The Time Shifters (1999) (TV)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Mario Azzopardi

Writers (WGA):

Kurt Inderbitzin (written by) &
Gay Walch (written by)

Release Date:

17 October 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Sport | Thriller

Plot:

A reporter, learning of time travelers visiting 20th century disasters, tries to change the history they know by averting upcoming disasters.

Plot Keywords:

Based On Short Story | Alternative Timeline | Pilot | Hindenburg | Mushroom Cloud

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Casper Van Dien	...	Tom Merrick
Catherine Bell	...	Elizabeth Wintern
Theresa Saldana	...	Cortez
Peter Outerbridge	...	Felder
Julian Richings	...	Murray Trevor, Time-Traveling Tourist
Lawrence Dane	...	FBI Agent Baker
Catherine Oxenberg	...	Thrill Seekers Spokesperson (as Catherine Van Dien)
Mimi Kuzyk	...	Eleanor Grayson
James Allodi	...	FBI Agent Stanton
Deborah Odell	...	Jen
Martin Sheen	...	Grifasi
Matthew Bennett	...	Captain Tyler
Marc Donato	...	Kevin
Stephen Bogaert	...	Steve
Sumela Kay	...	Girl on Plane

Also Known As:

Thrill Seekers (USA)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence and peril.

Runtime:

88 min | Argentina:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Germany:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Abandon Pictures

Trivia:

The subway crash includes footage from Money Train (1995), shot on a set in California and representing a New York subway train.

Goofs:

Factual errors: A train car rolling sideways along four tracks plows easily through the three sets of columns between them. As these are sturdy supports for the roof, they should resist the car with much greater force, tearing it apart. And if so many of them did get destroyed, the tunnel should collapse. (Reused goof from Money Train.)

Movie Connections:

References Quake (1996) (VG)

decent and smart

This is a direct-to-video production with corresponding production values and acting. Well, the mayhem about the stadium looks almost as good as a big-budget disaster movie. Usually the subject of time travel offers infinite possibilities that are mostly mutilated by a weak script, but Thrill Seekers (yes, USA title or not, i get it on cable by that title) offers an intelligent story with plenty of intelligent twists - telling more would spoil the surprise. The atmosphere is also good, though the music has little merit in that : Tourists visiting disaster areas & war zones exist, sadly enough, but the emotionlessness that comes with it does not show until you have seen this. The best part is, it lives up to an expectation few time travel movies can develop to : in the end, the plot comes together. The sole major turn-off : Casper van Dien with a beard. He has this i-want-back-to-shark-attack look glued to his eyes.