Time Changer (2002)

Note:  This is a repost from my Epinions account

Normally, bad reviews don't deter me. In fact, I usually see them as a dare. I want to see the movie that much more just to see how bad it really is. This is one of those cases where I should have read the reviews first. Yes, the movie was that bad and I really would have known not to rent it from NetFlix.

The basic plot is simple. It's 1890 and professor Russell Carlisle has written a book called The Changing Times and he wants the endorsement of the Grace Bible Seminary, where he works. The thing is that it requires a unanimous vote of the board. Dr. Anderson is the sole holdout, having found one line in particular objectionable. Carlisle claims in his book that it's important to be a moral person, even if you don't go to Church. Anderson feels that people need to go to Church, or they will go to hell. It's also necessary to believe, or you'll go to hell.

To prove his point, Anderson sends Carlisle 100+ years into their future, where Carlisle sees a religiously apathetic populace. He finds one person who's moral, yet only attends church on Easter and Christmas. He also finds a little girl that steals his hot dog, but pretends like it's no big deal. When Carlisle confronts her about what she's done, he states that it's wrong to steal. She comes back with, "Says who?"

Here's where the opinions will differ. The problem that I had with the movie was that it had a very strong religious theme, and when I say "very strong," I mean as in having it shoved down your throat. The basic theme of the movie is that you have to believe in Jesus Christ as your savior, or you'll rot in hell for all of eternity. There's absolutely no room for interpretation. In fact, Carlisle says to his students that the only good science is the kind of science that backs up the Bible.

Add to that some marginal (and outright bad) acting and you have a must-miss movie. It actually got so bad that my brother and I couldn't finish watching it. Before I turned it off, I skipped ahead to the ending. Dr. Anderson believed that the End of Days was near. He used his time machine to go ahead in time past our year, but the machine didn't work. It was as if to say that the Earth wasn't around, thus implying that the end was near.

Now, I like the concept of time travel as much as the next guy, but this movie blew chunks, if you'll pardon the expression. The only real problem I had was the religious aspect. I can tolerate some bad acting. I could even tolerate an underlying religious theme, but Time Changer overdid it. In that respect, it's a lot like Fahrenheit 9/11. If you already believe what the movie presents, it's going to be a great movie. If you don't believe what the movie presents, then you probably won't be able to bear it.

This is a one-star movie. I really can't see myself recommending this movie. I really don't know anyone that I think would like it.