Time Bomb Y2K

While this program is an interesting history of the buildup to Y2K and how nothing ends up happening, it hovers too much on the New Years festivities and then ends. It would have been interesting to see f there were follow-up interviews done with the militias, doomsayers, and preppers to see what they said about the lack of event.

I know it's a documentary of already existing footage, but a "where are they now montage - even in title cards - would have been an interesting ending, providing closure to the stories presented. Only one person is followed up on, the guy who was right all along in the end.

I lived through this, and, other than some software patches that were needed, it was much ado about something that could be fixed easily enough. They are showing the fringes of people that let themselves be swayed by doomsday messages. Most people that I knew at the time weren't too concerned. They knew nothing catastrophic would happen and they knew the software patches were being handled. Y2K was akin to the Mayan Calendar scare of 2012. You either believed it and waited for the end or you went on with your life as usual because you knew it was the media overblown fear mongering pushing the doom and gloom. It isn't very accurate, but it's not entirely wrong.

"Time Bomb," marketed as a documentary chronicling the infamous millennium bug, falls short of its potential to create a captivating time capsule. The film primarily relies on a compilation of old news articles, offering a montage of historical moments without delving into the depth needed to provide a meaningful perspective on the Y2K phenomenon.

One of the film's major drawbacks is its brevity, featuring only fleeting 15-second interviews with industry titans like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Jeff Bezos. These brief snippets fail to offer substantial insights or reflections on the challenges and fears surrounding the Y2K bug. It leaves viewers yearning for a more in-depth exploration of the thoughts and strategies of these influential figures during that pivotal time.

While the idea of using archival footage to revisit the turn of the millennium is intriguing, "Time Bomb" lacks the narrative cohesion necessary to tie these disparate clips together effectively. The disjointed nature of the film leaves audiences with a sense of missed opportunity, as it neglects to weave a compelling story around the Y2K bug and its impact on society.

Moreover, the documentary's overall uneventful quality mirrors the anti-climactic nature of the Y2K bug itself. The film fails to capture the tension and anticipation that characterized the lead-up to the year 2000. Instead of offering a nuanced exploration of the social and technological landscape of that time, "Time Bomb" merely scratches the surface with a superficial montage of historical snippets.

Ultimately, "Time Bomb" disappoints as a documentary that could have served as a valuable time capsule for future generations. Its lack of depth and failure to provide a comprehensive understanding of the Y2K era make it a poor recommendation for anyone seeking a meaningful insight into the turn of the millennium and the challenges some of us lived through.

As "Timebomb Y2K" (2023 release; 84 min) opens, we are in "1996" as Bill Clinton and AL Gore yap it up about the "information super highway", and big names like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos all weigh in. Then comes along a no-name doomsayer Peter De Jager, warning about the "millennium bug" to anyone who will listen to him... At this point we are 10 minutes into the documentary.

Couple of comments: with 20/20 hindsight provided by the passage of a quarter century, we now look back at the hype that was the millennium bug. Was it ever a fact? We simply cannot tell as of course nothing happened when December 31, 1999 changed into January 1, 2000. De Jager says that doom was averted because so much work was done by so many in the leadup of Y2K. I have no idea. What we know is this: preparing for Y2K became a cotton industry in and of itself. It also gave (yet another) excuse to the fringes of society to spout all kinds of non-sensical conspiracy theories (the Y2K bug was a plot by the federal government to come take your guns away! No, really!). Bottom line: whether it was a fact or just hype, it now feels like the Y2K bug is at best a curiosity or footnote in history, and that is how this documentary comes across as well.

"Timebomb Y2K" played at various film festivals in 2023, and it started airing on HBO and streaming on Max (where I caught it) in late December. If you feel a little nostalgic about the "good ol' days" of the late 90s, I'd readily suggest you check this out (with expectations in check), and draw your own conclusion.

A nice time capsule to show what it was like at the turn of the millennium. A good demonstration of how crazy people can get, but also how people can come together and solve a massive problem, by listening to the people who know what they are talking about and not the people in the fringes. Seems more important now than ever.

The documentary is just made from archive footage and doesn't really talk about the bug itself that much. But does show the world of 20 odd years ago and paints a picture of the optimism and panic that surrounded the turn of the millennium.

Gave a nice nostalgic watch to a time that seems like yesterday in my brain.