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Movies / On DVD / A Sound of Thunder
A Sound of Thunder

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A Sound of Thunder (2005)

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Reviews Counted:94

Fresh:7

Rotten:87

Average Rating:2.9/10

Consensus: Choppy logic and uneven performances are overshadowed by not-so-special effects that makes the suspension of disbelief a nearly impossible task.

Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: In A SOUND OF THUNDER, based on a short story by Ray Bradbury, director Peter Hyams (END OF DAYS, TIMECOP) creates a world where time travel is possible and life as we know it is threatened. In the... In A SOUND OF THUNDER, based on a short story by Ray Bradbury, director Peter Hyams (END OF DAYS, TIMECOP) creates a world where time travel is possible and life as we know it is threatened. In the year 2055, Charles Hatton's (Ben Kingsley) company, Time Safari, will take anyone with a big enough wallet back 65 million years for the thrill of their lives: dinosaur hunting. Thanks to Tammy, a talking computer created by Dr. Sonia Rand (Catherine McCormack), the time-travel team returns with clients to a specific moment 65 million years ago, with explicit directions not to leave anything behind, change anything, or bring anything with them back to the future. Expedition leader Travis Ryer (Ed Burns) is certain that the protocol is flawless, but Dr. Rand isn't so sure. She knows that Hatton will cut any corners necessary to make bigger bucks, and she's waiting for the worst. Sure enough, a safari goes amiss when Ryer's gun malfunctions and he sends the clients scampering for cover from an irate dinosaur. The team returns to 2055 shaken but unscathed. The next day, all over Chicago, mysterious trees and vines begin springing up through sidewalks and out of walls. It seems that something went terribly wrong on the last jump, but no one can pinpoint just what it was. According to Rand, the problem will only worsen as "time waves" continue to sweep the planet, resulting in 65 million years of evolution and growth catching up with the present time. Soon, monstrous creatures--giant baboons with lizard-like features, bat-faced teradactyls, and huge sea serpents--abound, leaving Ryer and his team in constant danger as they fight the clock to determine what caused the anomaly and to save life as we know it. [More]

Starring: Edward Burns, Catherine McCormack, Ben Kingsley, Jemima Rooper

Starring: Edward Burns, Catherine McCormack, Ben Kingsley, Jemima Rooper, David Oyelowo, Joshua Oppenheimer

Director: Peter Hyams

Director: Peter Hyams
Screenwriter: Gregory Poirier
Story: Thomas Dean Donnelly
Producer: Moshe Diamant, Howard L. Baldwin, Karen Baldwin, Jan Fantl
Composer: Nick Glennie-Smith
Studio: Warner Bros.

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Reviews for A Sound of Thunder

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Good idea unsuccessfully realised with Ed Burns doing his best.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
09/02/06
Helen OHara
Helen OHara
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
05/13/09
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

Based on the Ray Bradbury short story of the same name, this is a colassal disapopintment - unworthy of the memorable source material.

Full Review Source: Cinefantastique | comment Comment
05/12/09
Steve Biodrowski
Steve Biodrowski
Cinefantastique

The special effects are on par with a basic film you’d see about a giant squid on the Sci-Fi Channel, and the story is just as boring.

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

The film is full of rumbling sounds that will make your innards tremble (at least in some theaters). But that's about all it has going for it.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
10/11/06
Peter T. Chattaway
Peter T. Chattaway
Christianity Today

A catastrophe of bad acting, ludicrous science and conspicuously cheap special effects that can't even follow its own internal logic from one scene to the next.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

A remarkably bad film.

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
05/12/06
Bob Grimm
Bob Grimm
Sacramento News & Review

There's plenty of room to poke holes in the premise, but folks willing to suspend disbelief can still have a good time.

Full Review Source: Reno Gazette-Journal | comment Comment
04/10/06
Forrest Hartman
Forrest Hartman
Reno Gazette-Journal

About the best that can be said for it is that it might be appreciated ages hence as purest camp. Frankly, I'm not willing to wait around long enough to find out.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
03/27/06
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

As a time-travel story, A Sound of Thunder doesn't exactly rewrite genre history; rather, it's an authentic blast from the past, an unpretentious B-movie.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
02/11/06
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

A interessantíssima premissa é desperdiçada pelo roteiro capenga, as atuações sem vida, os efeitos visuais constrangedores e pela direção surpreendentemente amadora de Hyams.

comment Comment
02/05/06
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

Is A Sound of Thunder a great movie? Not even close.

Full Review Source: Dread Central | comment Comment
02/01/06
Uncle Creepy
Uncle Creepy
Dread Central

This film will be a real disappointment for its lack of logic and even the misunderstanding of the original story.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
11/12/05
Mark R. Leeper
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Ed Burns, Catherine McCormack and Ben Kingsley aren't aiming for Oscars, or even accolades, with their performances, but their choices make this over-budgeted B-movie fun to watch.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
10/06/05
Rex Roberts
Rex Roberts
Film Journal International

Lobotomized from a Ray Bradbury short story, A Sound of Thunder stars Edward Burns as a scientist (insert raucous laughter here)...

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Weekly | comment Comment
09/29/05
Sean Burns
Sean Burns
Philadelphia Weekly

At the risk of making an overly broad and limiting generalization, it's generally wise to make sure an action movie's plot has actually kicked into gear by the time the first hour has elapsed.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
Tasha Robinson
Tasha Robinson
AV Club

It’s somehow refreshing to know that the spirit, if not the flesh, of Edward D. Wood Jr. lives on.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
09/24/05
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle

Bradbury-inspired time-travel sci-fi flick is bad, boring and bland -- in every possible way.

Full Review Source: Netflix | comment Comment
09/15/05
James Rocchi
James Rocchi
Netflix

There's very little in this Jurassic dork of a movie that works.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
09/13/05
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

I do not think science works the way they think it works.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/10/05
David Cornelius
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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