Idaho Transfer

"Idaho Transfer" takes an extraordinary premise and places it in a nonchalant story line. Almost everything seems pedestrian and laid-back, as if time travel could be as common and ordinary as hopping on the log flume at Six Flags. The dialogue is so "wild" and "far out" that one can feel one's self transported back to 1973 (the year Peter Fonda directed this cult classic) -- I could sense my hair follicles growing longer as I watched the film. Yet, this is a movie about people traveling into the future.

"Idaho Transfer" is riveting because it is filled with unpredictable and unexpected moments. It is a cross between an idiotic mess and a brilliant masterpiece (a veritable vision). Personally, I thought it was one of the most realistic time travel flicks I have seen. I give it high praise for bringing believability to the time travel concept. The time machine itself was designed by scientists and created in a realistic-looking laboratory environment. Traveling through time in said machine was not "smooth sailing" -- there were bugs in the machinery (it was the '73 Chevy Nova of time machines), but bugs there SHOULD be in such a complex machine! Fascinating is the quick transformation from advanced civilization to the primal lava/desert future. Intense was the ending, with a final few minutes so much more exciting and interesting than the ending to a low budget flick has a right to be. The final scene brings the whole idiotic mess/brilliant vision together in a way that nobody could possibly expect. Then, just when you wonder if the ending is one of the stupidest you've ever seen to a film, you give it a second thought and realize -- "Hey, what a 'wild' and 'far out' ending! We've not come too far since caveman days, and we've not too far to go to get to the point where we will think that 1973 was prehistoric times." Maybe we are already at that point?

When I sat myself down to watch "Idaho Transfer" my expectations were very low -- I expected to be left with an empty feeling. This film far exceeded my expectations and was literally fueled with dynamism right up to the bitter end.

I haven't seen this film since it was first released, but can remember being particularly impressed by what a fine example it was of low budget, higher than average concept sci-fi. Not unlike an extend above the norm Twilight Zone episode, there were no stunning sets, or even matte paintings as I can recall, but very effective use of location at the Mountains of the Moon National Monument in Idaho---why hasn't anybody shot anything else there since?

Briefly the story revolves around a group of student scientists who have developed a time travel portal which delivers them to the same locale some few decades in the future. Discoveries are made, things happen, etc.; of necessity I can tell you little more without spoiling, what other reviewers rightfully refer to as the "punch line". I'd say it was positively Swiftean in its social satire as the best science fiction often is. Idaho Transfer is a wry, tragic, amusing, horrific, cautionary little tale somewhere between the much-upon-us worthiness of "Silent Running", and the full-blown apocalyptic satire of "A Boy and His Dog", and certainly deserving of the same cult status. It is also, I believe, Peter Fonda's directorial debut, and would be of interest to his fans for that reason alone.

Creepy. Different. And rarely viewed in public. In fact, most Peter Fonda buffs won't even know it exists. I have many books on the genre with no mention of this film. Anywhere. Mr. Fonda constructs a distinct bird's nest view on the end-of-the-world branch of "hippy" cinema. Don't look for impressive acting work--you will not find it here. Keith Carradine has a small taste of screen time but shows nothing. The unusual setting (Idaho?) fairs better. We are shown jagged terrain, colorful rainbows, barren wastelands and frozen mountains. You half expect the gods to explode a volcano and rain down all types of debris. Otherworldly. This dark zone--from a world of tomorrow--is shifty. And the exact time is never etched in granite. The transfer station is a time portal to the far-off future. Bare bones special effects (the time-travel device looks like a cooling unit flipped over on to its belly) work well in conveying the long trek through time. The ending is so bleak and perverted in its resolution that you may need to rub your eyes and seek out counseling. There is one sequence involving a futuristic teenager that I found shocking. She is planted in the backseat of a modern sedan, parents in front, twirling a screwdriver, unaware of its practical use. It has the name "Great Neck" floating in its gold plastic handle. Her verbal cadence is detached and spooky. You will not be able to erase this image and her words from your mind. I promise.

The film is unusually well written, one of the more thoughtful sci fi films. Esp if you get frustrated by bloated excuses for FX and empty attempts to be "gritty."

The problem obviously is, virtually everything else about the film. Poor direction, no budget, unknown actors who are a mix of needing a chance to show what they can do, and should never act again.

You find yourself constantly wishing this were remade with a better director with a budget. But it's still interesting enough that I watched to the very end, wanting to see what happens.

Intrepid young researchers with the ability to travel ahead in time as part of a government sponsored project to survey ecology and forecast future food shortages, discover that earth may have succumbed to a nuclear disaster. As a result of the discovery, the government suspends their research and they stage a daring time travel to the future in an attempt to locate signs of life, or, aid its continuance. Isolated in the Idaho wilderness, they pair off in search of life only to encounter a series of harrowing symbols and shocking revelations concerning the fate of mankind.

Director Fonda has merged the youth movement culture of the early seventies with the sci-fi genre, affecting a creatively unique and stylishly photographed film that would surely attract cult status. While the themes are heavily symbolised (you really need to find the meaning beyond the text here), the dialogue somewhat lacking narrative context, and the characters shallow, the film still packs a punch. Bruce Logan's cinematography in a barren Idaho wilderness is a highlight, while performances by the unknown cast (save for Keith Carradine in a small role) range from rank amateur to semi professional at best, although this doesn't diminish the overall impact.

Quirky (the time transporter has to separate metal from mineral matter and so the researchers commute sans pants owing to the zippers) and experimental looking, there's an apparent allegorical message about mankind's custodianship of the planet, and the role of youth in arresting its decline which will either hit or miss depending on your preference for sci-fi rendered social commentary. And while forbearance is required to accept some of the events depicted in the film (e.g. there's a character who's head is seemingly beaten to a pulp with a rock in a sustained, frenzied attack, yet bares little more than a scratch), if you persevere, you may be rewarded.