Rating: Summary: An Unintentional Comedy Review: "Timequest" had a potentially good concept involving a "what if President Kennedy had never been assassinated" plot line, but fails badly. The movie is terrible, with jerky, illogical, and hard-to-follow scene changes, laughable dialogue that wasn't intended to be laughable - all intermixed between otherwise boring filmmaking. The acting is mixed as well, with most of it achieving a level of mediocrity and no higher. One of the most hilarious scenes is with the "man from the future" who wears one of the most ridiculous "space suits" I've ever seen. No lie - it looked like a piece of crap. Still, it was good for a few laughs. In fact, the whole movie turned out to be an unintentional comedy, and that's how I ultimately viewed it. However, if you like good science fiction, this movie isn't it.
Rating: Summary: An Unintentional Comedy Review: "Timequest" had a potentially good concept involving a "what if President Kennedy had never been assassinated" plot line, but fails badly. The movie is terrible, with jerky, illogical, and hard-to-follow scene changes, laughable dialogue that wasn't intended to be laughable - all intermixed between otherwise boring filmmaking. The acting is mixed as well, with most of it achieving a level of mediocrity and no higher. One of the most hilarious scenes is with the "man from the future" who wears one of the most ridiculous "space suits" I've ever seen. No lie - it looked like a piece of crap. Still, it was good for a few laughs. In fact, the whole movie turned out to be an unintentional comedy, and that's how I ultimately viewed it. However, if you like good science fiction, this movie isn't it.
Rating: Summary: Timequest - If Only..... Review: Great film not produced by any of the major film production studios. With Bruce Campbell, Ralph Waite, and Larry Drake as FBI chief J Edgar Hoover.How many times have you ever thought What if...? This film portrays what may have occured if President Kennedy was not assassinated in Dallas in 1963. Hints at how this nation's history may have changed from sending a man to the moon and the Vietnam war. Mixes real facts with a portrayal of what could have occurred. I came away from this film thinking that if only events had occured as was portrayed, perhaps we would be better off than we are now with the threat of nuclear war, clandestine operations of goverment organizations, and a program which remains stagnant due to political involvement and constant budget cuts. This film gave a real vision of what this country could have become - and still can without the antics of our current political climate.
Rating: Summary: Fascinating! Review: Have you wondered why manned space missions just petered out after we got to the moon? Do you suspect things might have been different if JFK hadn't died in 1963?
Well, according to this extremely thoughtful direct-to-video SF movie, you're right. See, a guy comes back from the future and prevents JFK's assassination, and the result is . . . well, that's the movie, so I'd better not spoil anything for you.
As has been noted, the film does jump around. But it's not confusing at all; in fact it's extraordinarily well handled. The jumping around is part of the process of exposition, and that's where most of the drama in the film lies. At any rate you won't have any trouble knowing which scenes are happening when.
The alternate history of the Kennedys is also quite well handled. JFK is respected but not worshipped or whitewashed -- and in general, far from lionizing the Kennedy clan, the film takes a fairly gritty and politically realistic view of them. This is a future that could actually have happened, if only . . .
Parts of it are laugh-out-loud funny, too. I won't spoil any of _that_ stuff either, but you'll enjoy all the little references to what-would-have-become-of-so-and-so-in-this-alternate-history.
If you enjoy time-travel and/or alternate-history stories, you'll like this movie. (And as others have noted, it doesn't make any difference whether or not you're a 'Democrat'. For whatever it's worth, I'm politically small-l libertarian myself.)
Rating: Summary: Fascinating! Review: Have you wondered why manned space missions just petered out after we got to the moon? Do you suspect things might have been different if JFK hadn't died in 1963? Well, according to this extremely thoughtful direct-to-video SF movie, you're right. See, a guy comes back from the future and prevents JFK's assassination, and the result is . . . well, that's the movie, so I'd better not spoil anything for you. As has been noted, the film does jump around. But it's not confusing at all; in fact it's extraordinarily well handled. The jumping around is part of the process of exposition, and that's where most of the drama in the film lies. At any rate you won't have any trouble knowing which scenes are happening when. The alternate history of the Kennedys is also quite well handled. JFK is respected but not worshipped or whitewashed -- and in general, far from lionizing the Kennedy clan, the film takes a fairly gritty and politically realistic view of them. This is a future that could actually have happened, if only . . . Parts of it are laugh-out-loud funny, too. I won't spoil any of _that_ stuff either, but you'll enjoy all the little references to what-would-have-become-of-so-and-so-in-this-alternate-history. If you enjoy time-travel and/or alternate-history stories, you'll like this movie. (And as others have noted, it doesn't make any difference whether or not you're a 'Democrat'. For whatever it's worth, I'm politically small-l libertarian myself, with small-d democratic sensibilities.)
Rating: Summary: A GREAT PRICE, AN UNIQUE PLOT, AND BRUCE CAMPBELL? Review: I hit the trifecta with this DVD. I got it for a great price, it has a really unique plot (that even has enough room for a little political parody), and has Bruce Campbell (in a supporting role). A must have for any JFK fan (and I don't just mean Stone's movie). JFK, RFK, LBJ, Jackie O, MM, and J. Edgar as you've never seen them before.
Rating: Summary: Very Good Sci-Fi... Review: I'm sorry to burst another reviewer's bubble, but as a Conservative/Libertarian I enjoyed this movie immensely. The Democratic Party of today bares little to no resemblence to the party of the time of JFK. I enjoyed this movie, and liked the idea that had JFK lived we would have colonized the Moon and beyond. Also, how could avoiding Viet-Nam be a bad thing? And Martin Luther King as Vice President of the U.S.A. is a bold move and welcome outcome of preventing the assasination of the President. For those who are fans of Time Travel, and What-ifs. I highly recommend this movie. It's fun, it's not complicated, it tells a compelling story.
Rating: Summary: bilge Review: If I have watched a worse movie, in my rather long life, I cannot remember it. This is not even more camelot pap, for those who worship at the alter of the kennedy clan.The thing just stinks,phew.
Rating: Summary: Brilliant Review: JFK dies peacefully in his sleep at Hyannisport and CNN announces he will be buried at Moonbase Kennedy. The late twentieth century the way we all wish it had happened.
Rating: Summary: Picked up on a whim, glad I did Review: Picked this one up on a whim due to the presence of low-budget film favorite Bruce Campbell (appearing here in a brief bit just to signal to genre buffs that this little film is worth checking out), and moreover because I was impressed that a filmmaker would actually believe that this often-thought-of concept was a concept that he or she could do better than anyone else.
And as it turns out, this little low budget film manages to tell a solid story that will appeal to anyone who enjoys the old or new "Outer Limits" series.
Low budget or no budget films are rarely perfect and this is no exception. Yet so much of this film is perfect, from a highly effective recreation of the look of the early 1960s, to a range of excellent main and supporting cast members (fans of Northern Exposure and Twin Peaks will recognize some faces here in the supporting roles), and -- not least important when making a film about Texas and the Kennedys -- excellent voice work. The bizarro Kennedy family accent sounds entirely natural - something that even high-budget epics about the Kennedys have not managed to achieve.
Beyond the realistic 1960s environement, the generally good cast -- including the lead actress who reminds me of Linda Fiorentino -- this is a sweet story whose feature length running time manages to give what short "Outer Limits" episodes often do not -- time to revel in the alternate world that it so effectively creates.
TimeQuest is the kind of indie low budget film that, like a college level theatrical production, can either be an unexpected pleasure, or a complete waste of time. This is firmly in the former category, no question. My rating of five stars acknowledges that this is not a high budget feature film; it is a five star indie film in the sense that it transcends its budget and my expectations, much to my delight.
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