I’ve been waiting for a good excuse to do a Roundtable about favorite time travel movies, and this week’s theatrical release of ‘Looper’ is just the ticket. So hop in your Delorean and pop in your favorite Huey Lewis cassette, because we “Gotta get back in time, Gotta get back in time\u2026”<\/i> Whoo!
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This week, we’re joined by one of High-Def Digest<\/i>‘s newest staff members, Shannon Nutt. Some of you may recognize his name as a frequent commenter on this blog and in our forums. Shannon was recently brought on board to help us with Blu-ray review coverage, which he started this week with a review of ‘WarGames<\/a>‘. Please give him a warm welcome.<\/p>\n Mike Attebery<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n I’d like to be creative on this one, but to me, the obvious choice is the ‘Back to the Future<\/a>‘ trilogy. I adore these movies. They’re funny, they’re clever, and they basically invented the rules of time travel as we know them. They made me want one of these<\/a>. They’re perfect movies. Every time I start to watch them, I’m completely pulled in by the time the dog food splatters in Einstein’s bowl.<\/p>\n Shannon Nutt<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n My favorite film of all time just happens to involve time travel. 1980’s ‘Somewhere in Time<\/strong>‘ is loosely based on a novel by Richard Matheson. It’s the story of a playwright (Christopher Reeve) who becomes obsessed with a young actress (Jane Seymour) from the early 1900s, and becomes determined to go back in time to meet her. Granted, the time travel method here is the least scientific of virtually any other time travel movie (it’s a journey back to the past via the power of the mind), but that’s part of what makes the movie so wonderful. It’s a science-fiction film, a fantasy, a romance and a period piece all rolled into one. Directed by Jeannot Szwarc (‘Jaws 2’) with a beautiful and haunting score by John Barry (his finest work in a career of fine work) and a great performance by Christopher Reeve, ‘Somewhere in Time’ may not be the most logical movie that deals with traveling through time, but it’s the most touching. Now if only Universal would give it the Blu-ray release it deserves!<\/p>\n Brian Hoss<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n In a world where Confederate gold shipments are stolen though time in order to finance arms deals, and the 1929 stock market crash is manipulated daily to fund political campaigns, only one man has the high kicks necessary to stop unauthorized time travel in its tracks. As a time enforcement officer, Max Walker (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is entirely jaded and almost completely withdrawn from society. He spends his off time morosely wishing for his hot wife (Mia Sara) to still be alive. <\/p>\n While Van Damme’s role was blessed with more character depth than, say, ‘Bloodsport’ or ‘Universal Soldier’, ‘Timecop<\/a>‘ wastes little time measuring characters’ reactions to different time periods, which is the thrust of most movies involving time travel. The flick is about Van Damme versus the nefarious Senator McComb (Ron Silver) in the not-too-distant-future, and it spins a yarn about secret government agencies, VR sex, suicidal time travel vehicles, coldware and the dangers of same matter. ‘Timecop’ is a B-movie, a movie for guys who like movies, an ’80s throwback and a Van Damme vehicle. By borrowing elements of various genres, this comic book adaptation, sci-fi actioner is more fun and does more with time travel and with one-liners than countless other movies even attempt. <\/p>\n “Stay here, Walker. In my future, you’re dead.”<\/em> That’s Senator McComb not long after Van Damme has kick-shattered a bad guy’s frozen arm, causing said bad guy to stumble in agony over a railing and down into a coldware chip-producing machine.<\/p>\n Adam Tyner (DVDTalk<\/a>)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Twelve monkeys and precisely zero half-man\/half-pig creatures. Where’s the fun in that?<\/p>\n