Parents' Guide to

Timeline

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Weakly entertaining Middle Ages fantasy.

Movie PG-13 2003 116 minutes
Timeline Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 15+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Ayn G.
Ayn G. Parent of 12-year-old
December 2, 2017
age 12+

Underrated Movie is Actually Moving/Entertaining/well-structured

Our family is really surprised at the low rating for this movie. We used it to teach structure in Novel Lab, our kids' novel writing workshop. The kids loved it as much as we did. There are great character arcs/transformations. It promotes good values and the story is well-executed. There is some killing by bows and arrows, but it is not gratuitous, you don't see much close-up. But there is no sex, drinking, materialism or language which is nice.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Panya
Panya Adult
April 9, 2008
age 17+

Enjoyable

Way too much violence for kids -- an adults only film.
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Based on Michael Crichton's uneven but entertaining book of the same name, TIMELINE launches with a secretive company in the midst of a cover-up after one of its employees dies of sword-inflicted injuries. Apparently, International Technology Corporation (ITC) has discovered a wormhole through time and space, which allows its employees to "fax" themselves back in time to 1357 onto a battlefield between the English (bad) and the French (good) for control of an impenetrable fortress on a hill. To better understand the era, ITC sends back Professor Johnson (Billy Connolly), the top historian specializing in that particular battle. Fellow Scot and assistant professor Andre Marek (Gerard Butler), Johnson's supremely American son Chris (Paul Walker), his love-interest, Kate (Frances O'Connor), and a few others follow Johnson back in time. Once there they are swept up in the intrigue and battle, not realizing that they may never make it back to the future.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2):
Kids say (1):

Timeline is yet another time travel movie, but since it's unspectacular we can relax, letting this one pass unobserved while knowing that another one will not be far off in the future. For the dedicated genre fans, this movie is barely entertaining enough to stay well above the nadir of truly bad movies but it lacks any force or energy to release it from the pull of total mediocrity.

The six hours that the team is supposed to spend in 1357 is filled with pre-battle maneuverings and hustling in and out of captivity since the English take them as spies for the French and the Scots side with anyone against the English. Despite much scurrying about the ramparts, the battle scenes are a pale repetition of any movie where a castle is stormed. In fact the one distinguishing feature about Timeline is a generally hurried feel as if all those involved wanted to wrap up the flick and head home. For those seeking familiar themes in an ever-popular genre, this movie is weakly entertaining enough to fill the space, but those seeking something new under the sun should peek down another wormhole.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the theme of making one's own history and how they would want their own lives remembered.

Movie Details

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