Timequest

Direct and writer Robert Dyke shows us a possible world in which John F. Kennedy did not die by an assassin's bullet, but lived to finish his presidency and his natural life. A scientist from (perhaps) our future, in which Kennedy died that day in Dallas, perfects time travel and returns to the Fort Worth, Texas of 1963. His arrival is timed to warn Jacqueline, John and Robert Kennedy of what awaited them in Dallas, and the effect that event would have on our country and the Kennedys. Using an intriguing and effective non-linear story telling technique, Dyke tells the story of that time-traveling scientist, played effectively by Ralph Waite, the Kennedys and a possible—and more promising—future.

This film is based on a great idea, but could have been done much better, perhaps with a larger budget. It is worth watching, and hopefully will open the door for other films to take on this subject.

The issues dealing with the Kennedy's were a bit generalized and stereotypical and could have been developed more. To compete with other time travel films, I believe the technology could also be stepped up a notch.

While I enjoyed the film, it left me wanting to see a more detailed and better version of it.

Every generation has its "I remember exactly where I was" experience. For the living the list of these events runs from the sinking of the Titanic to the destruction of the World Trade Center. For my generation it is a cascade of events that begins with JFK's assassination. Nov 22, 1963 we were in school, heard the news and rushed home to watch events unfold on television.

In this time travel story JFK doesn't die, he learns that his philandering will ruin his image and stops, he turns the Cold War driven space race into an international project and stops the escalation of US involvement in Viet Nam --thus saving 57,000 lives.

I'd have to agree with others that the story telling here needs work. The order in which we see events doesn't convey the story arc all that well. Production values are low, there's gratuitous use of course language which, while all too common now, was alien then. As for the nudity: well, it was something to see Marilyn Monroe reproduce one of her most famous poses for JFK. I won't quibble about that.

My generation has the images of that weekend burned into our consciousness. In this story the Zapruder film, taken on the "Grassy Knoll," doesn't show the top of JFK's head being blown off. In this story Walter Cronkite's first announcement of something going in the President's motorcade doesn't end with him saying that JFK is dead. (Note: those of us in school didn't see it live, but we've lived with the taped images ever since.) And, finally, the event that takes place in Parkland Hospital (just outside Dallas) is joyous. It's not the end of a Presidency that had begun to capture the enthusiasm of a generation with it's New Frontier and Peace Corps, but a celebration of something new.

For it's many flaws this film shows some beautiful healing images.

"Timequest" is a film for Sci-Fi fans, Conspiracy Buffs, Bruce Campbell fans, and anyone who wants to enjoy an all around intellectually stimulating and entertaining film.

Robert Dyke's (who also made Moontrap) "Timequest" is both imaginative, intellectual, and advanced in it's formal composition.

It investigates the question: "What would our world have become if JFK had survived that day in Dallas?" The story begins in the Presidential Suite of Fort Worth, Texas where JFK and his wife Jacquie are being housed- the day before JFK would be shot in Dallas. The plot centers around a man who has discovered time travel, and- motivated by his obsession for Jacquie after seeing her mourn her husbands death- he decides to go back and warn the President of the impending attack, and subsequent effect it would have on history and, in turn, the reality of the future (which he didn't think was too sh*t hot).

Appearing from nowhere, having infiltrated the Presidential suite with the President inside unbeknownst to the Secret Service, sh*t starts to hit the fan. But the mystery man succeeds in settling everyone down by showing them a holographic video of JFK and his brother RFK's assassination. The President- considering the circumstances- heeds the threat seriously, and has his brother flown in to witness it all for himself. Robert is skeptical of the whole situation, but when he sees himself lying dead only 5 months later, he opens an ear.

They ask the man why he is doing all of this. He tells them how he was born on the day that JFK died; and how, growing up, he fell in love with Jacquie as she stood strong in wake of her husbands violent death. He also mentions that he hated the state of the world in his time, and thus sought to change it, even if it meant his demise (well....his demise in THAT (his future) form, as he would possibly not be born, if he is successful).

The Time Traveler warns the two men, not only about their future assassinations, but also of the second assassination attempt that would follow- the attempted assassination of JFK's character (in Clinton-esque fashion). Taking the warnings to heart the group waits for the exact moment of JFK's original assassination to occur- the moment history will change- denoted by the Traveler ceasing to exist.

As they wait for this moment to pass, the traveller asks only one thing- to dance with Jacquie. This moves her and she becomes obsessed with the man, as he disappears from their lives...in one sense anyways.

With history changed, the attempted assassins are caught (on the grassy knoll); JFK leads a long and fulfilling life; the CIA is dismantled; RFK continues his fight against organized crime; JFK forms and alliance with the Soviets to travel to the moon together; we see where people like J. Edgar Hoover, George Bush, Bill Clinton and Arthur Zapruder end up; John and Jacquie have another child; and Jacquie takes up art, painting the man- the traveller- whom she longs to meet (the her time version of, at least).

The Kennedy's always pay back those who help them. Considering this, John and Robert make all efforts to find the man in his younger form. All they have to go on is a fingerprint the man left on a glass.

Robert is a little more paranoid, though. He feels it may be necessary to find and kill the child, as he may go on to invent time travel, which would-be assassins could use to go back in time and kill JFK- again (kinda).

They look at all baby's born Nov 22, 1963, but then realize that his labour could have been brought on by the trauma of JFK's death and thus widen the range of their search. Eventually they do track him down. He's a petty criminal and artist.

JFK's son (who was born only as a result of his future self's intervention) takes him under their wing and provides him with a place, and the supplies he needs to thrive as an artist. The young man get's to meet the people his non-existent future self saved, and sees the wonderful portrait Jacquie painted of the man.

There is also a tangent(and I believe this element of the story is thrown in SOLELY to include BRUCE CAMPBELL- because it seemed relatively irrelevant to the whole story) in which Bruce Campbell plays an Oliver Stone-esque conspiracy theorist/ filmmaker who catches a whiff of what happened that November 21st at Fort Worth- but draws the most ridiculous conclusions from it, and ends up making a film that is more erotica than it is a conspiracy film.

I suppose this was meant to act as the character assassination attempt prophesized by the Traveler before he disappeared. But it doesn't really work effectively like that. It doesn't really hinder the flow of the story either, though. In fact, it is really quite funny in it's reflexivity- and Campbell is always golden.

The structure of this film is really quite complex. It plays with time and space in a way that is by no means subtle. They are constantly interweaving different spaces and times together. The "based on a true story" past with the imagined past, flashbacks and flashforwards. Different realities- real and imagined- are all knotted together into a complex puzzle (compositionally speaking). It does take a little bit of labour to understand, and for this reason I think it has been overlooked by many viewers and thus relegated to the realm of sci-fi obscurity.

It really is an incredible film- both story and plot-wise. I urge you all to check it out, it deserves to be watched.

Remember... "The futures last hope is the past." 8 out of 10.

An interesting "what-if" story: a man from the future goes back in time and prevents JFK's assassination. This movie presents an optimistic view of how history turned out. The narration follows three threads; our time, following the death of JFK at 84; the presidency of JFK after Nov 22, 1963; and the Kennedy's involvement in the life of a young artist. Bruce Campbell does parody again, it's nice to see Ralph Waite, and Larry Drake looks like he may explode soon. Like any good time-travel story it leaves you bewildered at the end. It's a bad political history, though, and I found much of it unbelievable. The conservative Republican revolution would have happened anyway. The oil shocks of the 1970s would have happened anyway. Sure, Dan Rather stays in Dallas and the Beatles never break up, but whatever happened to Nixon? What happened to Barry Goldwater? What would have happened to Vietnam?