After reading several pages of reviews of this movie I'm having one of those "Did I watch the same film as everyone else?" moments.<br /><br />The story here is not at all complicated. Anyone with half a brain who has read any Science Fiction will be able follow it with ease. It's pretty standard cause, effect and unconsidered consequences stuff. What someone with half a brain who has read any SF will be asking themselves for most of the running time is, since these time travellers from the future have nifty stun guns able to gently render anyone unconscious at a touch of a button why, when presented with a situation where they have to prevent someone from being in a particular place at a particular time, don't they just stun the poor sod till it's safe for them for him to wake up?<br /><br />Because, to misquote Alfred Hitchcock, "We wouldn't have a f***ing movie if we did." That's why. <br /><br />The future scenes are hysterically bad. The robot (more Tin Man than C3PO) has to be one of the all time dreadful movie robots.<br /><br />Apart from the basic premise of why the time travellers were coming back in the first place - which is pretty good SF notion. The only thing that did work for me were the repeated scenes where we saw the developing affair from different viewpoints. Things which seemed odd the first time round becoming obvious the second. I could have done with more of that and less of the Omigod! Everything is exploding! Let's reverse the polarity on the time vortex thingie and send everyone off into the future. You go! We Stay! We belong dead! Oh I'm having your baby! Hang on... I'm coming after all... How do we end this sodding movie? I dunno... Wait! I think I've got it... It's an SF movie with an under-resolved ending leading to a possible new hope for mankind... Of course! The sunrise cliché shot! (Hereinafter known as the 'THX1138 Moneyshot'). And just to add cream to the syrupy concoction, a voice-over promising us "this was not the end, or the beginning of the end, or indeed the end of the beginning, but the end of the beginning of the middle of something - or other..." I was too busy laughing to catch it exactly.<br /><br />A pity. Buried under all the wrongness here is a pretty good movie screaming to get out. Why does Hollywood insist on buggering up well made classics like The Day The world Stood Still and Barberella? when there are dozens of films like this crying out to be remade - and, with just a bit of care, got right.