Time Chasers: David Giancola

There are few words that can turn me off to a sci-fi movie quicker than "time travel shenanigans." For every good time travel movie (12 Monkeys, Time Bandits) there are many more that get it terribly, terribly wrong. David Giancola's Time Chasers is one such film. The main character is physics teacher Nick Miller who somehow managed to create a time machine with a small airplane and a Commodore 64. He decides to license it to GenCorp, a powerful mega-corporation. However, he discovers that GenCorp teamed up with the government to abuse the time travel device, thereby destroying the future. When Nick and his girlfriend Lisa Hansen try to confront GenCorp's CEO, J.K. Robertson, they are arrested for treason. And, of course, they escape into the past to try and stop GenCorp. One thing leads to another and Nick, Lisa, and Robertson find themselves in the midst of the American Revolutionary War in 1777.  Despite Giancola's use of 35mm film stock, the whole film looks washed out and fuzzy, almost as if it was shot directly on VHS. The various costumes used in the alternate timelines are amateurish to the point of hilarity. In an apocalyptic future, people wear bright 80s clothing. In the American Revolution, all of the soldiers look like they are wearing costumes that they bought for $15 from a used clothing warehouse. Even the scenes that take place in the present look cheap and phoned in. When a CEO can't get all of his evil henchmen to wear the same color suit, then you know you are watching an amateurish film. Time Chasers is a film that time needs to forget.

4/10