Heaven, while those who have not repented their sins will remain on Earth. Authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins have written a series of novels based upon the premise of how the Rapture would affect ordinary people in the modern world, and Left Behind is the first feature film to be adapted from their work. Rayford Steele (Brad Johnson) is an airline pilot whose relationship with his wife has gone sour; she responds by devoting more of her time and energy to the church, while he ponders having an affair with an attractive flight attendant, Hattie Durham (Chelsea Noble). In the midst of a flight to London, a number of their passengers mysteriously disappear, and chaos takes hold as a number of vehicles on the ground and in the air are suddenly unmanned. Meanwhile, Buck Williams (Kirk Cameron), a television journalist, is pondering the rash of sudden disappearances as he works on a report about Dr. Chaim Rosenzweig (Colin Fox), an Israeli scientist who has devised a formula that would make any soil on earth easy to cultivate. However, Cameron wonders if there's more to Rosenzweig than he first imagined when he discovers the doctor is in cahoots with two multi-millionaires who plan to broker the invention to promote their own agenda of international domination. Produced by Cloud Ten Productions, a Christian filmmaking concern, Left Behind was released with an unusual marketing strategy -- the film was made available on home video in October 2000, with a theatrical release scheduled to follow in February 2001.