Epoch

Ahh, the critics who are so quick to dismiss this made for TV movie often make me wonder what they're really looking for.

I picked this movie off the shelf of Blockbuster thinking "hey, unknown Sci-Fi movie, must be awful, but I bet there's some sample material for me in it." What a shock when I got it home and found it was actually clever and worth watching!

To begin with, the script is actually pretty smart, and filled with surprisingly witty dialog that had me laughing out loud at parts. The CGI effects are as good as they get for a movie of this budget, and are better than I expected them to be. The story, while mildly predictable, keeps you thinking, and is certainly of a bigger scope than the standard "five people trapped in a unknown alien artifact" that I expected. Any story that acknowledges politics and an outside world has to be given more credit than some viewers (and commenters here) would care to admit.

Overall, if you've got a rainy day and are looking for a little diamond in the rough, this isn't a bad way to spend two hours. There are faces you'll recognize, some intelligent unfolding of the story, reasonable cinematography and direction, and Epoch is an overall entertaining bit of work. 7.5 out of 10.

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.

The plot of this story is interesting, coupled with the Millenium anxiety that was prevalent during the time of release. However, huge hole in plot, lack of background and poor scripting resulted in a mediocre "armageddon" movie.

The background is that an ancient, gigantic, floating rock-like object suddenly appeared out from underground after 4 billion years. Of course, scientists, together with the prerequite of military force have to investigate. David Keith, plays the main protegonist who is supposedly incredibly intelligent and works under a female diplomat.

The usual, predictable sparks appear, between male and female, scientists and the military, USA vs China (the location is supposedly close to the Chinese border in Asia).

The worst thing is that there is potential for this show to have much better ratings. However, horrible scripts that don't into details, just action, action, action, coupled with the director's inability to elicit any emotion from the wooden actors/actresses except for the extreme ones made this show a movie that only a geek would like.

I first viewed this film when it aired in 2000. I was impressed by the intensity of David Keith's performance. Having seen him in Fire Starter, I was glad to see him as lead in another SCI-FI film. Not a particular fan of Ryan O'Neal, I must confess this role was executed extremely well.

I enjoyed this film from Title to credits and would recommend taking a look if you enjoy the "mystery of origin" venue.

When viewing this film, take a tongue-in-cheek view of budget, location, etc. Enjoy the film for the intense action and great performances rendered by David Keith and Ryan O'Neal, try not to be too critical of plot or content. Just let yourself be entertained for an hour and a half.