DVD Movie Rating for: Timeline

Rating for Timeline : 5 out of 5 stars

Movie Plot of: Timeline

Directing his first film since 1998's Lethal Weapon 4, Richard Donner helmed this big-budget adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel of the same name. Featuring a script by first-time screenwriter George Nolfi, Timeline begins in France in the near future.

A group of students from Yale are there studying a medieval site, when their professor, played by Billy Connolly, mysteriously goes missing. To make matters more enigmatic, the students are then taken back to the United States by a shadowy technology company called ITC, led by Robert Doniger (David Thewlis). The eccentric Doniger explains that because of a machine that his company built, their professor is trapped in 14th century France.

In order to rescue him, two of the students, Chris Hughes (Paul Walker) and Kate Erickson (Frances O'Connor), along with Andre Marek (Gerard Butler), an archeological site manager, must travel to France, circa 1357, amid archaic war, deadly diseases, and other unexpected pitfalls. Meanwhile, David Stern (Ethan Embry), a third student, stays behind to keep an eye on the shady Doniger.

DVD Production Details of: Timeline

Starring: Paul Walker, Gerard Butler
Director: Richard Donner

Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby
Aspect Ratio(s): 2.35:1
Audio Encoding: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Studio: Paramount Home Video
DVD Release Date: April 13, 2004
Run Time: 115

The Timeline DVD Extra Bonus Features

Available subtitles: English
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Journey Through Timeline (3-Part Documentary)
Setting Time
The Night Of La Roque
Making Their Own History
"The Textures of Timeline"
Trailers

Cast of the movie: Timeline

• Paul Walker .... Chris Johnston
• Frances O'Connor .... Kate Ericson
• Gerard Butler .... André Marek
• Billy Connolly .... Prof. Johnston
• David Thewlis .... Robert Doniger
• Anna Friel .... Lady Claire
• Neal McDonough .... Frank Gordon
• Matt Craven .... Steven Kramer
• Ethan Embry .... Josh Stern
• Michael Sheen .... Lord Oliver
• Lambert Wilson .... Lord Arnaut
• Marton Csokas .... De Kere
• Rossif Sutherland .... François Dontelle
• Steve Kahan .... Baker
• David La Haye .... Arnaut's deputy
• Richard Zeman .... Oliver's lieutenant
• Patrick Sabongui .... Jimmy Gomez
• Mike Chute .... Bill Baretto
• Jayson Merrill .... Taub
• Vlasta Vrana .... Monk
• Marc Olivier .... Monk
• Jerry Moss .... Monk
• Danny Blanco .... Sheriff (as Danny Blanco-Hall)
• Paul Tuerpe .... News reporter
• Cas Anvar .... ER doctor
• Stephanie Biddle .... ER doctor
• Lois Dellar .... ER doctor
• Lynne Adams .... ER nurse
• Christian Tessier .... MRI technician
• Millie Tressiera .... Undergraduate
• Amy Sloan .... Undergraduate
• Ryan Wulff .... Undergraduate (as Ryan J. Wulff)
• Christian Paul .... Archaeologist
• Marian Collier .... Archaeologist
• Edward J. Rosen .... Archaeologist
• Veronica Hart .... Doniger's secretary (as Kathryn Stanleigh)
• Stephen Liska .... ITC tech
• Cecile Cristobal .... ITC tech
• Stéfanie Buxton .... ITC tech
• Bruce Ramsay .... ITC tech
• Hilary Porter .... ITC prep room nurse
• Christina Colburn .... Oliver's wife (as Marie-Josée D'Amours)
• Alicia Wininger .... Oliver's daughter
• Luke Letourneau .... Oliver's son
• Richard Donner .... Man in car
• Howard Harris .... Blacksmith
• Martin Stone .... Blacksmith

Photo Gallery of the movie: Timeline

Reviews of the movie: Timeline

I'm not going to attack Timeline for its idiotic storyline, amateurish acting, historical inaccuracies, or connect-the-dots character development. To a certain extent, those things are expected from science fiction action/adventures. What is unforgivable, however, is that this movie is boring and repetitive. Aside from a low-rent, Braveheart-inspired battle at the end, Timeline consists of characters running from one place to another for the better part of 90 minutes. Once in a while, there's a short skirmish and someone dies (or is thought to die), but it's all dull and uninspired. This movie is in desperate need of a pulse.

Timeline opens in contemporary times and introduces us to a think-tank led by Robert Doniger (David Thewlis). ITC (International Technology Corporation), as it's called, has discovered a means by which individuals can be "faxed" back in time to a specific era - 1357 in Castlegard, France, just before a (fictionalized) battle of the Hundred Year War. Our Heroes are a group of archeologists: Chris Johnston (Paul Walker), Kate Erickson (Frances O'Connor), Andre Marek (Gerard Butler), and Francois Nolastnamegiven (Rossif Sutherland). Accompanied by a few military types ("Red shirts" in Star Trek terms) led by the weasely John Gordon (Neal McDonough), they use the time fax machine to go to Castlegard to save Chris' father, Professor Edward Johnston (Billy Connolly), who got trapped in the past while doing some on-site archeological work. Once in the past, the group becomes enmeshed in local politics and finds themselves in a desperate race against time to get back to the future before the wormhole closes. And Marek ends up violating history in a big way when he saves the life of pretty Lady Claire (Anna Friel), who is supposed to die.

Words fail to express how bad Paul Walker is in this role. I kept thinking: A Surfer Dude in King Arthur's Court. The guy might be able to pass for a cocky race car driver in The Fast and the Furious (I will pretend the ignominious sequel did not exist), but, put him in period garb and he's more out of place than Heath Ledger in A Knight's Tale. Most of the other actors are okay, with the notable exception of Billy Connolly, who is so absurdly over-the-top that I had trouble containing my laughter.

The movie bored me to tears with its plot element retreads and endless running around. It's fortunate that the main characters happen to carry pendants that have convenient digital readouts of how much time is left before the wormhole closes, or where would the suspense come from? It's also best not to give much thought to the film's approach to time travel and the associated paradoxes. Timeline doesn't do a credible job of making this stuff believable. Maybe it was better thought out in the Michael Crichton novel that was the film's inspiration (Crichton is usually excellent when it comes to pseudo-science), but the finer points didn't make it to the screen.

There are times when the movie comes across as so laughably absurd that it's almost entertaining. Once or twice, I was half-expecting the Monty Python troupe to appear, searching for the Holy Grail. The lengthy battle scene at the end provides a little entertainment value, but we don't care enough about the paper-thin characters for this to have more than a cursory curiosity value. However, Timeline does illustrate an important aspect of the concept of time dilation that Einstein never contemplated: how the experience of sitting through a two-hour motion picture can seem like it takes all day.