Review By Liam O Brien, 3 out of 5 MILLENIUM When you sit at home waiting for STAR WARS to come out on dvd, its nice to know that even though there are some big movies yet to see the light of dvd, the odd one slips through that you have never heard of but is actually quite good. MILLENIUM is one such film- I for one had never heard of it, but its solid enough stuff to warrant a look. The basic idea is this- in the year 3,000 the human race has messed up the planet quite comprehensively- the poor atmosphere has rendered them sterile. They have however an ace up their collective sleeves- using time travel gear, nip back in time to the late 80?, and pick up some people who were meant to die in say, a plane crash (as in the movie) bring them to the year 3,000 (which thank god, contains not a hint of Busted) get them to procreate and save the species. Until it all goes pair shaped- a stunner is dropped by a time traveller on a plain due to crash. The gun is left in the ?ast?and subsequently found by crash investigator Kris Kristofferson. Thus begins a chain of events that could have serious consequences for the future of the human race.
Split into two distinct halves, MILLENIUM is a clever little genre picture. The first half almost totally focuses on the efforts of Kristofferson to uncover what really happened on the ill-fated plane. The second half belongs to Cheryl Ladd (who?!) a woman from the year 3,000 trying to sort things out after the stunner fiasco. The film not only changes focus, but slips back in time to give the story from both characters point of view. Its undeniably clever and makes sense. The script makes sure things never get muddled, moving plot and character along well.
The world of the year 3,000 is pretty grim and dark- it looks like the future, eighties style. Add to this the bizarre characters that fill this future world (and their haircuts) its all a bit retro. But the script, direction and (generally) casting hold up well. If the d?uement is a tad ambiguous then it just adds to the films appeal. MILLENIUM is the rare time travel movie that actually thinks things through and ensures that it all makes sense. The fact I had never heard of it only meant I went in with no expectations and came out smiling, MILLENIUM is a solid little film- if your stuck for anything else to do, you could do a lot worse than spend 90 minutes in its company.
THE DISC: No extras to speak of, but the picture and sound are both crisp with not a hint of grain. THREE OUT OF FIVE
