I cacciatori del tempo

I probably wouldn't have commented on this film. After getting into a discussion about 80's sci-fi movies with a friend, this title popped up. Wow, I thought I was the only one who remembered this flick. Having originally seen this waaaay back in 87' I can say it didn't really get much better with age. That is okay however, as this was blip on the radar. Just one more failed pilot for a series that CBS couldn't avail itself to try producing. It was however a enjoyable effort but one that most viewers could probably see being skewed into a "Voyagers" type programming pigeon-hole had it gone to full series. From what I understand, "Scholastic", the mass media educational powerhouse was to help with the franchise. Alas, it could have not just been entertainment but educational too!

The fast moving and clever time travel plot is greatly enhanced by the presence of the duster clad Klaus Kinski. He has a lot of screen time, along with a fine performance by William Devane. After his wife and boy are killed in a car wreck, Devane purchases an old western trunk, which contains the intriguing 1886 photograph, that sets the story in motion. A chase ensues across 100 years to reverse history, and the tale never falters. One memorable scene involves Kinski entering a fence protected compound. The film holds interest throughout, and the ending is very satisfying. I bought "Timestalkers" because I am a big fan of both Klaus Kinski and William Devane. I was not disappointed. - MERK

There's few time travel pictures that I don't pick apart with fourth dimensional reasoning and this is one of them. There's a very wonderful scene as the time traveling bad guy wants into an Army base, so he travels back to before it was built, crosses where the perimeter fence will be and then returns to the present on the other side of the fence ! William Devane does a great job as the writer who writes the book that causes time travel to be invented. When he discovers an old tin-type with a man holding a very modern-day gun, he steps into an adventure with Lauren Hutton that leads him into fulfilling his greatest wish to be a gunfighter. John Ratzenburger forgets Cliff on "Cheers" to play a very likeable Army Colonel and Forrest Tucker appears too in his very last movie role as an Old West Collector (Shades of "F-Troop," perhaps). This wonderful movie is great for the whole family as Hutton repays Devane's kindness with an act that probably eliminates the entire movie from even occurring.You have to see it to know what I mean.

Time travelling with a gun slinging Klaus Kinski and western memorabilia nut William Devane? I won't have it any other way. "Timestalkers" is a playfully modest little made-for-TV production that's full of warmth and covers an interestingly ambitious concept.

The story follows Professor Scott McKenzie (William Devane), an old western memorabilia collector discovers in a photograph from 1866 a 20th century .357 Magnum revolver in the hands of a cowboy (Klaus Kinski). Scott soon starts questioning the possibility of time-travel and writes a paper on it. Then strangely a lady appears who claims that she believes him and he soon discovers that she's a time-traveller too. She wants him help her find out why this time-traveller has gone back to the old-west and eventually stop him from changing the face of history.

Early on the plot moves back and forth between the past and present. Some of the items that Devane's character looks at or purchases at an auction have a history that involves the magnum-toting gunman. Some foreseeable plot-holes creep in, but it's inventively told and works well with its collective gimmicks. The chintzy special effects create some charm, and so does the cheesy igniting sparks cutaways. The uncanny music is whimsically scored. There's a nice sense of humour in the script. Devane gives a winning performance and Kinski's glazed turn offers that venomously cold tinge. Lauren Hutton is fetchingly palatable. John Ratzenburger and Forest Tucker pop in with fun support parts. It looks cheap, but it's actually better than its limitations allow it to be. A smart, enjoyably harmless sci-fi yarn.

Cowboys, time travel and Klaus Kinski, it doesn't get much better than this. This film is one of those little gems that should be watched every Xmas along with The Great Escape and Its a Wonderful Life. Like all good films it starts with tragedy, then a small mystery. The back story is well presented and not complicated; like many I could mention. Also, the story doesn't jump back and too; as is all too common these days. Happy endings don't come any happier, that's all I'm going to say, but is not predictable. Klaus Kinski is a joy to watch with his rolling eyes and tough talking and big cowboy coat. The time traveling is cool and does not involve a Tardis; another bonus.