I support Manchester City, and like weekends and whisky. Please drop in and recommend a funny film f...
I support Manchester City, and like weekends and whisky. Please drop in and recommend a funny film for me to watch. Thanks.
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THIS MOVIE FEATURES IN MY CIAO LIST OF THE 10 BEST MOVIES ABOUT TIME TRAVEL
Forget about the over-acting, uninspired screenplay and non-existent special effects, suspend all reasonable disbelief and let yourself get carried away by the most effective combination of science fiction and romance of all time.
For some people Somewhere In Time will seem like a cheap screen equivalent of a slushy Mills and Boon novel. Christopher Reeve writes in his first autobiography "Still Me" that the film was very poorly received by the critics on its initial release, and it's true that if you approach the film wanting to find fault with it you will have an absolute field day. But if you are in a sentimental mood or have a soft side, then you should definitely track it down.
Christopher Reeve stars as an up-and-coming American playwright called Richard Collier. The film
opens with Collier being congratulated by lots of people on the success of one of his plays after its opening night. Suddenly a very old woman approaches him through the crowd and gives him an old watch and says "Come back to me". Stunned and confused by this turn of events, Collier finds out that the woman is called Elise McKenna and that she had been a famous actress some sixty years previously. When he tries to track her down he finds out that she has passed away.
Collier becomes obsessed with Elise McKenna, and is convinced that he is destined to go back in time and meet her as a young woman. When he sees his own signature in a hotel register from 1912, from a date that McKenna was performing at the hotel's adjacent theatre he realises he must have been there.
What follows is a love story with a bit of time travel thrown in for good measure. But however ridiculous it sounds, somehow it works spectacularly. A fine central performance from the serially under-rated Christopher Reeve helps the viewer suspend disbelief, and the chemistry between him and Jane Seymour will melt the hardest of hearts. They look absolutely perfect with each other. The movie features quite possibly THE most romantic kiss in the history of cinema, and if Reeve and Seymour were not in love in real life then they both deserve Oscars.
Although Christopher Plummer is on auto-pilot as Ms McKenna's jealous manager, his presence lends the film a certain gravitas that adds to the overall sweeping epic feel.
A special mention must also go to John Barry whose soundtrack for this film is a masterpiece. It is a measure of his genius that the main theme from Somewhere In Time is even more memorable and moving than the Rachmaninov classic that also features in the film. I know of no other film that is so enhanced by the music.
It's something we used to watch all the time in our family when we were kids so maybe for that reason alone my rating is a bit biased. But since then I have discussed this film with a few other people who have seen it, and there is an instant kinship that develops between fellow devotees.
It's a special film with a unique atmosphere and although for some it will be a guilty pleasure I am not ashamed to say that it's up there in my personal top ten of all time. ______________________________________________
DVD EXTRAS:
Fans of the film will be overjoyed by the bonus material which includes some stills from the movie and a fascinating insight into the making of the film. The whole surviving cast is interviewed over 20 years after it was made, including the late and truly great Christopher Reeve who gives an especially poignant retrospective. Among the most interesting anecdotes is one from Jane Seymour (still unbelievably beautiful after all these years) who reveals that she persuaded her friend John Barry to waive his prohibitively high fees and compose the music for the film. Director Jeannot Szwarc tells the story of the budget cuts that almost prevented the movie from seeing the light of day; Richard Matheson, the author of the novel Bid Time Return on which the screenplay is based, talks with great affection with his involvement in the production and everyone involved agrees that making the film was a special time in their lives.
Here is a link to the trailer on another site: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3649306905/
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1998 - Drama - Director: Martin Brest - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Marcia Gay Harden, Jake Weber, Claire Forlani, Jeffrey Tambor
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Good review. Have you saw the movie "Frequency"? Not strictly a time travel movie but a man manages to talk to his dead father in the past when he uses his dad's old ham radio. From dad's perspective he's talking to his son from the future. Both begin the task of changing history (and the future) by trying to stop something that went wrong. It never quite works as in the process they change something else. I thought it was great and I know you like your time travel movies. Cheers!
thereddragon 29.10.2008 15:07
Saw this some years ago and did enjoy it - it could have done with being a bit less slushy, but it was a really absorbing film and the performances, especially Christopher Reeve's, were very good.
lillamarta 23.10.2008 17:05
This movie sounds interesting, never heard of it though. Well reviewed.
It's silly, it's superficial, it's so desperately earnest about its tale of time-spanning ... more
love that you almost wish for a cheap flatulence gag just to break the solemn mood. But there is something so unabashedly gushy and entertaining aboutSomewhere in...
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The story of a young writer who sacrifices his life in the present to find happiness in ... more
the past, where true love awaits him. Young Richard Collier (Christopher Reeve) is approached by an elderly woman who gives him an antique gold watch and who pleads...
The story of a young writer who sacrifices his life in the present to find happiness in ... more
the past where true love awaits him. Young Richard Collier (Christopher Reeve) is approached by an elderly woman who gives him an antique gold watch and who pleads...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
It's silly, it's superficial, it's so desperately earnest about its tale of time-spanning ... more
love that you almost wish for a cheap flatulence gag just to break the solemn mood. But there is something so unabashedly gushy and entertaining aboutSomewhere in...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
![Somewhere In Time [DVD] [1980]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78498607.jpg "Somewhere In Time [DVD] [1980]")
Sep 8th, 2008
(Oct 25th, 2008)
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