A Sound of Thunder (film)

Did You Know?

• A video game based on the film was released for the Game Boy Advance in March 2005, and many considered it better than the film.
• The video game is an overhead shooter with driving stages and supports co-op and death-match multiplayer via link cable.
• A planned PlayStation 2 and Xbox game was canceled.

Plot

In 2055, the Chicago-based Time Safari company allows wealthy clients to hunt dinosaurs in the past using time travel. To minimize timeline changes, the company only targets dinosaurs that would die naturally and requires clients to stay on a designated path. Sonia Rand, the developer of the time machine software TAMI, criticizes the company's activities because she feels uncredited and fears clients may alter history. During a trip, team leader Travis Ryer's gun malfunctions, and a female Allosaurus charges the group. Ryer kills the dinosaur, and the group returns to 2055. The next day, global temperatures and humidity rise, and plant life increases. On a subsequent trip, Ryer finds the Allosaurus already dead and the volcano erupting early. The government shuts down Time Safari for investigation. Rand explains that Chicago is experiencing time waves that cause drastic changes, and she and Ryer narrowly escape a building as a time wave brings beetles and a tree through its structure. Rand warns that further time waves will affect more advanced life forms, ultimately humans.

Production

The film was originally to be directed by Renny Harlin with Pierce Brosnan in the lead role, shot in Montreal on a $55 million budget, with filming starting April 16, 2001. Brosnan requested a script rewrite, but the filmmakers lacked time before a potential Hollywood strike. Canadian producer Nicolas Claremont died in April 2001. By November 2001, Peter Hyams replaced Harlin, and Edward Burns replaced Brosnan. After Franchise Pictures went bankrupt during post-production, remaining backers provided only $30 million of the original $80 million. Previsualization software was used. Shooting took place in the Czech Republic in 2002, and the unit was affected by the August 2002 floods. Ben Kingsley said he was allowed to give an ironic comedic performance that made director Peter Hyams stifle laughter. Hyams described the effects as done in a mom-and-pop fashion, with work done in Germany, Hong Kong, and India, and post-production lasting over two years. Hyams' son John later said it was one of the hardest experiences of his father's career, relying on green screen and technology they ultimately could not afford.

Reception

The film was largely panned by critics and audiences. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 6% score based on 98 reviews, with an average rating of 2.8/10, and the site's consensus cites choppy logic, uneven performances, and not-so-special effects. Common criticisms included poor special effects, uninvolved performances, scientific errors, and Ben Kingsley's hair. CinemaScore audiences gave the film a grade of D−. James Duffy of The Boston Globe called it a catastrophe of awful special effects and mediocre acting. Roger Ebert stated he could not endorse it but could appreciate it as a film that explodes under the strain of wanting to be terrific. The film grossed $1,900,451 in the United States and $9,765,014 elsewhere, for a worldwide total of $11,665,465.