Defictionalization: The CellSol emergency network now exists as a not-for-profit open design at http://f3.to/cellsol/ and specifically references Left Behind as an inspiration.
Falsely Advertised Accuracy: The authors go to great lengths to assert that these books are accurate predictions of things that will happen once the rapture hits according to a strict interpretation of The Bible. However, the series' interpretation of the Bible is only shared by a very small segment of Christian denominations.
Technology Marches On: You can tell how old the earlier books are by their lack of cell phones and their ilk. The updated version of the series updates the technology to later standards: VCRs become DVD players, CD players become iPods, cassette recorders become MP3 recorders, etc.
Word of Dante: The fan community has somehow decided that Cendrillon Jospin of Kingdom Come is a space geek.
California Doubling: Toronto as New York for the 2000 movie. If you look closely, the international flags displayed at the UN are actually those of Canadian provinces. Also, the scenes in Israel were shot in a quarry in Ontario.
Creator Backlash: Original series' authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins were far from happy with the finished product, as it had been originally pitched to them as a big-budget, mainstream blockbuster described as "the biggest and most ambitious Christian film ever made", rather than the low-budget, direct-to-video adaptation it became. LaHaye even went so far to sue the production company, and was quoted as saying; "My dream has always been to enter the movie theatre with a first-class, high quality that is grippingly interesting, but that is also true to Biblical storyline, and that was diluted."
Dawson Casting: In the first Left Behind film (which came out in 2000), Chelsea Noble was in her mid-thirties, playing 27-year-old Hattie Durham. Janaya Stephens was 27-years-old at the time, playing 20-year-old Chloe Steele. Gordon Currie was also in his mid-thirties at the time, playing 33-year-old Nicolae Carpathia.
Disowned Adaptation: Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, the authors of the Left Behind series, hated the adaptations by Cloud Ten Pictures, calling them "church basement movies" and going so far as to sue the studio (and win) over it. As a result, their names are not listed in the opening credits of the first film, even though it still lists the novel as the source material. This is a big part of the reason why the film series was rebooted.
The Other Darrin: In the first two movies, Bruce Barnes was played by Clarence Gilyard, Jr., before being replaced by Arnold Pinnock, as due to scheduling conflicts, Gilyard was unable to reprise his role as Bruce in the third movie. That and since Gilyard is a Roman Catholic, his priest was slightly peeved about him taking the role, given the series' stance on premillennial rapturist theology (i.e. a belief held by Protestants, not Catholics), and was very happy when Gilyard did not reprise the role.
Troubled Production: Producer Ralph Winter (of X-Men Film Series and Star Trek fame) and writer Alan B. McElroy (the co-creator of Spawn (1997)) were attached to the project early on, envisioning a high-concept, mainstream blockbuster that won over series authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. The two ended up leaving the project in pre-production, though their names are still listed in the credits, at which point it was passed on to brothers of Paul and Peter LaLonde of CloudTen Pictures, who retooled it as the low-budget, direct-to-video fare that it ultimately became. Needless to say, LaHaye and Jenkins were far from happy, the former going so far as to sue the production company for misleading them as to the nature of the film, and both Winter and Elroy quietly disassociated themselves from the property.
Real-Life Relative: Inverted, as Kirk Cameron (Buck Williams) and Chelsea Noble (Hattie Durham) are married in real life, having met on the set of Growing Pains.
Wag the Director: Kirk Cameron did not grow out of this after Growing Pains. In Left Behind: Tribulation Force, there's a scene which has Buck Williams (Kirk's character) and Rayford Steele confronting a friend of the latter who didn't want to hear what the Antichrist planned to do. Cameron (who by that point had just teamed up with Ray Comfort's "The Way of the Master" ministry) manages to combine this with a Big-Lipped Alligator Moment when he suddenly throws in this random string of questions related to the 10 Commandments lifted almost word for word from a "The Way of the Master" video he appeared in.
What Could Have Been: Lacey Chabert had been considered for the role of Chloe Steele before dropping out due to scheduling conflicts.
California Doubling: The scenes in Queens, NY were shot in Baton Rouge, and it shows.
Creator-Preferred Adaptation: LaHaye and Jenkins both gave the 2014 version high marks, with LaHaye even describing it as "the best movie ever made about the Rapture".
Stillborn Franchise: From the looks of it. The ending of the film obviously sets up for a sequel and the creators started pitching for one on Indiegogo in April of 2015, hoping for a release in the summer of 2016. However, by the time the crowdfunding campaign ended a month later, it hadn't come close to its $500,000 goal. The film's website hasn't been updated since, leaving the future of the film unclear. As of July 2017, Peter Lalonde, producer of the 2000-2005 films, announced plans to film all 16 books. The sequel Left Behind: Rise Of The Antichrist was filmed with an entirely new cast and Kevin Sorbo as its director, and has had a limited release in theaters in January 2023.
What Could Have Been: At various points; both Ashley Tisdale and Tia Mowry were attached to the 2014 film at one point; though Tisdale eventually dropped out due to scheduling conflicts; with Cassi Thompson replacing Tisdale in the Chloe Steele role.
and specifically references Left Behind as an inspiration.