Time Guardian - Wächter der Zukunft

John Baxter is an absolutely brilliant short story writer and apparently a life-long student of films, so I was very interested to see what his only screenplay was like. I simply could not believe that he came up with such a piece of total crap. There is nothing to recommend in this film.

This really is a very poor US/Australian sci fi film with Carrie Fisher in it. Bog average acting, dodgy script, plot and effects and token shots of the "outback" and a really dull set of bad guys (police and the laughable "Jen Deki") combine to make this a really obnoxious viewing experience. Dont bother unless you are really bored, arent paying for it and have absolutley nothing else to do (that includes scrubbing the grime from in between the tiles in your shower).

It has been said that there is a world of difference between a bad movie and a boring movie. The bad movie be enjoyed for what it is, and the further it misses it's intended mark, the more likely it is to become a cult hit. The boring movie is destined for the rubbish bin of film history, to not rate a second thought from the collective conscience.

This movie is not boring, but it is very very bad. And that is gold for the lovers of the kitch, seekers of the worst, those who appreciate the fun to had from the truly bad. This movie is FUN.

You'll continually ask yourself, "What were Carrie Fisher and Dean Stockwell thinking!!", "What overacting school did Tom Burlingson go to, and why is he always angry?", "Where can I buy those costumes?", "What exactly the hell did they spend their $8 million dollar budget on?" Every Australian lover of "unique" film needs to buy a copy of this movie. They then need to show it to at least 10 friends. This NEEDS to be a cult Aussie movie.

In the end this movie is a steamer. But I'll probably watch it many more times than my "Citizen Kane", "Apocolypse Now" or "Casablanca" DVDs.

A delightfully horrible movie that was fun to watch.

And I say again it was one of the best horrible movies I have ever watched. Especially with Carrie Fisher in it... ROFLMFAO 😂😂🤣🤣👍 It's just too bad they didn't continue this franchise. I would have bought them all.

One thing that surprises me, is that this movie never became a cult favorite. Maybe it will be one day.

Here's hoping that they also continue the series in the same horrible manner!

Tom Burlinson kind of went a bit beyond the quality of this film's script and budget to turn in a fairly kick butt performance for the character of Ballard. He seemed like he came out of a much higher quality film, in fact, the character felt like he was plucked right out of the first Terminator film.

Burlinson was definitely in the moment during the first battle sequence where they attempted to secure the city's pillar. I also like that he maintained a fairly hard edge throughout.

It's funny how he completely reproached Fisher's character early on and never really backed down or entirely eased up. A character like that can't exist in today's cinema, else he be classified as "toxic".

But it's just a stark reminder that the quality of media today is so awful that I had to give this film a 5 out of 10 only because it was more entertaining than a lot of the schlock released today.

To the film's credit, some of the scenes are structured pretty cool. In the night time lighting and with the right camera angles, the enemies actually sometimes look imposing, but they never get the proper screen time to be as menacing as they should be.

A few things that could have seriously helped this film is a re-edit and some serious tightening up of the entire middle section.

Having the evil cyborgs attack the town during the middle of the film in a horror-esque sequence would have gone a long ways to make the film a lot more enjoyable.

Also, a proper, dark-synth soundtrack would have added tons to the movie's atmosphere as opposed to the cheap made-for-TV soundtrack it was saddled with. It was like the film was its own biggest enemy when so much could have been done with what they already had.

Even still, Carrie Fisher and Nikki Coghill are both extremely easy-on-the-eyes, and despite not having much material to work with, they both do what they can with the material. I'm kind of shocked that Fisher didn't entirely sleep walk through her performance, but she came awfully close.

If you want a decent 80s sci-fi action flick, this certainly isn't the best of them, but Burlinson is a legit action hero in this film, and carries it on his shoulders somewhat proudly. It's not the worst way to spend an hour and half on a weekend or so.