95ers: Time Runners (2013)

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

This is a hard review to write - I don't want to oversell this film or sell it short. I caught it while idly flicking round British TV one afternoon. I had better things to do but minute by minute it managed to keep me away from them and I didn't regret it.At first I thought 'Cheap afternoon TV movie'. A few minutes later I added the rider, 'with solid production values and an above-average level of effort and energy.' A while later again: 'And an astonishing amount of care and ingenuity over detail. Did you see what just happened in the mirror? And did they hire a troupe of boisterous improv actors as extras? I need to find out who wrote and directed this.' Then: 'The special effects are too good for a TV film, especially the excellent time-line display gizmo. It must be a bigger-budget studio number. Why haven't I heard of it? Probably one of those things that came out in the wrong week or something and slipped under everyone's radar.' And soon: 'There is so damn much in this film in the way of backstory and world-building and little loving doodles in the margins, too much for a normal film. It must be an extraordinarily faithful adaptation of a book - not just a book, but the first in a whole series of books. They must be big in America. So well-loved that the fans would lynch people if they left anything out, so they've put it all in and are making quite a good job of explaining it to the rest of us.' And eventually: 'Who cares what it is or where it comes from? I'm still watching and it's getting even better.' By the end I was not only completely gripped and invested but so moved I had to stifle a little manly tear at one point.Bear in mind: it IS low budget, albeit usually very well disguised. And you've seen most of the things in it before, but they're done with slightly new spins and so much verve in execution they come to seem fresh.The first half of the film is - not exactly slow, but stays mysterious for an unusually long time. This can be a bonus if you enjoy making guesses. If you're impatient or are used to being spoonfed, forget it. (I think a lot of the people who've given absurdly negative reviews must fall into this category. Although I suspect those who've been over-critical of the acting of malicious trollery - the acting was either perfectly good or quite perfect.) The best thing in the film, and the best example of the care and inventiveness that's gone into it, is the main gimmick (there are several). One of the characters in effect has a sort of superpower. This is very well handled. We are gradually shown rather than told and I was deep into the film before I fully grasped it. All the implications of it were thoroughly worked out - including the ingenious ways that enemies could counteract it. Most importantly, it was handled in such a way that, rather than becoming the equivalent of a Get Out Of Jail Free card, it actually had the effect of doubling or tripling the tension.All in all I enjoyed it a lot. I would like there to be a sequel (for one thing I would love to see what happens when one '95er' fights another) or, perhaps better, a TV series. Most of all I would like the director and his collaborators to be given a bigger budget to play with. Congratulations to all involved on some remarkable work.

Apparently, TIME RUNNERS took many years to get made. You wonder why all the effort, because this turns out to be a very ordinary movie, one whose admittedly interesting premise is ruined by a dreadful, TV movie-style execution which makes the whole thing look and feel cheesy. It feels like a rip-off of TIMECOP, except with the action heroes of that film replaced by a pregnant housewife trying to solve the mystery of her husband's death.This housewife has a special ability, which is to rewind time by five seconds, something that comes in very handy during some fun fight scenes that are interspersed throughout. Sadly, the interest level remains low, thanks to some VERY cheesy performances, particularly the guy with the exaggerated British accent who made me cringe every time he spoke. The special effects are on par with your average SyFy Channel movie, leaving this a disappointing "could have been" viewing experience.

Every so often, a film is made that is so bad, it makes me cringe while I watch. Not laugh (my reaction to Plan Nine from Outer Space, for instance), but shake my head and wonder who could have foisted 90 minutes of such unutterable, irredeemable dreck on an unsuspecting world.This is one of those movies.I sat through it for as long as I could, hoping it would improve. It did not. The script, the direction, the performances, the editing. All uniformly abysmal.As well, a decent high school play has better production values; one can't blame that fault on the lack of decent budget.What makes me a bit angry are so many of these reviews. Seven or eight of the reviewers of this film have ONLY reviewed this film. If I were a suspicious sort, I'd think these folks were working with the filmmakers, trying to use the anonymity of the internet to turn this sow's ear into something vaguely resembling a silk purse.Save your time, and money. There are many shows and films that depict time travel that are actually decent works. The Terminator series, the Sarah Connor Chronicles, Continuum, the 2014 X-Men flick and Deja Vu (Denzel Washington) are all watchable to verging on excellent. Almost all of these examples have a strong female lead, as the 95ers purports to have.I will go so far as to say this: the first three seasons of Star Trek Enterprise have some time travel based episodes; as uneven and spotty as that show was, it's Citizen Kane compared to the 95ers.

I recently attended Fandom Fest at the Louisville Comic Con where I was privileged to sit in on a screening of 95ers: Echoes. An independent made sci-fi film dealing with time travel, paradoxes and the really brain twisting stuff of human relationships, and I'm happy to say that I think it is one of if not the best examples of the genre. I must say the cast has absolutely nothing to be ashamed about their acting abilities. I've seen a lot worse in big budget main stream Hollywood productions. The story line is meaningful and exciting, which kept me on the edge of my seat. The special effects were fantastic and added real depth to the story and did not detract from the movie. All in all, this film was made at a level of professionalism that belies its' Indie film status. The cast and crew have a project they can be extremely proud of. They have produced a labor of love, and it shows in every frame. For anyone thinking of watching this movie, do so, you won't be disappointed.