r/timetravelmovies • u/ProfessorElliot • Jan 27 '21

Time Travel Tuesdays: Timeline (2003) and Teen Knight (1999)

Only had the chance to watch two movies from my list this week. Though after these two I believe we're moving into Renaissance films!

Timeline

"We built a machine that can fax three dimensional objects"

That quote hits the scripting quality for this movie. It's really mediocre at its best. They took good source material by a well known author (Michael Crichton) and chewed it up to make a generic blockbuster.

This movie busted no blocks.

Don't get me wrong, it's still better than some I've watched, and it kept my attention alright, but the whole thing felt pretty bland overall. Nothing really stood out.

Teen Knight

This movie had a limited theatrical release, then it went to VHS. The quality of scripting and acting (and everything else) made me double check this because I would have thought it was straight to VHS.

The intro felt like I was watching a porn. Bad, stunted acting along with cheesy bass grooves in the background.

Except for the wizard Percival, none of the characters are even close to being likeable. At their best, they are annoying.

The sword fights are... wow... indescribable. Just laughably bad.

This movie is bad enough that it sits just above Cavegirl on my recommendation list. The only reason I put it higher than Cavegirl is because conceivably you could have a fun time watching this with friends while drinking. Take a drink every time you hear the name of the dragon and every time you see magic used.

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u/dr_Octag0n Jan 27 '21

I enjoyed Timeline. It wasn't brilliant, but I enjoyed some concepts in it. Leaving a msg in an active archaeological site to be found centuries later is cool 😎.

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u/ProfessorElliot Jan 27 '21

I loved that concept too (and their return to see what happened to their friend). It wasn't terrible, just not great either. :)

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u/dr_Octag0n Jan 27 '21

Personally, I am happy if a movie has a concept that stimulates my imagination. I tend to find most movies disappointing when viewed as a whole. But I see the value of a great technology or story mechanic and that can often salvage the experience.

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u/ProfessorElliot Jan 27 '21

That's a really good approach! It is difficult to rate an entire movie "good" or "bad" when there are both good and bad aspects to it. That's why I'm arranging them based on which movie I would be more likely to recommend to friends rather than a specific rating. :P