Tueur du futur

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.

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.

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.

Keep in mind that this is a TV movie, with a rather limited budget. It is not meant to be a thriller or a marvel of science fiction. Nothing in it is original, and as most other time travel films, it asks you not to think too much about the logic of time travel. It's basically a nice little family film that you can watch with your kids on a lazy afternoon and have some fun. There are no scenes in it that contain real violence or that come off as particularly threatening. Our heroes breeze through the obstacles the plot throws at them with considerable ease. Granted, the absence of real tension and the fact that the antagonist is not truly menacing is a problem, but I am willing to disregard that problem because I find the overall experience of watching this quite pleasant. The cast is pretty good and it's a pleasure to watch them on screen. The female lead steals the show, though. There's lots of nostalgia here for those who remember the 80s.

I have been looking for this movie for almost 20 years, since I first viewed the movie & Finally! Here it is. It made such a huge impact on me that I never forgot it or stopped looking. Great actors, action & story plot. Time & time travel has always been a big part of my life & every movie pertaining to time-travel peaks my interest and gives me new ideas and ways of looking at thing & life around me. Does this really exist? Could this really happen? To go back and find out & be the only one who knows Leonardo De Vinci's true last name or to just know him personally would be awesome. Or to experience the old west to sit with the Indian's in peace. Thank you for a wonderful movie & even better actors to go with it.