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Action is never better than that

The one of the greatest flicks of the Belgian hero (Jean Claude Van Damme). He has proved every thing at his peak in this film . Its a shame he didn't got the Sequel of it. The film was great with special effects and action stunts ( when Max jumps out of the hospital ). Max Walker looks perfect as the (TEC) cop. Peter Hyams has proved to be a good action director.I will rate it as a A+ grade Movie Must watch it.

Thought provoking sci-fi.

More than just the chop-socky contemporary martial arts flick, although plenty of action for the fans of this genre.

The opening sequence is enough to make one hit the pause button, just to "contemplate the what-ifs". A troop of half a dozen Confederate soldiers transporting a cache of gold is defeated by one man wielding two laser sighted machine pistols. What if someone could take our current technology and use it to travel back through time to return to the past? What would be the result? Suppose one could return to the early days of the New York Stock Exchange; what stocks could be bought for a nickel, and what wealth could be "created"?

Van Damme portrays a 21st century police officer for the newest technology. He is one of the men who must make sure that the no-goodniks don't go back in time and armed with knowledge of the
future (actually the present), changing the past and the present. Ron Silver is well cast as the bad-guy, an overly ambitious Senator.

A fine way to pass a couple of hours.

Awful pan and scan version!

For a film that was shot in full anamorphic Panavision 2.35:1 by a very good director/cinematographer I find it very weird that Universal would only release this in cropped format. Many other people have expressed their disappointment in other reviews about this but I must let you know that the R2 version IS in widescreen. If you must by this film then get the UK Region 2 version. The Dolby 5.1 soundtrack remains the same but the movie is shown in it's correct OAR. And that is what matters most.

Van Damme as we want to see Him

This isn't at all a bad movie, though the plot has some minor faults.The acting is quite decent actually.This movie is about a cop travelling in time to wipe out the ever increasing problem of time crime. It's a very emotional movie where a lot of scenes moved me to tears.Go see this movie if you want sci-fi packed with drama and action. I highly recommend it to anyone. Don't rent it, buy it.

second chances at life . . .

Peter Hyams futuristic adventure Timecop (1994), is all about time travel and the bending reality. Based on a comic book, the film combines that interesting premise, with special effects, and decent action sequences, producing an entertaining storyline that holds together pretty well, if you are not overly critical.


In a career that has had its ups and downs, this is one of Jean-Claude Van Damme's highlights, starring as Max Walker an agent of the Time Enforcement Commission (TEC). Jean-Claude is in top form physically, and there's plenty of action, and in close fighting featuring his trademark fancy footwork. Ron Silver is Senator Aaron McComb, who is using time travel to raise funds for his presidential bid. While that premise is a bit lame, the time travel aspect allows for some interesting and unexpected twists, turns, and returns. Silver makes a pretty good villain, and Bruce McGill injects humor as Matuzak, the harried head of TEC.


Walker's life is destroyed, when his wife Melissa, played by Mia Sara, is killed in an explosion. Fortunately through the vehicle of time travel, Sara returns for more screen time, and some physically challenging action scenes. Gloria Ruben (ER) plays Walker's new partner, who makes a bad decision, but again because of time travel, also gets a second chance at life. The presence of both ladies, adds much to the enjoyment of the film.


Big things don't make sense, like travelling back to the past in a winged vehicle, arriving there without it, and then somehow returning in the same vehicle. The plot is cartoonish, but still fun. The special effects while somewhat dated, still hold up rather well, and with your brain in neutral, Timecop can be a cool fantasy adventure. Van Damme's acting is often maligned, but his performance here is quite good. What is disappointing is that this release is fullscreen, with no substantial extras besides a trailer. Hopefully a proper widescreen release will come soon.

Typical VanDamme movie w/ splits.

This is one of his better movies. Good action. Interesting Sci-Fi

Ok action film

A time cop races through time to right the meddlings of a corrupt politician in the past. Van Damme is a cop whose wife has died and becomes a time cop. A corrupt politician is messing with the past to get enough money for his political campaign. The movie has pretty good fight scenes which are basically showing off Van Damme and his body. It has an interesting premise for the time it was done (1994) although the special effects were not that good, even for the time. The acting is better than other Van Damme movies though.

good time travel yarn

A cop goes back and forth in time, working lots of overtime. Get it? Overtime? Anyway, a group of bad guys causes him and his family a lot of trouble. He uses the time machine to help solve his problems. I liked this one, but I am a sucker for time travel pictures. To keep from getting confused you must watch closely all the time. Time. Get it?

Goofy Fun

I love time travel movies. This one is great fun. With the exception of "Hard Target" this is Jean-Claude's only decent film. He is a better actor than Segal, which isn't saying much. But this is pure fun. Decent direction and cool effects. Besides, how can you not like a movie Produced by Raimi and Tapert!

Excellent piece of work

Timecop is definitely a must see for several reasons. It is one of Van Damne's best films. There is something about it that was lacking. Walker's part, Atwood, should have been shown in scenes when they were partners prior to him going back to alter the future after the stock market crash of 1929. The only problem with Timecop is that the length of this film is under 120 minutes. A movie such as this should have been produced to last more than that. The best thing about Timecop is that next year is 2004, so it will be scary to see how the upcoming year looks in the United States.

Buyers Beware! Not Widescreen!

Like "Tombstone" this film is not improved over the now-extinct laserdisc format, Laserdisc never got media attention like DVD has gotten, but why films like this are not improved on DVD is a mystery to me, to start with "Timecop" is not in widescreen on DVD as it was on Laserdisc (Go figure?)now on to the movie, This has got to be one of Van Damme's best movies, it has a very different & neat concept,time-travel is a reality that is discovered by government officials in the year 1994, to protect time, they create a time-enforcement commission to arrest & capture anyone tampering with time, like most time-travel movies you have to carefully follow what is going on, Van Damme is a potential recruitement member for this commission in 1994, but before he can begin his new job, he is attacked & his wife is viciously murdered, the film then takes the viewer to 2004 where he is now a time-cop carrying out missions to bring those tampering with time back for trial, he discoveres along the way that a presidential candidate(Senator McComb, played convincinly by Ron Silver)may be sending people back to extort money for his campaign, the more Van Damme digs the more he begins to realize that the Senator is also minipulating the government to close down the time-enforcement commission,Van Damme is soon sent on an assignment to the year 1994,the day before his wife's death, & discovers a younger McComb being munipulated by his 2004-self, he tells him that his computer-chip company will be worth millions in 10 years, somthing his younger self wants out of, all hell breaks loose as Van Damme messes up his plan, & then returns to 2004 to discover that the commission is being shut down, Van Damme luckily goes back to 1994 to make things right, this is where the emotion of the movie comes into play, he soon discovers that his wife was pregnant & never got a chance to tell him, he then begins to flirt with the idea of changing her fate, it is a moral question that ask the viewer, if you could change somthing, would you??, as he watches his 1994 self with his wife, we see the emotion in his eyes & automtically know he is going to change the events that took place,the ending is a bit out there,which is where this movie loses its appeal, although Van Damme sets things right(won't spoil it for those who have not seen it), everything he has done, he could not have done in all reality, but it is an entertaining concept, I guess the real disappointment is that we did not get to visit other time periods which would have been cool & probably costly.

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Timecop is incredible...

bad! I'm watching the movie for the second time right now, and I must say: I don't like it. One of Van Dammes first line, is to a bag-snatcher: "This bag doesn't look good one you". And the rest of the movie is just as bad as that line. I know that time-traveling is a hard subject to discuss, but the way the handle it in this movie, is some of the worst ever. Compared to Back to the Future and Terminator, Timecop's time-traveling aspect looks ridiculous. It can't be defended philosophical.To summon up: The acting is not that good, the plot is very bad, but their is some decent fighting scenes. I'll rate it 4 out of 10Skeloboy

Not quite as bad as I thought at first but still poor (possible spoilers)->

The story isn't as messy as it seemed to me at first but I still think Timecop is not very entertaining. One thing that bothered me at first and still bothers me is some ridiculous rule about time travel which hardly used except for the end (and to force the story into the right direction when necessary and probably as an attempt to create some excitement) where it is used as an easy way to get rid of the bad guy. Why I even let this bother me about the movie? Even though the movie tries to be fun it seems to take itself a little to seriously at times. 4/10 points.

The future of law enforcement is back in the past which is the alternative future of the past's future (or past)

I've only ever seen this film while drunk, so bear with me ...Awful Belgian 'actor' John Claude Van Damme grows an emergency mullet in order to go back in time and rescue Ferris Bueller's girlfriend. While in the past he runs into that chap out of the Kirstie Alley sitcom (the one about underwear where she's put on a lot of weight).Meanwhile, back in the future, the guy with the moustache who's been in loads of stuff gets killed by the future version of the guy from the Kirstie Alley sitcom. In retaliation, John Claude Van Damme kills the Kirstie Alley guy by throwing another version of the Kirstie Alley guy at him - the two sort of moulding together in a bubbling, bad special effects mess on the carpet. John Claude Van Damme then finds out he's had a kid in the future and that the guy with the moustache who was killed by the Kirstie Alley guy isn't dead after all. So that's alright then.

This movie should be remembered for some time to come...

'Timecop' probably represents Jean-Claude Van Damme at his very best - this movie demonstrates his ability...The movie itself is slick and some thought has obviously gone into it - some time-travel movies do fail on grounds concerning plausibility, though 'Timecop' is intelligent as it is enjoyable...The complexity of the film really finds the viewer respecting Van Damme a lot more, it simply isn't an action movie, though Van Damme shows that he still retains his amazing physical talents...I recently saw this movie on NBC, and though not seeing it from the start, it brought back memories of the entire film, and what a great film it is - I had originally thought about giving this a [6/10], then thought maybe [7 or 8/10]...I opted for [8/10]...(maybe leaning more towards nine)...:)

Brilliant start - a clever conceit and a lot of fun.Very good.

Somewhere,deep in the bowels of the Physics department at a world famous University,sits a Time Machine.It isn't called that,of course,it,s called a matter transporter and consists of two microwave oven - like contraptions at opposite ends of the lab.One contains a lump of pig iron. When this machine is switched on the pig iron is instantly transported from one "oven" to the other,i.e. it ceases to exist in one and materialises in the other at the same time.A few years ago the machine was "tweaked" to such an extent that the pig iron went from one machine to the other and then back instantaneously.The ultimate result of this experiment occurred when the piece of iron "returned" to the original "oven" before it had been sent across in the first place thus creating the sort of paradox featured in "Timecop"when the same person occupies two spaces in time at once.Impossible,they say,but it has happened.I understand that shortly after the decidedly odd result,funding was withdrawn,but I wouldn't bet against some shadowy Government Dept hiding the costs somewhere in its budget one day soon. And then where will Monsieur Van Damme be?In an old people's home? I certainly hope not because policing of the Time Barrier will be deadly serious stuff,not just some random guy trying to fast forward to Sunday to get the Lottery numbers. After a terrifically atmospheric start,"Timecop" keeps up the momentum in a wise attempt to hornswoggle the viewer by the sheer speed of action and complexity of plot.Never mind the quality - feel the manipulation. A bit like a supercharged "Quantum Leap" with Sam Beckett on steroids,the movie drives remorselessly and with a strange logic to its conclusion. Yes,it's silly,no,it doesn't make much sense,but by golly it's a lot of fun and Mr Van Damme is clearly the wrong man to upset. A word of warning - if you are at home trying to do the splits on the back of a couple of kitchen chairs make sure you keep your mobile within easy reach.

Excellent premise, OK realization

TIMECOP Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Anamorphic)Sound format: DTSOK, I'll admit it - I like Jean-Claude Van Damme!! He's sleek, he's sexy, and he isn't the least bit pretentious about his art or abilities. And, contrary to popular belief, he has made some good movies, of which TIMECOP is a prime example. Based on the comic series by Mark Verheiden (also the screenwriter) and Mike Richardson, and opening with a truly arresting sequence in which a group of Confederate soldiers are mown down by a *machine gun* during the American Civil War (!), the film's oh-so-clever premise casts Van Damme as a futuristic policeman assigned to pursue criminals who are exploiting mankind's newfound ability to travel through time. His major nemesis turns out to be a slimy presidential candidate (Ron Silver, enjoying himself immensely) who has already used the time portal to stage an attempt on Van Damme's life in 1994 - *before* he became a timecop - only to kill our hero's beloved wife (Mia Sara) by mistake. The stage is set, as they say, for fireworks.Verheiden's script plays fast and loose with its time travel premise, but director Peter Hyams - a dab hand at this sort of thing (cf. THE RELIC, SUDDEN DEATH, etc.) - keeps the pot boiling nicely throughout, and the bone-crunching action scenes are choreographed to perfection, including an extended climax in which Van Damme seizes an opportunity to go back and prevent his wife's death. Technical credits are ultra-professional. But the major questions one always asks of a J-CVD movie is: Does he get his shirt off? Yes, he does, twice (yay!). And does he flash his butt? Yes, briefly, and in close-up, too (yay, again!). After all, a Van Damme movie wouldn't be complete without a glimpse of those mighty, meaty, MAGNIFICENT globes, now would it? Great fun, highly recommended.NB. Though the film's anamorphic photography is often attributed to Panavision, the actual format isn't listed in the on-screen credits.

turn back the clock before van damme's career was history

kicks? check punches? check signature semi-nude van damme splits? checkvan damme playing multiple roles? check 'Pete' from MacGyver? checktime travel police going back in time wearing futuristic uniforms labeling themselves as Time Enforcement Commission officers indicating to those in the past that time travel will one day be possible even though TEC code 40.8 subsection 9 strictly forbids time travel with intent to alter the future as a crime punishable by death? checkVan Damme takes a break from his usual tournament-style fare to bring us a movie based around a story rather than a series of jump kicks. I won't repeat the synopsis you can read on IMDb. What I will say is that this is honestly the single best movie of Van Damme's career. It made a solid attempt at a story, it had decent special effects and sound effects, the acting was as good as van damme gets, and the action was good. Perhaps if he had made a few more of this caliber he might have become a more stable box office draw rather than the queen of straight to video punch-and-kick drivel.

Timecop (1994)

Let me preface this by saying that this is the only Van Damme movie I've seen that I've actually liked. Van Damme plays a .. surprise .. cop who can travel in time. It's actually a very entertaining action/sci-fi movie that always kept my attention. And of course, Mia Sara is such an understated actress. If you like action/sci-fi like me, you'll probably like this movie.