Product Description

Suspense Thriller based on the famous short story by master of fiction Ray Bradbury. In the year 2055, a technology has been invented that enables people to go back in time to hunt dinosaurs. When one such expedition to the Prehistoric past unwittingly makes a fatal mistake it dramatically impacts the course of evolution, setting off waves of destruction that ripple toward the modern world and unleashing an army of fearsome creatures that never should have existed. Two scientists race against time to fix the catastrophic error while their world collapses around them and every minute brings the human race closer to extinction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14836 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2006-03-28
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 110 minutes

Features

• Suspense Thriller based on the famous short story by master of fiction Ray Bradbury. In the year 2055, a technology has been invented that enables people to go back in time to hunt dinosaurs. When one such expedition to the Prehistoric past unwittingly makes a fatal mistake it dramatically impacts the course of evolution, setting off waves of destruction that ripple toward the modern world and unl

Customer Reviews

Fun Movie If You Don't Take It Too Seriously
I have not read the Ray Bradbury short story, so I can't speak as to how the movie compares to it. Taken as an individual work, this film is not bad at all. The key is to not take everything so seriously. There's a lot of action to enjoy and much of it is very creative. The film is basically clean and probably should have been rated PG.

For those of you who like to take your films seriously, I have several warnings.

1) The effects are not great, and in some scenes downright poor. The scenes in which the characters travel along Chicago streets in 2055 are very weak, but the scenes of the various "animals" are pretty decent.

2) The acting is not very good. Ben Kingsly does well as the evil rich guy, but Edward Burns seems to have been given poor lines and direction. The female lead, Catherine McCormick, is completely unlikeable throughout the film as an angry radical.

3) The time travel logic doesn't really make sense. The concept of the butterfly effect is that some minor change in the past can lead to major changes in the future. However, in this film things just don't add up.

Still, I watched this film with no expectation of it being good, and I ended up having a fun time watching it. I just ignored the 3 points I mentioned above. I enjoyed seeing the characters trying to overcome their challenges to defeat the various "animals" they encountered. There was quite a bit of action and suspense that was fun.

If you enjoy sci-fi films, but aren't too much of a purist, you'll probably have fun with this. Don't expect any special features, because all you have are the 2 trailers.

Best way to view this film is with friends and a lot of beer
Turn it into your own personal "MST3K" event and poke fun all you want. There's plenty to poke fun at: acting, effects, dialogue, etc. It's a great example of current B-movie science fiction. Future generations will look back on this one and have a great laugh.

One Wrong Step...
I like "A Sound of Thunder." I can't pin down exactly why, but I do. Having no prior knowledge of the Ray Bradbury short story this is based on, I went into this film intrigued by the plot: Hunters from the future make a seemingly minor mistake in the past and turn evolution upside down. Sir Ben Kingsley plays Charles Hatton, an opportunistic man in the year 2055 who uses time travel as a way to promote "safari" hunts throughout time. The team that takes high paying customers on these hunts is headed up by Travis Ryer (Edward Burns), a well-meaning scientist who uses Hatton's money to further his own private research. When the group goes back on one particular hunt, a group member steps off of the designated path for a brief second and alters history forever. As time "waves" literally speed up evolution to make up for lost time, a bizarre array of plant life, animals, and temperature changes appear that turn normal life into chaos. The team members try to determine exactly who made the mistake and then how to go back in time to fix it. The only problem is that as each twenty-four hour period occurs since the original mistake was made, a new "wave" evolves everything, providing new dangers and new trials for the group.

The story feels like one of those old Saturday matinee cliffhangers from long ago. The hero of the tale, Ryer, always seems to be in danger, but never seems to be entirely done for. Something always reminds you that he's the hero and he'll make it out alive no matter what happens. Also, as people begin to die, the viewer knows that once Ryer "fixes" time, everthing will go back to normal. In short, this is a sci-fi horror that's really not that scary. It's more popcorn fluff than anything else.

Still, I can't deny how much I enjoyed this film. From the fake-looking CGI cities to the cheesy scene where Ryer and Jenny (Jemima Rooper) are obviously walking in front of a blue screen on a stationary tread of some sort, this movie relishes in its campness. While most of the actors and actresses play their roles straight, there's always a light air about the dark situation. This movie would almost make a decent cartoon series from the 80's. Also, as another reviewer pointed out, there's a definite "Land of the Lost" feel to everything.

With a decent cast and a throwback tale to the cliffhangers of classic cinema, I recommend "A Sound of Thunder" to anyone who enjoyed those old films. While I'm quite aware that this movie isn't that great, it is highly likeable in my opinion, and it deserves at least a rental from most sci-fi fans.