Like so many viewers, time travel fascinates me … so I’m naturally drawn to Science Fiction and Fantasy films that explore similar themes.
There have been many, many great ones over the years; and – to be honest – even the average space age thriller can achieve more than a few nice moments in exploring man’s attempt to either alter the past, tinker with the present, or salvage the future. One of my personal favorite time travel films remains Nicholas Meyer’s Time After Time (1979), and what’s genius about it to me even after all of this time is the balance that script managed between its modest SciFi elements and believable, interesting characters. See – and this is the tipping point for every film – if we like the characters, then we’re liable to give the flick an honest pass on taking the affordable way out.
This sentiment might possibly save 95ers: Time Runners (2013) from its own extinction.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last three paragraphs for my final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“An FBI agent with time-bending powers must fight sinister forces from the future to save her loved ones from being erased from existence.”
A few decades beyond today, mankind teeters on extinction from waging wars that have left our planet largely destroyed. Our last best hope lies in the hands of those who’ve been trained to use time machines in order to change the past in order to revise our future. But the work of present-day (and pregnant!) FBI agent Sally Biggs (played with middling conviction at best by Alesandra Durham) is interfering with these future warriors attempts to ‘right’ the timeline. She’s using the resources of the federal government to probe the mysterious death of her physicist husband. Could it be that she’s inadvertently tapped into an alternate reality that’s causing mankind’s demise … or is this just part and parcel of being pregnant? I’ve heard that can cause feminine issues.
I kid. Seriously, I kid.
But that’s the problem I tend to have with independent features that take themselves vastly too seriously, and you can certainly add 95ers into that category. All of it is approached with a level of seriousness not necessarily simpatico with the nature of the production, perhaps an attempt to push a low-budget property into the realm of the art-house effort. While I can appreciate anyone reaching out for the gravitas not found between the credits, I’d still insist that – for some of us, at least – there’s nothing wrong with being an economical SciFi Thriller. Some of us subsist on those. So embrace your fate, people, and don’t try to trick us into believing you’re something that you’re not.
There have been many, many great ones over the years; and – to be honest – even the average space age thriller can achieve more than a few nice moments in exploring man’s attempt to either alter the past, tinker with the present, or salvage the future. One of my personal favorite time travel films remains Nicholas Meyer’s Time After Time (1979), and what’s genius about it to me even after all of this time is the balance that script managed between its modest SciFi elements and believable, interesting characters. See – and this is the tipping point for every film – if we like the characters, then we’re liable to give the flick an honest pass on taking the affordable way out.
This sentiment might possibly save 95ers: Time Runners (2013) from its own extinction.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last three paragraphs for my final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“An FBI agent with time-bending powers must fight sinister forces from the future to save her loved ones from being erased from existence.”
A few decades beyond today, mankind teeters on extinction from waging wars that have left our planet largely destroyed. Our last best hope lies in the hands of those who’ve been trained to use time machines in order to change the past in order to revise our future. But the work of present-day (and pregnant!) FBI agent Sally Biggs (played with middling conviction at best by Alesandra Durham) is interfering with these future warriors attempts to ‘right’ the timeline. She’s using the resources of the federal government to probe the mysterious death of her physicist husband. Could it be that she’s inadvertently tapped into an alternate reality that’s causing mankind’s demise … or is this just part and parcel of being pregnant? I’ve heard that can cause feminine issues.
I kid. Seriously, I kid.
But that’s the problem I tend to have with independent features that take themselves vastly too seriously, and you can certainly add 95ers into that category. All of it is approached with a level of seriousness not necessarily simpatico with the nature of the production, perhaps an attempt to push a low-budget property into the realm of the art-house effort. While I can appreciate anyone reaching out for the gravitas not found between the credits, I’d still insist that – for some of us, at least – there’s nothing wrong with being an economical SciFi Thriller. Some of us subsist on those. So embrace your fate, people, and don’t try to trick us into believing you’re something that you’re not.
Written and directed by Thomas Gomez Durham (I’m guessing this might be nepotism, too!), 95ERS tries to do a whole lot of things on its limited resources, maybe trying to look like it was built as a summer tent-pole feature but lacking any of the studio frills. There’s a vast amount of texture packed into the gills here, and one might wonder if the script was a bit too ambitious. Not only is Sally Biggs an FBI Agent, but she’s also pregnant … and, not only is she pregnant, but her physicist/husband disappeared under curious circumstances … and not only did her physicist/husband disappear under curious circumstances but also he (and she) may be directed tied into these time wars of the future … and not only might the two of them be tied into these time wars of the future but also their unborn son might also be tied into it as well. Biting off more than one narrative can chew is always risky, and maybe this one could’ve benefitted from a kinder, gentler construction.
Oh, yeah: did I mention Sally has the ability to manipulate time in the present?
It’s overkill – never a good thing – and it’s the kind of overkill one might expect, say, if you were casting some marquee actress (Angelina Jolie or a Julia Roberts or even a Meryl Streep) … only they probably wouldn’t be drawn to the material. Essentially, Ms. Biggs is a modern day mutant, only this isn’t going to be a story told with the stylish presentation befitting a modern day mutant in, say, the Marvel Movie Universe. This will be done ‘on the cheap.’ That, and the story told won’t quite tie itself up with the same ease and grace normally befitting those silver screen tales based on comic books, so the mission and the narration all feels more than a bit muddled. In fact, I have to admit that I’m not all that convinced all of this tied up the way one might expect a time travel yarn to do; suffice it to say it ends with a bit of a promise for more … but would anyone show up?
Maybe if their surname was Durham.
This was clearly a family affair – not that there’s anything wrong with it – but, at some point, maybe an outside voice would’ve been helpful if for no other reason than to point out the film lacked any organic flow to it.
95ers: Time Runners (aka 95ers: Echoes) (2013) is produced by Space Ace Media. DVD distribution (for this particular release) is being handled by Inception Media Group. As for the technical specifications, this is an independent feature that serves up some quality sights and sounds, though I’ll point out that the mike work left a bit to be desired in a few sequences. Also – as tends to happen when these small releases require some high quality CGI effects sequences – there’s a noticeable difference between the visual qualities between stuff shot with human characters versus the high-tech computer-generated spacecraft; it’s occasionally jarring but not all that of a distraction. Lastly, if it’s special features you want, then you’ve a bit in store: there’s an audio commentary from the director and his star (both with last names Durham) along with some additional scenes.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
As a low budget thriller, 95ers: Time Runners (2013) is far from perfect. As an indie Science Fiction feature, it may squeeze a bit closer to comfortable confines, but I’m once more inclined to chalk this up as yet one more example of what happens when relative newcomers write and direct their own work – unfortunately, they’re simply too close to the material to detect the weaknesses inherent in the script as unprepared to fix the shortcomings of their own execution. I’ve no doubt when – twenty years from now – someone decides to pick this up and remake it it’ll likely end up being a more balanced picture, but this one as is has plenty of narrative flaws.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Inception Media Group provided me with a DVD copy of 95ers: Time Runners (2013) by request for the expressed purposes of completing this review, and it in no way, shape, or form influenced this opinion of it.
-- EZ
Oh, yeah: did I mention Sally has the ability to manipulate time in the present?
It’s overkill – never a good thing – and it’s the kind of overkill one might expect, say, if you were casting some marquee actress (Angelina Jolie or a Julia Roberts or even a Meryl Streep) … only they probably wouldn’t be drawn to the material. Essentially, Ms. Biggs is a modern day mutant, only this isn’t going to be a story told with the stylish presentation befitting a modern day mutant in, say, the Marvel Movie Universe. This will be done ‘on the cheap.’ That, and the story told won’t quite tie itself up with the same ease and grace normally befitting those silver screen tales based on comic books, so the mission and the narration all feels more than a bit muddled. In fact, I have to admit that I’m not all that convinced all of this tied up the way one might expect a time travel yarn to do; suffice it to say it ends with a bit of a promise for more … but would anyone show up?
Maybe if their surname was Durham.
This was clearly a family affair – not that there’s anything wrong with it – but, at some point, maybe an outside voice would’ve been helpful if for no other reason than to point out the film lacked any organic flow to it.
95ers: Time Runners (aka 95ers: Echoes) (2013) is produced by Space Ace Media. DVD distribution (for this particular release) is being handled by Inception Media Group. As for the technical specifications, this is an independent feature that serves up some quality sights and sounds, though I’ll point out that the mike work left a bit to be desired in a few sequences. Also – as tends to happen when these small releases require some high quality CGI effects sequences – there’s a noticeable difference between the visual qualities between stuff shot with human characters versus the high-tech computer-generated spacecraft; it’s occasionally jarring but not all that of a distraction. Lastly, if it’s special features you want, then you’ve a bit in store: there’s an audio commentary from the director and his star (both with last names Durham) along with some additional scenes.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
As a low budget thriller, 95ers: Time Runners (2013) is far from perfect. As an indie Science Fiction feature, it may squeeze a bit closer to comfortable confines, but I’m once more inclined to chalk this up as yet one more example of what happens when relative newcomers write and direct their own work – unfortunately, they’re simply too close to the material to detect the weaknesses inherent in the script as unprepared to fix the shortcomings of their own execution. I’ve no doubt when – twenty years from now – someone decides to pick this up and remake it it’ll likely end up being a more balanced picture, but this one as is has plenty of narrative flaws.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Inception Media Group provided me with a DVD copy of 95ers: Time Runners (2013) by request for the expressed purposes of completing this review, and it in no way, shape, or form influenced this opinion of it.
-- EZ
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