A goofy, curious entertainment -- something of a guilty pleasure, a film that invites you to jeer and laugh in equal measure.
Timeline (2003)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:132
Fresh:15
Rotten:117
Average Rating:3.7/10
Consensus: This incoherently plotted addition to the time-travel genre looks and sounds cheesy.
Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Synopsis: In the heart of the beautiful and historically rich Dordogne Valley of France, a team of archaeology students and their professor diligently work to uncover the ruins of a 14th-century castle. For... In the heart of the beautiful and historically rich Dordogne Valley of France, a team of archaeology students and their professor diligently work to uncover the ruins of a 14th-century castle. For Professor Edward Johnson (Billy Connolly), the project is the culmination of a lifelong dream. Aided by assistant professor Andre Marek (Gerard Butler), his son Chris (Paul Walker) and students Kate (Frances O'Connor), Stern (Ethan Embry) and Francois (Rossif Sutherland), Johnston has made major strides in unearthing not only La Roque Castle but also a monastery and structures from the surrounding village of Castelgard. But things are about to go haywire... Suspicious of the dig's benefactor, International Technology Corporation (ITC) and the man who runs it, Robert Doniger (David Thewlis), Professor Johnston heads to ITC headquarters in New Mexico to get some answers, and while he's away, his students discover a chamber that has been sealed for more than 600 years. Marek and Kate descend into the unstable room, and just before a near disastrous cave-in, they make two startling discoveries -- a bifocal lens, which couldn't have been invented before the chamber was sealed, and even more intriguing, a handwritten plea for help dated April 2, 1357 ... from Professor Johnston! Determined to solve the mystery, the students head for ITC headquarters, where they are stunned to learn of Doniger's new invention -- a machine that can actually transmit three-dimensional objects through space. He meant for the device to revolutionize shipping. Doniger inadvertently opened a worm hole that leads directly to the 14th century, and Professor Johnston, who had insisted on experiencing the discovery himself, is now trapped in a vicious French vs. English feudal war! Can Johnston's loyal students survive one of the most violent battles in world history ... and make it back to the 21st century alive? -- © Paramount Pictures [More]
Starring: Paul Walker, Frances O'Connor, Gerard Butler, Billy Connolly
Starring: Paul Walker, Frances O'Connor, Gerard Butler, Billy Connolly, Ethan Embry, David Thewlis, Anna Friel, Neal McDonough
Director: Richard Donner
Director: Richard Donner
Screenwriter: Jeff Maguire, Robert Nolfi
Producer: Lauren Shuler Donner, Jim Van Wyck, Richard Donner
Composer: Brian Tyler
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Reviews for Timeline
The characters are such cardboard cutouts and the plot so thin, you'll wish the Monty Python gang could come and wreak havoc on the film.
Just because Michael Crichton keeps writing books doesn't mean Hollywood should keep turning them into movies.
Clumsy exposition, convenient coincidences, wild assumptions and blatant foreshadowing drive the story.
Compare it with the book, and it stinks. Look at the film on its own, and it still stinks.
It looks like cheesy '60s television, with paper-thin characters and crummy special effects that wouldn't even have made it in the last season of Star Trek.
Suggests a particularly wretched episode of Star Trek tricked out with fancy fireworks and weighed down with a score that grinds away like a cement mixer.
This is not just a 'B-movie' -- it's a B-movie that fails to entertain on any level.
An instant contender for cult status on the midnight-movie circuit, where lines like 'Do we look like quantum wormhole specialists?' will be given the respect they deserve.
Many scenes trigger memories of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, prompting laughter where there should be suspense and angst.
Timeline treats the past like an amusement park, offering mid-level thrills and nothing more.
The only bright light in Timeline is that when the movie flops as hard as it must, perhaps it will be Walker's empty-headed career which takes the fall.
Features serious over-acting, lousy effects, appalling dialogue, misplaced and ill-advised romantic interludes, a complete lack of tension, nothing to link the story set in the past with the section set in the present and very bad wigs.
Lacking both will and budget, the filmmakers have done the honorable thing and given us a sweetly stupid, mercifully brisk bad movie.
Latest News for Timeline
November 05, 2008:
Michael Crichton Passes Away (1942-2008)
Best-selling author, screenwriter, and director Michael Crichton has passed away at the age of 66. The medical doctor-turned-filmmaker was best known for writing... More...
March 02, 2006:
Critical Consensus: A Swinging "Party," A Sweet and Sour "16"
This week's wide releases will take us on a journey. We'll walk a couple blocks ("16 Blocks," "Dave Chappelle's Block Party"), take a dip in the ocean... More...
February 23, 2006:
Critical Consensus: "Running" Gets a "Cooler" Reception From Critics
A low-level hood searches desperately for a hot gun ("Running Scared"). A cute pooch battles the forces of evil ("Doogal"). The irrepressible Madea holds a... More...
June 30, 2005:
Trailer Bulletin: Into the Blue
Stop by Yahoo! Movies for your first look at the trailer to John Stockwell's "Into the Blue." It's a tale of buried treasure, loyal pals, evil thieves, narrow escapes... More...
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