Review of Timecop

Introduction

Jean Claude Van Damme was the 90`s equivalent of Arnie Schwarzenegger who was the 80`s equivalent of Chuck Norris who was… Van Damme was also effectively the screen rival of another wooden muscleman in Steven Seagal, but between them all only Schwarzenegger punched above his weight in terms of cinema gold and big budget action. However, between 1989 and 1994 Van Damme could virtually do no wrong with a series of films that, although not great, were good enough to warrant a huge fan following. It doesn`t always happen, but now and again even the worst actor can make a good film and so Van Damme did with 1994`s Timecop.

Seemingly based on Dark Horse comic books series of the same name, Timecop took at look at a time in the not too distant future (about 3 years ago actually) where time travel would be a technology that had actually arrived. With the arrival of such dangerous technology, however, came the need to police it and in came the Time Enforcement Commission or TEC. Washington DC cop Max Walker (Van Damme) has been requested to join this new and elite band of time travelling policemen but the day before this is due to happen he gets the crap kicked out of him by some mysterious thugs and his house blows up with his wife in it. He ain`t no happy bunny now, that`s for sure.

Living only for his work, Walker becomes the most successful TEC operative and his best friend is TEC head Commander Eugene Matuzak (Bruce McGill). On one mission into the 1930`s depression, Walker brings back his ex-partner Atwood who is buying up low stock that is doing well in the future. Walker discovers that Atwood is actually working on behalf of Senator Aaron McComb (Ron Silver) who is abusing time travel technology to fund his presidential campaign. McComb was introduced to this technology by being appointed to a funding committee of this new TEC organisation and the rest is history, ahem. Problem is that Atwood refuses to talk and is sentenced to death and thus Walker has no proof against McComb who can seemingly re-write history at whim.

Walker heads back into the past to confront McComb briefing his younger self with the intention of bringing him in, but instead finds himself betrayed and on a path with destiny that will culminate in a re-enactment of the death of his wife.

Video

Picture is supposedly presented in 4:3 according to cover art but it`s definitely a widescreen affair, and a tiny one at that. I don`t mind the bands but on the widescreen function of my TV the black bands had more of the screen than the picture did. Upping the picture to cinema and stretching it a bit made it better but you can see the obvious stretches at times. This really could use a decent re-issue.

The sfx aren`t bad, the time travel effects themselves are very passable and still stand up. Unfortunately the same can`t really be said for the bad cgi that is used for when the same matter occupies the same space, it looks really bad and far worse than I remember.

Audio

Presented in Dolby digital 2.0 stereo, it can feel a little flat for an action film at times but it`s OK. This is the sort of film that needs to be in 5.1 to work well for home viewing.

Features

Theatrical Trailer - hurrah…

Conclusion

The premise of Timecop is a fairly decent one and not as surprising as the fact that Van Damme actually makes a good film. Not perfect by any means, but a good enjoyable watch. Van Damme is quite believable as the world weary workaholic time travelling muscle man and it was a pleasure to see Mia Sara again after only seeing her previously in Ferris Bueller`s Day Off. Bruce McGill has a bit of a laugh with this film, whilst Ron Silver is deliciously evil as the corrupt politician with some great one-liners. On the bad side, the main heavies look like fashion disasters and I`m not even sure that this would have looked right in the 90`s when I watched this first, now they just look ridiculous.

Time travel is always tricky to do, especially as even an ordinary schoolboy can now understand some of the basics of time travel due to exposure to TV and film covering the same subject. One of the biggest problems with covering this type of subject is the plot holes, and there are a fair few here. I could live with just about all of them though, bar no one (not even his boss and best friend Matuzak) knowing who he was when he returned from his second (or was it his third?) trip. Despite this incomprehensible plot line, both Matuzak and resident geek immediately set about helping him which has a tragic end for one of them, for now.

The denouement to this film is one of the letdowns. It`s filmed on a stormy night in the dark with lightning flashes, rain pouring down, with both big fights and chase/hunt sequences. It must clearly have been designed this way but looking back now, it doesn`t quite work. The editing doesn`t help either and whilst it`s not too confusing to work out what`s happening, it`s a little too obvious what the director is aiming for. At one point you see the younger Walker get shot in the chest and fall from a roof, it then cuts to the older Walker hiding from a villain with a big gun. It`s clear the younger Walker can`t be dead or the older wouldn`t still be here. Only an idiot wouldn`t be able to work that out in an instant and so some of the tension is lost straight away.

All that said, this is still a fun film to watch and is without doubt Van Damme`s best film. Of course, he`s done 19 films since Timecop and I`ve only heard of about three of them. Maybe his best film`s in there, but maybe not. I do know that this film led to a short-lived series based on the concept that was apparently pretty bad, which once more proves that a successful film doesn`t always provide good crossover onto TV. Blade, anyone? Most films of this ilk are generally forgettable affairs, Timecop actually has a memorable quality to it and Van Damme is actually surprisingly good and seems to have found his groove at least on this one occasion.

Good film and one that`s due a decent re-issue.