Time Trackers

Not bad as time travel movies go. But the sets were atrocious and the acting was weak. As with many time travel movies the plot was predictable. Probably the most disappointing prop was the time machine itself. It looked like they went down to the local hardware store and picked up a load of plywood and a few cans of spray paint. In fact the time machine prop resembled a backyard storage shed you can buy at your local Home depot. The actors appeared to be sleepwalking through most of their scenes. Ned Beatty did his best to provide us with a good performance, but he was unable to carry the movie by himself.

That being said, the movie deals with time travel as well, if not better, than most time travel movies. The fact the the writer at least tried to provide us with a reasonable flow of events and seemed to have more than a passing interest in providing us with a logical time travel tale increases my appreciation for this little low budget flick.

For anyone looking for some unintentional humor, this movie would not be a bad choice. The premise itself is pretty interesting: in the future, scientists are battling for control of the planet and one of them goes into the past to kill off his rivals. It could have benefitted from a better script and a bigger budget. The sets were very fake-looking and the costumes looked like something out of a high shcool production. One of the funnier moments actually comes when Shriner goes to open a door and almost knocks it down. The design team also apparently had some trouble finding up-to-date cars for the present-day New York sequence. The whole production had a 1980s air about it, typified by the brightly-colored tie-dyes that the cast dons at one point. The movie is actually a lot funnier in hindsight. Back when I saw it, I was disappointed and embarrassed for the filmmakers. Knowing who Roger Corman is actually makes me smile when I think of it.

I think I originally saw this movie when I was 10 or 11 and I loved it! I watched it everyday for like a whole summer. Now that I am an adult the movie is so-so but it sure brings back some memories! I would recommend this movie to watch if you are bored on a rainy day and need something to do. It's not great, it's not very believable, and it is a very low budget but it does have its moments.

This movie would have been much better with proper acting, more money, and someone that could properly edit a script. As it stands it reminds me of a lot of those 80's adventure type movies.

Here is a brief summary of the movie...

This bad guy decides he wants to take the prototype of a freshly created time machine and go back in time to take out the relative of the person(s) that were part of the time machine team. I am not sure why he wanted to do this...could be he didn't like them or just wanted to make his own Time Machine and get all the credit. Not even sure if it says in the movie.

The good people decide they have to stop this! and bring in a team of people to help blend in and make their way back in time to follow bad guy. The inventors daughter decides she too will bring him back!

They head back in time to the 90's get chased by this cop, bad guy fails and heads further back in time.

The team follows. So does the cop.

They all end up in England or something when I think when they were in the 90's they were in the United States.

The team gets split up. 1 person dresses up like the bride to this evil tyrant (who is none other than bad guy they are looking for!)

The daughter finds some clothes and meets this oh so handsome knight and tells him she is looking for this Red Duke (who is a relative of her family and none other than knight boy himself and the target of bad guy! whew!)

FINALLY everything gets to the knitty gritty and all is well.

There is also twoish love stories going on... maybe three.

I hope you all enjoy this B movie from the late 80's.

This movie is a cringe-fest of bad acting and poor set design as well as tacky lines and a lame plot. But it is so much fun to watch. Everything about it is hilarious.The basic plot is a group of scientists from the future travel back in time to capture their evil co-worker who is intent on destroying them all. They catch up with him in the year 1146. The 'futuristic' lab of the scientists from the year 2033 is an eighties-style room with a bunch of 'futuristic' flashing buttons and a time capsule that looks like a lawn shed. The actors deliver their lines with unenthusiastic aplomb, which isn't hard to understand considering that the lines are usually earth-shakers like " I double-checked everything twice!" He double checked everything twice? He checked it four times? Not only that, but they feed you the entire premise of the movie in the first five minutes, and continue at a rapid fire pace until they hit the medieval part. When Roger Corman ran out of money. And had to stop travelling through time and consequently different sets. The medieval set is a comic mish-mash of anything from the late 10th century to the 16th century. Any costume they could find, they used. I guess chain mail wasn't on the budget, 'cause the guys all wear sequined shirts masquerading as armor. The fight scenes are laughable, with men casually throwing themselves onto cardboard swords with abandon and dying in death throws with nary a blow cast.It sounds truly awful, but I enjoy it every time I watch it. The lines alone are enough to have you in fits and everything else pulls together to create a fabulous B-movie that, if you are a connoisseur of corny flicks, I would suggest you see. And once you have, read the review on Unknown Movies. I love hearing them point out all the funny, truly awful bits in the movie.

I guess it was worth the $2.00. My 11 year old will probably enjoy it. The basic premise, an evil scientist steals the first time machine to erase the existence of all others responsible for it to take full credit, is a good one. This basically good premise suffers from cheap sets, cheap costumes, and silly dialog. Good actors like Ned Beatty and Lee Bergere end up being wasted. The whole affair comes off like an episode of Wishbone performed by Monty Python. In fact, I believe that Wil Shriner wears some of Wishbone's old wardrobe at some point. If someone with a budget and some imagination got a hold of the script it could be a decent movie. Are there any takers out there? This could be made into a good independent film.