Taglines: One man’s future lies in the past.
In this case, a group of archaeologists and combat experts led by Paul Walker and Frances O’Connor use a “3-D fax machine” (so much for technobabble!) to time-travel back to France in 1357, in hopes of retrieving Walker’s father and returning safely to the present. No such luck! Fending for themselves against marauding hordes of medieval French warriors at war with the invading British, these semi-intrepid travelers find their body count rising, and the deadline for their return home is rapidly approaching.
Timeline is a science fiction adventure film directed by Richard Donner, based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. A team of present-day archaeologists are sent back in time to rescue their professor from medieval France in the middle of a battle. It stars Paul Walker, Frances O’Connor, Gerard Butler, Billy Connolly, David Thewlis and Anna Friel among others.
Jerry Goldsmith composed the original score, which would have been his last before his death in 2004, but it was replaced with a new score by Brian Tyler, after the first cut was re-edited and Goldsmith’s increasing health problems did not allow him to continue. The film was poorly received by critics and was a box office failure.
About the Story
The American ITC Corporation has sponsored an archeological study of the ruins of the village of Castlegard and its nearby monastery, located near LaRoque Castle in Dordogne, France. The village and monastery were the site of the 1357 hanging of Lady Claire, the sister of Arnaut de Cervole, her martyrdom leading to inspire the French to victory in the Hundred Years War. The team is led by Prof. Edward Johnston, his students Kate Erickson, Josh Stern, and François Dontelle, Scottish archaeologist André Marek, and Johnston’s son Chris, who is infatuated with Kate.
The team finds a sarcophagus of a French knight with a lopped ear holding hands with his lady, an unusual position for burial of that time period. Johnston suspects ITC may have tampered with the site and returns to their headquarters while the team continues to dig. Shortly after his departure, the team finds a pair of bifocals that belong to Johnston and a parchment with a message pleading for help in Johnston’s handwriting, but both date more than 600 years. They attempt to contact Johnston at ITC, but the company asks the group come to their headquarters instead.
There, the team is met by president Robert Doniger and vice-president Steven Kramer, and they are shown what ITC has been developing, a teleportation device that has linked onto a stable wormhole that leads to the village of Castlegard in 1357. Doniger explains that when Johnston arrived, they offered him the opportunity to see the past, but something went wrong and their team had not returned, and requests the students, with their knowledge of that period and location, to travel back and rescue Johnston.
All but Josh agree to go. The team is stripped of all modern technology and given period outfits, as well as disguised markers that signal the teleportation machine to recall them to the future. The team is accompanied by ITC’s head of security, Frank Gordon, and two former military officers, Bill Baretto and Jimmy Gomez, for support.
When they arrive in 1357, they are quickly set on by English knights chasing a young woman. Gomez is killed by Sir William DeKere, who is leading the knights, and Baretto primes a grenade improperly he brought with him while triggering his marker, but is killed by a knight; his body is brought back to the present, but the primed grenade goes off and severely damages the teleportation machine.
In the past, the rest of the group, with the woman’s help, are able to flee, and she leads them to the nearby village before going back into hiding. In the village, the group is soon captured by the English forces controlling it, led by Lord Oliver de Vannes and his second in command, DeKere. de Vannes believes François is a spy and kills him, while the others are taken to an attic prison, where Johnston is also being held. Johnston quickly explains how he lost his marker soon after arrival and was caught by the English, but kept alive by assuring de Vannes that he was a scientist that could make a new weapon for him, in the form of Greek fire.
Timeline (2003)
Directed by: Richard Donner
Starring: Paul Walker, Frances O’Connor, Gerard Butler, Billy Connolly, David Thewlis, Anna Friel, Neal McDonough, Matt Craven, Michael Sheen, Lambert Wilson, Marton Csokas, Rossif Sutherland
Screenplay by: Jeff Maguire, George Nolfi
Production Design by: Daniel T. Dorrance
Cinematography by: Caleb Deschanel
Film Editing by: Richard Marks
Costume Design by: Jenny Beavan
Set Decoration by: Jille Azis
Music by: Brian Tyler
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense battle sequences and brief language.
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: November 26, 2003
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