I've always liked cheese, in all its many forms. This film is one of them, but like with most cheese it has robust flavor and heady aroma. The premise is simple (and based on a short story by John Varley). Several thousand years in the future the human race has become sterile in a world overrun by pollution. To ensure a future populated with humans, the ragtag, stitched together elders have created a system to take people off of doomed airline crashes before they die and replace them with identical replicas of their bodies. One of the women who facilitates the exchanges leaves a tool on one of the flights which is found in the wreckage and must be retrieved before it causes a time paradox. Louise (Ladd) goes back to 1988 to retrieve it and meets handsome flight crash investigator, Kris Kristofferson. They fall in love and complications ensue that threaten the future world Louise lives in. The story line is engrossing, and has some interesting things to say about our effect on our environment, and our relationship with time. It's occasionally mixed with a style of humor that's a bit too cute and sit-commie for the setting, but if you can overlook that it's very entertaining. While not a big budget SciFi film, Millenium has some very interesting effects and some very admirable makeup, especially for the elders. Look for Daniel J. Travanti as a professor who has a pivotal part in the action.
This film has been largely buried by time. It's rarely, if ever shown on television now, though they did do a DVD release of it in 2001. The entire film is available on YouTube, but it's been dubbed into German. Above is the trailer uploaded by Dayneiac. The DVDs are available for as little as $0.80 on Amazon If you're a sci-fi fan, it's worth a watch. If you find the DVD, be sure and look for the hidden alternate ending buried at the end of the cast bios.
Obscurity factor: 7 (largely forgotten, DVD available, on YouTube, but in German)
Second post in a row that caught my eye.
ReplyDeleteCheesy is right, but with definite flavor and aroma. The scene between Ladd & Kristofferson in the restaurant(bar?)when she tosses her cigarette away randomly (in the future they're zapped out of the air)and his reaction is my favorite.
Thanks, again.
Donald
Yes, that's a good one. I like the scene where she's tossed a new outfit from the future while in the woman's room
ReplyDeleteNow, Ben, this IS a good one: The anxious stewardesses smoking while waiting to jump through the vortex, the watches that run backward, the elders in their barrels... and the story is clever. Too bad the tone is so uneven: how can maudlin' Daniel J. Travanti and the ridiculous robot assistant coexist in the same movie? Still, I've watched it every chance I've had.
ReplyDelete"Millennium" I saw in theater and bought a dvd when it came out. I still haven't watched it! Not because it's bad but because it's good. I always put my films off for a while. (And this has been a lot!) Maybe somebody will put it out on Blu_Ray but original company, Artisan, is not around any more.
ReplyDeleteScott "Kids in the Hall" Thompson has a tiny part in "Millennium," which he mentions in this monologue (the whole thing is excellent, but the "Millennium" bit is about 2:18 in). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqQCyAQBgXY
ReplyDeleteVery funny, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete