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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 source; 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

It’s too bad they couldn’t travel back in time and stop this movie from being made.

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment Comment
09/02/05
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

Have you seen the trailer? If so, then that's as close to watching the movie as you should get.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
08/31/05
Rebecca Murray
Rebecca Murray
About.com

Amusingly clueless - the cinematic equivalent of your crazy uncle who tries unsuccessfully to incorporate hip-hop lingo into his speech so that the kids will be impressed.

Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | comment Comment
09/08/05
Mike McGranaghan
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat

D'oh! Wouldn't you know it, someone steps off the path, crushing a butterfly and sentencing us to true movie terror.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
09/01/05
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

A Sound of Thunder is worth noting, if only as a real contender for worst movie of the year.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
09/01/05
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

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

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

The special effects in this pic make Land of the Lost look like Jurassic Park.

Full Review Source: Beaumont Journal | comment Comment
09/01/05
Danny Minton
Danny Minton
Beaumont Journal

A work of unintelligent design.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
09/02/05
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe

Burns still can’t carry a picture, and Kingsley is laughably bad as the corporate meanie.

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
09/10/05
Boston Phoenix

Forget about all those phony CGI ape/dinosaurs, this film really posits the impossible when it predicts that the Cubs will win two World Series before Y3K.

Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
09/09/05
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

The concept was given more entertaining treatment on various episodes of Star Trek and a Halloween episode of The Simpsons.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
09/08/05
Mark Keizer
Mark Keizer
Boxoffice Magazine

Some of this might have passed muster in a Twilight Zone episode, which would have been an ideal home for such a tale.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
09/02/05
Lawrence Toppman
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer

A Sound of Thunder looks cobbled together from a half-baked screenplay and underdone special effects, but it's made with a certain heedless zeal that makes you smile if you're in tune with it.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
09/02/05
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One redeeming feature of this picture is that it will make great fodder for those make-fun-of-the-movie TV shows.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
09/01/05
Michael Esposito
Michael Esposito
Chicago Tribune

As Ryer (Burns)...says, 'We have to make sure this never happens again.' We beg you.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
09/01/05
David S. Hauck
David S. Hauck
Christian Science Monitor

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

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
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; UK critics are listed first)
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