Time Runner

I'll pick up a dtv title for rental if it stars the right name and well ... you know where this is going. The likable Mark Hamill. 'Time Runner' sports a not particularly good opening with cheesy special FX, bad acting cut up by overlong, drawn out credits that has six people credited with the story which isn't a good sign. It's not the worst - some parts look like they're legitimately trying - but the end sci-fi result is weak.

In 2022, Cpt. Raynor (Hamill) escapes a space station hovering above Earth just before it's destroyed while an Alien race is in the final stages of conquering the planet. Entering a wormhole, he ends up in the past crash landing on the planet in the year 1992. He doesn't have much time to get his barring or make sense of what's going on because bad MiB - alien sleeper agents - are already on his trail to make sure he can't change the future and stop the invasion.

In a plot that jumps between timelines, b-movie regular Brion James is the president elect / real deal. Rae Dawn Chong a government scientist in the present day who as part of a team finds Raynor's escape pod, personally gets involved and helps. There's a standard bit of run 'n gun action, escape sequences and of course conspiracy - who can you trust - but much of it low grade. Think 'Terminator' mixed with 'Blade Runner' done cheap.

'Time Runner' is the type of generic movie that was pumped out by the dozen back in the day. At no point did it become painful, but without Mark Hamill I wouldn't have given it the time. 90 mins moves quickly enough and there's some decent moments however it never escapes it's low budget feel, being written knee deep. Fans of his might want to give it a watch for curiosity sake, but it ain't no 'Wing Commander' or 'Star Wars'.

Mark Hamill tried hard to prove himself as a rising actor after

RETURN OF THE JEDI back in '83, but alas, the poor dope couldn't find anything that would bring him back to the same superstardom he

received as Luke Skywalker. With the exception of his truly excellent voice-over talent as the Joker in BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, Hamill had to work in low-budget flix, like TIME RUNNER. In what looks like another TERMINATOR-style sci-fi flick, Hamill plays a soldier from (where else?) the future, who was sent back in time to the early

90's in order to prevent a disaster from skewering the timeline. As tired as the storyline sounds, TIME RUNNER is actually an enjoyable

piece of work. Hamill plays a less-restrained performance, going gonzo on the baddies with guns instead of using the Force or light sabers. The late, great Brion James also shines, as the head honcho of the villains that Hamill's character so truly desired to eliminate.

Strange that Mark Hamill could go from having one of the most enviable looking careers (in 1977) to being cast in low-budget junk like this. This movie would *still* have been bad if it was released in 1977. The effects are embarrassing and the script is lame. Who'd have guessed that Harrison Ford was the real future star in Star Wars?

Time Runner is nothing more then a low budget ripoff of James Cameron's The Terminator. Mark Hamill hasn't had much of a film career after Star Wars well at least he did better then Carrie Fisher. Mark Hamill plays Michael Raynor a guy that has ended up in the past because of a worm hole. Michael Raynor must warn somebody about what is going to happen in the future. In the future people to launch a bomb that will destroy the aliens. A bunch of dumb events leads to Micheal trying to save his baby self. Low budget special effects, poor acting and badly put together plot kept this film from going anywhere. Sadly this film was made in Canada for the most part.

Time Runner looks like it has been done in someones garage. The special effects are extremlel bad as is the wooden acting, with the exception of Mark Hamill and maybe Brion James. I'd recommend this to someone who wants to see a bad cheasy sci-fi film.