Time Lapse

Time Lapse isn't a great gen or anything but its still a fun little action thriller, the type that stocked up the shelves at your local Blockbuster video store.

I searched this one out because I'm a huge Roy Scheider fan & have been checking out his later in career low-budget B-movies & he's always great on screen. Later in Cheif Brody's career he starred in many low-budget B-movies & usually as a bad guy or as the president of the United States. Here the sun kissed-leather faced legend of Cult Cinema plays a shady government agent type who is working with a deep undercover agent played by a wired faced William Mcnamara (a guy I've never seen before) & this guy is a strange action hero, because he looks so bizarre his face lol. Anyway this guy is undercover & all of a sudden blows the situation & doesn't know why? This flick is about a loss of time & shady corrupted people. Roy Scheider is the best part of the film but 2nd is definitely having the beautiful & underrated actress DINA MEYER (Bats, Starship Troopers, D-Tox) in a decent role as our memory lost heroe's ex-wife. Anyway it's a basic memory loss action thriller made on a small budget but it's entertaining & filmed really well. As said, Time Lapse is no long lost Gem but its a fun little B-movie with action & thrills around every corner.

I like many B-movies & i liked Time Lapse & always enjoy Roy Scheider on screen.

Riddle: how do you make a good movie on a shoestring budget, with a worthless story line, an even worse screenplay adaptation, second class actors prompted to give third class performances, on surplus celluloid with no resolution or ability to render better than a gritty soundtrack of totally uninspired so-called music, with direction that totally misses what's going on, gets the sound wrong, the acting so totally inadequate and unbelievable - and which can still star Roy Scheider? Well Roy's the easy part: here's a talented actor who keeps getting these 'aces' and for all we know it's these turkeys he's got known for by now so he can't get any better.

But seriously: you know the feeling of fingernails on a blackboard? You've heard that one? Can you imagine what it feels like? The almost embarrassing discomfort of this Thanksgiving feast is far worse. You feel so sad for everyone and above all feel sorry for the total ineptitude of whoever the talentless people were who put this together.

Avoid this one at all costs and if your video outlet carries it - boycott them. No one should be subjected to this tripe.

Poor Roy. Poor everyone.

Was I the only one who saw this pile that noticed that the ending "borrowed" several shots from the ending of The Long Kiss Goodnight by Renny Harlin? Just as Imposter borrowed several effects shots from several other sci-fi movies.

Overall, the acting was flat and the action was staged poorly. Scheider and Dina Meyer are better than this stuff, but they have to eat I guess. Plot was not too bad, but very familiar. If there is nothing else on, like Court.tv or commercials, this movie may be worth watching.

Overall, I give it 3 out of 10.

Maybe Dina Meyer should give Verhoeven a call again.

This is not only a bad movie, it is yet another scary symptom of a sick society being pandered to by an exploitive and irresponsible film industry. The plot is idiotic. As happens again and again, it is based on corrupt, all powerful government. There is endless gun play (in which nobody ever seems to hit anything)and repeated gore. There is a totally gratuitous lesbian sex scene which has absolutely no bearing on the plot. If things aren't being riddled with bullets or pushed out of windows, they're blown up in fiery explosions. Why are the Brits able to do some real nail-biters without resorting to this sort of blam-blam sensationalism. And the Americans wonder why they have a firearms problem... I am a great believer that you get what you pay for in bargain bin movies at Walmart. But I keep hoping. I paid a buck fifty for this one and would consider myself ripped off except that by replacing the erase tab, I can re-use the tape. Almost anything I record on it will be better than this vulgar, violent cinematic vomit!

Well, yes there were a lot of bangs, blasts, and flashbacks. But since it was up against the State of the Union address, it gets plus points for being more in touch with reality.

Scheider appeared infrequently in the film, telegraphing in his performance from wherever he was mentally. He has done some really incredible films in the past... its sad to see him waste his time on this one. The female lead was easy on the eyes, and probably gave the most from her reserves of acting juice. The hunk/hero had less emotion than the beer bottle I was looking at him through.

I watched it because it was the least objectionable thing on TV for that time slot, and thats not saying much.