Tom's Time-Travel Movie Reviews

[Tom]

The Final Countdown (1980/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Blue Underground (United States) Director: Don Taylor Writing: Thomas Hunter (Story By), Peter Powell (Story By), David Ambrose (Story By), David Ambrose (Screenwriter), Gerry Davis (Screenwriter), Thomas Hunter (Screenwriter), Peter Powell (Screenwriter) Length: 103 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35 Audio: English: Dolby Digital EX 5.1 (Matrixed 6.1), English: DTS ES 5.1 (Matrixed 6.1), English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Kirk Douglas as Capt. Matthew Yelland
Martin Sheen as Warren Lasky
Katharine Ross as Laurel Scott
James Farentino as Cdr. Richard Owens / Mr. Tideman
Ron O'Neal as Cdr. Dan Thurman

Plot:
The time is now. The place is aboard the U.S.S. Nimitz, America's mightiest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier on maneuvers in the Pacific Ocean. Suddenly, a freak electrical storm engulfs the ship and triggers the impossible: The Nimitz is hurtled back in time to December 6, 1941, mere hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. As the enemy fleet speeds towards Hawaii, the warship's Captain (Kirk Douglas), a Defense Department expert (Martin Sheen), a maverick Air Wing Commander (James Farentino) and a desperate Senator in the Roosevelt administration (Charles Durning) must choose between the unthinkable. Do they allow the Japanese to complete their murderous invasion or launch a massive counter-strike that will forever change the course of history?

Katharine Ross and Ron O'Neal co-star in this spellbinding sci-fi action hit filmed on location aboard the U.S.S. Nimitz with the full participation of the U.S. Navy and the ship's crew. Blue Underground is proud to present THE FINAL COUNTDOWN with an all-new THX-Certified High-Definition Transfer from the original camera negative with remixed 6.1 DTS-ES and 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX Soundtracks for the ultimate in explosive home theater excitement.

Awards:
Nominated:

Saturn (1980)		Best Actor (Kirk Douglas)
Saturn (1980)		Best Science Fiction Film

Extras:

• Closed Captioned
• Commentary
• DVD-ROM Content
• Interviews
• Photo Gallery
• Production Notes
• Scene Access
• THX certified
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

Well executed time-travel movie which deals with the question, if they should interfere with history or not when given the chance. And typical: They lost quite a few crew members but only think of the commander in the end, when they only believe they have lost him. What about the other casualities?

Rating:

[Tom]

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia (Germany) Director: Mamoru Hosoda Writing: Satoko Okudera (Screenwriter), Yasutaka Tsutsui (Original Material By) Length: 98 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: German: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: German, Polish

Stars:
Riisa Naka as (voice)
Takuya Ishida as (voice)
Mitsutaka Itakura as (voice)
Ayami Kakiuchi as (voice)
Mitsuki Tanimura as (voice)

Plot:
"TIME WAITS FOR NO ONE"
Student girl Konno Makoto has a very bad day. Everything goes wrong and to top it all off in the afternoon she dies in a lethal accident… only she doesn't.

In fact, she finds herself transported a few seconds back in time and manages to avert her deadly fate. As Konno slowly discovers, she has acquired the power to jump back in time and change things at will!
Soon, she starts the whole day over, but this time without errors, only to discover that sometimes her winnings are someone else's losses. Before she knows it she's busy cleaning mess after mess. And when things go from bad to terrible she suddenly finds out there is a limit to her time-jumping, possibly leading several loved ones straight into great danger.

Extras:

• Booklet
• Commentary
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

What can I say about this movie? I simply love it! It became my favorite movie of last year. Even though I saw it 3 times during the last 6 months I had to include it in this marathon. I like it how in the beginnings the time jumps are simply played for fun but it gets more serious as the movie goes on. Sadly there is no RC1 release yet, but it is said to be coming this year. I recommend to watch out for it! Also there is a Korean 3-disc release with English subtitles available (the German release has only German and Polish subtitles).

Rating:

[Tom]

The Philadelphia Experiment (1984/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Anchor Bay Entertainment (United States) Director: Stewart Raffill, Cinemotion Pictures Writing: Wallace Bennett (Story By), Don Jakoby (Story By), William Gray (Screenwriter), Michael Janover (Screenwriter), Cinemotion Pictures) Length: 101 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Subtitles:

Stars:
Michael Paré as David Herdeg
Nancy Allen as Allison
Eric Christmas as Longstreet
Bobby Di Cicco as Jim Parker
Louise Latham as Pamela

Plot:
Philadelphia, 1943: A top-secret experiment is underway to make U.S. Navy ships invisible to enemy radar, but something goes horribly wrong, and the Battleship Eldridge disappears. Two sailors jump overboard... and are mysteriously transported 41 years into the future. On the run and trapped by the past, can they stop the experiment that has torn a hole in time?

Michael Pare (Eddie & The Cruisers) and Nancy Allen (Carrie, Dressed To Kill) star in this provocative sci-fi action hit, executive produced by Halloween creator John Carpenter!

Awards:
Nominated:

Saturn (1984)

Best Actress (Nancy Allen)

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

This movie is a little on the boring side. Not a must-see in my opinion.

Rating:

[Tom]

Primer (2004/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia New Line Home Entertainment (United States) Director: Shane Carruth Writing: Shane Carruth (Writer) Length: 77 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Shane Carruth as Aaron
David Sullivan as Abe
Casey Gooden as Robert
Anand Upadhyaya as Phillip
Carrie Crawford as Kara

Plot:
Everything you think you know about modern science is about to unravel.

While conducting experiments in a garage, two brilliant engineers who lead double lives accidentally discover that their project enables them to travel back in time. Each man's curiosity leads to experiments without the other's knowledge, some with serious consequences. In an "ingenious blend of sci-fi and mystery" (Steven Read, "Philadelphia Inquirer"), viewers are challenged to solve the puzzle that is PRIMER.

Awards:
Nominated:

Independent Spirit Awards (2005)		Best Debut Performance (David Sullivan)
Independent Spirit Awards (2005)		Best Director (Shane Carruth)
Independent Spirit Awards (2005)		Best Feature (Shane Carruth)
Independent Spirit Awards (2005)		Best First Screenplay (Shane Carruth)

Extras:

• Bonus Trailers
• Closed Captioned
• Commentary
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

When I watched this movie the first time, I labeled it "For Sale". I never came around to sell it and I wanted to give it another chance now. It seems I do not get the movie. Looks like it will be left with the label.

Rating:

[Tom]

Groundhog Day (1993/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia (Germany) Director: Harold Ramis Writing: Danny Rubin (Original Material By), Danny Rubin (Screenwriter), Harold Ramis (Screenwriter) Length: 97 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, German: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Subtitles: Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish

Stars:
Bill Murray as Phil
Andie MacDowell as Rita
Chris Elliott as Larry
Stephen Tobolowsky as Ned
Brian Doyle-Murray as Buster

Plot:
A weather man is reluctantly sent to cover a story about a weather forecasting "rat" (as he calls it). This is his fourth year on the story, and he makes no effort to hide his frustration. On awaking the 'following' day he discovers that it's Groundhog Day again, and again, and again. First he uses this to his advantage, then comes the realisation that he is doomed to spend the rest of eternity in the same place, seeing the same people do the same thing EVERY day.

Awards:
Won:

AFI (1993)		100 Years... 100 Laughs (2000)
BAFTA (1993)		Original Screenplay (Danny Rubin, Harold Ramis)
BMI Film & TV Music Awards (1994)		BMI Film Music Award (George Fenton)
Saturn (1993)		Best Actress (Andie MacDowell)

Nominated:

AFI (1993)		100 Years... 100 Passions (2002)
Hugo Award (1994)		Dramatic Presentation
MTV Movie Awards (1993)		Best Comedic Performance (Bill Murray)
Saturn (1993)		Best Actor (Bill Murray)
Saturn (1993)		Best Costumes (Jennifer Butler)
Saturn (1993)		Best Director (Harold Ramis)
Saturn (1993)		Best Fantasy Film
Saturn (1993)		Best Writing (Danny Rubin, Harold Ramis)

Extras:

• Production Notes
• Scene Access
• Trailers

My Thoughts:

One of my all-time favorite movies! And it was a good call that the writers did not try to invent a reason why Phil relives the day.

Rating:

[Tom]

This was it for this marathon. 14 movies in 3 Days! I think this is a record for me. The following movies were also on my list but will have to wait for another time.

12:01
The Butterfly Effect
The Butterfly Effect 2
Clockstoppers
Grand Tour: Disaster in Time
Millennium
The Time Machine (1960)
The Time Machine (2002)
Timeline

I will continue this marathon on another weekend as I have some further time-travel movies on the way.

Only reading that a movie has time-travel in it, and I am interested. But this leads to a lot of movies that aren't that great. But there is always hope that it is a gem like BTTF and TokiKake (this is how "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" is called by fans for short).

Star Trek was also a good provider for great time-travel stories. This is why I will do a Star Trek Time-Travel Weekend Marathon one of these days. And maybe also a non-Star-Trek-TV-Time-Travel marathon.

[Jon]

Have you seen Butterfly Effect before? If not, don't torture yourself. I thought it was dreadful! Nice idea, but overplayed and the ending is just ridiculous.

[Achim]

My thoughts:
What can I say about this movie? I simply love it! It became my favorite movie of last year. Even though I saw it 3 times during the last 6 months I had to include it in this marathon. I like it how in the beginnings the time jumps are simply played for fun but it gets more serious as the movie goes on. Sadly there is no RC1 release yet, but it is said to be coming this year. I recommend to watch out for it! Also there is a Korean 3-disc release with English subtitles available (the German release has only German and Polish subtitles).

You have mentioned this so often now, that I will try to find the DVD in Hong Kong (which has English subtitles too) when I am there in early March.

My thoughts:
One of my all-time favorite movies! And it was a good call that the writers did not try to invent a reason why Phil relives the day.

No reason...? He was a mean bastard before and needed to relive that one day until he became a good person and fell in love with that chick. They didn't spell out the reason (which is good), but there certainly was one.

Have you seen Butterfly Effect before? If not, don't torture yourself. I thought it was dreadful! Nice idea, but overplayed and the ending is just ridiculous.

I kinda liked it.

Ending a movie like that is always difficult. For some reasons I remember liking the Theatrical ending better than the Director's version, which several people couldn't understand, but I can't recall the difference right now. ...and even if I could, I am sure Tom doesn't want to hear it at this point, I think Maybe he can refresh my memory after watching it.

[DJ Doena]

Butterfly Effect:

Spoiler (hover to show)

In one cut he prevents his own birth and subsequently dies. In the other he travels back to the time where he first met his girlfriend and alienates her and thus they never become friends.

[Achim]

Butterfly Effect:

Spoiler (hover to show)

removed, once is enough

Thanks so far! Could you remind me which is which, too? Although by gut feeling I'd say it was the second one I preferred.

Spoiler (hover to show)

But my guts have shot for brains

[Achim]

My thoughts:
Well executed time-travel movie which deals with the question, if they should interfere with history or not when given the chance. And typical: They lost quite a few crew members but only think of the commander in the end, when they only believe they have lost him. What about the other casualities? 

Oh, missed reading this one before... I remember seeing this in the cinema once and thought it was really cool (I was really young). However, I seem to remember that somehow that ending didn't make any sense at all. Something like, that the dog shouldn't have recognized the guy in the car (if this doesn't make sense to you right now, I probably remembered the ending a little wrong). Anyway, I thought the ending bent the time travel logic too far...(?)

[DJ Doena]

Butterfly Effect:

Spoiler (hover to show)

removed, once is enough

Thanks so far! Could you remind me which is which, too? Although by gut feeling I'd say it was the second one I preferred.

Spoiler (hover to show)

But my guts have shot for brains

I've got this one and it seems to be the Director's Cut that has

Spoiler (hover to show)

the ending where he just alienates his girlfriend

[DJ Doena]

My thoughts:
Well executed time-travel movie which deals with the question, if they should interfere with history or not when given the chance. And typical: They lost quite a few crew members but only think of the commander in the end, when they only believe they have lost him. What about the other casualities? 

Oh, missed reading this one before... I remember seeing this in the cinema once and thought it was really cool (I was really young). However, I seem to remember that somehow that ending didn't make any sense at all. Something like, that the dog shouldn't have recognized the guy in the car (if this doesn't make sense to you right now, I probably remembered the ending a little wrong). Anyway, I thought the ending bent the time travel logic too far...(?)

The ending made sense IMHO.

Spoiler (hover to show)

The dog is the dog of the assistant to the senator and she is the woman sitting in that car with Cmdr. Owen

I love that flick!

[Achim]

I've got this one and it seems to be the Director's Cut that has

Spoiler (hover to show)

the ending where he just alienates his girlfriend

Well, then I may remember it wrong and the Director's Cut is the preferred version for me after all

Thanks again!

[DJ Doena]

I stand corrected!

Spoiler (hover to show)

The Director's Cut is the one where he kills himself, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Butterfly_Effect#Director.27s_cut