''Epoch'' is a 2001

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

directed by Matt Codd, starring

David Keith David Keith may refer to: * David Keith (novelist) (1906–1994), pen name of American scholar Francis Steegmuller *David Keith (actor) (born 1954), American film and TV performer and director *David Keith (physicist), Canadian-born Harvard Profess ...

Stephanie Niznik Stephanie Lynne Niznik (May 20, 1967 – June 23, 2019) was an American film, television, and theatre actress, most famous for her role as Nina Feeney on ''Everwood''. Early life and career Niznik intended to become a geneticist before graduating ...

Brian Thompson Brian Earl Thompson (born August 28, 1959) is an American actor. His career began with a small role in the 1984 film ''The Terminator''. He played the villainous "Night Slasher" in the 1986 film '' Cobra''. His first named role was on ''Werew ...

, and

Shannon Lee Shannon Emery Lee Keasler (born April 19, 1969) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the only living child of martial artist Bruce Lee and retired martial arts teacher Linda Lee Cadwell, the granddaughter of Cantonese opera singer L ...

. The film concerns the discovery of a strange and mysterious

monolith A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive rock (geology), stone or rock, such as some mountains. For instance, Savandurga, Savandurga mountain is a monolith mountain in India. Erosion usually exposes the geological for ...

, and the tribulations faced by the team sent to study it.

Plot

Four billion years ago, before life had developed on Earth, a cosmic object fell in the seas of our planet. In modern times in the mountains of

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

, a huge artifact makes its way to the surface, producing a powerful

electromagnetic pulse An electromagnetic pulse (EMP), also a transient electromagnetic disturbance (TED), is a brief burst of electromagnetic energy. Depending upon the source, the origin of an EMP can be natural or artificial, and can occur as an electromagnetic fie ...

causing worldwide blackouts. Alarmed by the electromagnetic phenomenon and under request of the government of Bhutan, the American

NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...

launches a military and scientific reconnaissance operation on site, led by Dr. K.C. Czaban (

) with the technical assistance of terminally ill engineer Mason Rand (

), picked up on the Mexican border in time for the mission. The team finds the artifact suspended in the air and object of veneration from the natives, who call it the Torus and consider it a gift from the gods with extraordinary healing properties. The US team enters the Torus, but an air strike by the

Chinese Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

against the artifact prompts an unexpected response from the object, which destroys two Chinese military planes and kidnaps a US soldier. Unsuccessful diplomatic negotiations escalate the tension in the area between Chinese and US armed forces, while inside the Torus the scientific team goes to the core of the huge machine. They discover how ancient the artifact is and speculate it could have been the spark of life on Earth, as well as the cause of multiple extinctions in the course of the eras. Fomented by NSA agent Allen Lysander (

Ryan O'Neal Ryan O'Neal (born April 20, 1941) is an American actor and former boxer. He trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera '' Peyton Place ...

), conflict explodes between the troops of the two factions and the Torus reacts, blanketing the planet with a thick cloud cover, evidently starting the process for a new mass extinction. By Presidential order, the US soldiers plant a nuclear bomb inside the Torus to destroy it, and Czaban and Rand unsuccessfully try to deactivate the device to keep it from detonating. However, the Torus absorbs the blast and, seemingly satisfied by the extreme sacrifice attempted by the two scientists, ceases its actions, sheds its external shell and, in the form of an energy sphere, leaves Earth. Four months later, Rand, now cured of

ALS Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most com ...

after his exposure to Torus, receives from Czaban the news that she is pregnant, despite being sterile before their encounter with the alien artifact.

Cast

- Dr. Mason Rand *

- Dr. K.C. Czaban *

- Allen Lysander *

- Capt. Tower *

Steve Bond Steve Bond (born April 22, 1953) is an Israeli American television actor and model. Biography Shlomo Goldberg (later Steve Bond) was born in Haifa, Israel to a Romanian Jews, Romania-born mother and a Hungarian Jews, Hungary-born father who ali ...

- Colonel Tell *

Craig Wasson Craig Wasson (born March 15, 1954) is an American actor. He made his film debut in ''Rollercoaster'' (1977). He is best known for his roles as Jake Scully in Brian DePalma's ''Body Double'' (1984), and Neil Gordon in Chuck Russell's '' A Nightm ...

- Hudson * Michael Cavanaugh - Williams *

- Pamela *

James Avery James La Rue Avery (November 27, 1945 – December 31, 2013) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Philip Banks in ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'', Shredder in ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', Judge Michael Conover on '' L ...

- Dr. Solomon Holt *

James Hong James Hong (; born February 22, 1929) is an American actor, producer and director. He has worked in numerous productions in American media since the 1950s, portraying a variety of roles. With more than 650 film and television credits as of 20 ...

- Ambassador Po * Joseph Patrick Kelly - Control Tech (as Joe Kelly) *

Donald Li Donald Li (born 1961) is a Chinese actor. He is best known for ''Big Trouble in Little China'' and '' The Avengers''. He played multiple parts in Alan Cook's stage adaptation of John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 ...

- Chinese Scientist *

William Zabka William Michael Zabka (; born October 20, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Johnny Lawrence (character), Johnny Lawrence in ''The Karate Kid'' (1984), ''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986) and the TV series ''Cobra Kai'' ...

- Rover Driver Joe *

Marc McClure Marc McClure (born March 31, 1957) is an American actor known for playing Jimmy Olsen in the ''Superman'' series of feature films released between 1978 and 1987 and Dave McFly in the ''Back to the Future'' films. Career McClure appeared in the 19 ...

- German Scientist *

Eloy Casados Eloy Phil Casados (September 28, 1949 - April 19, 2016) was an American film, television and voice actor. He appeared in more than 20 films and 30 television series. He was best known for playing Ishi in the 1978 NBC television movie '' Ishi: ...

- Mexican Doctor

Marketing

On November 24, 2001, the

Sci Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

's debut airing of ''Epoch'' garnered a 2.3 rating, or 1.7 million household, becoming the network's highest-rated original movie, surpassing the

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

Frank Herbert's Dune ''Frank Herbert's Dune'' is a three-part science fiction television miniseries based on the 1965 novel by Frank Herbert. It was written and directed by John Harrison. The cast includes Alec Newman as Paul Atreides, William Hurt as Duke Leto ...

'' (2000). The film, which the network purchased from the United Film Organization, had solely been marketed with on-air promos.

''Epoch: Evolution''

'' Epoch: Evolution'' is the

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

sequel to ''Epoch'', directed by Ian Watson and written by Sam Wells with

and

reprising their roles from the original film.

References

External links

* (official site), Sci Fi Channel. Archived fro
the original
on December 3, 2003. * * * {{Phillip J. Roth, state=collapsed 2001 science fiction films 2001 films Films set in Bhutan Syfy original films American science fiction films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films