Timeline (VHS, 2004)

This is 2 reviews blended in one; the first, the movie as a standalone, and the second, as an adaptation of the book.


THE MOVIE:
The movie was not very good. It moves quickly and is filled with action but suddenly dies half way through and grinds to a slow finish. They don't really take time to explain much, rather they press forward with the story and unsuccessfully try to allow the characters to explain important points as the film runs it's course.

The story is creative and could be exciting. Archaeologists go back in time to the place they had been excavating. The man who is sponsoring the archaeological dig is a bad guy, someone seeking to make money off of the scientific find of the ages, time travel, even if it costs a few lives.
The acting is OK, the direction is OK, the editing OK, the screenplay is horrible, and the costumes, landscapes, sets and period pieces are somewhat authentic although stylistic and cliche. The battle scenes are poorly choreographed and not exciting. The only thing of note that was accurate would be the siege engines. That was done well.

All-in-all, the movie is poor. It is an OK escape, a film that may be worth watching but which does little to add to the genre of action/adventure films. A below average outing.


THE MOVIE AS AN ADAPTATION OF THE BOOK:
This is where the movie really falls flat.

If you read the book, don't expect much from the movie. Everything is changed. Characters, their motivations and fears, reasoning and abilities, strengths and weaknesses, relationships and interactions with each other, are all changed from the minute the film begins. A few good characters are completely dropped and several others are significantly changed from the book. The best character from the book, Andre Marek (played by Gerard Butler) is uninteresting at best.

The plot, the scientific explanations of time travel (which the movie just explains was an accident), the historical figures, the confrontations and protagonists, are all different and lack the depth and richness they possessed in the book. This was a pathetic attempt at adapting a book to film.

The book, as usually is the case, was much better than the movie. I can accept that. The basic premise of the book is carried over; that is to say that "based upon the novel by Michael Crichton" is an accurate while also misleading description. This movie just does not maintain any similarity to the book aside from the basic premise. It was very disappointing.

I truly enjoyed the book and felt that it could have been better adapted. I don't know if Crichton (the writer of the book) was involved in the movie, but if this were an adaption of a book that I had written, I would be very unhappy with the hack job that Hollywood did on a novel that was well researched, well written and thick with character development, historical accuracy and suspense.


MY RATING:
So, to sum up; if you are looking for an adventure, set in medieval times, this may suffice as mindless entertainment. As a standalone film, disregarding the book, the movie is a 2 or 3 out of 5, if I am generous

As an adaptation of the book, I would give this a 1 out of 5, very poorly done and extremely disappointing compared to a very good book.

So, I arrive at an average rating of 2. Had I not read the book, I may have rated the film a 3, but that is a bit generous because the movie just doesn't hold up as an entertaining adventure. Sorry.