Summer Time Machine Blues

As David St. Hubbins says in SPINAL TAP: "There's a fine line between stupid and clever." This movie treads that line shamelessly.

As far as time machine movies go, there's no such thing as a realistic plot. This film realizes that and takes us in the opposite direction--to the realm of utter stupidity. Oddly enough, this technique works like a charm. There's nothing about global domination, interstellar warfare or deadly viruses; these kids just use a time machine to try to fix their air conditioner. HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE IT???

I interpret it as a good-natured slap in the face of all the pseudo-intellectual scifi films about the infamous "time space continuum" and the catastrophic (but always predictable) effects of meddling in the past. This movie makes no apologies. It dives boldly into the idiotic. And yet, it somehow comes out being more intellectual and airtight than all the rest.

Now a word about technique. Fantastic. Even though this was mostly a campy romp, I was blown away by the unique & creative camera style. How exactly does one depict two concurrent timelines? Answer: split screen! I loved it. And it was amazing how, through the subtle use of sound effects, camera angles and fades-to-black, the director set up a feeling of suspense & tension long before the action kicked in. I was glued to the screen from the first 5 minutes.

And who could overlook that adorable dog? Definitely this is a fun movie to watch. As I'm learning, modern Japanese comedy is the only way to go. Also check out the movies SWING GIRLS, KAMIKAZE GIRLS, CUTIE HONEY and my personal fave, UNIVERSITY OF LAUGHS if you want a taste of solid, artistic comedy from the land of the rising sun. I'm rating this an 8/10 which is very, very high on my scale. Enjoy!

***UPDATE THE NEXT DAY*** I just watched this movie again, and I've officially upped my rating to a 9/10. Folks, if you like philosophy & logic, you've got to see this movie TWICE. I haven't thought this deeply about a story since I read my last Tolstoy novel. Truly a philosophical masterpiece disgused as a goofy comedy!

I think the cast was excellent. This film pictures a peaceful life of a group of students but the story was smart in a way.

People might easily get put off by the title of "Time machine" because most of the time machine movies were not good enough. However, the story in this movie is very different, the time machine naturally comes into to it without making us puzzled for long.

I personally like Ueno Juri and Eita. Although there is no particular main character that the camera focus on in the movie, I think they still shined in the movie. If you like them Ueno and Eita too, I would like to suggest the Japanese TV series: Nodame Cantabile - an extremely entertaining series about a group of students who have passion for music.

Another thing I like about Japanese movies is that there's always something surprising at the end and so did this movie.

After watching this movie, I've decided to keep it in my collection because there is a high possibility that I will watch it again.

A movie about a bunch of Japanese geeks spending their summer at their sci-fi club. As the day goes on, weird things that don't make sense start to happen: things go missing, jokes and conversations that don't make any sense, etc... Then things get really weird when a time machine suddenly appears in their club and from there on it becomes a series of misadventures for these geeks.

Overall this is an excellent comedy/sci-fi movie. The movie proclaims a certain logic when it comes to time travel (ala Back to The Future) and most of the time it does not stray from this logic. The fact that this is accomplished without it turning into a lengthy physics lecture is a great bonus. In fact, the semi-satirical explanation of time travel in this movie is the funniest part of it all.

There are a few familiar faces in this movie such as Juri Ueno from Swing Girls and Yoko Maki from The Grudge. In fact, the overall acting by all of the young but talented cast is superb.

This is definitely one of those movies which has to be seen twice in order for you to connect all the little pieces. No doubt about it, it's a perfect summer flick.

Finally getting the opportunity to view this film on the legendary cult label Third Windows Films outta the UK.

It's got so much slapstick humour. It's got time-travelling. It's got inquisitive but not-very-bright College kids. It's got bags of fun and creativity and it's just sheer entertainment.

The script is nailed. It's not intending to be a technical futuristic film with a huge budget. It's got a tiny budget for a Sci-fi genre film and the Direction and special fx for the period are perfect.

Dialogue is free-flowing and very much centricated on the main college friends and their new-found time-travelling friend who mysteriously appears from the future!

They obsess over the remote control after losing it in an accident. The friends decide that the only way to bring it back would be a time machine. Low and behold their wish comes true!

From then it's a catalogue of time zones and continuum issues. The research done by the writer before is fabulous. It's logical and it ties-in. It's just so damn fresh and fun. It's not heavy and it's extremely light-hearted.

For a low-budget flick of the era it's aged incredibly well too. It doesn't need endless CGI as it has an exceptionally strong storyline. I really loved it and will be watching 'Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes' by the same creator very soon. Amazing job!

If you're looking for a fun movie that will make you think a little, this is the movie for you. Reasons I can think of for watching this movie:

1) Cool storyline. Anyone who likes time travel movies will like this movie. 2) Chemistry between the cast is simply amazing. 3) It's funny yet logical.

Do not be put off by the lack of ratings/reviews. They really ought to put up a poster on IMDb for this movie. The lack of a movie poster is probably why this film is relatively unknown.

As one user already said, this is a movie you will not forget for a long time!