O Guardião do Tempo

Tom Burlinson and Carrie Fisher are sent back in time from the 41st century to late 20th century Australia to thwart their cyborg enemies the Jen Diki-who are costumed like Vikings and have major nasal congestion problems into the bargain.Fisher is sidelined early through injury and Burlinson's main ally becomes a fetching young geologist with whom he develops a relationship Bags of noisy action but the budget restrictions are all too evident and its Stateside stars Fisher and Stockwell have essentially dispensable roles with too little to do

Only really suitable for die hard science fiction nuts

While "The Time Guardian" is never actively bad enough to annoy or anger viewers, more likely than not viewers will be disappointed with it. The biggest fault is with the script. For one thing, while the story (sort of) makes sense in the beginning, by the end of the movie viewers will be downright confused with the many details that were vague or necessary but simply not there at all. Also, the big stars of the movie, Dean Stockwell and Carrie Fisher, are wasted in minor roles that have no real impact to the rest of the movie. And the major characters aren't that interesting or fleshed out well. But the script is not the only thing to blame. The movie is directed in a manner that sorely lacks urgency and excitement. As it is, the movie just plods along in a casual manner. Is there anything of merit in the movie? Well, for a movie that cost just a fraction of a major Hollywood movie, the sets, costumes, and assorted special effects do look pretty good. But a pretty look does little when you don't care about the characters or story.

Tom Burlinson kind of went a bit beyond the quality of this film's script and budget to turn in a fairly kick butt performance for the character of Ballard. He seemed like he came out of a much higher quality film, in fact, the character felt like he was plucked right out of the first Terminator film.

Burlinson was definitely in the moment during the first battle sequence where they attempted to secure the city's pillar. I also like that he maintained a fairly hard edge throughout.

It's funny how he completely reproached Fisher's character early on and never really backed down or entirely eased up. A character like that can't exist in today's cinema, else he be classified as "toxic".

But it's just a stark reminder that the quality of media today is so awful that I had to give this film a 5 out of 10 only because it was more entertaining than a lot of the schlock released today.

To the film's credit, some of the scenes are structured pretty cool. In the night time lighting and with the right camera angles, the enemies actually sometimes look imposing, but they never get the proper screen time to be as menacing as they should be.

A few things that could have seriously helped this film is a re-edit and some serious tightening up of the entire middle section.

Having the evil cyborgs attack the town during the middle of the film in a horror-esque sequence would have gone a long ways to make the film a lot more enjoyable.

Also, a proper, dark-synth soundtrack would have added tons to the movie's atmosphere as opposed to the cheap made-for-TV soundtrack it was saddled with. It was like the film was its own biggest enemy when so much could have been done with what they already had.

Even still, Carrie Fisher and Nikki Coghill are both extremely easy-on-the-eyes, and despite not having much material to work with, they both do what they can with the material. I'm kind of shocked that Fisher didn't entirely sleep walk through her performance, but she came awfully close.

If you want a decent 80s sci-fi action flick, this certainly isn't the best of them, but Burlinson is a legit action hero in this film, and carries it on his shoulders somewhat proudly. It's not the worst way to spend an hour and half on a weekend or so.

Considering the fact that Carrie Fisher did this six years after Star Wars, I was expecting a lot more from her in this horrible movie. Her dialogue was flat and should be ranked right up there with the Star Wars Christmas special.

Sci-fi junkies may derive some entertainment out of the silly time killer "The Time Guardian". It's often incoherent, and is of no real substance, but it's amusing often enough, and just clunky enough, to make it adequately diverting for those with a fondness for cheese. Those intrigued by the presence of Carrie Fisher ("Star Wars" episodes IV to VI) and Dean Stockwell ('Quantum Leap') may be rather disappointed with the overall results, but if one isn't too demanding, it may put a smile on their faces. The special effects, sets, music, acting, and action sequences are mostly passable.

It takes place in the Earth of the 41st century when humans are overwhelmed by a new adversary: half organic, half machine villains called Jendiki. Fortunately, some of the humans inhabit an entire city that has the ability to travel through time. The city transports itself back to the Australia of the 1980s in an attempt to change the future, with troopers Ballard (a tough, snarling Tom Burlinson ("Flesh + Blood")) and Petra (Fisher) sent ahead as scouts to ensure that the spot chosen for landing will be safe. Of course, the Jendiki are hot on their trail, and Ballard and Petra have to deal with them as well as with crooked local cops. One good thing for Ballard is that he meets perky young Annie, played by the insanely gorgeous Nikki Coghill of the Aussie TV series 'Neighbours'.

As directed by "Mad Max 2" co-writer Brian Hannant, "The Time Guardian" can't boast any truly memorable set pieces, but it's an easy enough to take bit of fluff. Fisher does what she can with a spunky role, but Stockwell is utterly wasted in his part, the "boss" of the city. Burlinson would have fared better had he played his part with a little more humour. But Coghill is quite charming, and goes topless for a sexy swimming scene. Peter Merrill chews up the scenery as head bad guy Zuryk.

This movie may be a trifle in the end, but it does wrap itself up fairly quickly, clocking in at a brief 88 minutes. Overall it's a fair bit of fun.

Six out of 10.