Rating: 
Summary: a thoroughly inept melding of history and sci-fi
Review: Ever had one of those crazy dreams (probably after you've made one too many trips to the salad bar at Medieval Times) where you suddenly find yourself back in the year 1357, holing up in a French castle while all around you French and British forces are enacting the Hundred Years' War? If you have, it was probably more interesting than what we see in "Timeline" - and if you haven't, I am sure you could come up with a more convincing and intriguing scenario than the makers of this film have devised with the same material. Though based on a Michael Crichton novel, "Timeline" is about as bad a sci-fi fantasy as anyone could ever possibly imagine. In this time-tripping tale told by an idiot, a group of modern-day archaeologists in France are transported through a "wormhole" to 14th Century Europe to help retrieve the leader of their dig who has (don't ask how) become stuck in the past.Time-travel yarns require a certain intelligence and finesse to make them both intriguing and convincing. "Timeline" is ludicrous from the very outset, for less than five minutes after our intrepid little heroes first learn of the existence of the way-back machine, they are all suited up in their Medieval garb and heading back in time, utterly unprepared for what they might find there. Once they get to their destination, the plot bogs down in endless scenes of armored men on horseback a-hacking and a-hewing away at the anachronistic visitors. I mean, whose bright idea was it to set up this time machine premise and then send the characters not forward into a potentially interesting future but BACKWARDS to take part in a creaky, hackneyed Medieval romance? It's one thing to set up this time-bending scenario; it's quite another to do absolutely nothing with it. Oh sure, there's the usual deep-think palaver about whether or not these folks from the future should risk tampering with history etc., but the filmmakers' sights seem to be set on more mundane matters like elaborate action and fight sequences and puppy-love romance. And, of course, all these archaeologists turn out to be expert swords- and bowmen, fully the equal in skill and talent to their 14th Century brethren. On the whole, the acting is amateurish, the dialogue inane and the special effects virtually nonexistent for a film of this type. The film, in fact, both looks and feels like a third-rate, throwaway project designed for no purpose other than to give Paramount Studios a corporate-loss write-off come tax time. "Timeline" is like H.G. Wells for the high school dropout.
Rating:
Summary: Butchered
Review: They completely destroyed an excellent book. I reread the book for the 5th time or so last week, and I couldn't get this horrible movie out of my mind. They plot was torn to shreds, they left out at least 80% of it. The book gave the characters depth, the movie didn't. The book gave plausible explanations for everything. The movie came up with some stupid explanation that had little to do with the book. In the book, they could go to anywhere they wanted, in cage-like machines that they could summon. Little pendants with a button? Phft.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Fun Movie
Review: " Timeline" is a lot better than I expected. It's an old fashion science fiction adventure- yes the team that goes back in time is a bit dense but you would not have a two hour movie if characters did the the smart thing all the time. Director Richard Donner stages some spectacular battle scenes so if you like medieval action youll love it- also its a cleverly designed DVD- so make some popcorn- sit back and have so fun.
Rating:
Summary: it sucks
Review: int he movie things happen almost randomly. Subjects are explained in a matter of seconds leaving viewers completely and utterly confused. If you like this type of movie you should read the book timeline. it is so much better. it explains everything. for example it takes about 50 pages to perfectly explain how the time travel works. in the movie things are also inaccurate. some of the guys in the movie were really girls in the book. events happened differently and it sucked. i repeat this movie sucked.
Rating:
Summary: Decent film
Review: First of all I don't know why people are saying this movie is terrible and the money shouldn't be spent to rent it? I think they're all forgetting that it is an action/sci-fi/drama flick and aren't keeping in mind that movies like that don't need character depth and such to make it decent. I personally thought it was worth spending the money to see in theatres. I had read the book and loved the whole concept and I thought the action was pretty good. The fire lit arrows being shot into the sky towards the castle was an awesome sight. True the movie could've been better, but not everyone can do a Michael Crichton novel justice like Spielberg did with Jurassic Park and JP 2: The Lost Word. At least the only thing Spielberg changed in Jurassic Park was keeping Hammond alive (in the book Hammond gets left on the island when he goes out looking for his grandchildren on his own and a pack of Velociraptors find him). If Spielberg had been behind the helm of Timeline it would've been even better, but as it is Timeline is a movie I don't mind owning on DVD one bit.
Rating: 
Summary: When stupid people do stupid things in the movies.....
Review: What is wrong with the people who made this movie? Why are the characters in it so gosh darn stupid? You know a movie is bad when you want to kill the protagonist more than the on screen villian. First, lets dispense with the plot. Time travel stories can be tricky, but not this one. "We cannot disturb the past" one on-screen village idiot spouts, but then they proceed to go back into the past and start killing people, setting fires and generally alter history - WITH NO ILL EFFECTS!! You don't want to be seen or heard on this rescue mission? Fine, quickly gather a small team of mercs and historians with some military training (believe me, they exist) who can speak English with no accents, and can speak some French or at least understand it; arm them with tranquilizer guns, modern repelling gear, night vision and knockout gas and have them operate at night only. Did ANY of this happen? Of course not. Let's not forget another one of my favorite stupid stupid plotlines: sending a Frenchman, who has no common sense and poor vision, back into the past...behind the battle lines of the English! "We need him!!" the lead character screamed. Can you guess what happened to him? The lead character was another problem: making googly-eyes at the female archeologist during swordfights, whining and generally acting the fool. My favorite person, however, in this "Supertrain" of a movie was the mercenary guy who brought a grenade back to the past. Guess when he pulled the pin? YOU GOT IT: after he was in a fight, after being transported back to the present, thereby blowing up the time travel lab to create more "dramatic tension"...UGH!! Bad, bad,bad,bad movie.
Rating:
Summary: If I could only choose negative 5 stars
Review: This is the worst time travel movie ever made and may be amongst the top 20 worst movies ever made period. I am more entertained by reading, in disbelief, the reviews of those that actually liked it than I ever was at any point during this movie. It is atrocious. Do NOT waste any money only this turkey.
Rating:
Summary: A poor adventure movie at best
Review: To put it simply, Timeline is just one of those movies where you're better off watching the trailer than the actual film itself. A sci-fi/historical adventure flick, timeline's plot involves a son along with a bunch of comrades goin through a wormhole to rescue his father from the 14th century. Of course they arrive at the exact date of a major assault by the french on the english garrason in the village of castle gaurd. This may all sound very exciting, but in practice it is not. The movie doesnt feel very exciting at all and in fact I lost interest half way through. The acting is well below par and the plot is just very uninvolved. The special effects too were not at all very stunning, and nothing about the movie rated all that well with me. Its too bad too, because the preview for the movie looked pretty good... oh well they already got my money to rent it.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Interesting
Review: Wow this movie was weird. A secret organization finds out how to travel through time to France in this case. The war with France and Britan. I have never thought of the middle ages being so horrible and intense. I liked this movie because these archeoligists who love history finally realized they were in history and already responsible for the present. It was the OLD Planet of the Apes type of time travel where the historians discover a cycle! Cool Very Cool!
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of Action
Review: Although it is not as good as the book, the movie is full of action and interesting enough to keep your attention. The actors do a very good job and what I especially liked was the costumes -- they were period-accurate but not in-your-face costumes like most Elizabethan era costumes. Some ideas may seem like we have seen them a lot (with all the other time-travel movies), but this was still unique in some ways (the book was even better). Good movie worth watching.
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