''Timeline'' is a 2003

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 univers ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, ani ...

directed by Richard Donner and starring Paul Walker, Frances O'Connor,

Gerard Butler Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as '' Mrs Brown'' (1997), the James Bond film ''Tomorrow Never D ...

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...

, David Thewlis, and

Anna Friel Anna Louise Friel (born 12 July 1976) is an English actress. Born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, she has been acting professionally since age 13. Friel achieved fame with her portrayal of Beth Jordache on the British soap opera '' Brookside'' ...

. Based on

Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavily feature tech ...

's 1999 novel of the same name, the screenplay concerns a team of present-day archaeology and history students who are sent back in time to medieval France, to rescue their professor from the middle of a battle.

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the ''Rambo'' franc ...

composed the original score, which would have been his last before his death in 2004 (his actual last score was '' Looney Tunes: Back in Action''), but it was replaced with a new score by

Brian Tyler Brian Theodore Tyler (born May 8, 1972) is an American composer, conductor, arranger, and record producer, best known for his film, television, and video game scores. In his 24-year career, Tyler has scored '' Transformers: Prime'', ''Eagle E ...

, after the first cut was re-edited and Goldsmith's increasing health problems prevented him from continuing. The film was poorly received by critics and bombed at the box office, losing an estimated $49 million.

Plot

Professor Edward Johnston leads an archaeological study of the village of Castlegard, near LaRoque Castle in Dordogne, France, the site of the 1357 hanging of Lady Claire, sister to Arnaut de Cervole. Her martyrdom led France to win the

Hundred Years War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Planta ...

against the English. Johnston's team includes

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

archaeologist André Marek; Johnston's students Kate Erickson, Josh Stern, and François Dontelle; and his son Chris who is infatuated with Kate. While excavating a nearby monastery, they find a sarcophagus containing the remains of a French knight with a lopped ear, holding the hand of his lady, an unheard-of practice for the time. Johnston travels to the American headquarters of the ITC Corporation, his project's sponsor, to inquire whether or not they have tampered with the site. The students later discover a pair of Johnston's

bifocals Bifocals are eyeglasses with two distinct optical powers. Bifocals are commonly prescribed to people with presbyopia who also require a correction for myopia, hyperopia, and/or astigmatism. History Benjamin Franklin is generally credited with t ...

and a note begging for help, although both date over 600 years old. When the students contact ITC, the company invites them to its headquarters. There, the team is introduced to ITC president Robert Doniger and vice-president Steven Kramer. Doniger reveals that in the process of developing teleportation technology, they locked onto a stable wormhole to 1357 Castlegard. Johnston was invited to see the past for himself, but his group has not returned, and they want the students to go back in time to locate him. All but Josh volunteer to go. The volunteers are stripped of all modern technology save for pendant-shaped markers they can use to initiate their return. The students are joined by a security team including ITC's head of security, Frank Gordon, and two former military men. On arrival in 1357, the team finds itself in the path of a young woman chased by English knights; the security men are killed while protecting the group, although one activated his marker shortly after priming a grenade. When his body arrives in the present, the grenade detonates and shatters much of the teleportation device. Josh aids Kramer in making repairs. The team evades the knights, and the woman leads them to the English-controlled Castlegard. They are captured and brought before Lord Oliver de Vannes and his second in command, DeKere. The team members are stripped of their markers, and de Vannes kills François, believing he is a French spy. The others are imprisoned along with Johnston, who is revealed to have promised de Vannes that he can make

Greek fire Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Eastern Roman Empire beginning . Used to set fire to enemy ships, it consisted of a combustible compound emitted by a flame-throwing weapon. Some historians believe it could be ignited on contact w ...

for the English in exchange for his life. They make their escape but are pursued by the English. Gordon and Johnston are recaptured, while the others make for the monastery, led by the woman. DeKere reveals himself to Gordon and Johnston as former ITC employee William Decker; he had frequently used the teleportation device but was not told by ITC that each use damaged his DNA until it was too late, at which point he would die on a return trip. He plans revenge on ITC and kills Gordon. De Vannes orders his knights to march on LaRoque castle, and DeKere brings Johnston along. At the monastery, Marek, Kate, and Chris meet de Cervole and realize the woman is Lady Claire; they have changed history by saving her. Marek, who has become infatuated with Lady Claire, is given a horse to rescue his friends. Kate and Chris help to swing the upcoming battle in the French's favor by leading de Cervole's men through the monastery tunnels they had previously mapped to the castle. As the battle starts, Marek is captured in his rescue attempt; Lady Claire is also kidnapped. Marek manages to free himself, Lady Claire, and Johnston, while Chris helps de Cervole defeat de Vannes. Enraged, DeKere slashes off Marek's earlobe, and Marek realizes he is destined to be the knight in the sarcophagus. Marek defeats DeKere, recovers the markers, gives them to the others, and says his goodbyes as he runs off to help the French assure victory and restore history. As the three returnees activate their markers, in the present Josh and Kramer have finished the repairs after coming to learn that Doniger has attempted to sabotage their attempts; Doniger fears that when the students' stories become public, ITC will suffer great financial losses. As the machine activates, Doniger races into it, attempting to block the teleportation, but instead he is sent back to 1357, where he arrives outside the castle and is presumably killed by a charging knight. Chris, Kate, and Johnston safely return. Later, the team returns to the Castlegard ruins, re-examine the sarcophagus, and find that Marek and Lady Claire led a prosperous life after the war and had three children: Christophe, Katherine, and François.

Cast

* Paul Walker as Chris Johnston * Frances O'Connor as Kate Ericson *

as André Marek *

as Professor Edward A. Johnston * David Thewlis as Robert Doniger *

as Lady Claire * Neal McDonough as Frank Gordon * Matt Craven as Steven Kramer *

Ethan Embry Ethan Embry (born June 13, 1978) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his role as Mark in '' Empire Records'', Preston in ''Can't Hardly Wait'', The Bass Player in ''That Thing You Do!'', and as Bobby Ray in ''Sweet Home Al ...

as Josh Stern * Michael Sheen as Lord Oliver de Vannes *

Lambert Wilson Lambert Wilson (born 3 August 1958) is a French actor, singer and activist. He is best known internationally for his portrayal of The Merovingian in '' The Matrix Reloaded'', ''The Matrix Revolutions'' and ''The Matrix Resurrections''. Biogra ...

as Lord

Arnaud de Cervole Arnaud de Cervole, also ''de Cervolles'', ''de Cervolle'', ''Arnaut de Cervole'' or ''Arnold of Cervoles'' (''c.'' 1320 – 25 May 1366), known as l'Archiprêtre (The Archpriest), was a French mercenary soldier and Brigand of the Hundred Years War i ...

* Marton Csokas as Sir William De Kere/William Decker *

Rossif Sutherland Rossif Sutherland (born September 25, 1978) is a Canadian actor. He, along with his brothers Angus and Roeg and half-brother Kiefer, are the sons of Donald Sutherland. Early life and education Sutherland was born in Vancouver, but lived in P ...

as François Dontelle *

Patrick Sabongui Patrick Sabongui (born January 9, 1975) is a Canadian actor, stunt performer, theatre actor, and drama teacher. He is also known for his role as David Singh in the CW series '' The Flash''. Personal life Born to an Egyptian family, Sabongui ob ...

as Jimmy Gomez *

Steve Kahan Steve Kahan (born 1939) is a retired American character actor. Career Kahan has appeared in many films, most prominently those of director Richard Donner, his late cousin. His best-known film role is in the '' Lethal Weapon'' film franchise as ...

as Baker

Production

The battle sequences used medieval reenactors. Richard Donner limited the use of CGI in the film as much as possible. Composer

, who had previously collaborated with Donner on ''

The Omen ''The Omen'' is a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spence ...

'', completed a score for the film - his final score before his death in 2004 - but it was replaced by a different score composed by

after Donner was forced to re-cut the film at the insistence of

Sherry Lansing Sherry Lansing (born Sherry Lee Duhl; July 31, 1944) is an American philanthropist and retired film studio executive. She is a former CEO of Paramount Pictures and president of production at 20th Century Fox. In 1996, she became the first woman ...

, the then-head of Paramount Pictures. However, both Goldsmith and Tyler's scores were released on CD.

Reception

''Timeline'' performed poorly at the box office, only recouping $43 million worldwide from a budget of $80 million.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 13% based on reviews from 144 critics. The site's consensus states: "This incoherently plotted addition to the time-travel genre looks and sounds cheesy". On Metacritic the film has a score of 28% based on reviews from 32 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film a grade C+ on scale of A to F. Kirk Honeycutt of '' The Hollywood Reporter'' called it "Glorious so-bad-it's-good entertainment."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave it 2 out of 4, and wrote that it was "not so much about travel between the past and the present as about travel between two movie genres" namely "a corporate thriller crossed with a medieval swashbuckler". He was disappointed that the elaborate premise was not put to greater use, that it was essentially nothing more than a frame for action scenes. Robert Koehler of '' Variety'' wrote: "Lacks the consistent tone, pace and point of view for either a science fiction thriller or medieval war adventure."

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Timeline (Film) 2003 films 2003 science fiction action films 2000s action adventure films 2000s science fiction adventure films American action adventure films American science fiction action films American science fiction adventure films Films about time travel Films based on American novels Films based on science fiction novels Films based on works by Michael Crichton Films directed by Richard Donner Films produced by Lauren Shuler Donner Films scored by Brian Tyler Films set in the 14th century Films set in France Films shot in Montreal Films with screenplays by George Nolfi Hundred Years' War films Mutual Film Company films Paramount Pictures films Techno-thriller films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films