Michael Anderson’s 1989 time travel thriller, Millennium, has enough going for it to outweigh its relative deficiencies. It features some unique plot elements that are only somewhat hampered by budget, and it also has compelling leads despite a miscast role. It’s good, not great, but that’s sometimes enough for a B film like this. It celebrates its 35th birthday on August 25th, so let’s take a look back!
Stoic and grizzled Kris Kristofferson plays Bill Smith, a diligent and professional airline disaster investigator. While attempting to ascertain the reasons behind a spectacular midair collision, he meets a mysterious and quirky woman named Louise Baltimore, played by a warm and resourceful Cheryl Ladd. Inexplicable elements of the crash are brought to Bill’s attention by a world-famous physicist played by a slightly arrogant Daniel Travanti. Soon, Louise’s futuristic nature is revealed with humanity’s extinction hanging in the balance.
Performances are mostly fine. Ladd really carries the film, providing some light humor and believable world-weariness. Though I generally like Kristofferson, he does fairly wooden work here. He’s fifteen years older than Ladd and he looks more like twenty-five years her senior. Their romance is pretty unconvincing in this regard, although John Varley’s script (based on his own short story “Air Raid”) doesn’t do them any favors either. Robert Joy does good work under a layer of cheesy makeup as Sherman, Louise’s robotic companion. The ever-reliable character actor Maury Chaykin also shows up for a few scenes as Bill’s colleague.
The effects are a mixed bag, though not for a lack of trying. The film starts with a pretty awesome explosion, hurtling the title at the screen. Makeup work is decently solid. Spencer doesn’t look bad, per se, but there’s a bit of unintentional camp at play whenever he’s onscreen. The weirdly disfigured folks that populate Louise’s world are nicely done, especially the stretchy-faced woman elder.
The futuristic headquarters of the time travelers is dark and eclectic, which is enough to hint at the misery endured by the denizens of that time. However, it feels like maybe the film wanted to go larger with that aspect but couldn’t. The shimmering time portals and blaster effects are cheesy, but certainly of their time. The 2001: A Space Odyssey homage that concludes the picture is well done but isn’t quite earned by the writing. It comes off as more of a rushed head-scratcher than anything profound. Overall, there are some big ideas at play here but it’s easy to see where the filmmakers bumped up against their budget. Still, DP Rene Ohashi ensures everything looks as good as it can.
My favorite part of the movie is how perspectives are switched. The first act focuses on Kristofferson and is seen from his perspective. The second act is then seen from Ladd’s perspective, including some scenes from the first act, which provide entertaining reevaluations of what we thought we knew about the story. This is done both through camerawork and editing, and thematically compliments the disorientation of time travel. The third act then combines the perspectives as we barrel toward the conclusion.
Director Michael Anderson’s Millennium has an interesting premise and some gumption, though John Varley’s scripting is uneven. I can’t find the film’s budget anywhere but I’m guessing most of the film’s drawbacks can be traced back to not having enough money to properly execute a grander vision. Cheryl Ladd is an engaging co-lead and helps make up for Kris Kristofferson’s somewhat awkward performance. This is the type of film I could see being remade successfully, as long as the budget’s there. I definitely recommend it, albeit with some caveats.
Michael Cavender