MovieChat Forums > The History of Time Travel (2014) Discussion > Absolutely ingenious

Absolutely ingenious

posted 4 years ago by SlackerInc (1121)
6 replies | jump to latest

It’s a slow burn at first, but by the middle I had an irrepressible grin on my face. I would actually urge anyone interested in time travel to take my word for it and go watch it without reading any further, because a big part of the fun was not seeing where it was going.

But I just have to say for the record that I’m so impressed by the way they incorporated the changing time stream within the documentary. My ten-year-old daughter really enjoys time travel stories, but I would not be able to show this to her – she would be way too confused. Unlike any other time travel movie or story I can think of, there is no POV character who keep straight what has happened and how things have changed.

The talking heads experts being interviewed in this fake documentary format clearly don’t realize how their subject has changed, so it all has to be picked up by inference. That the filmmakers trust the audience to figure it all out, and leave just enough evidence for them to do so if they are paying attention, is a marvel of clockwork construction.

2014 turns out to be a great year for time travel movies. This and "Predestination" are actually my two favorites, hidden gems I only learned about recently. But then there were also two big Hollywood productions that were also really good: "Edge of Tomorrow" and "X-Men: Days of Future Past".

[–] lennonforever (2453) 4 years ago

Well, it was just ok. I figured out the “twist” half way while talk of the mother’s death was mentioned. It wasn’t a bad little movie.

[–] SlackerInc (1121) 4 years ago

Sure, the twist is not held as a surprise for the very end--that's why I said "by the middle I had an irrepressible grin on my face". But then a big part of the fun for the last half of the movie is watching how it plays out in various ways.

[–] lennonforever (2453) 4 years ago

Yes indeed !

[–] Tricklebrook (316) 4 years ago

For me it was when they started talking about Richard's brother Aden. I was like, "WHAT?! They never mentioned a brother," and almost turned it off, thinking they'd messed up with their continuity. But, then, of course, as I continued to watch, I realized what was happening. That was quite ingenious. I don't think I've even seen that incorporated into a time travel story.

[–] thingmakersback (1442) 10 days ago

A documentary that, by its very nature, could not exist makes for a very amusing time travel story...

It is pretty well done. There is the inherent problem of the one man in his basement inventing something that teams of people in advanced facilities cannot... But this is a familiar trope, best dealt with in Primer (still the best time machine film ever made) and not a major issue here.

I'll admit I was annoyed when an early reference to nuclear research in the '30s - Manhattan Project eras described it as fusion not fission - slightly amplified by the mention of Hiroshima being accompanied by video of a later H-bomb test... But, as this is not directly related to the premise, it is a minor point.

[–] SlackerInc (1121) 7 days ago

Love Primer! But sure, as you say, the era of making any kind of major invention in your garage has been a pipe dream for decades now.