Clevercell
Very disappointing...
Micah Lloyd
Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.
Marva-nova
Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
Paul Dormer
Like many people here, I first saw this film when the BBC showed it back in the eighties. It also turned up at an SF convention in England in the early nineties when one of their guests was Josef Nesvadba who wrote the original story. Then last year I found out it was available on DVD in the Czech Republic and found someone who knew someone that was going there for Christmas. I saw it again last night, and it is still fun.The special effects might not be very special, but it handles the time paradoxes very well, in a way that appeals to me as a fan primarily of written SF. The scenes in the corridors of the time travel company where the tour guides are all done up in historical costumes are hilarious. The best time travel farce I've ever seen.Incidentally, Josef Nesvadba died in 2005. Isn't about time his date of death was added to his page?
tedg
Here's a film that is improved by knowing its context. Czech films just aren't very good. It isn't that Czechs aren't clever or intelligent. And they do have a rich stage culture. But some cultures map cinematically and some don't. And those that do, map in different ways. Fascinating. However, this film has a very clever story. And it is more clever than it seems, because of the way we are spoonfed the answers. A man goes back in time to create a double, changing events. Its a bit elaborate, involving Hitler and latter-day Nazis, but that's beside the point.The complexity is really about the doubles and working out the intercessions. Loves and affairs. Some clever humor here, similar to the Shakespearian bits about disguises.It all ends well, and there is no puzzle, unlike, say "Primer." But wait! Actually there is. There's a hint that the fact that our hero has a twin is a result of the doubling, and that the events will repeat over and over again later.I searched this odd film out in my quest for the quintessential Czech movie. This may be it. (The production values are poor.)Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
susan-leather
Like all the other commentators, I saw it on BBC2 and loved it - and have been waiting ever since for another showing. Every so often, I've asked friends if they've seen it, but I obviously don't know the right people! And trying to describe the plot when I've had only the haziest ideas of what actually happens in the film has tended to produce some very weird looks. It's been brilliant to read everyone's comments and thanks for all the help in piecing together the storyline, most of which came flooding back, once prompted. If the Beeb ever does show the film again but on a digital channel, could someone please do an extra tape for me? Thanks in advance!
chuckwheel
I remember seeing this movie late one night on the BBC in England. It was many years ago (early 80s I think) but it was so good and I've always wanted to see it again. The plot centers around an airline pilot in the future who works for a time travel company who run tours to the past. I can't really remember all the details but it was something about one of the time-travel ships being hijacked by some people who want to kidnap Hitler or something. There are all sorts of hilarious mixups and weird goings as the hero goes backwards and forwards to different eras of history. He ends up re-visiting the same day 3 times - trying to avoid bumping into himself (thus causing a time paradox). I'm a bit fuzzy on the details but I also remember that a sort of pepper spray is frequently used which turns the victim a putrid green color and freezes them for a while in a particularly amusing way. The production design is a terrific late 70s very Czech vision of the future, kind of funny but inventive and setting the perfect tone. I laughed a lot and was left well impressed by the very intelligent way the concept of time travel was handled. All too often in scifi/time travel movies the internal logic of the situation is fundamentally flawed. In this movie all those paradoxes work toward build up the humor as the hero's life becomes more and more complex and confused. As far as I can remember anyway. If anyone knows any way I can get hold of or even just see a copy of this film here in the US (where I don't believe it was ever released) please e-mail me. A forlorn hope I guess because even some Czech friends of mine hadn't even heard of it!
