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Sadly Over-hyped

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Wasted about an hour of my life on this film, thinking it was going to be a decent time travel film and maybe even a hidden gem.However, it was so bad I couldn't even finish the thing.The acting (bar Jeff Daniels and the guy playing the bus driver) was uniformly terrible. It felt like watching one of those really cheap daytime TV shows full of people who can't act.The storyline was an unsophisticated and childish idea about sight-seeing time travellers who visit places where disastrous events are about to take place so they can observe for their own pleasure.The daftest thing though, was how Jeff Daniels finds out about the time travellers, which is via finding a passport belonging to one of them with lots of different dates on it. Forgetting the possible issues around a time traveller using the same passport for tens or even hundreds of years without it being an issue (I'm thinking here about how passports have changed over the years and they would need different ones for different time periods), the most stupid thing about it is how he suddenly jumps to the conclusion of them being time travellers without even a hint of scepticism or even considering any other possible scenarios (such as a fake passport or even just putting it down to some weird unexplainable anomaly). Of all they ways he could have discovered their secret, this was about the daftest and his sudden conviction that were time travellers based on this passport with mismatching dates on it was not at all believable and rather ludicrous.Terrible film.

Timescape is a charming, fairly overlooked early 90's bit of escapism. It's directed by David Twohy (his first feature) a guy known for super fun, out there sci fi stuff, like Below, The Arrival, A Perfect Getaway and the Riddick franchise. Here he reigns it in a bit in a family cemeteries story of time travel and intrigue, but loses none of the invigorating nature of storytelling found in his work. Jeff Daniels, an actor who grew on me immensely in the last few years and who I now consider one of my favourites, is excellent as Ben Wilson, a blue collar single father fixing up an old inn with his young daughter Allison (Ariana Richards of Jurassic Park!). They get strange visitors who appear out of nowhere and seem to be in their town for a very specific, ominous reason. They are odd, spacey weirdos led by a flamboyant old bird (Marilyn Lightstone) and soon Ben suspects not only are they not from the region, but not even from the same time as them. Daniels plays the Everyman so well and carries the film with his skills. Ben has a tragic past involving the passing of his wife, and is forced to deal with a tyrannical father in law who blames him, wants to take custody of Allison, and also just happens to be a judge. Richards, younger here than in Jurassic Park, is super talented and intuitive beyond her years and lights up every frame, especially with the wonderful chemistry her and Daniels have. Vague disaster looms over their town and Ben is forced to uncover the secrets that the mysterious 'tourists' hold, and use the powers of time to navigate himself, Allison and the entire town to safety. The dimension bending third act is given down to earth, thought out reverence that treats its audience with respect, challenging them and aiming to please at the same time. "There is purpose to Time, you know... Keeps everything from happening all at once", one of the travelling strangers imparts to Ben. Indeed. It's a thoroughly fun piece, and should have a little more recognition than it does these days.

I saw this soon after its original release and would love to see it come out on DVD for Region 2.It is a low-budget gem: well written, very well acted, with an interesting and surprising storyline. The film moves steadily without breaking into much of a sweat until the rapid build up to the revelation to the 'reason'.It is strangely engaging. I had something else to complete urgently but the 90 mins. seemed much more important.I'd love to see it again. If you get the chance, then do so as you'll enjoy it.A gem.

I'll always remember hiring this as a VHS video under its alternate title "Timescape" the same evening as hiring "Frankenstein Unbound" for mini time travel evening.Jeff Daniels is the reliable Daniels we've come to know in Arachnaphobia etc, and his position in the story has some curious parallels with that movie.The story is entertaining, ideal for fans of The Outer Limits or Twilight Zone; indeed it could have been an extended episode of these shows.There's a great man meets himself section, some great time travel plot twists, and to top it all, the appearance of Mr Time Tunnel in a funny suit! Great entertainment.