Customer Reviews

Desecration: An Experience in Sound and Drama (Left Behind)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Well funny enough, my reviews of the left behind movies have been pretty harsh, BUT THIS audio series ROCKS. It is what story telling should be. They take great effort to preserve the essense of the book series. The characterization, writing, production is stellar. By far, the best audio drama EVER conceived. The only one that even comes close in my mind is the Star Wars series done back in the eighties and early nineties. This edition marks their 100 episode. CONGRATULATIONS TYNDALE AND GAP DIGITAL!!!!!

BUY THEM ALL, I mean it

I received a set of these audio drama CD for a gift--before I even read the books--and have been amazed at the depth of acting and staging. The drama is well directed, with vibrant sound effects and voicings that help you imagine exactly what's happening. Plus the story is so engaging, that you can't help but develop your own vivid imagery in your mind as you listen to this. I had no trouble following the story line even though I hadn't read the books.

The quality of the story line development far surpasses that of the movies because each book in the series has about 5 hours of audio (spread across 4 CDs) while the movie can only be about 2 hours long. Thus, with these audio dramas, you can delve further into character development without sacrificing the plot.

Because of time constraints of this format, and its purely dramatic nature (no narration, just acting), however, you don't get the logical introduction of new characters and plot twists that are interwoven in the book version. Thus, introduction of new characters can leave you puzzled, thinking, "who is this person and how did they get involved?". (Example: the introduction of David Hassid's character)

While the story keeps you riveted, the dynamic range is so wide that you have to keep adjusting the volume knob to accomodate the very quiet voicings and loud effects--there is no happy medium. Sometimes it's very loud, sometimes very quiet--all relevant to the storyline, of course. It's is not arbitrarily loud and quiet, just unevenly so.

Each title in the series contains 4 CDs with 3 episodes on each, although the episodes don't equate to those in the book. Plus some sequences of events are slightly different than in the books to allow for better drama and storyline continuity. (You can't have as much foreshadowing in the audio drama as you can in the book. Thus, the audio theater is much more direct in its plot progression.) Note also that each CD has one track per episode, so you'll have to use a CD player that will scan within a track if you need to rewind or fast forward through the episodes (such as replaying a dialogue you might have missed because it was whispered for dramatic effect).

In all, I would recommend that you listen to the audio drama BEFORE reading the series. Unlike a movie, which is a largely passive entertainment, this audio drama fully engages your mind. Then, when you read the book, you already have the voices introduced in your mind. This helps add vibrancy to the book experience and depth to the characters. When I read the books I was grateful for having heard them first because I found the written character dialogue did not provide enough detail to fully forge the characters' personalities. It was only through hearing their voices that I fully understood the characters' compelling or repelling natures.

Hurray for Gap Digital! They create an unbelievable sense of reality by using the theater of the imagination. Thus, using a fraction of a movie budget, they create a movie-of-the-mind.

If you get a little lost, or disappointed in the style of Jerry Jenkins' famous novels, then THIS is the drama to buy!

Fitting voices, awesome acting, super-cool music, incredible effects, and masterful sound all create the ultimate "experience in sound and drama" for Left Behind's 9th book.

By the way, when they say it's abridged, the audio team cuts some corners, but ONLY in the interest of the listener...I know the books, and I have all the audios, and they work together perfectly...if the audio does not indeed surpass the book.

Get this after you buy the other eight...and buy a good pair of headphones too!! You'll need 'em.

I have to say that Im not disappointed that I couldnt read the book format. The Experience in Sound and Drama format is Awesome! We are about to listen to the entire series again!!!! This will make the 3rd time! Love Love LOVE this format!

A great performance from actors involved. I will purchase other in series, great for long trips or cummutes to and from work.

I love the entire Left Behind book series. I started with the books and could not get enough. As I have an hour commute to and from work (2 hours total), something other than the radio was needed to help the time go by and give me a spiritual lift.

It is hard to pick my favorite series but I would rate Desecration in the top half of the series. Armageddon and Tribulation Force are my favorite two. Mostly because those are the first two I read, then I started over at the beginning.

The drama series is not EXACTLY as in the book. Some words are changed and added to give meaning to action across sound. But still worthy of adding to your collection.

Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins, and others in the Pre-Trib circle, such as Ed Hindson, Tommy Ice, Chuck Missler, etc., continue to put forth the same deceptions that Hal Lindsey popularized decades ago. The notion of a pre-tribulation rapture is foreign to scripture, it is foreign to the teachings of the early Church, and it is grooming the Church for destruction through ignorance and lack of preparation for what is really coming. These men are novices and not prophecy "experts" or "scholars" by any stretch of the imagination; they are those who tickle the ears of gullible Christians. Why continue to be deceived? Tim Cohen, in his excellent book, "The AntiChrist and a Cup of Tea," provides biblically sound and testable evidence to show that the coming AntiChrist is known NOW. Not only that, the same author (Tim Cohen) has now put out the strongest presentation on the whole issue of the rapture EVER offered to the saints of God in Christ: "The REAL Rapture". If you really want to know the truth about the timing of the coming rapture, then you need to hear Tim Cohen's "The REAL Rapture" (based on a volume in his forthcoming "Messiah, History, and the Tribulation Period" series (see Prophecy House's site for details on these items, which are also available via Amazon).