Retroactive (1997)

I was very disappointed with this film.

The plot is awful, in fact it's almost non-existent. The action is unbelievable. The acting is average at best. The film feels too long and I was glad when it finished.

There is very little Sci-Fi content to this film. Don't bother to watch it if you are looking for a Sci-Fi film.

It's more of an action film, and a poor one at that, the action is repetitive and unimaginative. The characters have no depth to them, which leaves no sense of tension in the film, because you don't care what happens to them.

Do yourself a favour, don't watch this film.

Fmovies: A Chicago cop has car trouble on a remote Texas highway, but is picked up by a murderous man (James Belushi) and his tormented wife. Before she can do anything to stop it, Belushi has murdered several people, including his wife. The cop (Kylie Travis) escapes to the inside of the Superconducting Supercollider, and manages to go back in time to try to rectify the situation. Unfortunately, her first trips back in time cause more murders, not less.

James Belushi shamelessly chews up the scenery in this one (or should I say shoots up), but Kylie Travis is wonderful in her role as the troubled policewoman. The film has an interesting time-travel premise which is similar to GROUNDHOG DAY and a certain STAR TREK NEXT GENERATION episode. Unfortunately, this means that we get to see Belushi murder the same people in slow motion multiple times. Still, if you overlook some of the silliness in the execution of the plot, the premise of the policewoman's dilemma is a compelling one.

By the way, the SuperCollider is not out in the desert in West Texas, but underneath farmland in east Texas, and the area is not that deserted. Also, the US Government shut down the project several years ago because it was too expensive.

This movie has a fascinating premise- what if you could go back in time, and change what you've done? Would it make things better, or worse?

Some of Jim Belushi's best acting is in this film- his "stream of consciousness" comments are a riot, and also horrifying, given their context. I've heard that he had just gotten out of a tough divorce, and the director let him ad lib at length, to really show the anger and madness in the character of Frank.

Of course, the lingering camera shots of Kylie Travis flying through the air in her black tank top and tight pants do nothing to detract from the overall watchability of this action/psychodrama thriller.

I'd give this one 8/10.

Retroactive fmovies. My 14 year-old son and I really enjoyed this movie. Belushi did a great job as Frank, the good-old southern boy that has a bad-d-d-d-d temper. We classify this one as a sleeper, because most people have never heard of it. Good time travel movies are hard to find, but as most of us learned back in the original Star Trek days, time travel is VERY dangerous. In this movie, we learn that right away, but it goes even farther to show how even when we redo the trip back in time, even good intentions by supposedly intelligent people, can make things even worse the 2nd (or 3rd) time around. I guess the best part of movies like this is that they make you think 'What if I could go back and do something over again?' Word to the wise, if you do.... be very careful.

Whoever came up with the title to this film should be taken to one side and taught a thing or two about movies. There is no getting away from the fact that the title is BAD! The title suggests that you are about to watch every bad sci-fi movie you have ever seen, but what lies behind the title is an entertaining time travel film which is actually quite good.

James Belushi is quite good as the bad guy and Kylie Travis plays the feisty female cop well.

There is great pleasure in watching the main characters failing miserably at changing their situation as they travel back again and again to fix things, when it seems all manage to do is make a bad situation worse. The ending is surprisingly downbeat and refreshingly rewarding, which makes a change for Hollywood these days.

All in all not the best of films ever made, but if you just leave you critical faculties and high expectations at home you will be pleasantly surprised.

This film is great from the first moment. I love James Belushi as a baddie. There are so many time travel films out there and this one is a stand out. Cinematography is beautiful. This film deserved to be shown on the big screen. If you are looking for a good film at the video story, Retroactive is an excellent rental title. No one will be disappointed.