Timeline (2003)

A few weeks ago, I decided to try something new for the Sunday “Bad” Movies.  I wrote a script for a short scene where two people sat in a diner and talked about Bigfoot vs. Zombies.  It was my way to bring a refreshing new post style, and a way to work on my screenwriting skills.  This week, I’m going to take another swing at that sort of post.  I will once again be writing a script and through that script, I will write about the movie.

This week’s movie is Timeline.  Something about it inspired me to write a script again.  The main difference is that this time, I’m actually going to look over the script and fix it up somewhat.  It also won’t be two people talking at a table.  That’s a little boring.  Let’s get something more than a conversation going on.  So, without further ado, here is my script inspired by Timeline.  I’ll be back at the end to give a few comments before ending the post.

INT. CAVE - NIGHT

JESSE is kneeling on the ground with a brush in his hand. He sweeps the dust off of a pair of glasses and lifts them up. With a quick sniffle of his nose, he turns around and signals to his digging partner.

JESSE

Joe! Over here! I found something!

JOE places his brush on the ground next to a half unearthed lantern.

JOE

What is it?

JESSE

It looks like a pair of glasses.

JOE

Good find.

Joe turns and begins walking back to the lantern.

JESSE

But Joe. That's not all. They're

bifocals.

Joe stops and stands motionless.

JOE

Bifocals? That can't be. Nobody has

been in this part of the cave for

years.

JESSE

I know.

Joe returns to Jesse's side and takes the glasses in his hands. He looks them up and down before turning his head to Jesse.

JOE

You're right. They're bifocals. How

can they possibly be down here?

JESSE

I think we've stumbled on some sort

of Timeline type of situation.

JOE

Timeline?

JESSE

Yeah. Like the movie.

JOE

What movie?

JESSE

Timeline. It came out in 2003. Paul

Walker, Gerard Butler, Michael

Sheen, Frances O'Connor. They went

back in time to the middle ages.

JOE

What does that have to do with

this?

JESSE

Near the beginning of the movie,

they found a pair of glasses, much

like this pair. They found it in

the ruins of a monestary that

nobody had been in for centuries.

How did they get there? Someone

went back in time, that's how! We

have discovered time travel!

JOE

And my lantern over there proves

that the time travel in Teenage

Mutant Ninja Turtles three was

real. Sure.

JESSE

This isn't a time for jokes. We

need to figure out how the glasses

got here.

Joe throws his hands up in the air and storms off to where he left the lantern.

JESSE

If these bifocals were left for us,

that means that they were left for

us for a reason. Someone is stuck

in the past and we need a team of

historians and archaeologists to go

find them.

JOE

What are you blathering on about?

JESSE

The movie. Timeline. A team was

sent back in time to retrieve

someone who had been lost in the

past.

JOE

And you think we're going to go

back in time?

JESSE

That's the only way to save whoever

is stuck back in time. We could be

saving ourselves here. Or we could

die. That is a definite

possibility. It happened to the

French guy when the English king

guy thought he was a spy.

JOE

Time travel is impossible.

JESSE

Not according to these glasses. The

lenses are too new for time travel

to not exist. Next we're going to

find a sarcophogas of a man with

one ear, and we'll discover that

one of us will be that man. Please

don't let it be me. I like my ears.

Joe sighs and continues to brush his lantern. The handle begins to form shape as the dirt is swept away.

JESSE

I wonder what the middle ages were

like. Was it a glorified, beautiful

place like Middle Earth or was it

grungy and ugly like an In the Name

of the King sequel? Was it like

Timeline, somewhere in between?

JOE

Our studies show that...

JESSE

Forget our studies! We're going to

go back in time and find out!

Joe turns to Jesse. He puts his brush on the ground in front of him and stands up.

JOE

For the last time, time travel does

not exist. You can't just go back

in time.

Joe bends over and lifts his lantern from the ground.

JOE

If time travel existed, we would

already know about it because

someone would have already gone

back in time and shown the world

that it...

The lantern begins to hum and glow. Joe turns his head and stares at it in horror as the entire cave lights up with a bright white light.

JOE

What the--

JESSE

The lantern is glowing!

JOE

I can see that!

With a loud popping sound, the light of the lantern vanishes and it falls to the ground, shattering on impact. Joe is gone.

JESSE

Joe?

Jesse looks around the dimly lit cave. The light hanging from one of the stalactites is the only source of light.

JESSE

Joe? This isn't funny, Joe. You

broke an artifact.

The sound of Jesse's voice echoes through the caverns but there is no response.

JESSE

He's gone.

Jesse kneels down and picks up the pieces of the lantern. He turns them over in his hands. As he turns one of the pieces over, he reveals a message. The message reads "Help me, Jesse! I'm stuck in middle age France!"

JESSE

I knew it! Time travel is possible!

But that still doesn't explain

whose glasses those are. They're

not Joe's.

Jesse lets the pieces of the lantern fall to the cave floor. He takes another look at the glasses.

JESSE

These glasses are my only way of

figuring out how to save Joe from

the past.

Jesse blows the leftover dust off of the lenses and puts the glasses on his face.

JESSE

Ow. My eyes hurt looking through

these. This is definitely not my

prescription.

The vision through the lenses slowly changes from the inside of the cave to the inside of a tunnel.

JESSE

It worked! I went back in time!

EXT. CASTLE COURTYARD - DAY

Jesse walks into the open area. Soldiers are training with their swords as ladies watch from balconies. He looks around and sees Joe among the fighting soldiers.

JESSE

Joe!

Joe turns and looks at his friend. He has a fresh scar down one cheek, and the beginnings of a beard growing from his face.

JOE

Jesse! How did you get here?

JESSE

The Timeline way!

JOE

What Timeline way? You discovered

time travel?

JESSE

No. The same way that you got here.

JOE

That was more the Teenage Mutant

Ninja Turtles Three way.

JESSE

Not with the lantern. With the

glasses.

JOE

The glasses got you here?

JESSE

Yeah.

A large man approaches Joe from behind and taps on his shoulder. Joe spins around. The man punches him in the face and turns away.

LARGE MAN

That's what you get for stepping

out of battle practice.

JESSE

Battle practice?

Joe turns back to Jesse, a small stream of blood flowing from his nose.

JOE

The only way to survive around here

is to risk your life. You're going

to find that out quickly.

JESSE

I'm going to find a way back to our

own time, actually.

JOE

Good luck with that. I've been here

for two weeks and can't find a way

to get back to 2017.

JESSE

There has to be some way. The

glasses got me here. They'll get me

back.

JOE

Where are the glasses? They

disappeared when you time traveled,

didn't they? That's what happened

with the lantern.

JESSE

The lantern broke when you

disappeared. I don't know about the

glasses, but they have to be here

somewhere because they were in that

cave. They need to be left in that

cave.

JOE

What?

JESSE

It's like in Timeline. The reason

that the glasses were there, the

reason there was a help note, the

reason that the wall was broken...

Someone did that in the past so

that they could find it in the

future. Someone has to leave the

glasses in that cave, in the

hallway I showed up in. The glasses

and the lantern have to be here

somewhere!

People begin running frantically around the courtyard area. Joe looks from one to another. Suddenly his face grows grim.

JESSE

What is it?

MAN ON CASTLE WALL

The barbarians are coming! Everyone

to your fighting positions!

JOE

Go! Quickly! Find something to get

us back to our time!

Jesse runs off, dodging soldiers who are preparing for battle.

INT. CASTLE DINING HALL

Jesse bursts through the door. He runs around the side of the long dining table, searching among the plates, bowls, and other dining materials. The door on the opposite side of the room opens and a maid walks in.

MAID

What are you doing in here?

JESSE

Um...

MAID

You should be out with the

soldiers.

JESSE

I was sent to warn everyone about

the battle. Find all of the women

and children and get them into the

pantry!

The maid stares at him with disbelief in her eyes.

JESSE

Now! Go! The safety of the castle

depends on it!

The maid nods and hurries out of the dining hall. Jesse follows behind her and runs down the first hall he sees.

INT. CASTLE BED CHAMBER

Jesse walks in the open door and speeds to the wardrobe. He pulls the clothes out and throws them on the floor. One of the pairs of pants makes a metallic thud as it hits the floor.

JESSE

I think that's it!

He lifts the pants and digs his hand into them. He pulls out a pair of bifocals. A voice sounds behind him.

MAN 2

Put down my glasses.

Jesse turns and looks at an old, bearded man. The sound of swords hitting one another comes through the bedroom window.

JESSE

These are bifocals.

OLD MAN

I know.

JESSE

That's impossible. They haven't

been invented yet.

OLD MAN

You're very perceptive.

JESSE

And you know that.

OLD MAN

Yes, I do.

JESSE

That means...

OLD MAN

It means...

JESSE

You must be from the future!

OLD MAN

Bingo.

Jesse looks back and forth between the glasses and the man.

JESSE

I need your glasses.

OLD MAN

No.

JESSE

That wasn't a question.

OLD MAN

I know. But you can't have my

glasses. They're... Special.

JESSE

That's why I need them.

OLD MAN

You don't understand.

JESSE

I understand perfectly. They are a

time travel device.

OLD MAN

You know?

JESSE

Of course I know. Do you think I'm

from this time? I knew they were

bifocals. Why would I know that?

OLD MAN

Well...

JESSE

And my clothes. Do these look like

the clothes of this time?

OLD MAN

No, but...

JESSE

Exactly. You can stay here and

Gerard Butler it up for all I care.

You might like it here instead of

your real time, but I want to go

home. Your glasses are the only way

for me to go home.

OLD MAN

I hear what you're saying. You need

these glasses to be returned to the

future where you came from.

JESSE

That's what I said but in different

words.

OLD MAN

I'll give you my glasses if you

promise me something.

JESSE

What?

OLD MAN

Tell the world that Frank Peterson

invented time travel. I'm not there

to tell them myself.

JESSE

Fine!

Jesse grabs the glasses and runs toward the door. He stops at a table and grabs a small piece of paper. He scratches a note on it. "Help me, Jesse! I'm stuck in middle age France!" He throws the note in his pocket and runs out of the room.

EXT. CASTLE COURTYARD - DAY

Swords clash against one another and blood splatters across the ground as Jesse runs out of the castle. He ducks under a sword that nearly cuts his ear off as he looks through the crowds of fighting soldiers for his friend. A fire breaks out as a torch falls into a barrel of oil.

JESSE

Joe!

JOE

Jesse!

Joe jumps down from the roof of a shed, sword slashing at an attacker who is ready to kill Jesse. He slashes a few times then kicks the opponent into a pile of wooden boxes.

JOE

Did you get the glasses?

JESSE

Yes!

JOE

Then let's get to the tunnel!

The two friends run off into one of the castle hallways that borders the courtyard.

INT. CASTLE HALLWAY

Jesse and Joe hurry into the dark room. The only light comes from a couple of lanterns hanging on the wall.

JESSE

Okay. It's time to put on the

glasses.

JOE

What? There's only one pair of

glasses and there are two of us.

JESSE

Yeah, but if they work like before,

they'll be left behind and you can

use them right after me.

JOE

Why do I have to wait for you to go

first?

JESSE

You have the sword.

JOE

I've been risking my life here for

two weeks. You've been here for two

minutes.

JESSE

It's been more than two minutes.

JOE

You get my point though.

JESSE

You're still better prepared to

fight off any bandits that try to

kill us.

JOE

Barbarians.

JESSE

Whatever. Grab that lantern over

there.

Joe reaches for the lantern on the wall. As he puts his hand around its handle, it begins to glow brighter and brighter until Joe vanishes. Jesse dives to the ground to catch the lantern before it breaks. He places it on the ground.

JESSE

There's the lantern.

The echo of footsteps pound into the hallway. Jesse looks at the lantern and looks at the glasses. He reaches for the lantern before stopping himself.

JESSE

Shit. If I use the lantern, I might

end up taking the glasses with me.

He takes the note out of his pocket and shoves it into the lantern as well as he can. He pulls the bifocals onto his face and closes his eyes. The sound of footsteps grows louder until he can hear the feet within inches of him. An arm grabs him.

JOE

Come on! The cave is coming down!

Jesse opens his eyes and sees pieces of rock falling to the floor of the cave around him. They run through the caverns toward the entrance of the cave.

EXT. ENTRANCE OF CAVE - DAY

The two comrades dive through the entrance of the cave as rocks tumble down, blocking the hole in the stone wall. They stand up and shake themselves off.

JOE

That was close.

JESSE

That didn't happen in Timeline.

JOE

Will you shut up about Timeline

already? We just went back in time!

JESSE

Like in Timeline! We ended up in a

castle, there was a time traveler

who stayed behind like Gerard

Butler did, and we got back to the

present as we were about to be

killed in the battle. It's the

same!

JOE

Okay. There were similarities.

JESSE

Yes! There were!

A loud crack erupts through the air. Jesse and Joe's heads whip around to see a giant vehicle pushing its way through a forest surrounding the cave. A large speaker sits above a reflective windshield.

VOICE ON SPEAKER

Halt. Intruders.

JOE

Uh-oh. We're in the wrong place.

A door opens up on the machine and a man clad in futuristic clothes steps out.

JESSE

Or the wrong time. Line.

THE END

That’s the script I came up with.  I’m much more satisfied with that than my previous attempt at writing a script post.  I put more effort into it and told a more complex story.  In that way, this exercise was a success.  It showed improvement over what I had written before.  It showed that I can do better.  That doesn’t mean there weren’t flaws.

The main issue with the script is that it didn’t cover the movie enough.  It covered certain plot points, but didn’t have discussion about the quality of the movie.  All that you guys get from the story that I told was that Timeline was a movie and I wrote a script about a couple of characters living the movie.  That’s it.  Thus, I need to take some time to write about the quality of the movie.  Other than that, I’m happy with the script.  It’s not perfect, but it’s a good step forward.

So, onto how I feel about Timeline.  I had never heard great things about it.  In fact, it was suggested to me for this blog.  That was one of two things in my mind going into the movie.  The other was that I had read the book a couple years back and enjoyed it.  So my expectations were right in the middle.  I liked the source and had heard the movie was underwhelming.  What I got was exactly where my expectations were.  The movie wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible.  It was in that middle ground.

Fitting of the Sunday “Bad” Movies, it did have some bad aspects.  The one that I would feel bad leaving out is that the foreshadowing was some of the most bizarrely hilarious that I’ve seen.  The setup at the beginning that there was a sarcophagus carved to show that the man inside had lost an ear was brought back in a laughably bad way.  A character had his ear cut off during the climax and began yelling “It’s me! It’s me!”  Though the majority of the movie was a decent time travel tale mixed with an entertaining medieval war tale, this foreshadowing was some of the worst that I’ve seen.

That does it.  Timeline is now in the past like Gerard Butler’s character.  It was an okay movie that I was entertained by.  I wouldn’t necessarily watch it again, but I don’t regret the time I spent watching the movie.  There are worse ways to spend two hours than seeing Paul Walker and Gerard Butler fight it out in the Middle Ages.

There are worse ways to spend a few minutes than looking through these notes:

• Timeline was suggested by @Mimekiller, who also suggested Gymkata and Gnome Alone.
• This post mentioned Bigfoot vs. Zombies, In the Name of the King, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III.
• Timeline featured two people from the movie Death Race.  They were Danny Blanco Hall and Christian Paul.
• Gerard Butler was in one of the early movies covered.  He was in Playing for Keeps.
• Neal McDonough isn’t a first timer to the Sunday “Bad” Movies.  He was previously seen in The Marine 3: Homefront.
• One of the actors in Timeline was Rana Morrison, who was also in Torque.
• As a child, Paul Walker was in a movie called Monster in the Closet.  As an adult, he was in Timeline.
• Skin Trade had an actor named Patrick Sabongui, who was also in Timeline.
• Rossif Sutherland had a role in Timeline.  He also had a role in Dead Before Dawn 3-D.
• Finally, Timeline saw the return of Lambert Wilson, who was in Catwoman.
• Have you seen Timeline?  What did you think?  You can share your comments about this post or the movie below.
• What movies should I watch for the Sunday “Bad” Movies?  Let your voice be heard by leaving suggestions in the comments or on my Twitter timeline.
• Sometimes when I’m watching bad movies, I will share clips of them.  If that sounds interesting to you, you can add me on Snapchat.  Jurassicgriffin
• Next week, I’ll be going into the future while thinking about the past.  There will be dinosaurs in a futuristic America, as seen through the eyes of the mid-1990s.  That’s right.  I’m going to be discussing the movie Theodore Rex.  Come back in seven days and see what I have to say about it.