Rating: 
Summary: Serviceable, if a little too compressed
Review: Without regurgitating all the old canards about the problems posed by the tranposition of literary works to the screen, let's just say that this adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel is decent, if not overwhelmingly so. Coming as it does on the heels of LOTR I/II/III, practically any film based on a novel will fail the test - this one's no different.As popcorn entertainment, though, it's perfectly serviceable, if a little too compressed. Crichton's conundrum takes place over 36 hours, Richard Donner's adaptation reduces that to 6. The rest can easily be derived from that fundamental change. On the other hand, where Crichton needs time, literally, to describe life and the physical environment of the 14th century, a film can accomplish the same in an instant. LOTR (all three, for example) - in the original, verbal format, spends an inordinate amount of time describing things - places, the weather, emotive states, etc. Can anyone say with a straight face that the issue of "acting" should even be mentioned in such a film as this? Please, hang it up. I suspect the cognoscenti of science fiction film have come to "expect" everything will boggle the mind and the eyes. Sorry. This is a perfectly decent film of its kind. I would have preferred a lot more detail, and not nearly as much compression - but it's interesting that even so telescoped, the film still runs at 115 minutes. Think about it. Read the novel - see the film - then read the novel again. I don't expect my comic books to be the source of great revelatory anything - just plain, simple fun. Why, even the LOTR films had to cut the guts out of the original material - to get it down to 9.5 hours (theatrical versions). My only real problem with the film is the score - which is horrible. Poor Benny Herrmann and John Williams, good composers both, have been ripped off so many times now that all one has to do is to establish a characteristic syncopated martial ostinato, then play it to death. Such was the case here, in spades. As a composer, I find such things maddening in the extreme. A bad score can take a weak film and really do it in. This one does virtually that to this film.
Rating: 
Summary: Time out
Review: After months of procrastination, I finally got around to finishing the book of Michael Crichton's TIMELINE. I thought it was amazing, an absolute must-read. I waited until after I had finished the book to watch the movie, because I didn't want my mind tainted by a director's vision. I realize now that that director's vision needs contact lenses. There are so many things wrong with this movie that I don't know where to start. The first thing that's wrong is the intro scenes. The entire sequence of the man appearing in the road and dying at the hospital is completely rushed, and might as well not have been included in the film. The connection between the man and the dig at Castlegard is completely obliterated. Another thing that bothered me was the relationship between Chris and the professor, which is described as fatherly in the book, not as the professor actually BEING his father - a fabrication of the screenwriter. Kate isn't supposed to realize that Chris has any feelings for her, and Marek's character seems unlike the one described in the book. Another thing that's left out is a vital clue on the parchment, along with the professor's plea for help. Many of the characters are changed. Doniger is much older than described in the book, and Kramer has been transformed into a man. The character of Francios is an invention for the film, and totally unneccessary. A couple of military-types are added to the group that is sent back. In fact, there should only have been 5 people sent back - Kate, Chris, Marek, the man who set off the grenade, and the one who was beheaded (which should have been a woman, as in the book). They also conveniently have 14th century people speaking modern English as opposed to Occitan, like the book has it. There are so many things wrong with this movie, that it was hard to sit through. I only finished it because the friends I was watching it were eager to see it. It's as if someone cut-and-paste a dozen words from the book and told someone else to make a screenplay. This movie is horrible. The acting is lamentable. If you are a fan of the book, I would skip the movie entirely.
Rating:
Summary: Tied with Congo as worst Crichton based movie ever
Review: This movie is bad. It makes the audience jump through a never ending series of ridiculous hoops to follow the "plot". I must admit I read the book before seeing the movie and this colored my expectations quite heavily. However, that being said the movie still falls short when not compared to its literary predecessor. The "acting" is laughably bad, the lines are so trite I found myself rolling my eyes every five minutes and no amount of special effects could save it from these shortcomings. P.S. Someone please beg Michael Crichton to start writing his own screenplays, or at least proofread them to avoid this horrible tripe...
Rating:
Summary: go back in time and hire some decent actors
Review: This was one of the most horribly acted movies I've ever seen. The explanation of time travel and the buttons to get back was poorly done, and the reaction from the young time travelers was...like, "ok, we're going back in time 500 years to save professor. LET'S GO!!" just terrible.
Rating:
Summary: Hey, It Works
Review: Michael Crichton always tells two stories in his novels: a good story with strong characters, and a lot of scientific research. His novels are usually two novels in one. With TIMELINE, he spends a heck of a lot of time describing the quantum physics behind the time machine: cosmic foam, multi-universes, transcription errors. It takes Crichton about 200 pages to describe all of this. In the film, all of this is reduced to about 20 minutes. The physics of the machine are reduced to a sort of "Hey, it's a time machine and it works." That's about all the quantum physics you're going to get in order to get in nearly an hour of battle sequences. The thick Irish (or Scotish?) accents are also difficult to understand at first, especially since these characters carry most of the background information you need to understand why the scientists are building a time machine in the first place. I would have been happy to settle for fewer battles and more explanation of the quantum mechanics in the beginning. This is the true heart of the novel. Without spending some time here, the movie just becomes a high-tech swashbuckler. Also missing are the tensions and in-fighting of the executives of the technology company that built the machine. Without this, the final sequence is denied any depth of meaning or irony. The DVD transfer is excellent. The extras do go on a bit about the making of the movie. It turns into a sort-of "let's pay endless homage to Richard Donner." The emphasis is on the technical side; the actors are not profiled in much depth. I was disappointed that there was no special feature on the quantum mechanics that Crichton built his story on. The movie is mind-candy, not mind-food, which is, after all, the real stuff of which classic science fiction books and movies are made of.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Action Scenes
Review: The scenery and the action scenes were great, but the romance was a bit sappy. The movie was also very well acted, especially lead actor Paul Walker.
Rating:
Summary: Don't believe everything you read--this is a decent flick!
Review: After having read some of the reviews here, I did not expect much. I was pleasantly surprised when I watched this movie! If you like history/action/time travel movies, this one presents a very watchable story. Yes, there are some plot holes here and there, but that's not unusual. I found nothing wrong with the acting and casting of characters. Of course the book was better, as most books are, but some liberties had to be taken when paring it down for a 2 hour movie. There are things you'll pick up when you watch a second time, especially if you did not read the book first.
A nice bonus is the special features--four of them about the making of the movie that are fairly comprehensive and decently interesting. All in all a worthy dvd, except for the lack of a booklet/chapter list, which is a pet peeve of mine.
Rating:
Summary: DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME ON TIMELINE!
Review: I thought the new version of The Time Machine was bad, but this far exceeds even THAT turkey. Rent the original Time Machine, Time After Time, Timecop or look for the old Time Tunnel TV series, but PASS ON THIS ONE. Don't even rent it!
Rating: 
Summary: Not that bad!!!
Review: I have seen this movie with my brother and father and were impressed by it. It is a very good, entertaining movie that should have a way higher rating because it is very much like Lord of the Rings and is probably even better than the Fellowship. This movie should have been a lot more popular and should have gotten more money. I guess people this days just don't like good normal movies, they are all into non-making sense movies (...) where cartoons show up an the bride beats 50 people with swords by herself or (...) where nothing makes sense. It's just so stupid that good movies aren't liked and bad movies are adored. This movie is about a couple of people who are almost all archaelogists and go back through time to try and save one of the people's father and return back to their homes. While the people are there the french and english are fighting and getting more serious with each other. This movie was great and I suggest it to everyone. I still can't believe it has such a LOW RATING.
Rating:
Summary: Time bomb!
Review: Richard Donner beats out Ed Wood for the worst director in filmdom with this cheesy effort. The movie combines a complete lack of directorial vision with stilted acting, inane dialogue, some hackneyed, cookie-cutter thrills and an infernal, non-stop music score. The overall result is a trashy presentation of what should have been a robust and entertaining sci-fi movie. Truly third-rate! Don't hold your breath waiting for any of the elements that make the novel by Michael Chriton such an interesting and exciting read. The film bears absolutely no resemblance. Save your money AND your time folks ... buy the book instead!
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