A
Sound of Thunder
(2005)
Starring: Edward Burns, Ben Kingsley, Catherine McCormack, Jemima Rooper,
Wilfried Hochholdinger, August Zirner, Corey Johnson
Director: Peter Hyams
U.S. Opening Date: TBA
THEY SAY
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.
WE SAY
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 . . .
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:
