Epoch

Good story concept. The special effects could have been a little better. I think this is a movie made by SciFi channel. Being a made for TV movie it isn't half bad. The story reminds me of the movie "Sphere" It is worth a watch based on the story concept alone. I'm glad I watched it.

I have to agree with the wizard. i'm stuck at home on a Saturday with the flu, and luckily I have every channel Direct TV offers, so there's a lot to choose from.

This is a very decent, made for TV sci-fi movie. Complete with philosophical issues, a few plot twists...e.g., 80% of the way through the movie, you don't know if the 'thing' is good or bad.

The actors are mostly B and C level players. But the script, and their performance allows one to become absorbed in the storyline. As opposed to many, that are just so plain horrible.......immersion into the story is impossible.

I can name 10 movies that have been released in this calender year, ones I've paid 9.00 to see in theater, that I feel are less worthy of 2 hours of my life.

I'd classify this, as definitely worth watching for free....if its on TV. Not worth going to see at the theater. Not worth making a special trip to blockbuster, but worth tucking away in the back of your mind for one of those nights when everything else is checked out.

I give it a 5.

Doc

Epoch starts out reasonably well... even if it's not very original. An alien artifact -- a strange twisted rock-like formation -- suddenly appears in the remote country of Bhutan and the Americans and Chinese race to reach it. The Americans win and begin to explore it.

The problems for the film begin toward the end. It starts to become really stupid. There are interesting narrative threads that are just forgotten about, and people start to do moronic things for no apparent reason. I'm reading between the lines here (I haven't seen the original script so I just don't know), but there seemed to be a theme of life/death/rebirth/pregnancy and how it links with the object (particularly considering the strange Bhutan child and the final scene) but only traces remain the film. Of course, it may just have been a poorly written story... or it may have been butchered later. It does seem as though large chunks of the script were ditched in order to shorten the running time.

The film is entertaining at the start but hugely disappointing at the end. It leaves you feeling annoyed at the wasted opportunity.

For once I'm stumped by the cybercritics who contribute to IMDB. "Epoch" is not that bad Z-grade flick some cynics asserted. I was pleasantly surprised, which pleased my boyfriend, who wanted to watch another Sci-Fi film. I ate crow on this one after consulting this website. David Keith is an easy hunk who's engaging, and Stephanie Niznik does a Mary Wouronov-like turn as Kelly McGillis and Jodie Foster (the psychic lovers of "The Accused").

The movie's mystery is consistently upbeat despite the standard brutality of the military sectors. This is quite unusual, refreshing. Even the threat of nuclear war has a fey warmth in this tale, as if a blanket wrapped round you will neutralize the deadliest virus.

"Epoch" is consistently intelligence without arrogance. The cheap special effects are equally charming, evocative of the 1950s, and as effective as the inserted computer-generated screens that fill the film's landscape.

Brian Thompson actually does some character development as Captain Tower, and James Hong is spare and most amusing.

Lots of unexpected turns adorn this smoky gem. Congratulations to the cast and crew, and "Tsk-tsk" to all my fellow critics who dogged the show a little too communistically.

Listen, I have seen REAL junk before seeing this movie - movies with worse scripts, worse special effects, worse acting, you name it. That's why I am kind of puzzled with everyone here claiming that those attributes in this movie are the worse possible. All I can think is that they have mostly or completely watched big-budget Hollywood product, and think that the only good films that exist must fit that criteria.

The movie starts off pretty well, thanks in part to an intriguing premise. And the investigation of the object and the events surrounding it keep up the interest, with some genuine intelligent touches. There is also some extra tension added with the subplot about the Chinese.

Okay, the special effects overall may not be up to a big-budget Hollywood movie, but they are far above average for made-for-video movies. (And a few, in fact, are excellent.) And yes, there are a few questionable things in the script, such as how the Chinese first react to the object when they get near it. The acting is mainly mediocre, but it's not so bad that it keeps distracting you from the characters and the events.

However, I will admit that the movie ultimately ends up being a big question mark. A lot of intriguing questions are brought up, but there is little done to answer them. Still, this is nowhere the worst movie that's ever been made. For those who think so, I say: Expand the range of what you watch! For starters, try watching movies made by Royal Oaks or Phoenician Entertainment, or movies produced by Lloyd A. Simandl!