Timebomb (1991) Online

**SPOILERS** Living a quiet life in L.A as a mild mannered watch repair man Eddie Kaye, Michael Biehn, one evening becomes Superman when he rushes into a burning apartment building saving a mother and her infant from curtain death.

Eddie doesn't know it but he's really not Eddie Kaye he's Oliver Dykstra and at the same time he was supposed to be dead for years but a person watching the TV news that evening Col. Taylor, Richard Jordan, does. He's was the one who had Oliver brainwashed and given a new name and memory, as Eddie Kaye, and now realizing that he's still alive is responsible for Eddie's being terminated like he should have been years ago.

High powered action/thriller "Timebomb" lacks a cohesive storyline with Eddie on the run with pretty Dr. Anna Nolmar, Pasty Kensit, his psychoanalyst who he got to know while he was repairing her late fathers expensive watch. Always on the run throughout the film the couple are chased by Col.Taylor's mind-controlled goons from L.A to Mexico to Arizona an finally back to L.A at the Duke Hotel for the final showdown between Eddie and the entire Taylor goon squad.It turns out that Eddie, or Oliver Dykstra in an other life, couldn't be corrupted by Col. Taylor & Co. to murder innocent people who the Colonel and his bosses high in government feel are a threat to "National Security".

Discarted and thrown away in a garbage dump Eddie miraculously survived and lived a quite and uneventful life until he came to the rescue of the woman and child in that burning building and since then he life was never the same again. Escaping from Taylor's men to Mexico Eddie realizes why he's a marked man when he sees a newspaper headline about Dean Jordan, Harvey Fuller, who's running for Attoreny General of the United States. Eddie then realizes that that's the main reason that he's to be killed as soon as possible ;to stop him from preventing Jordan's assassination at the Duke Hotel that coming Sunday.

Better then average action sequences with a wild shoot-out in a darkened and almost deserted porno theater with the porn flick still being projected on the screen as the bullets are flying and bodies dropping, what was the projectionist doing? was he asleep or on his lunch break? The final scene at the Duke Hotel was really something to see with all the light shut off as the assassin team with infra-red eyeglasses zero in on the guest speaker, Dean Jordan, for the kill.

Eddie saves the day, and Dean Jordan's life, by taking on the entire hit-team and slugging it out with them in the lobby and on the roof of the hotel with L.A police detective Sanchez, Raymond St. Jacques, coming to Eddie's aid just in the nick of time. The movie did touch on things back in 1990 that are very real today about a out of control government feeling that it's above the law and can do no wrong. As long as it has the power to control and intimidate those who dare to criticize or expose it.

The one thing that really disappointed me more then anything else in the movie "Timebomb" was the fact that Robert Culp, who played L.A's communications chief Phllips, was given top billing yet Culp was in less then two minutes of "Timebomb's" hour and a half screen time.

When I saw this film, I thought "Wow, this guy might be the next James Cameron." Perhaps a bit of an overstatement, but director Avi Nesher has a sharp, distinctive action style, and a flair for technology and attention to detail. This is a rough, tough action film, with touches of science fiction thrown in. Performances are decent, although Michael Biehn still seems stuck in Kyle Reese/Dwayne Hicks mode. Unfortunately, Nesher went on to do a bunch of straight-to-video films, the interesting "Doppleganger" and produced a batch, the only decent one being "Automatic" which he didn't direct, but certainly has his style imprinted on it. I'm hoping he hasn't given up on his dream sci-fi project, "Hammerheads" which I've heard about years ago.

In this fairly straight forward, but pretty well done action film, Michael Biehn plays a likable guy working in his own watch repair shop. He suffers from amnesia and soon his past is about to catch up to him. Predictably he wasn't a watch repair man is his "previous life" but a lethal assassin.

The amnesia formula has been done many times, most notably with the blockbuster Bourne trilogy taken from Robert Ludlum's novels, but "Timebomb" has its merits. Michael Biehn is a good enough actor to play a convincing human action hero and the plot, while quite routine, delivers suspense and action. The mixing of science fiction into the film is also pretty interesting as it provides a few twists. However, there is enough cliché here to prevent this film from being anything special. Fans of the genre will enjoy it for what it is, others shouldn't even care to look. --- 6/10

Rated R for violence and profanity. Ages 13+

It's a shame that this movie hasn't made it to DVD while so many of Biehn's later movies have. This is far superior to "Cherry Falls", "Jade", "Deep Red", and "Clockstoppers".

The plot is a tired one...deadly super-assassin gets amnesia and is chased around by his former employers, while he is astonished at his apparently innate abilities and deadly skills. It's like a dry-run of "The Bourne Identity".

BUT...Biehn and the others do a good job with the material. The SFX are decent for a low-budget flick, the villains are suitably creepy, and the finale on the high-rise rooftop is reasonably satisfying.

Kudos to Biehn, too, for maintaining his innocence throughout most of the film. He seems genuinely puzzled by his own actions, which makes him all the more endearing to us as he blows away the bad guys.

Certainly one of Biehn's TOP 10 movies, though not up to "K2", "The Rock", or "The Terminator".

This is a pretty crazy film that combines aspects of Sci-Fi, cybernetics, The Manchurian Candidate, and new world orders into a pastiche of overamped fights, chases and gratuitous gunplay. The performances aren't that bad but some scenes seem almost sped through with the need to quicken the pace and get to the meat of the film. Some decent special effects. Overall, if you see it in a vid store and the price is cheaper to buy it from the bargain bin than rental, go for it. Better yet, if it shows up on cable watch it rather than spend real money on it.

I am able to admit that the implausibility levels of this movie tend to rise steadily through the entire film; but I enjoyed the chemistry between Kensit and Biehn. At times it also becomes suspenseful. A lot of the scenes leave you scratching your head or wanting more, but I think this film sets out and does its job quite well. It was also good to see Mike Biehn as I really haven't seen him in anything else besides THE TERMINATOR, (I did see THE LORDS OF DISCIPLINE; so so). Other than that I can't say much more except this movie reminds me of the good 'ol late night low-budget action flicks they used to show back in the early 90's on CINEMAX like PRAYER OF THE ROLLERBOYS or CLASS OF 1999!

POSSIBLE SPOILERS:

The sound of this film intrigued me for some reason. I can't remember why. It's a bit like TOTAL RECALL: a guy discovers he may have lead another life as an assassin, but had his memory erased. Now that he has resurfaced, he is being chased by a team of assassins (including LOIS AND CLARK's Tracy Scoggins and Jim 'CYBERTRACKER' Maniaci). Michael Biehn is excellent in the lead, his performance not faltering for a minute. A man in his situation would be as terrified as he initially is. But he soon takes charge and tries to uncover his past, and stop the baddies before they can carry out their assassination attempt on the crusading new Attorney General.

The action is brilliant as well, especially the showdown between Biehn and Mr. Brown (kickboxer Billy Blanks). Patsy Kensit is okay as the psychiatrist, even though at the time she was really too young to be a psychiatrist.

Richard Jordan once again plays a really hateful bad guy, who you're just gonna want to see dead. The tension barely ever lets up. I must say that it's a pity that this one slipped through the cracks when it was released because it's very enjoyable. The 'conspiracy' storyline may not be original, but here it works. Try and get ahold of this one if you can.

The minute I saw Patsy Kensit's lips, I knew I had seen her before. It was driving me crazy. I was thrown off by the Hungarian character she played. I have to admit that she was the only reason I watched this movie, and I wasn't disappointed.

She didn't give the full exposure reported in Angels and Insects or Shelter Island, but we did get the view we saw in Lethal Weapon 2 - I finally remembered that awesome performance as the South African secretary! Michael Biehn (Aliens, The Rock, Terminator 2: Judgment Day) was the simple watch repairer that didn't know who he was and why everyone was trying to kill him. He did OK, but Kensit stole the show. You've seen the basic script before in In the Line of Fire, done much better by Eastwood.

Blue, Brown Redd, Green, and Grey were a little over-the top and no match at all, but they provided some exciting moments.

I probably would have given it a higher rating had I just not felt that I had seen it all before.

The always reliable Michael Biehn plays Eddy Kay, a watchmaker / repairman who, in a show of courage, rescues a woman & her baby from an apartment fire one night. Unfortunately, when news of this act reaches the airwaves, the wrong person finds out: government operative Colonel Taylor (Richard Jordan), who promptly sends his henchmen - a tough lot, but not a bright bunch - after the frightened Eddy, who finds that he actually does have the skills to combat them. He takes it on the lam, abducting psychoanalyst / customer Anna Nolmar (Patsy Kensit) to give him some much needed help in finding out why people would want him dead - and his true identity.

Writer / director Avi Nesher does a decent job with his premise, utilizing what is a pretty familiar plot and injecting a sci-fi angle as well as a "Manchurian Candidate" type story thread. The good thing is that the movie is tautly directed and edited; it has a good forward momentum. Its action scenes are intense enough that they do keep you watching. Things do get a little creepy and bizarre in terms of the brainwashing process. The movie does also have strong echoes of "The Terminator" with Biehn. The main reason why it really works at all is because Biehn is so believable. You can buy him as a normal, average guy - or, at least, a guy who *thinks* he's normal and average - who is overwhelmed at first but turns into a real kick ass hero. The pretty Kensit is good in her part. Jordan excels in one of his loathsome villain roles - he definitely overplays some scenes - and the under utilized Robert Culp and Raymond St. Jacques also do well. Among those playing Taylors' goons are super sexy Tracy Scoggins and none other than Billy Blanks.

B movie devotees will likely find this to be agreeable enough.

Six out of 10.

Well this movie started out fair-to-middlin. I rented it because Tracy Scoggins was in it and so was Patsy Kensit who looks remarkably like Elizabeth Hurley or even Scoggins on the back cover of the video...

But shortly it became painfully obvious that the writer and director, Avi Nesher, was still REALLY into the schlock gimmicks of bad 80s action films. The key things that ticked me off was the "blond timid psychoanalyst" (played by Patsy) who is supposedly an educated woman by the nature of her profession but consistently was instead the "helpless blond ditz" without a shred of common sense. Unfortunately Patsy's character ended up just being the weepy decoration on Biehn's arm who constantly got him into trouble by inadvertently letting the enemy know where he was.

The movie soon went to plain bad shlock complete with the requisite "crashing into Large Neon signs at the top of building" scene. I even picked up the box several times through scanning it closely for evidence of a production date in the early 80s but no, this was made in the early 90s.

The only redeeming features of this movie were Tracy Scoggins who was basically the only believeable aspect of the movie but unfortunately had only about 5 min total of screen time. I loved seeing her in the Cher type wigs in the "flashback scenes". The most memorable scene was her last screen appearance where Biehn is attempting to force her to make a call... She's been hit across the face hard with a chain and knocked down...her face is covered in blood but there are no tears... Not even after he shoots her in the leg. Instead, and this is what makes it memorable...she "pants" through the pain instead of the unbelieveable overused "stoicness" that seems to be a requirement of all such scenes.

I also liked just watching Patsy Kensit and Biehn on the screen. They made a beautiful pair on screen and Biehn kept making me look twice as his profile (esp when wet) closely resemembled that of my favorite B actor, Christopher Atkins. I've certainly rented and watched a lot of truly bad movies just to get more screentime of actors and actresses I like!

I really like this movie, I saw it when I was very young as I have three older siblings who allowed me to watch 18 rated movies (whilst my mother was at work) and it made a big impression on me. The pillow scene is very intense and the action is great and what lends to the intensity is the tension created by the fact that Michael Biehn's character does not enjoy his new found role as an experienced killer and 'freaks out' at various stages in the film. His character is not easy to sympathise with, he's either a killing machine or a catatonic freak or a timid watchmaker. HIs feelings of guilt, horror and anguish are a refreshing contrast to how the 'heroes' in modern American films seem to be able to kill at will or whim with no visible feelings of regret.

Also there's a great bit at the end where a 'bad guy' is thrown from a roof to his supposed death, unfortunately the editor must have been tired/on smack as the soft landing provided by a crash pad is clearly visible.

Eddy Kay (Biehn) is a likable, mild-mannered watch repairman in the L.A. area. After instinctively rescuing some people from a house fire, memories and flashbacks are triggered in his mind, and he even randomly speaks Hungarian and knows martial arts techniques. Eddy thinks he is going crazy, but with the help of Dr. Anna Nolmar (Kensit), he goes on a search for the truth about his identity. While this is happening, boatloads of badguys are after them, including the sinister Mr. Brown (Blanks), and Ms. Blue (Scoggins). It all comes to a head in Oracle, AZ at a place called the Lang Institute. We won't give away anything plotwise, but here's a one-word hint: "SuperSoldiers".

Michael Biehn brings his usual excellent performance and presence to this film, which is more intelligent than other fare of this kind. For example, the name Eddy Kay is most likely a subtle reference to Kafka and The Trial, and its protagonist Josef K, and the travails of Eddy Kay are certainly "Kafkaesque" as they say. If this seems pretentious, blame the movie, not me. But back in reality, we have Billy Blanks as Mr. Brown (remember how all the Power Rangers' uniforms were color-coded by race/gender? I guess marry that to Reservoir Dogs (1992), which Timebomb predated by one year), who wears a spiffy three-piece suit and black gloves. Blanks and Biehn fight twice in the movie.

Timebomb was certainly the Unknown (2011) of its day, one man's search for his identity as everyone around him tries to kill him and there's no one to trust. Add in some Altered States (1980) and a dash of They Live (1988), throw in a bunch of B-movie names and there you have it. If this sounds too much like a Sci-Fi slog, fear not. While there are some Science-Fictiony strands to the plot, they're usually worthy and never sink into slog territory. There's plenty of action as well.

Thanks to some above-average elements, such as Michael Biehn and some interesting ideas, Timebomb makes for a quality night of VHS fun.

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Talking to a family friend about having recently seen the 1991 Action trash epic Stone Cold, I got told that this title was another overlooked/ "classic" Action flick from the year. With Stone Cold having gone so well, I decided to set the timer.

View on the film:

Taking a pay cut and only staying in the role thanks to the writer/director ignoring studio demands for JCVD or Chuck Norris to star,Michael Biehn proves this stubbornness to have paid off,by giving the action scenes a real crunch, with Biehn leaping into the blunt-force hand to hand combat fights and the more peculiar shoot-outs with an infectious passion. Recalling his Terminator role of a man with a hazy past taking on present dangers, Biehn continues to stand out from the tough guys of the era, as Kay's battle to make sense of his fractured memories are used by Biehn to give Kay a shield of destructibility. Done when she was trying to break out of being a British Soap star,Patsy Kensit (who strips off for a sex scene) gives a good performance as the frightened sceptic to passionate lover of Kay,Anna Nolmar.

Beating Universal Soldier by a year, the screenplay by writer/director Avi Nesher matches the action thrills by injecting Sci-Fi weirdness of recollections coming to Kay in the middle of punch-ups (!),and kooky devices and holograms crystallizing Kay's lost past. Sending Kay and Nolmar off as lovers on the run, Nesher cranks the action up with slick (unintended?) funny snipes the couple share as they try beat the evil Black Ops. Losing some of the budget over sticking with Biehn, Nesher & Don't Look Now cinematographer Anthony B. Richmond cover the problems with a charming inventiveness, that brings in an exciting shoot-out in an "adult" cinema, (some keep watching despite the ongoing gun fight!) the hand to hand combat given a razors edge by knives getting tossed in the air, and a last minute save triggering a roof top fight with Billy Blanks, as the time bomb goes off.

I didn't watch the movie from the beginning, so after a few scenes I thought it was a parody of 80-ies stupid horrors and SFs! Unfortunately, it wasn't. The saddest thing is, there are some fine spots, psychology blurb is nice, even some nice action scenes (killing that bald guy with elbow in the face), when Anna tries to escape, Eddie grabs her, she falls slamming her head to the door so hard it was painful to watch :) but everything else is Unbelievably STUPID !!! The best scene is when Anna randomly pushes the buttons on that machine trying to do.... what exactly??? I laughed for 10 minutes straight! :) All in all it was fun watching it, if you like to sometimes watch a really STUPID movie and laugh at it don't miss this one! :)

All I can really say about this film is you must watch it for a complete goof when they shot this. at the end of the movie, there are 2 shots of people falling off the roof. in the 3/4 top down shot, watch the actors fall onto the blue stunt aig bag. You can't miss it, the actors even have time to get up off the matress.

I hope that "Estimated Budget" of 6,000.000 was a typo. If Biehn had to take a pay-cut to do the film, and it grossed only about 64,000 in the U.S. Then he was lucky to make enough gas-money to get home. He did do a good job like he usually does, but it was strange the way he played it: "Nice Guy" then over-the-top "Angry Guy" when he kidnaps the Doc. And then back to innocent "Nice Guy" again... Very strange direction. I know he was supposed to believe she was in on the conspiracy, but it was out of place : / And to call this movie "Sci Fi" is a huge stretch. More likely it was to avoid R.Ludlow's lawyers. It's has the EXACT template for the "Bourne" franchise! Unintentionally, it really has some great comedy though. Like top Gov. assassin "Mr. Blue" I think, Plugging old ladies, every time he takes a pot-shot at the hero. And the luscious Doctor, horsing around at the control panel of the futuristic (Sci Fi?) mind-screw machine, while he's in it, is a real side-splitter! Maybe it DOES deserve a five...

Director and writer Avi Nesher who also produced another classic flick Automatic 1995 has created a gem in Timebomb.

Starring Michael Biehn has also been in other classic flicks, Stiletto 2008, Planet Terror 2007, The Rock 1996, Tombstone 1993, American Dragons 1998, Aliens 1986, Chain of Command 2000 and The Terminator 1984.

I enjoyed the violence and dream sequences.

If you enjoyed this as much as I did then check out other classic dreams flicks, The Cell 2000, Jacob's Ladder 1990, New Nightmare 1994, Nightmare Concert (A Cat in the Brain) 1990, A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge 1985, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors 1987, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master 1988, Lost Highway 1997, Identity 2003, Reincarnation 2005, Manchurian Candidiate 1962, The Never Dead 1979, Phantasm II 1988, The City of Lost Children 1995, Brainstorm 2002, Deadly Dream 1971, Nightmare Detective 2006, Total Recall 2012 and They 2002.