Looking at it now, Timecop requires a little audience adjustment. The film is set in the futuristic world of 2004 but a good deal of it is set in the past, in 1994, which when the film was new was the present. Got that? In 1994, police officer Max Walker's (Van Damme) wife Melissa (Mia Sera) is murdered during a break-in at the couple's huge Victorian home, which then mysteriously explodes. Ten years later, Max is working for the Time Enforcement Agency (TEC), a secret branch of the federal government charged with preventing those with access to the newly-discovered time traveling technology from altering the past.

On a mission to 1929 New York, Max finds that his former partner, Lyle Atwood (Jason Schombing), has been buying up stock during the great market crash on behalf of U.S. Senator Aaron McComb (Ron Silver), a presidential candidate in dire need of campaign funds (!). Max wants Lyle to testify against McComb but, fearing that McComb's men will travel back into the past and wipe out his family, the frightened underling grimly chooses death.

Max is assigned a new partner, oversight agent Sarah Fielding (ER's Gloria Reuben, sadly wasted), and the two travel back to 1994, where they find McComb attempting to manipulate his own destiny by imploring his younger self (also Silver) to assume control of a computer company soon to be worth billions. In the meantime Max, still overcome with grief all these years later, struggles with an occupation that has him dealing with villains like McComb while he himself is denied the opportunity to use time travel to rescue his own wife, whom in a coincidence too incredible to be believed, he discovers is (was?) pregnant.

Written by Mike Richardson (Hellboy) and Mark Verheiden (the new Battlestar Galactica), who adapted their own Dark Horse comic book series, Timecop is derivative but entertaining, and at about 90 minutes sans credits, doesn't overstay its welcome. The basic premise is good, that the invention of time machines will wreak far more havoc than they're worth, and that they might become a menace more dangerous even than nuclear proliferation, is interesting. The carefully calculated story delivers plenty of action, sex, and sci-fi set pieces in every reel, and the film is slickly produced. The picture gets off to a good start, opening in 1863 Georgia where some Confederate soldiers, secretly transporting gold bullion, are ambushed by a fellow Reb who turns out to be a man from the future: he suddenly whips out a pair of machine guns with laser sights, guns blazing. Director and director of photography Peter Hyams seems to have been especially inspired by the film's period sequences which are wonderfully atmospheric and which make excellent compositional use of the 'scope frame.

Another early scene sets up the rules for time-traveling. You can't go into the future ("because [it] hasn't happened yet") and, tempting as it is, you can't go back in time to assassinate Hitler because of the domino chain reaction in the time line it would create. "What if Saddam Hussein traveled back in time and got an atomic bomb?" someone asks.* However, the film doesn't really follow its own rules, and a lot of the ramifications of time travel aren't well thought out. The biggest problem is that no one at the Time Enforcement Agency seems to have considered what would happen if one of these rogue time travelers actually succeeded in changing the past in big and little ways, and how policemen like Max, returning to an altered present, could convey this to their superiors. In the film, Max's colleagues think he's nuts suggesting that the present's been altered, that everything's changed since he left. Didn't the TEC ever consider the possibility?

There are other numerous goofs and shaky plot points that don't hold up to even minimal scrutiny. If Max is trying to gather evidence to convict McComb, why does he unwisely tip his hand to the stop-at-nothing senator halfway through the first act? We're told the stolen Confederate bullion was carbon-dated and that tests revealed that it was indeed minted back in the mid-1800s. Aside from the fact that metals can't be tested in this way, if it was brought back by a time traveler the gold wouldn't test as 130 years older, right?

The other problem with Timecop is Ron Silver's oily villain. He's in that senate subcommittee meeting setting the story in motion, and considering that Silver was virtually the George Zucco of '90s thrillers, he's easily pegged as the bad guy. The part is badly overwritten, with foul-mouthed Sen. McComb verbally and physically abusing his own henchmen. Indeed, he calls absolutely everyone in the film within earshot "a fucking idiot!" - even his younger self!

Van Damme isn't bad in the lead. He doesn't have the presence of, say, good ol' Charlie Bronson, even when he was an old man in those final Cannon projects, but Van Damme has more charisma than mentor Chuck Norris, though Norris is a slightly better actor. Van Damme's kickboxing prowess is barely on display here: one of the problems is director Hyams prefers tight cutting during the action scenes. Once Van Damme's legs come out swinging, shots rarely last more than a second, so unlike the action set pieces in Jackie Chan's films (for instance) it's impossible to assess Van Damme's martial arts moves.

Video & Audio

Timecop looks quite nice in HD DVD, with the original 'scope image (the IMDb credits Panavision, but I didn't see it listed in the credits) impressively crisp. The opening scene, in 1863 Georgia, is better photographed and on HD DVD actually looks superior to the HD DVD of Gods and Generals and Hyams' enthusiasm for these period scenes shine especially bright on HD DVD. The 1994 footage is of the type often found in these medium-budget action thrillers - lots of heavy industry warehouse scenes and the like - but it looks okay, too, with the image consistently clean and razor sharp with no obvious edge enhancement. (The film was shot on Eastman stock with original prints by Deluxe.) The 2.40:1 / 1080p / VC-1 encoded HD-15 generally impresses.

The audio, in 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus (in English and French, accompanied by optional French and hard-of-hearing English subtitles) is very aggressive by 1994 standards. In the opening scene in 1863 Georgia, the sound effects of the pounding rain and the burst of machine gun fire set the stage for what in theaters must have been an impressive DTS release. By 2008 standards the mix is a less impressive, but overall this reviewer was pleasantly surprised.

Extra Features

Except for Universal's book-marking option, the HD DVD has no supplements of any sort, not even a trailer.

Parting Thoughts

An HD DVD exclusive, Timecop isn't likely to turn the tide against the format, and it's somewhat odd that Universal would think a 13-year-old Jean-Claude Van Damme film would be Hot Stuff during the height of last year's holiday shopping season. But it's not a bad little film for those looking for undemanding escapist fare. The lack of extras is disappointing, but the transfer is quite good. All in all, it's Recommended.

* This, of course, was later one of the arguments used to justify the invasion of Iraq. 　

Film historian Stuart Galbraith IV's latest books, Japanese Cinema and The Toho Studios Story, are now available for pre-order.