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Somewhere in Time - 20th Anniversary Edition Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 71 Reviews)

Review of Moment in Time
DVD arrived shortly after ordering - no problem - good service would use them again.

Lovely film - just as I remember it and the additional material about the film was most enjoyable and welcome.

Much regrets felt about what happened to Chris Reeve (and his wife) very tragic. he is superb in this film.. Very ... charming

A beautiful film
Somewhere in Time tells the story of Richard Collier, a successful playwright who shortly after the start of the movie, is suffering from writer's block. On a whim, he goes to a nearby ritzy hotel to clear his mind. While there, he sees an old photo of Elise McKenna, a famous actress for her time, who was once a guest at the hotel in 1912. He is entranced by the beautiful woman, and researches as much about her as he can. On the way, he realizes she was the woman who gave him a gold pocket watch when he just graduated from college eight years before. Now so in love with the woman he never really knew, he decides to hypnotize himself into believing he is in 1912 so that he can meet the woman he loves. The only catch-any reminder of his present time in any way, shape or form will end the hypnosis and take him back.

This film is incredibly romantic, and the sweet chemistry between Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve only heightens it. Jane Seymour, as Elise, gives the best performance in the film, showing great strength and weakness as her part requires. The musical score, arguably the best part, is mostly the lovely sounds of piano and orchestra which complement everything wonderfully. Unfortunately, the film is not perfect.

For one thing, some of the acting is a bit wooden and poor. Reeve may have been a great humanitarian and the definitive Superman, but let's be honest, he was never much of an actor. The script is not the best written, and the lines being recited just don't sound very natural to real life (such as when Arthur, a supporting character, can somehow name dates on a whim anytime Richard asks. Finally, there are quite a few plot holes that are hard to ignore (i.e. if any reminder of present time can end the hypnosis, how come Richard's constantly reminding himself he's time traveled doesn't end it?).

The flaws are pretty easy to overlook as you get entranced by the film, though. It is a great love story for the most hopeless romantic to enjoy.

Beautiful Story, Worth Waiting 26 Years To See
Like most of y'all, I never knew about this film 1980. I only knew of Christopher Reeve for Superman, and then as I got older, Deathtrap (movie and play), Fifth of July (play), Monsignor (movie), etc. But the comments are right, this IS his best role. He plays Richard Collier, a reasonablly successful playright in the 1970s. One day in 1972 after a successful show, an old woman walks up to him, hands him a gold watch and says "Come Back To Me". Soon after she returns home and dies. 8 years later, it's 1980 and he's still thinking about her trying to get inspiration for his next play. After checking into the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island in Michigan, he starts having feelings of Deja Vu (even the old groundskeeper, bell captain seems to recognize him). While going through the halls of history and some news clippings, he discovers pictures of beautiful actress Elise Mckenna (played in a bravura perfomance by Jane Seymour) who visited the island with her theater troupe in 1912. He does some research on her and after finding a newspaper clipping from 1972 around he learns that the old woman was her. Desperate to find out more, he finds a book in her last home called "Travels in Time". He seeks out the author, who was an old professor of his, and learns his old professor's theories on time travel. After returning to the hotel, he finds other artifacts of 1912 in the attic including the hotel registration, and discovers he was at the hotel back then. He returns to his room, self hypnotizes himself and finds himself in 1912. He then goes out of his way to find Elise, and become her friend without hinting anything about his trip from 68 years in the future. He does, at they hit it off well, much to the dismay of the playright/leader of her troupe played by Christopher Plummer. In the end love conquers all (or so you think), and Elise stays with Richard after her troupe leaves the island with plans for the future. Until, that is Richard pulls a 1979 vintage penny out of his pocket, which causes him to return to the present. He tries to rehypnotize himself to return to 1912, but nothing seems to work. The ending is right out of Wuthering Heights (the 1939 version), so I won't spoil it for you. But suffice it to say, it is one of the most romantic stories I have ever seen and well worth the purchase. I'm going to get off here now and see if the book it was based on; Richard Matheson's Bid Time Remember is still available before I find myself in 1912 "desperately seeking Elise" as it were.:-).

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