Timecop (1994) User Reviews

A Step Above Most Of VanDamme Flicks

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 30 August 2006]

I thought this was a notch above the normal no-brainer kick-boxer action flicks which star men like Jean-Claude VanDamme, Steven Segal, Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan, etc. because of the interesting and somewhat complex tale with time travel as the main theme. The story also has some good twists and humor.

THE GOOD - Kudos to the four s's in here: Silver, suspense, special-effects and sound - all of them are very good. There is something about Ron Silver's looks that spell "sleazy and rotten" before he even opens his mouth! When he speaks, his accent and profanity quickly verifies those suspicions. The special- effects - at least when this came out in the mid '90s - were very cool when the time travelers reached their destinations and appear out of this wall of near- transparent plastic. The story can be a bit confusing at times but is fun at most times, especially near the end when doubles of all the characters are on the screen at once

THE BAD - The bad part of the film is the credibility, especially with Silver who plays a politician. No politician, no matter what party or where, would be this much of low-life. In fact, the story is full of unlikable and untrustworthy characters, too many of them. There also is too much Rambo-mentality and the final action goes on way too long. The time travel ange of the story may be intelligent but the dialog in this movie is just plain dumb and too juvenile.

Overall, this is one of the best of a small group of well-done Van Damme movies.

Highly Entertaining, Despite the Cliches and the Inconsistencies

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 22 December 2017]

When time travel was developed by a scientist in 1994, there was the need to create the Time Enforcement Commision (TEC) under the control of Senator Aaron McComb (Ron Silver) to protect the past from modifications. The police office Max Walker (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is invited to join the TEC, and when his wife Melissa (Mia Sara) is murdered by strangers, he accepts the invitation to work under the command of Eugene Matuzak (Bruce McGill). In 2004, Walker is assigned to capture his former partner Lyle Atwood (Jason Schombing) that is manipulating the stock market in 1929. Atwood tells that he is working for Senator McComb, who is a powerful politician that is running for president. Atwood prefers to die and does not confess that McComb is a criminal. Now Max knows the truth but McComb is changing the past and Max does not know how stop him.

"Timecop" is a highly entertaining film, despite the clichés and the inconsistencies. Most of the scenes are written to explore Van Damme´s skill with fights. Ron Silver performs his usual villain roleand is very effective. But better of turn your brain off and enjoy "Timecop". My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Timecop - O Guardião do Tempo" ("Timecop - The Guardian of Time")

A message from 2021

[spamcatcher-10034 · 6/10 · 27 May 2021]

I love how all reviews complain about the lack of logic in the time travel rules of this movie.

They all live in a time before Tenet.

A means to an end...no more no less!

[uds3 · 19 September 2003]

A few reviewers here need to chill out. 'Tis true, Hyams is no Kubrick, even an infusion of the great man's DNA wouldn't guarantee his next flick would rise above plebian mediocrity. So what? Does Hyams aspire to creative brilliance? or does he just make films at his own pace and at his own level of artistic creativity, which after all is his right to do. If there are those who look down from their own lofty pedestals frowning upon what they see as ungilded simplicity well - whoopy do, go shoot your own celestial Heart of Darkness - make your point that way!

For my money, TIMECOP achieved exactly what it set out to achieve...value for your $12.95 whatever. Certainly no cerebral rush, but honest entertainment nonetheless. I rather doubt the Van Damme brigade were looking for some kinda kick-ass Yoda with nunchukas. Hyams delivered his requisite quota of high kicks per dollar and exploding blood capsules per reel.

The imdb rating for this film is laughable...it rates a minimum of 6.6!

Van Damme and Sci-Fi

[Abyss47 · 6/10 · 19 July 2013]

This is pretty run-of-the-mill as far as sci-fi goes, and Van-Damme's acting wasn't any better than it was in his other films - contrary to popular opinion - but Peter Hyams' competent direction keeps the thing moving forward at a brisk pace, and Ron Silver makes for a wicked baddie that rivals his work in Blue Steel. If only the action were more exciting. Most of it consists of Walker staying in one position shooting at another guy, and vice-versa until somebody goes down for good. The shootouts lack energy and a sense of life for the most part. The fight scenes are......okay, but nothing that can compete with what I've seen in other actioners from that era. Oh yeah, and what was up with the villain's death scene? That was some frighteningly terrible CGI. I guess they were trying to rival the liquid metal effects in T2 and failed miserably. In fact, the entire finale was way too dark, like pitch black. I remember catching the finale on TV back in the day and noticed it was excessively dark then, too, but Blu-ray doesn't seem to have corrected the problem. Well, flaws aside, this is still one of Van Damme's better films, with some amusing moments here and there.

Quick Reviews!!

[malkane316 · 7/10 · 7 May 2005]

Probably Van Damme's last big hit, Timecop is a mix of action, sci-fi, time-travel, and revenge with the usual roundhouse kicking fun. The big budget is clear to see with a myriad of special effects and explosions every few minutes. What makes Timecop better though is a decent story, even though it follows the usual revenge theme, a good script, and s decent cast to back up Van Damme.

Van Damme stars as Max, a cop with a difference in the future. Time Travelling has been near-perfected, and Max is a Timecop- an elite crime fighter with the special authority to travel through time to stop criminals. Only a few people are authorised to use this technology, but naturally some bad guys get there hands on it and plan to change the past. A few years earlier Max's wife had been murdered. When Max learns of a sinister plot involving Senator McComb, who plans to become President by going back in time, Max takes the law into his own hands and goes back to stop him. This leads to further trouble of course, and Max soon sets out to save his wife as well.

The time travelling stuff is handled to an average degree, certainly not as good as in Back to the Future or The Terminator, but it's adequate. Van Damme has enough star quality now to carry the film but Silver and Sara provide strong support. The effects are mostly very good, the action scenes are exciting and there is some honour and a few good one-liners. Probably a good one to watch for people coming to Van Damme movies for the first time as it delivers what it promises and doesn't try to be special.

7.5 out of 10

TImecop

[oOoBarracuda · 5/10 · 13 January 2016]

A cohesive story line, a well-developed plot, and an often naked Jean-Claude Van Damm; well, I guess one for three isn't a total waste. Actually, it almost is when the one achieved you could find copies of in a magazine and hardly need to watch a film to see. I had high hopes for Timecop based on friends who spoke excitedly of the film. Not knowing what to expect, having never seen a Van Damm flick, I took their word for it; and yes, I am evaluating my friendships. What could have been a fun innovative story line turned out to be a forgettable disappointment that is Timecop.

Our story begins, just for moments, in the familiar old west as we see a time traveler vaporize union soldiers transporting gold, which gives us a hint of just how long this time traveling device has been in effect. Obviously time travel has been perfected and used however a society sees fit. That's where our hero comes in, working for a security agency who exploits time travel to go back in time and prevent crimes from being committed. Criminals have become adept in their illegal conquests and often use time travel to alter the time line to further enhance their criminal activity. When Walker (Van Damm) is told by a former co-worker that the Senator (Ron Silver) in charge of the Time Enforcement Commission is abusing power and time travel for his own game, he begins keeping an eye on him. One evening, after a night in with his wife, and just before she tells him some big news, Melissa (Mia Sara) Walker is called away to work and upon him heading out, his wife is killed, and his house bombed to the ground. Spending the next 10 years grieving, and watching Senator McComb, Walker attempts to arrange the perfect plan to thwart his wife's killing and save the future.

Where does one begin with a critique for this film? For one thing, the movie's established method of time travel is heavily flawed. In this film's world, one cannot explore the future because it hasn't happened yet, characters can only travel into the past. The problem with this is, however, that once the individual leaves their present for the past, the present becomes the future. Since the present turns into the future, this should mean that once the individual is in the past, they would have no way to return to their present. Another problem with the film is molecular biology. According to the plot, the same matter cannot occupy the same space-which becomes very important later in the film. The problem is, even the same person from two different dimensions of time, is not composed of the same matter they were years in the past. The human body is largely made up of water, which is constantly replaced, cell repair that is continuously taking place, with the functioning of the human body there would exist none of the same matter creating an obvious plot hole. Anyway, enough plot holes in the film to make it look like one of the walls shot up on screen, I surely won't be seeing it again anytime soon.

I'm not sure who to recommend this film to. I'm sure action fans will like it, if they have a bent for sci-fi works as well. Fans of Jean-Claude Van Damm would certainly find the film enjoyable. There is always a suspension of disbelief that goes along with watching a film; Timecop requires not just a suspension of disbelief, but a suspension of memory and intelligence as well. It's difficult for one to keep up with a film that is constantly changing its own premise, and that is not an exercise I wish to perfect.

Decent scifi action

[neil-476 · 7/10 · 29 July 2018]

Cop Max is attacked and his house blown up with his wife in it, all for no apparent reason. 10 years later, he is working in a specialist department tasked with policing people using time travel for criminal purposes.

Jean-Claude Van Damme leads a film which combines martial arts, action, and science fiction quite pleasingly. The plot is nicely convoluted and nakes sense while you're watching it, akthough close examination reveals some cracks which needed plastering over.

Production values are decent, Ron Silver is a satisfactorily oily politician, and Van Damme does well.

This is enjoyable nonsense.

Just watch the trailer (and buy the poster)

[SkullScreamerReturns · 4/10 · 16 February 2024]

This is one of those movies where the trailer has all the spectacular shots but when you see the actual film there is too much talking and meandering for an action film. For example I remember J-C doing the split, and when he's almost run over by a truck, from the tv commercial at the time when it was new. Those images make me feel hopeful that the movie might be better than I remember...but every time I watch it again it's even more boring than I remembered! I've always wanted to like this movie because I like Van Damme, and the movie title and poster are cool, but even when I saw it as a teenager and was perhaps more forgiving towards mediocre action movies I already thought it was a lukewarm movie. Only recommended for biggest Van Damme fans really.

Second time around this film is better.

[mm-39 · 6/10 · 2 March 2002]

I was not to crazy when I saw this film the first time. Wow the second time I found the time travel cool. This film is cool when one looks at the plot twists. Not the greatest of action flicks, but a lot better then most. Watch it twice if you rent it and you will catch a few extra things.

Probably Van Damme most mainstream

[dierregi · 5/10 · 6 September 2023]

There's an audience for Van Damme, Seagal and Co. And I am not in their number, except when exhausted and looking for very light entertainment. At the time of its release this Van Damme movie had a memorable trailer, with two impressive scenes, one the amazing split in the kitchen and the other his character's appearance from a time warp in front of a speeding truck.

It made me want to watch it, also because I am a fan of time travel stories. It starts strong with a decent scene between Van Damme, as Walker, and Mia Sara as his wife, but unfortunately it derails with the introduction of the time travel twist, taking the audience abruptly back to 1929 and then back and forward between 1994 and 2004. Walker must fight the villain played by Ron Silver, an actor specialised in playing sleazy, but there's little logic in the development and most fight scenes drag on too long to give the audience a chance to enjoy Muscles from Brussels fighting skills.

Van Damme's skills are indeed impressive, but I also got bored to see faces getting smashed and guys shot at, the last fight scene in the dark being particularly overlong and peppered with silly dialogues. Still worth a shot and you can fast forward some fight scenes.

Best Van Damme Sci-Fi-Action comic book classic film!

[ivo-cobra8 · 10/10 · 30 December 2015]

Timecop (1994) is my favorite Van Damme action sci-fi classic! Just Like Sylvester Stallone's Judge Dredd, Van Damme's Timecop is very Underrated action sci-fi flick ever. One of my favorite and serious Van Damme's roles in this film. Great travel time, great action, great villains and great story. I love the fighting sequences as well. One of my favorite action movie flicks till this days. It was directed from Peter Hyams who become a good friend with Van Damme and a year later he directed Sudden Death with Van Damme. He was the only one of the directors who come visit Van Damme in hospital after he got injured. His son years later directed two Universal Soldier film sequels. I love this movie to death and it is my 6th favorite best Van Damme movie.

What I meant in the top written: "to take a few sci-fi leaps of faith" This movie involves time travel about a cop who travels from 2004 to 1994 and try's to prevent the death of his wife and change the future. It does involve travel into the past, so it immediately presents a time-travel paradox which can't really be resolved. Timecop (1994) is very underrated film, there was a sequel and a short-lived ABC series. I watched the sequel without Van Damme in it and the sequel sucked. In here you have nice realistic martial arts and action. You have a lot of explosions and it also involves conspiracy. Ron Silver did an excellent joy playing a villain in this movie as Senator McComb. Mia Sara was absolutely wonderful as Max's (Van Damme's) wife Melissa.

Timecop is more classic. Half-n-half sci-fi/action films get lost beneath pure action and pure sci-fi but Timecop is top shelf. This was another childhood movie. I actually rented on a VHS tape in the 90's my parents paid me for the VHS tape so I could watch this movie. I like this movie a lot. I have it on Blu-ray in my Van Damme collection. I have grew up with this movie and it was a hit in 1994 when it was released out. Today I love it so much. The film is a lot smarter than people give it credit for. I also think Van Damme definitely deserves some credit for his non-action scenes in this film, but I suppose his performance in this film will always be remembered for that splits scene. The movie it self has a good look, action and effects and very good acting performance by Van Damme, you really feel bad for him and want to see him kick bad guys asses. Also I think that this movie has Van Damme's best hairstyle. That mullet Is the best he ever had, not the one in Hard Target. And yes, this movie, like many other Van Damme classics deserves a special edition.

Not only this movie is my favorite best Van Damme movie, it is one of those movies that you watch over and over again and never gets tiring . A lot of my friends that I know in real life, loves this movie. Someone said it is even the best one. Honestly this is the third time Van Damme played in a science fiction movie. The first time was in cyborg (1989) and the second time was in Universal Soldier. I never really liked Cyborg, but I absolutely love this movie. The action sequences where amazing, the fight scenes and Van Damme martial arts where very realistic. I always enjoy watching Timecop. I enjoy the story, the concept and the action. I think this film is beginning, to get a bad wrap from the general audience. like "oh it is cheesy". "oh its a guilty pleasure at best" that's stupid! This film deserves a special edition in some way.

That is the more or less basic plot, In order to even try watching this movie, you MUST LOOK PAST THE PARADOX. If you don't, this movie has zero credibility, and is not worth your time. The paradox in leap faith of this movie is also that works so well and fits with the story. Jean-Claude Van Damme was great. In my opinion, this was one of his best performances. I also liked the opening scene and the scene in which he goes back to 1929 to arrest his partner.

Nevermind, it's awesome.

[Mr-Fusion · 7/10 · 27 January 2016]

If you exert any mental effort on the (quantum) mechanics of "Timecop", you're asking for trouble. Hell, on the movie as a whole. The fight scenes are iffy, and it's got more holes than a donut shop. And the one-liners are so tacky (except for Ron Silver's; that psycho owns his dialogue).

And yet . . .

I totally dig this movie, very much in that "caught it last night on cable" sort of way. All of its foibles seem to work in glorious spite of themselves. I found myself invested in Van Damme's storyline and I love how he solves problems by doing the splits. And his European ubermensch somehow fits in with a scifi/political paranoia actioner. This shouldn't work nearly as well as it does, and I can only hope that time doesn't change that.

7/10

And hellooooo, Mia Sara.

Entertaining fantasy actioner.

[paulclaassen · 5/10 · 9 July 2018]

A film of this genre will more often than not have plot flaws. And this one indeed had plot flaws galore, but ultimately it was good fun and very entertaining. The unanswered questions can easily be overseen by the sheer entertainment value the film provides. It has great sets, great action, and interesting enough plot and you get the opportunity to see Van Damme in top form. The visuals are good for its time and there's loads of action! I did find the music loud and overbearing at times.

good if violent

[mattkratz · 6 August 2000]

This was actually a decent film. If you can get past the gratuitous violence (a virtual requirement for Van Damme films), you might like this movie. Van Damme plays the title character who needs to stop a crooked politician from changing history while trying to decide whether to save his murdered wife. I liked this. Silver is good as the bad guy, and Van Damme is watchable. See it if you get the chance! *** out of ****

Entertaining nonsense

[Denno1972 · 6/10 · 27 March 2021]

Overall, this is a decent enough 90s action flick with ropey acting, terrible vision of the future, but excellent fight scenes and some superb signs of physical excellence (those gymnast moves are amazing). Its also funny (not always intentionally so; those cars are hilarious) and the pacing is decent. The sci-fi angle is not the strongest, but overall this is a cent 90s action flick.

Van Damme at his Sci-Fi best

[Agent10 · 6/10 · 20 March 2003]

Jean-Claude made quite a doozy with this one, quite possibly his best film ever. Sure, Lionheart ranks pretty high up there, but this one not only had good special effects, the story was actually respectable. But the downfall of most of Van Damme's movie is the fact he tries to be an actor. If Van Damme just kicked kung-fu butt all the time, his movies would rank up there with the best fo the genre. Anyway, a cool movie and certainly worth watching.

Sneak Peek at the bottom of the barrel

[Normy18 · 2/10 · 12 July 1999]

As far as Van Damme movies go, this isn't that bad. When he doesn't have to actually act too much (like Bloodsport), he's watchable.

As far as movies about time travel go, this movie ranks right down there with the bottom. Not only is it less feasible then other movies like Terminator and even Back to the Future, the movie contradicts itself too many times considering how short it is.

As far as all movies go, don't waste your money, unless you're a huge Van Damme fan. The action is good. But a so-so plot, sub-par acting, and amateur directing make this movie very forgettable.

Slick time travel nonsense is about average for Van Damme

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 14 November 2016]

And here we have yet another Van Damme film from his height of Hollywood fame. After the global success of UNIVERSAL SOLDIER in 1992 (not a bad little flick, but avoid the sequel like the plague), the Muscles from Brussels decided to make another science fiction film. And, like his previous experiment in futuristic themes, TIMECOP is flawed. After all, it's a film dealing with time travel, and, as the writers of any time travel film or programme soon find out, its a head scratching theme from the start, and paradoxes soon turn up by the dozen. To help take our mind off the flimsy, and sometimes contrived, plot, there are a number of fight sequences (as to be expected from every Van Damme film ever made) which keep the attention as always, and one gob-smacking bit of CGI work.

The most impressive computer effect here is where a man's arm is frozen and then kicked off by Van Damme, shattering into a million pieces. Other than that there are the usual assorted bruisings, beatings, whippings, and beltings with Van Damme kicking people in the face as his preferred tactic (whereas Seagal likes to break people's arms, and Schwarzenegger just shoots them). Mia Sara has the thankless role of Van Damme's murdered wife and finds yet more reasons to take her top off as often as possible, while the ever-reliable Ron Silver puts in a thoroughly slimy and totally villainous performance as a corrupt senator, who meets his end when his two selves (present and future) touch, turning him literally into a glob of goo - sadly, it has to be said, this effect isn't what it could have been.

What I disliked about TIMECOP is how cheesy it is. While cheesiness is sometimes an easing factor when watching bad '80s horror films, here it just seems embarrassing. In order to travel back to the past, Van Damme and co. must climb inside a BACK TO THE FUTURE-inspired pod car which then races off down a chute. Unfortunately, this "pod" as it appears to be, looks like it's made of cheap plastic and has a tiny little gas flame popping out of the back to simulate the powerful drive of the vehicle - except it looks just like a silly little gas flame. On top of this, the various baddies all have ridiculous '80s costumes on, seemingly left from a previous Van Damme flick entitled CYBORG.

To add to the mainstream appeal, there's a heck of a lot of nudity and explicit sexual content too, much more than the brief instances in most Van Damme films. And what's up with Van Damme's permed hairdo, which makes him look like a sissy? Along with this and the fact that he has to do the splits as much as humanly possible, it just makes him look like a poseur. On the lighting side the ending is far too dark and we don't get much of a chance to see Van Damme taking out the bad chaps. There are the expected bad wisecracks, good characters who turn bad, an inventive death or two (two soldiers are suddenly ignited in the flames of a pod car) and plenty more reasons to keep watching. And If you can get over the silly contraptions, contrived set-ups and ridiculous appearances of the villains, then you might just find yourself enjoying this slick piece of nonsense. After all, time travel is invariably interesting in whatever form it takes.

incredibly flawed science

[imdb-4266 · 5/10 · 16 May 2008]

I only made it through the first few minutes, for good reasons.

At the beginning, there's a meeting where the guy says it's impossible to go forward in time because it hasn't happened yet - not true - hasn't he heard of Eintstein's theory of relativity? He then says you can go back in time 'because it's already happened' (which isn't an explanation of anything) - furthermore, backwards time travel is as doubtful now in 2008 as it was in 1994 when the film was made. Then he contradicts himself by claiming someone jumped forward in time to buy arms with gold bullion.

He says the age of the gold bullion was determined by carbon dating. Firstly if something jumped forward in time, then the process of carbon isotope decay would be skipped. Secondly, there isn't an awful lot of carbon in gold! I am willing to suspend belief when I watch science fiction, but it needs to come up with an explanation that is just a little bit plausible or keep it pure fantasy and miss out so-called scientific explanations. If the writer can't be bothered to do some basic research, then I'm not interested in anything else this idiot has to say.

Sloppy Time Travel Handling but Still Cool

[view_and_review · 6/10 · 14 December 2017]

Once again I've taken a trip down memory lane and revisited a movie I haven't seen in years. Sometimes you find that a movie you revisit is as good as you remember. Fewer times you'll find that the movie was better than you remember. Most of the time you'll find that the movie is worst than you remember. Timecop is of the third category.

I love time travel and time loop movies. It is such a fascinating concept and can be done in a myriad of ways. But time travel and time loop movies are delicate and need to be handled with care. As it is these movies will be flawed because there is always a conundrum with time travel. One example of a time travel conundrum would be:

If I stub my toe and go back in time one minute to prevent myself from stubbing my toe, thereby removing the impetus for my time travel, did I ever go back in time? Did I ever stub my toe?

So, because of inherent conundrums like this there will always be flaws in time travel movies. But having said that, some movies are more flawed than others and Timecop is on the more flawed side.

The premise of Timecop is simple: time travel exists but an agency is needed to prevent tampering with the past because of the well known ripple effect that can and will occur. This agency called the TEC (Time Enforcement Commission) has the technology to monitor history looking for irregular activity (how they monitor the entirety of history I don't know). If they detect any big irregularities they send an agent back to prevent the temporal tampering.

There were a lot of problems I had with the movie with Jean-Claude Van Damme's acting being at the top of the list. When I was younger I could watch one JCVD flick after another completely ignoring his terrible acting just to see him kick the crap out of somebody. Well, now in my older years I want more than splits, kicks and fighting with dozens of jump cuts to make it look more spectacular. But putting JCVD aside the movie still had flaws that bothered me; the biggest being the breadcrumbs left everywhere. What do I mean by that? If you're going back to the past to alter it for whatever reason, knowing the potential impacts it could have on the future you'd have to have as little futuristic items on your person as possible. You wouldn't want someone in 1960 getting their hands on your iPhone; or worse, your world history book. Timecop was a little too sloppy with that.

Then there is the other time travel conundrum that's never done right:

If I go back to the past to alter something, the moment I alter it my memories should be altered likewise.

For whatever reason, whenever a time traveler goes to the past, then alters something, then returns to the present, his memories are unchanged. He discovers all of the new events as if he just arrived on the planet that day.

My point in it all is that "Timecop" had the regular time travel flaws and then some. But even with those flaws I still rate it a 6/10 because this is a 20+ year old movie now!! This is from my younger and more innocent years, I can't just completely dump on it. Back then JCVD was the man even if he preferred his feet when a gun was more effective. Furthermore, this was an early time travel movie when all people had as a reference was "Back to the Future," "Terminator" and "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure." The inconsistencies in this movie were trivial in 1994. Timecop is not the best time travel movie--or any kind of movie--but it's still cool

It's like Kung Fury, without the self-awareness

[benjaminweber · 2/10 · 7 June 2018]

This film is amazing in it's own special way. To begin with, the fight scenes were good, definitely above average. If only the rest of the film were like that!

The characters are one dimensional cliches, and often do ludicrous and stupid things for no real reason apart from being able to thrust a certain prop at the audience, just to make sure even the chairs understand what happened/will happen. Forget the decades of knowledge about how to do that in a subtle, non-insulting way! This would be fine in a comedy film, but the film gives no indication that it's trying to play that angle meaning the audience laughs at the film, not with it.

Time travel films have a habit of eventually running into plot holes, but this one has a plot canyon, with occasional bits of continuity sticking out of it. The entire plot unravels at several points if examined too closely, largely due to no one trying to come up with a consistent set of rules for time travel before writing.

The special effects are mixed. The practical effects are either okay or good, either way the create the desired effect. However, this was still in the early days of CGI, like Lawnmower Man, so any computer animated effects look anywhere between dated and terrifyingly jarring. That said, there is the excuse that CGI was still in its infancy.

Overall, it was fun to watch, mainly for how bizarre and unintentionally funny it became in places. 2/10

Mainstream Van-Damage.

[argentobuff · 8/10 · 20 January 2006]

Timecop is probably remembered as his last good movie before he got into a rut of mediocre(though successful) action flicks.Its also the most mainstream picture he was ever in for my money.

In 1994 Time-travel has become a possible reality.Washington decides that it needs to be "policed" from criminal activity and the paradox's of undoing life as we know it.Cut to 2004:Enter Van Damme as Walker the on-the-rocks time-cop who uncovers a plot to swindle the presidency by a corrupt Senator McComb played by Ron Silver,who actually engineered the murder of Walkers-wife(Mia Sara).Can Max stop McComb?Can he go back and save his wife?After some decent gunfights and roundhouses you'll have to find out.

Timecop benefits from having a talented director Like Peter Hyams behind the wheel for this one.He stages everything well,Keeps the action and plot flowing,Special FX are engaging,and gets a very good performance by Van Damme.Who comes off vulnerable and like a real person.The production values are very good here too.It is also pretty decent political backdrop/Sci-fi combo.

Ron Silver is a great Bad Guy here as McComb.He gets to shoot, beat people up,Snarls And looks frankly maniacal at times.Mia Sara is engaging and looks beautiful as ever.Bruce McGill has some funny bits as Van Dammes Boss.The very sexy Gloria Ruben also shows up as Walkers new partner.

Timecop is not the greatest when it comes to plot-holes.But unlike the recent version of HG Wells Time machine, it is a very fun movie.And one of Van Dammes best.

Looking Back in Time to Timecop

[MackMonMay87 · 6/10 · 3 January 2021]

I revisited Timecop this year, making this the third time I've seen it in my life, with each viewing being about 10 years apart. I mention time, because that's the theme of the movie, and time changes things: like your perception of something being badass when you're a child, to kinda hokey in your 20s, to outrightly silly in your 30s.

Silly or not, Timecop stands as one of VanDamme's best quality movies that stands out a little more than some of his other 80s and 90s fare. Around this time he had about 3 different tournament movies and 2 movies where he was a mysterious outlaw type. So playing an agent for an organization that ensures time travel isn't being abused was definitely a departure for him. This movie was made at the peak of his physical skills and box office popularity. Around the early 90s he was a massive star.

Speaking of time, I won't go over the plot like other reviews have done, but just mention that the villain (RIP to Ron Silver, he's great in this) actually raises a great point: why spend taxpayer money to enforce time travel when you could keep it from happening to begin with? Sure, it's nota genuine statement when he says it, because he has a plan to buy the presidency using funds from the past, but it's a good point! How do criminals get access to time machines? Why is time travel allowed to exist if it causes so many problems? Does it have an official use of some sort? Because if not, the best solution would be to destroy all time travel devices. Having a whole agency built around enforcing it (with agents that are transported back in the past in life threatening ways often, wearing futuristic clothes and making zero attempts to blend in to their time period) does seem ridiculous.

If you can ignore the many questions like these the movie raises, it's really not bad. A lot of it is shot well, Ron Silver is fun as the villain, Van Damme has some impressive moves in the film, and again, if you take the story on its own merits without addressing the lack of even an attempt at fictional logic, it's interesting and compelling enough for a fun evening of viewing. I think Hard Target or Sudden Death are both superior Van Damme outings that make more sense than this.

The only last things I'll mention are:

-the concept to this isn't bad. If it was expanded on and reworked, it could be great. The concept is actually very ambitious, but in reality, most of the movie is set in 1994, at factories or the farm house of Van Damme's character. The scale doesn't serve the concept. An ending shootout throughout different time periods, or using focused time travel at the last second to get the drop on the villain are amazing potential ideas most likely tied up by budget and script.

-Other people have mentioned, but the ending scenes are *way* too dark. Lighting makes films, and whatever they were going for at the end, it didn't work.

-The fight scenes for the most part are pretty good, but often overedited. Van Damme has some great moves, but some of the exchanges in the movie are edited to a goofy degree, which isn't necessary with someone like Van Damme in the lead. I'm glad fight scene cinematography has moved past this (mostly).

I had fun picking apart the goofy lack of logic ( he comes back to the present and has a 10 year son he doesn't know!! And the movie treats this as fine and fun, without acknowledging this. Compare to Ant Man meeting his grown daughter in Endgame), but if you want a fun retrospective on a decent quality entry in Van Damme's high point, Timecop is still worth a look.

Oh, and Ron Silver's philosophy on what matters in American presidential elections is eerie considering what really happened 22 years after this was made.

Van Damn this movie...

[underfire35 · 3/10 · 7 March 2003]

There isn't much to say about TIMECOP that hasn't been said before. I must admit that this film has devised the most pragmatic situation (to date) that allows Van Damme to perform his famed splits. I never thought I would see a film where it was not gratuitously blatant or forced. I am speaking, of course, of the fight sequence in the kitchen, where he avoids electrocution by the means detailed above; it is simply exceptional work. Kudos to Michael Richardson who wrote the screenplay and to Peter Hyams for his powerful direction of this scene. A special credit goes to Jean-Claude Van Damme, who has remained limber enough after years of opulent living, still able to position his legs at a straight angle for all the world to ponder. Truly, poetry in motion.

The scene where Van Damme does the splits real good like: 10/10; the incredulous film overall: 3/10.