Time Quest vs. Time Changer
Oct. 12th, 2007 12:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
joshwritingAs part of my research for my Improbable Histories class, I watched a couple movies I have not seen previously, Time Quest and Time Changer.
Time Quest asks and answers the question "What if JFK had not been assassinated?" A time traveler comes back to November 22, 1963 and prevents the shooting of President Kennedy, in the process changing many features of the years to come. The cold war, the space race, Viet Nam, music, future presidencies, and his own family are among the areas on which we get to see some of the influence.
Time Changer works in the opposite direction. It starts in 1890 and one of the characters is sent into the future where what he sees may influence his actions in 1890 - in the hopes of causing that future world to never be what comes to pass.
Time Changer is a tad heavy-handed with its morality, but then again it is quite upfront about its status as a Christian movie. The conceit is that a few carefully written words in a minor religious treatise are (will be) enough to bend society a hundred years (and a bit) later one way or another - that saying the wrong thing in this book will lead to a largely godless society: ours.
Time Quest is, perhaps, no less heavy-handed, but in treatment of the Kennedy clan and its legends. It takes potshots at others along the way, but focuses on a) why did this intervention happen, and b) what are the results of it. Personalities are painted with a jaundiced eye, with nobody put on a pedestal.
I can't honestly recommend Time Changer. It is a bit too shrill even given its pre-stated biases.
Time Quest is poorly acted and its pacing and scripting are odd and uneven, but the story is interesting to me, at least. I love the little twists and the idealist in me loves the world that is created.
Time Quest asks and answers the question "What if JFK had not been assassinated?" A time traveler comes back to November 22, 1963 and prevents the shooting of President Kennedy, in the process changing many features of the years to come. The cold war, the space race, Viet Nam, music, future presidencies, and his own family are among the areas on which we get to see some of the influence.
Time Changer works in the opposite direction. It starts in 1890 and one of the characters is sent into the future where what he sees may influence his actions in 1890 - in the hopes of causing that future world to never be what comes to pass.
Time Changer is a tad heavy-handed with its morality, but then again it is quite upfront about its status as a Christian movie. The conceit is that a few carefully written words in a minor religious treatise are (will be) enough to bend society a hundred years (and a bit) later one way or another - that saying the wrong thing in this book will lead to a largely godless society: ours.
Time Quest is, perhaps, no less heavy-handed, but in treatment of the Kennedy clan and its legends. It takes potshots at others along the way, but focuses on a) why did this intervention happen, and b) what are the results of it. Personalities are painted with a jaundiced eye, with nobody put on a pedestal.
I can't honestly recommend Time Changer. It is a bit too shrill even given its pre-stated biases.
Time Quest is poorly acted and its pacing and scripting are odd and uneven, but the story is interesting to me, at least. I love the little twists and the idealist in me loves the world that is created.
