Clockstoppers (2002) Reviews

• Made for children, but still a fun movie.

  LebowskiT10002002-04-28

  I've always been fascinated with the idea of stopping time, so when I saw the trailer, I was really interested in seeing the movie. Anyhow, the movie was actually really cool and had some REALLY cool ideas. I really liked the idea that they weren't actually stopping time, they were just slowing it down REALLY slow. The main reason I wanted to see the movie was for the special effects and I wasn't let down, the special effects were spectacular and lots of fun. As far as acting goes, I thought all the actors did a find job. I liked Jesse Bradford, French Stewart, Michael Biehn and last but certainly not least, Paula Garces. I was really impressed with Paula's beauty, she is a quite a beautiful woman and predict a great future for her. I can't wait to see her next project. As far as story-line goes, I thought it was pretty darn good and rather smart. There were a few things that I could have done without, but I can deal. One part that really struck me as odd was when he (Jess Bradford) was in the bathroom at the hospital and he was trying to get the watch (time-stopper) to work. While he was in the bathroom the bad guys slow down time and come walking into the hospital and suddenly you see Jesse disguised as a cop and then as soon as the baddies walk by Jesse takes off running. I assume he got the watch to work momentarily, but that doesn't really make sense because later in the movie he gives it to French Stewart so he can repair it and get it working again. I just think that one scene could have been explained better and it would have been quite easy to do. One little movie trivia tid-bit that I noticed in the film was when Francesca and Zak are having fun with the watch and she says "Make it so Number One". That is a reference to Star Trek: The Next Generation. Captain Picard always said that to Commander Riker (aka Number One). This is interesting, because "Clockstoppers" is directed by Jonathan Frakes, who plays Commander Riker in Star Trek. I hope you enjoyed the movie as much as I did. It's not a superb sci-fi movie, but it's fun and it's got lots of cool things to look at and some fun ideas. Thanks for reading, -Chris

• Good fun, nice effects, decent plot

  void-72002-03-31

  This film is a very loose remake of the 1980 TV movie, "The Girl, The Gold Watch, and Everything". A young boy accidentally finds a watch built by his estranged father that accellerates whoever is wearing it, and whatever (or whoever) they're touching into "hypertime", which makes the rest of the world move at a snail's pace, comparitively. Michael Biehn plays a decent villian, although he is not allowed much developement, which is a bit sad, after his excellent work in Terminator, Navy Seals, Abyss, and The Rock. French Stewart (Harry from "3rd Rock from the Sun") provides the comic aspect, and was pretty much my favorite character. Jesse Bradford & Paula Garces do a good job, too. Remember, this is a kid's movie, done by Nickelodeon, so it's on a kid's level, which explains some plot holes.

• Although Being a Screenplay Full of Flaws, It Entertains

  claudio_carvalho2003-11-11

  Zak Gibbs (Jesse Bradford) is a teenager, son of Dr. Gibbs (Robin Thomas), a brilliant scientist. He wants to buy a car, but the attention of his father is to his own research work. Zak likes Francesca (Paula Graces), a new student from Venezuela. One day, Zak finds by accident a watch developed by Earl Dopler (French Stewart), a former student of Dr. Gibbs, with capability of accelerating time. Henry Gates (Michael Biehn), the villain of the story, stole this research and wants to make lots of money with this device. Zak and Francesca will face lots of adventures due to this finding. The screenplay of this film has lots of flaw, but anyway it entertains. There are lots of inconsistency in the story, but if the viewer do not pay attention to these details, may have some fun. The special effects are very reasonable. Teenagers are certainly the public-target of this movie. My vote is six.

• An awesome break from reality.

  chrisbrown64532002-06-24

  When the government secretly hires a firm to produce a time-slowing device that would speed up a person's molecules so that they could travel at several times normal speed, a high school student ends up with the device and becomes the target of a manhunt to get it back. Clockstoppers is the first feature film from director Jonathan Frakes outside the Star Trek universe. The story revolves around a mysterious watch with the power to speed the wearer's molecules and allow him to move faster than anything around him does. Scientist Earl Dopler sent a prototype of the device to friend and college professor George Gibbs to help him perfect the device. One afternoon, the watch accidentally falls into a broken toaster where George's son Zak picks up to take with him. Zak has been trying to get a new foreign exchange student to go out with him. She finally agrees after he goes out of his way to stop some bullies from harassing her and agrees to have him come over to her house to help rake the lawn. When he activates the watch, thinking it's a stopwatch, time slows suddenly and while taking the bag of leaves to the garbage can comes across a hissing possum. He pokes it and thinks it's dead and waltzes into Francesca's house to show her what he found that was invading the trash cans and his watch suddenly ends its time and everything goes back into standard motion. The possum isn't really dead and when he tries to explain, things get out of hand. After figuring out what the watch does, Zak and friends go on the lam trying to escape the organization that's trying to get it back. They use similar watches, preventing him from using the watch as an escape mechanism. Nickelodeon films, one of the production companies behind the film, have been known for good and bad movies throughout their feature film career and have managed to stumble across both an idea and a director that works. Frakes proved his capabilities with the feature film Star Trek: First Contact, a terrific film that shines among its fellow Star Trek films. Now, Frakes has branched further into the science fiction genre, stepping away from his small screen productions. He takes a potential childish and unemotional film, blends in the right amount of scientific explanation, avoids paradoxes adroitly and keeps the film excellently paced with plenty of room for enjoyment. The performances are probably the weakest part of the film. Each actor does his very best to portray the characters realistically and perhaps their relative inexperience is a factor. Bradford has numerous credits to his short career, including Hackers, but smiles far too often for his characters needs and even when he's upset or angry, the tell-tale smile is nearby. Garcés tries her best, but with the broken English, she feels more like a caricature than a character, but she is awfully beautiful! The same goes for the third friend, Meeker, who is around for comic relief more than for dramatic necessity. Television actors Stewart and Julia Sweeney, as Zak's mom, are capable actors in their own rights, but for Stewart, this was a step in the wrong direction as he bounces well over the top of good taste in his rather amorphous role. The true prize of the picture is its slow-down visual effects. Using technology first seen in commercials to stop the action and then using a composite image to allow actors to walk freely amongst stopped figures, was a bit troublesome at first, but as the film went on the effects were better. The most notable was the frozen water droplets hanging in air while the actors interacted with them. The effect was admirably done and important only to the magnificence of the experience. Clockstoppers is most certainly made for teens, but adults will be able to sit back and enjoy the film without feeling talked down to. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

• Excellent Family Movie

  LVWolfman2003-06-12

  Clockstoppers is everything I'd hoped for... Action, some comedic moments, good SciFi, great special effects and very decent acting. A lot of money was spent on this movie for the effects and crew and it shows. There's been a few negative comments from folks who seem to forget that it is a SciFi movie made for kids and families, intended to be a good story with good effects and offend no one. Looking at Clockstoppers in that light, it is a big success. Compare it to The Matrix or 2001, and it falls short. No surprise, they weren't meant to compete. All in all, a formularic "boy meets girl/father and son resolve differences" family movie, combined with state of the art special effects make for a great family movie night.