Timecop (1994)

SPOILER WARNING!!! This post spoils movie Timecop (1994).

Timecop is the best time travelling movie I have ever seen. I don't understand why it is not generally recognized as such. Is it because it is Van Damme movie? Movie is not perfect, but it should get more respect.

I know time travel is just theoretical concept and we can't know how it would change things, if it was possible. As far as modern science understands, there is no way to travel back. Only forward and even that wouldn't be like time traveling you see in movies. More like traveling in fast train, where time goes slower than outside. You could say anything about time travelling in fiction and you don't have any proof that you are correct. It is quite common in fictive time travel that changes in past start chain reaction which changes the future. How much future is changes depends on story. No-one can say how much change is realistic.

Then why I think this is best time travelling movie I have seen? It is because people act like they would act, if time travel was real. You would get someone like Senator McComb changing the past to his advantage. That person would also like to prevent time travel from other. Otherwise others would try to change the past to their advantage and present time would be total mess. When McComb and Walker start their time war, the changes to present are convincing. Every time Walker comes back something has changed and you can see what changes in past changed the future. Like how no-one knows the person with whom he did the last time travel, because McComb changed the past.

Same matter can't occupy same space rule was stupid. CGI when past and present McComb touched each others was terrible. Because that was at the end, it left bad taste to mouth. Rest of the movie didn't have such flaws. You could start nitpicking Parker Datalink Systems angle. After the last time travel Jack Parker is dead and young McComb still owns his shares. Company was called Parker McComb Datalink Systems. Why the name was changed after McComb disappeared? In movie it was changed to show that McComb lost. But in movie's world that didn't make sense. It was clearly pointed out that last fight happened after factory fight where Jack Parker was killed. It makes no sense, unless Walker or someone else cashed the check, but that wasn't shown.

Other than that time travelling made sense. McComb had to change his plans because Walker stopped his plan to get money with little consequences. After that McComb had to play with more risk. At the end even Walker changes his past. I liked scene where he comes home after all this and doesn't know the name of his son because, he lived last ten years in world, where his wife was killed and now he is in world, where that didn't happen. Makes you think, if the wife realize that he is now same Walker that saved her and younger Walker.

This movie has spoiled me. Every time I see time travelling movies, that doesn't change the future as convincing as this did, I feel disappointed. I still can't understand why this movie is rarely mentioned when people discuss about time travelling movies. Terminator movies are mentioned almost always even when their concept has one major flaw.  The reason there are terminators future, which sent terminator to past, is that terminator was sent to past. So terminators came out of nowhere. This movie doesn't have flaws like that.