A SOUND OF THUNDER - PREVIEW 

A Sound of Thunder (2005)

Starring: Edward Burns, Ben Kingsley, Catherine McCormack, Jemima Rooper, Wilfried Hochholdinger, August Zirner, Corey Johnson
Director: Peter Hyams
Rated: Unrated
U.S. Opening Date: TBA

 

It’s one of Ray Bradbury’s best-known short stories (written some 40 years ago!) about a hunting trip into the past in which a hunter accidentally steps on a bug and thus changes the course of future history.

Heck, if you haven’t read it (you can rectify the situation by reading it online right here) then you probably know The Simpsons Halloween Special which spoofs the story. In this episode Homer fixes a faulty toaster, accidentally travels back in time in the process where he steps on a prehistoric bug and changes the future in the process to one in which his neighbour Ned Flanders is world dictator.

Anyway, this particular plot device is an old sci-fi staple having been deployed in movies such as The Terminator, Timecop and Retroactive, and most recently in The Butterfly Effect. Even though Bradbury’s story was fresh when it was originally written, today it’s unfortunately pretty much old hat – so who knows how audiences would respond to a film version of the original that started it all?

So far response to the trailers hasn’t been particularly positive with people complaining that the CGI looks, well, cheap and obtrusive. Director Peter Hyams is an old hand at sci-fi/horror, but to be honest not a particularly adept one - his directorial output ranges from Outland, 2010 and Timecop (!) to The Relic and End of Days.

So don’t go holding your breath for an adaptation that’ll do Bradbury proud then . . .

Plot Summary for A Sound of Thunder (2004):

A Sound of Thunder is about a game hunter (Burns) who goes on a time-travelling safari owned and operated by Kingsley's character to hunt dinosaurs in the prehistoric era. When he kills a butterfly, he unknowingly sets off a chain reaction that will erase humanity from existence. A team of experts must return back in time and replace the butterfly. McCormack is the inventor of the time-travelling computer.

— Some sources: Amazon.com

Trivia about A Sound of Thunder:

• Pierce Brosnan and director Renny Harlin were originally attached to this film.

• Production was interrupted when severe floods in the summer of 2002 in the Czech Republic caused considerable damage to the set.

• Filmed during the great floods of 2002 in Prague.
   

— Some sources: Amazon.com

Trailers:

• QuickTime Trailer.
• Windows Media 28-300k