A Sound of Thunder (2005), directed by Peter Hyams, is a movie based on Ray Bradbury's short story "A sound of Thunder" where going back in Time and making changes in the past affects the future. Ray Bradbury's writings have depth and are meaningful with impactful themes. You could very easily tell that this movie was not done by Ray Bradbury. This movie was put together with cheezy effects and some poor dialogue choices. The movie was based more on the adventure than the themes of the short story. But I would be lying if I didn't say that there was a part of me that enjoyed this film. This film found ways to entertain the audience and keep you captivated enough to enjoy but was so obviously poorly put together you could enjoy the laughs brought from the scenes and script. This would very well be a movie I would watch at home for fun or even with friends but most likely not have paid to go see in theaters.
Apart from my own opinion and enjoyment of the cheezy features of this film, It was not well done. The film itself struggled with being complete whether it was recasting, rescripting, or taking years longer than expected to be produced. It felt as though this movie was finished just to have checked it off the list and get it complete. The special effects were overall bad whether it was a tacky green screen backdrop or the unrealisticness of both the design and animation of the creature. The writing in the movie was also strange and felt some lines were included specifically for the laughs or in an attempt to give some characters more depth without actually showing their backstories or development. The movie also took a risk being based on a short story that dealt with time. There were many loopholes throughout the movie and things that overall just didn't make sense. But some of these items were chosen so that the characters had time to fix the external conflicts in the first place to allow the movie to even have a storyline which can be understandable in a film such as this.
The plot of the story is much different from Ray Bradbury's short story for it focuses more on the main catastrophes of going back in time rather than the importance and significance of all the little things in the past. The story revolves around Travis Ryer, an intelligent scientist and Time safari hunt leader played by Edward Burns. Travis has to work for a company that allows the wealthy to go back in time and hunt Dinosaurs. The company is run by a rich businessman, played by Ben Kingsley, who cares more about money than the safety of his employers. On a Time jump, something is changed in the past and negatively affects the future. Travis with the help of Dr. Sonia Rand, played by Catherine McCormack, and other scientists of the Time Safari attempt to resolve the issue and save the future.
A key theme of the movie was showing how money and power can corrupt people and lead them to be selfish and do irresponsible things. I found this interesting cause I had felt from Ray Bradbury's story that it was more about the significance of everything in time and how equal people and other creatures are in the timeline. I thought that the short story showed the value of everything but also the demise the humans can cause. It had a very solemn theme. But with A Sound of Thunder(2005), I felt the movie was more positive in its attempt to resolve the issue and was more about how even if humans make mistakes they still do what they can to set them right. I enjoyed seeing how even after problems were caused and made by humans they still managed to work hard for the good of everyone and humanity to set the timeline right.
Overall the movie was poorly made and had many plot and writing issues along with bad effects. But even so, there was a part of me that enjoyed this movie and almost the effort put in to make it good and interesting. It is an acquired taste that you would have to see to believe. If you walk in with lower expectations for the film you may find it enjoyable, but if you watch the movie with regular expectations of the quality of movies it may not be your type. Even so, I wouldn't pay to see this in theaters but yet I didn't regret watching it.
