Film Review of Peter Hyams’ A Sound of Thunder Starring Edward Burns and Ben Kingsle
Coming from the director that supervised a classic like Outland in addition to at least plausible releases such as The Presidio and 2010, you can’t help but wonder whether A Sound of Thunder is a firm heralding of Peter Hyams’ professional twilight. How an accomplished filmmaker such him signed on to a disaster like this remains a mystery, just as perplexing as the destruction of Ray Bradbury’s venerable source short story.
To pre-empt, what was a great read those many years ago now comes across as a poor imitation of vastly less intriguing concepts like Jurassic Park. Marred beyond recognition by shoddy production values and subpar performances, the original text barely makes a cameo amid the desolation.
Thunder features Edward Burns and Ben Kingsley, two respected performers in roles they’d certainly live to regret. Burns plays one Dr. Ryer, chief scientist in a Total Recall-esque firm specializing in time travel safaris, whisking ultra-rich clients 65 million years back to hunt for vicious dinosaurs. As greedy company owner Hatton, Kingley’s hardly evident except for a whacky hairdo, whatever else he contributes (or tries to) makes absolutely no impression. There’s some friction between his money-grabbing mantra and Burns’ masculine idealism, however, you would need to be seriously bored to care either way.
Naturally, like any story dealing in time travel and other meddling in the universal order of things, there’s a cautionary note. Staff and clients must take care to avoid changing anything while in the past, lest repercussions chase them back to the present. We don’t need to tell you this flimsy proviso lasts about as long as a short lived insect, but that’s not where the surprise lies.
What’s surprising is how they went and utterly thrashed this project from start to finish. For starters, although set in 2055 Chicago, the cast is conspicuously British in mannerisms and accent. Save for re-colonization, what else could have brought about such a seachange remains obscured in horrible casting choices. Additionally, the CGI and other effects throughout simply suck, starting with the poorly textured dino and culminating in a flat, fake looking Chicago. They did try to include subtle touches like authentic bus colors and what not (those’ll be familiar to windy city locals, nobody else), but in terms of appearance A Sound of Thunder makes straight-to-video look deep and invested.
When things go awry, it’s not limited to the story. Sure, inevitably some freaked-out client steps on a bug, sending devastating “timewaves” (those are visible and even make a roaring noise, by the way) towards an unsuspecting Chicago, where vines and other creepy crawlies emerge to take over the metropolis as reality devolves into a prehistoric jungle for some unknown reason.
Only Burns and his posse can save the day, with not a peep from the National Guard. They battle several reasonably-conceived but poorly executed creatures while figuring out where and when the incident occurred so as to nudge things back on their proper track.
That’s the extent of it and clear indication you should give this one a miss. What was a very refined and startling Outer Limits-type story full of elegant suspense and menace became a garish, cheapened thrill ride minus the thrills. Embarrassing indeed for those behind this fiasco, the talent involved, and anyone gullible enough to pay for watching it.
If there’s any reason to rewind time, it’s to prevent this from ever being made. Even if that takes stepping on a butterfly.
Rating: * 1/2
Directed by Peter Hyams
Starring Edward Burns, Ben Kingsley, Catherine McCormack
2005, English, 100 minutes
