'80s Class?: Millennium (1989)

 A longtime Genre Director brings a glimpse of the distant future...and the recent past.  This is Millennium, the 1989 Film by Michael Anderson.  His Credits are pretty lengthy and it's kind of a shame that he never became a household name in the U.S.

Around the World in 80 Days.  1984.  The Dam Busters.  Logan's Run.  The Martian Chronicles.

About 10 years before he retired (with, of all things, a Sequel to a Live-Action Pinnochio), he made this Film about Time Travel, a Government Agent, Robots and Love.  It's pretty weird.

With Cheryl Ladd and Kris Kristofferson to ground things, will this make sense?  Is this a good reminder of what the late Mr. Anderson (who died in 2018) could do?  Let's find out...

The Film begins with a plane crash, but right before that the Co-Pilot says something strange...

'Everyone is dead and the bodies are burned.'

If they hadn't crashed yet, how did that happen?!?

A man- Kristofferson- is called in to investigate the crash.  Allegedly they did such a good job making the crash site look real that someone reported it!

He doesn't find anything major, save for the recording and a bunch of digital watches that are now running backwards.

While there, he meets and falls for a strange woman- Ladd- who hooks up with him.  She tries to get him not to go back to the site, which he ignores.

When he returns a moment later to apologize, she's vanished.

That night, he finds a strange device and it zaps him!

While he's barely awake, he sees some strange people and one of them...is Ladd (but with A Flock of Seagulls hair).  They disappear into a portal as he calls out her name.

We learn that she's from the year 2989 (hence the Title) and her people are dying from, well, everything.  This is the kind of Film that writes in a reason for people to smoke via sci-fi silliness.

Her people take people from the past about to die in plane crashes/explosions to repopulate the future.

In 1963, one of them is killed and a device is left in the wreckage.

Ladd realizes eventually that the reason Kristofferson knows her name is because she later goes back to try and stop him from investigating the site.

The version we saw with the portal- that one is from earlier in HER timeline.

Now we see their courtship (which they thankfully glossed over earlier) and her attempts to stop him.

Things don't work out, as we know, and he pushes himself past the brink of logic (to those around him) to solve the mystery.

If that happens, he's fired and the Timeline is changed.

She reveals herself to him and a Scientist we've seen throughout the Film.  

You see, HE had the 1963 piece (basically a Phaser).
Bonus coincidence points- Kristofferson was the lone survivor of the same incident (left behind to sell the story).

The Scientist assembles the device and accidentally (I think) kills himself, really messing up the timeline (since he was key to inventing Time Travel).

Kris and Cheryll go back to her future as things are collapsing.  Does it take time for, well, time to unravel?

They send everyone who's still living into the far future, since that's alright...I guess.  Don't ask me.

The duo are last seen in the glowing future and Ladd is with child, so...happy ending?

A weird, but good Film.  It's certainly an odd Plot, no?  People from the future kidnapping people who are about to die to repopulate the World...and they are the good guys?

It sounds like some strange Plot for a Hero to uncover and stop, but...nope.  It's a good thing.  Sure.

As strange as it might sound, the Film works because it feels real.  Yes, it does lose you a bit when you get to robots and people with their skin stretched out like a tarp.  I'll grant you that.  They just happen to commit so much to the concept that you just kind of accept.

While not a novel concept, the whole 'Plot is in the wrong order for the Time Traveler' idea is well-handled here.  It's a good enough twist to accept.  The fact that so many things have to align for Kristofferson to be so important (but also not really) is pretty silly.  Him and Ladd just feel real enough for you to accept the insanity.

Millennium is a bit of a forgotten gem, even if it is, as I've said, a bit silly.  No sillier than, for instance, Kids in the Hall though.

Next up, a forgotten Film from a very successful Author.  Everyone knows that he wrote about Dinosaurs and Robots, but what about something different?  Stay tuned..