''Thrill Seekers'' (also known as ''The Time Shifters'') is a 1999

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by

Mario Azzopardi Mario Philip Azzopardi (born 19 November 1950) is a Canadian-Maltese television director, television and film director and writer. Early life and emigration Azzopardi was born in Siggiewi, Malta, and was educated at St Aloysius' College (Malta), S ...

and starring

Casper Van Dien Casper Robert Van Dien Jr. (born December 18, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for his lead role as Johnny Rico in the 1997 science-fiction action film ''Starship Troopers''. He has also appeared in a large number of television and ...

, Catherine Bell,

Julian Richings Julian Richings (born 30 August 1956)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at Ancestry.com is a British-Canadian character actor. He has appeared in over 225 films and television series. Career After touring th ...

and

Martin Sheen Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...

. The film aired on October 17, 1999 on TBS. The film was shot in 1999 from May to June in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Plot

Tom Merrick (Van Dien) is a TV reporter filming a live segment on a fire at a power plant. He spots a creepy-looking man (Richings), causing him to move away from his crew. This accidentally saves his life as the crew is killed in the partial collapse of a building. After the accident, Merrick gives up his job as a reporter and begins working for a magazine. In June 2000, while researching catastrophes, Merrick finds several pictures of the man from the power plant, who appears to turn up in different disasters ( sinking of ''Titanic'',

Hindenburg disaster The ''Hindenburg'' disaster was an airship accident that occurred on May 6, 1937, in Manchester Township, New Jersey, United States. The German passenger airship LZ 129 ''Hindenburg'' caught fire and was destroyed during its attemp ...

and

Hurricane Hugo Hurricane Hugo was a powerful Cape Verde tropical cyclone that inflicted widespread damage across the northeastern Caribbean and the Southeastern United States in September 1989. Across its track, Hugo affected approximately 2 million peop ...

), but who still looks the same in all the pictures. Merrick's boss Eleanor books him a flight to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

to get the original photographs. On the plane, he spots the man from the power plant and photos and checks his luggage. He finds a flyer and discovers a future enterprise – Thrill Seekers – will make time travel possible in the year 2070 and will sell trips to the past to allow travelers to visit a catastrophe before it occurs, but are able to travel back in time again before they get killed. Merrick finds out that the flight he is on will be involved in a mid-air collision, killing everyone on board. Merrick forces the pilots to change course, which saves the plane from crashing. The mysterious man disappears before landing. Merrick is arrested by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

on the charge of

aircraft hijacking Aircraft hijacking (also known as airplane hijacking, skyjacking, plane hijacking, plane jacking, air robbery, air piracy, or aircraft piracy, with the last term used within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States) is the unlawfu ...

. Agent Baker is sure about the hijacking attempt while his partner, Agent Stanton, believes Merrick's story. The averted disaster causes changes in the future, so Grifasi (Sheen), the head of Thrill Seekers, sends agents Cortez and Felder to the past to stop Merrick. The agents kidnap Merrick, but he is able to escape and hide. Merrick contacts his colleague Elizabeth (Bell) for help. They head to the

Chicago subway The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , ...

where, according to the future itinerary, the next catastrophe will take place. They spot the man from the previous events and board the same train. Merrick confronts the man and takes his time-travel device. The engineer appears unconscious, and the train accelerates uncontrollably. Merrick manages to disconnect the locomotive from the rest of the train, but the time traveler remains behind and is killed. Cortez and Felder are informed by Grifasi that the prevention of the train wreck has had a huge impact on the future. The agents, whose own time lines are protected by a containment field around the time machine in the future, are warned that these changes may even prevent them from returning to their own time. While checking the time-traveling device, Merrick learns of another catastrophe: a fire at

Copps Coliseum FirstOntario Centre (originally Copps Coliseum) is a sports and entertainment arena at the corner of Bay Street North and York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1985, it has a capacity of up to 19,000. History Hamilton was lef ...

that will kill over 11,000 people, including his ex-wife and son. Unable to convince them not to go, Merrick tells the FBI about the coming disaster. While Baker is still suspicious, he decides to be cautious and has firefighters dispatched. They manage to put out a fire in the stadium restaurant which was the probable cause of the disaster. Felder and Cortez are now informed by Grifasi that the timeline has been severely altered and the world they know no longer exists with millions of people in California being killed when a nuclear reactor melted down 22 years earlier in the new timeline. The agents are also unable to return because they learn that one of the surviving passengers from the averted plane crash killed the inventor of the time travel device in a car crash before he could invent it. The only way to reset the timeline is to make sure the Copps Coliseum fire occurs in order to prevent the timeline from altering too much to be recoverable and then to travel to the past to prevent Merrick from saving the lives of the people who will go on to cause the California disaster in the future. The agents pursue Merrick and blow up his car with Elisabeth in it, then travel to the stadium and plant multiple explosive devices. The explosions kill Merrick's ex-wife and son. Merrick uses the time-travel device and returns to the time before Elisabeth is killed. Merrick and Elizabeth manage to partially evacuate the stadium before the agents set off the explosions. Felder, who now regrets his actions, kills Cortez but is then killed by falling rubble. As he dies, Felder recognizes Stanton as the inventor of the time machine and tells him not to invent it, but Stanton appears not to understand the warning. Merrick, along with Elizabeth, his ex-wife, and son survive the accident. Merrick and Elizabeth share a kiss while a group of time travelers watch the scene.

Cast

as Tom Merrick * Catherine Bell as Elizabeth Wintern *

Theresa Saldana Theresa Saldana (August 20, 1954 – June 6, 2016) was an American actress, activist, and writer. She is known for her role as Rachel Scali, the wife of Police Commissioner Tony Scali, in the 1990s television series ''The Commish'', for which sh ...

as Cortez *

Peter Outerbridge Peter Outerbridge (born June 30, 1966) is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Ari Tasarov in the CW action series ''Nikita'', Dr. David Sandström in the TMN series ''ReGenesis'', Henrik "Hank" Johanssen in ''Orphan Black'', Bob Corbett ...

as Felder *

as Murray Trevor, Time-Traveling Tourist *

Lawrence Dane Lawrence Joseph Zahab (April 3, 1937 – March 21, 2022), known professionally as Lawrence Dane, was a Canadian actor and film producer, best known for his role as Lt. Preston in ''Bride of Chucky''. Life and career Born in Masson, Quebec, Dane ...

as FBI Agent Baker *

James Allodi James Allodi (born February 26, 1967) is a Canadian actor, writer and director. Career James Allodi earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts, with a Major in Film, from New York University. Since then, the writer, director, and actor has amassed an impres ...

as FBI Agent Stanton *

Catherine Oxenberg Catherine Oxenberg (born September 22, 1961) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Amanda Carrington on the 1980s prime time soap opera ''Dynasty''. Oxenberg is the daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia and Howard Oxe ...

as Thrill Seekers Spokesperson (as Catherine Van Dien) *

Mimi Kuzyk Mimi Kuzyk (born February 21, 1952) is a Canadian actress. Early life Kuzyk was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba to Fred and Kay Kuzyk, both of whom are Ukrainian immigrants, and received her early education at the Immaculate Heart of Mary School. Sh ...

as Eleanor Grayson *

as Grifasi

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0204686, Thrill Seekers 1999 films 1990s science fiction films Films scored by Fred Mollin Films directed by Mario Philip Azzopardi Films shot in Hamilton, Ontario Films about time travel 1990s English-language films

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links