Time spares no one. But you seem to have angered him specifically. Nothing in the heart of an ordinary American evokes as many negative emotions as the Vietnam War. The war that took the lives of fifty-eight thousand American boys who died for virtually nothing. No, well, the truth of “carrying democracy to underdeveloped countries” and “fighting capitalism” cannot serve as consolation for families who have lost a father/son/brother. After all, one thing is the Second World War, which was actually a war of destruction and there you did not have to choose, and quite another to burn a village with peaceful Vietnamese residents with napalm, guided by some ephemeral goals. And naturally, when it comes to a time machine, the first thing an ordinary American will think about is the possibility of saving John F. Kennedy’s life by stopping an unnecessary war. And our film today is about time travel and trying to change the past. So, this is a race against time.
The story follows a history teacher, David Ross, who is grieving the sudden death of his brother during the Vietnam campaign. He suffers death so much that after hearing that a well-known and respected professor is working on a time machine, he decides to convince the old man to send him back to the past in order to prevent the war in Vietnam and save his brother from a sad fate. Of course, our hero will put pressure on the fact that he is going to save not only his brother, but also thousands and thousands of innocent people, but we know the truth. After sighing hard, the elderly professor decides to send a persistent teacher of history in the past, and at the same time conduct the final test on a person. Will David Ross survive the journey into the past? Will he be able to stop Lee Harvey Oswald? Will the senior professor receive a well-deserved award? And what did the arrogant journalist forget in this film? Answers to these and other questions, the viewer will get if he watches this film to the end ... well, or does not watch, then how lucky.
Honestly, the idea of this film is quite interesting, although not original. A few people who are neither heroes nor good guys decide to save President Kennedy for their own selfish desires. And although the idea of influencing the present by changing the past is not new, this is the first time I have seen a film of this kind, where the main characters are not the next saviors of the universe in all white, but real people with their aspirations, experiences and dreams. This already speaks in favor of both the film and the people who worked on it.
It is also worth paying attention to the fact that there will be no villains in this film as such. No, really, don't you think that's the fool Lee Harvey Oswald, who was nothing more than a puppet in the hands of the powerful? No, of course, this is not played out in the film, but at least kill, but I will never believe that a person offended by the whole world himself thought of killing the President. Resentful people tend to spill their hatred on loved ones and relatives, and pour alcohol on their grief, rather than killing presidents. Otherwise, the number of presidents killed in world history would be huge. But I got distracted. So the villains as such in the film will not be, but there will be something sinister and intangible, something that time after time will put the characters in the wheels of not allowing them to change the story. And so that life does not seem like honey to the heroes, the past will begin to kill them slowly but surely. Why is that? Because the past can’t keep track of the same person in two places at the same time, he’ll try to get rid of uninvited guests. And you know, this moment is just as damn interesting, because no movie/book that was about time travel played out what threatens time travelers beyond becoming their own grandfather. Hi Philip J. Fry.
And the actors, what a sin to hide, play quite well. Not that they demonstrate something outstanding, but with their work the performers of the main roles cope and the viewer appears quite lively characters. The question is whether or not to empathize with them I, perhaps, will leave open, because here everyone should decide for himself.
So, what's wrong with this movie? Well, well, let's just say that in this film, despite a couple of interesting ideas, there is nothing inherently. There is no sense that the heroes are in a desperate situation. No, a high-quality action. And dialogues sound somewhat mundane, which does not fit with the fact that the main characters are learned men, and therefore they should know a couple of clever words, not just a couple of scientific terms. But in principle, all this can be attributed to the fact that this film was shot for television, and therefore rely on milk rivers, and the sour shores at least - stupid. So let me say this, if you happen to come across this film, you can watch it at your leisure. It is unlikely that he will be able to surprise you with something, but the feeling that he spent an hour and a half of his life in an empty one does not arise.
6 out of 10