Topic: Tom's Time-Travel Movie Reviews

[Tom]

Weekend Movie Marathon

Time-travel movies

One of my favorite themes in movies is time-travel. So I decided to watch some time-travel movies this weekend.

The "Back to the Future" trilogy are my all-time favorite time-travel movies. But these will not be part of this marathon as I have recently watched those.

[Najemikon]

It's not exactly time travel as such, but I can well recommend Frequency. Doesn't seem to be mentioned often, but I really liked it. It's predictable and the ending is very loose, but it's great fun.

[Tom]

It's not exactly time travel as such, but I can well recommend Frequency. Doesn't seem to be mentioned often, but I really liked it. It's predictable and the ending is very loose, but it's great fun.

I like Fequency. Not sure if it will be part of this marathon though.

[DJ Doena]

Bill & Ted!

[Tom]

Timecop (1994/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia (United Kingdom) Director: Peter Hyams Writing: Mike Richardson (Original Material By), Mark Verheiden (Original Material By), Mark Verheiden (Screenwriter) Length: 94 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Czech: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Subtitles: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish

Stars:
Jean-Claude Van Damme as Walker
Mia Sara as Melissa
Ron Silver as McComb
Bruce McGill as Matuzak
Gloria Reuben as Fielding

Plot:
In the year 2004, time travel is not only a reality, but an opportunity to alter the past for power and profit. Jean-Claude Van Damme stars in the sci-fi thriller that mixes hard-hitting action with awesome special effects, romance and murder. Ron Silver co-stars as Van Damme's cunning adversary in what People Magazine touts "Clever and original, Timecop is a thinking man's movie."

Awards:
Won:

Saturn (1994)

Best Supporting Actress (Mia Sara)

Nominated:

Saturn (1994)		Best Science Fiction Film
Saturn (1994)		Best Special Effects (Gregory L. McMurray)
Saturn (1994)		Best Writing (Mark Verheiden)

Extras:

• Production Notes
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

Better than expected when I first bought it (before that I only saw pieces of the spin-off TV series). And the movie has the beautiful Mia Sara in it
The futuristic cars (of the year 2004 ) look bad though. The time-travel theme takes a little backseat to Van-Damme's ass-kicking, but not as bad as I feared.

Rating:

[Tom]

Blackadder: Back and Forth
It's New Year's Eve 1999 and Lord Edmund Blackadder and friends are gathered to celebrate the Millennium. As conversation turns to the future, Blackadder discloses that he has built a time machine - and to prove it works he proposes a wager of £10,000 to anyone who cares to name an historical object for him to collect on his journey through time... Blackadder bids his friends farewell and steps into the time machine and he and Baldrick set upon a journey spanning centuries. ...Will they make it back to see in the year 2000 and what sort of world will they find on their return...

My thoughts:
Great reunion special for Blackadder! Here we again have a chance to see Queenie from Blackadder II. And a chance to see our characters in modern times.

Rating:

[Tom]

Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision (2003/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Universal Home Entertainment (United States) Director: Steve Boyum Writing: Mike Richardson (Original Characters By), Mark Verheiden (Original Characters By), Gary Scott Thompson (Writer) Length: 81 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Jason Scott Lee as Ryan Chang
Thomas Ian Griffith as Brandon Miller
Mary Page Keller as Doc
John Beck as O'Rourke
Tava Smiley as Tyler Jeffers

Plot:
Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision is the action-packed time travel adventure that takes thrill seekers on a wild ride through time - from Hitler's Germany to the Wild West and beyond.

Jason Scott Lee stars as Ryan Chang, the maverick Timecop who's assigned to prevent criminals from travelling to the past and altering the future. The clock is ticking – and Ryan must track down the evil mastermind Branson Miller (Thomas Ian Griffith) who's bent on using history as the ultimate weapon. Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision is packed with non-stop action, special effects and thrilling martial arts sequences!

Extras:

• Featurettes
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

Definetely worse than the first part. Not recommended.

Rating:

[Tom]

Retroactive (1997/United States) IMDb (United States) Director: Louis Morneau Writing: Michael Hamilton-Wright (Writer), Robert Strauss (Writer), Phillip Badger (Writer) Length: 91 min. Video: Widescreen 1.85 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Subtitles: English, French

Stars:
James Belushi as Frank
Kylie Travis as Karen
Shannon Whirry as Rayanne
Frank Whaley as Brian
Jesse Borrego as Jesse

Plot:
If you could leap back in time and change the past, would you? If you did, could you face the consequences? A young woman comes face to face with these tantalizing questions in this action-packed sci-fi thriller starring James Belushi, Kylie Travis and Frank Whaley. Exploding with breathtaking special effects and startling twists and turns, this full-throttle adventure pushes the envelope for cutting-edge excitement.

Karen Warren (Travis) is a beautiful hostage negotiator trying to escape a tragic past. But her desperate flight leads to an even greater horror when she finds herself stranded on a deserted highway and at the mercy of a violent psychopath (Belushi) who commits a brutal murder right before her eyes. But this time, Karen gets a second chance. Stumbling upon an isolated research center, Karen meets a brilliant young scientist (Whaley) and discovers a top-secret device that gives her the opportunity to stop the savage rampage 'before' it begins!

Awards:
Nominated:

Saturn (1997)

Best TV Longform

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

Decent time-loop movie. Here the characters can travel 20 minutes back in time to try to prevent a maniac (James Belushi) killing other people with at first worse outcome as before. I can recommend it when you find a good bargain. Bad thing is, that the DVD release is quite old and has non-anamorphic picture and no bonus features.

Rating:

[Tom]

Time After Time (1979/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Warner Home Video (United States) Director: Nicholas Meyer Writing: Karl Alexander (Story By), Steve Hayes (Story By), Nicholas Meyer (Screenwriter) Length: 112 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, French: Dolby Digital 1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Stars:
Malcolm McDowell as H. G. Wells
David Warner as Stevenson
Mary Steenburgen as Amy
Charles Cioffi as Lt. Mitchell
Kent Williams as Assistant

Plot:
London 1893 is home to a killer with a macabre nickname... and also to a visionary genius who would write The Time Machine. But what if H.G. Wells' invention wasn't fiction? And what if Jack the Ripper escaped capture fleeing his own time to take refuge in ours - with Wells himself in pursuit?

From writer/director Nicholas Meyer, Time After Time is a marvelous entertainment of shivery suspense and sly social comment. In modern-day San Francisco, the Ripper (David Warner) finds our violent age to his liking. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) dislikes the brave new world of fast food and television, far from the utopia he envisioned. But he is cheered by the emancipation of women, particularly one irresistible banker (Mary Steenburgen). For mystery, romance and excitement, Time After Time is time well spent.

Awards:
Won:

Saturn (1979)		Best Actress (Mary Steenburgen)
Saturn (1979)		Best Music (Miklos Rozsa)
Saturn (1979)		Best Writing (Nicholas Meyer)

Nominated:

Hugo Award (1980)		Dramatic Presentation
Saturn (1979)		Best Actor (Malcolm McDowell)
Saturn (1979)		Best Costumes (Sal Anthony, Yvonne Kubis)
Saturn (1979)		Best Director (Nicholas Meyer)
Saturn (1979)		Best Science Fiction Film
Saturn (1979)		Best Supporting Actor (David Warner)

Extras:

• Closed Captioned
• Commentary
• Photo Gallery
• Production Notes
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

I liked this movie. Only real problem I have with it, is with the character played by Mary Steenburgen. She is too soft-spoken and too quick to fall in love with this strange man she has just met.

Rating:

[Tom]

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Paramount Home Entertainment (Germany) Director: Leonard Nimoy Writing: Gene Roddenberry (Original Material By), Leonard Nimoy (Story By), Harve Bennett (Story By), Steve Meerson (Screenwriter), Peter Krikes (Screenwriter), Harve Bennett (Screenwriter), Nicholas Meyer (Screenwriter) Length: 117 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Subtitles: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Swedish, Turkish

Stars:
William Shatner as Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Spock
DeForest Kelley as McCoy
James Doohan as Scotty
George Takei as Sulu

Plot:
To save Earth from a destructive space probe, Kirk and his fugitive crew go back in time to 20th century Earth to recover two humpback whales, who are the only Earth beings who can respond to it.

Awards:
Won:

ASCAP Awards (1987)		Top Box Office Films (Leonard Rosenman)
Saturn (1986)		Best Costumes (Robert Fletcher)

Nominated:

Academy Award (1986)		Best Cinematography (Don Peterman)
Academy Award (1986)		Best Music, Original Score (Leonard Rosenman)
Academy Award (1986)		Best Sound (Terry Porter, David J. Hudson, Mel Metcalfe, Gene Cantamessa)
Academy Award (1986)		Best Sound Effects Editing (Mark Mangini)
American Society of Cinematographers Awards (1987)		Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases (Don Peterman)
Hugo Award (1987)		Dramatic Presentation
Saturn (1986)		Best Actor (Leonard Nimoy)
Saturn (1986)		Best Actor (William Shatner)
Saturn (1986)		Best Director (Leonard Nimoy)
Saturn (1986)		Best Makeup (Wes Dawn, Jeff Dawn, James L. McCoy)
Saturn (1986)		Best Science Fiction Film
Saturn (1986)		Best Special Effects (Ken Ralston, Michael Lantieri)
Saturn (1986)		Best Supporting Actor (James Doohan)
Saturn (1986)		Best Supporting Actor (Walter Koenig)
Saturn (1986)		Best Supporting Actress (Catherine Hicks)
Saturn (1986)		Best Writing (Steve Meerson, Peter Krikes, Harve Bennett, Nicholas Meyer)
Young Artist Awards (1988)		Best Family Motion Picture – Drama

Extras:

• Commentary
• Featurettes
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

One of the best Star Trek movies further supporting that the Star Trek movies with even numbers are the better ones (that is, until Star Trek: Nemesis came along). Only the premise of having to get whales from the 20th century to the 23rd century I find ridiculous.

Rating:

[Tom]

Kate & Leopold (2001/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Splendid Film (Germany) Director: James Mangold Writing: Steven Rogers (Original Material By), James Mangold (Screenwriter), Steven Rogers (Screenwriter) Length: 114 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85 Audio: German: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English, German

Stars:
Meg Ryan as Kate McKay
Hugh Jackman as Leopold
Liev Schreiber as Stuart Besser
Breckin Meyer as Charlie McKay
Natasha Lyonne as Darci

Plot:
Leopold is an English and broken baron living in New York in the end of the Nineteenth Century. He needs to get married with a rich fiancée to recover his family position from ruin. Kate is a successful businesswoman living also in New York, but in 2001. Due to a time incident, they meet each other in the present days and they fall in love to each other.

Awards:
Won:

Golden Globe (2001)

Original Song ("Until...": Sting (Music/Lyrics))

Nominated:

Academy Award (2001)		Best Music, Song ("Until": Sting (Music/Lyrics))
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards (2002)		Best Song ("Until": Sting)
Golden Globe (2001)		Actor in a Leading Role - Musical or Comedy (Hugh Jackman)
World Soundtrack Awards (2002)		Best Original Song Written for a Film ("Until": Sting)

Extras:

• Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• DVD-ROM Content
• Featurettes
• Interactive Game
• Music Videos
• Production Notes
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

Above than average romantic comedy with a time-travel twist.

Rating:

[Tom]

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Momentum Pictures (United Kingdom) Director: Stephen Herek Writing: Chris Matheson (Writer), Ed Solomon (Writer) Length: 87 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, German: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: Dutch, English, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish

Stars:
Keanu Reeves as Ted "Theodore" Logan
Alex Winter as Bill S. Preston
George Carlin as Rufus
Terry Camilleri as Napoleon
Dan Shor as Billy the Kid

Plot:
History is about to be rewritten by two guys who can't spell....
Time flies when you're having fun. Party on dudes!

Ted "Theodore" Logan (Reeves) and Bill S. Preston Esquire (Winter) won't graduate if they don't do well in their history presentation. This would be both bogus and uncool! A dude called Rufus comes from the future in a telephone box to help them, as their lives are important to the future of mankind! The two jump in and out of different ease, collecting historical figures (from Socrates to Billy the Kid), confronting then with West Coast culture and generally being excellent!

Awards:
Nominated:

Saturn (1990)		Best Costumes (Jill Ohanneson)
Saturn (1990)		Best Science Fiction Film

Extras:

• Photo Gallery
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

A fun light-hearted comedy which plays nicely with time-travel. Making things appear because they decide to put it there in the future
Meeting themselves in the beginning to show them, that time-travel is real
George Carlin is great as Rufus. "Volle Kanne, Hoschi!" (this is how "Party on, dude!" was translated in the German version and became a catchphrase for a while here in Germany). Alex Winter always reminds me of Michael Schumacher

Rating:

[m.cellophane]

Time After Time
[snip]

My thoughts:
I liked this movie. Only real problem I have with it, is with the character played by Mary Steenburgen. She is too soft-spoken and too quick to fall in love with this strange man she has just met.

I love this movie!  It's the first title I thought of when I saw you start this marathon. I didn't want to influence your choices, so I didn't say anything. I'm from San Francisco, so movies filmed here are always a treat. I do know what you mean about her voice though. In my mind, I can still hear her saying "Herbert...Herbert..." over and over. 

[DJ Doena]

A fun light-hearted comedy which plays nicely with time-travel. Making things appear because they decide to put it there in the future

You mean, in the past. 

I liked this movie. Only real problem I have with it, is with the character played by Mary Steenburgen. She is too soft-spoken and too quick to fall in love with this strange man she has just met.

She did the same thing in BTTF. 

 

[Tom]

Somewhere in Time (1980/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia (United States) Director: Jeannot Szwarc Writing: Richard Matheson (Screenwriter), Richard Matheson (Original Material By) Length: 103 min. Video: Widescreen 1.85 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 1, French: Dolby Digital 1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 1 Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Christopher Reeve as Richard Collier
Jane Seymour as Elise McKenna
Christopher Plummer as W. F. Robinson
Teresa Wright as Laura Roberts
Bill Erwin as Arthur Biehl

Plot:
Somewhere in Time is the story of a young writer who sacrifices his life in the present to find happiness in the past, where true love awaits him. Young Richard Collier (Christopher Reeve) is approached by an elderly woman who gives him an antique gold watch and who pleads with him to return in time with her. Years later, Richard Collier is overwhelmed by a photograph of a beautiful young woman (Jane Seymour). Another picture of this woman in her later years reveals to him that she is the same woman who had given him the gold watch. Collier then becomes obsessed with returning to 1912 and the beautiful young woman who awaits him there.

Awards:
Won:

Saturn (1980)		Best Costumes (Jean-Pierre Dorleac)
Saturn (1980)		Best Fantasy Film

Nominated:

Academy Award (1980)		Best Costume Design (Jean-Pierre Dorleac)
AFI (1980)		100 Years... 100 Passions (2002)
AFI (1980)		100 Years... 25 Scores (2005) ("Composer": John Barry)
Golden Globe (1980)		Original Score (John Barry)
Saturn (1980)		Best Actor (Christopher Reeve)
Saturn (1980)		Best Actress (Jane Seymour)
Saturn (1980)		Best Music (John Barry)

Extras:

• Closed Captioned
• Commentary
• Featurettes
• Photo Gallery
• Production Notes
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

More a love-story than a time-travel story. It must be the movie in my collection which requires the most suspension of disbelieve of how the time-traveling is done, but it works here.

Rating: