Movies - Time Chasers

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	Movies - Time Chasers

Time Chasers (Tangents) is a 1994 science fiction film produced by David Giancola and starring Matthew Bruch, George Woodard, and Bonnie Pritchard. The film follows the adventures of an amateur inventor who goes through time with his female accomplice to stop an evil megacorporation intent on changing history for profit. The film was later lampooned on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) in 1997.

Plot

Nick Miller (played by Matthew Bruch) is a geeky physics teacher, amateur inventor, and private airplane pilot, who wears glasses and for most of the film, a Castleton State College t-shirt. At the start of the movie, Miller has just completed his lifelong dream; inventing a way to travel through time, using software written for the Commodore 64 that is installed in his airplane. Later that night, he catches a commercial promoting GenCorp, a megacorporation with interests in, among other things, the aviation field, and is inspired. The next day, he calls the company's local branch and tells of a new intake he has just created for small-engine aircraft, promising 30% greater efficiency, and getting a representative to come out. He then calls the local newspaper, promising an interesting local story; for her 75th birthday, his grandmother wants to skydive out of an airplane. The next day, journalist Lisa Henson (Bonnie Pritchard) and GenCorp Aviation agent Matthew Paul (Peter Harrington) are sent to the field for the promised demonstrations (although Lisa, having known Nick previously, realizes that his grandmother is already dead). Hustling them into the plane, Nick takes off and reveals the true reason for calling them out; using his computer to act as a molucule accelerator, the surface of the plane is charged with particles enabling it to travel through time (Nick insists the device be called a "time transport", rather than the traditional time machine). Matthew and Lisa are naturally skeptical, though when asked to pick a year to travel to, Lisa chooses 50 years in the future. Programming the machine, he tells the two to hold on, as the plane moves through time--into the year 2041.

The future looks a lot like the present, except for everyone wearing fluorescent clothing, buildings being made of recycled materials, and hologram technology being common. Sitting in a food court, Lisa and Matthew praise Nick for his genius, and Matthew states that the machine could easily be used to change history. Nick disagrees with this, but confesses his lack of money for additional research and insists that the machine could instead be used to study long-term ecological effects on the environment, or even be used to bring about world peace. Considering the monumental occasion, Matthew decides to bypass the traditional chain of command and bring J. K. Robinson, the CEO of GenCorp, out to see the device. Nick promises to return with Lisa to the future, and they return to the present.

Soon afterwards, Robinson goes for a ride in the time transport; emerging from it, he announces the day to be an auspicious one in the history of the world, and attempts to hire Lisa as an official reporter and employee of GenCorp in order to prevent her leaking the story. When she refuses, he states that the time transport is now under GenCorp control; it would be illegal for her to reveal the inside information, anyway. Nick tries to convince her to accept the offer, but she berates him for his ignorance of Robinson's true intentions and leaves. Turning to Nick, Robinson moves to establish a Gencorp facility and guards for the transport, citing corporate spies and a need to preserve "national security", and warns Nick not to reveal the information to anyone else. Returning to his home, Nick notes that GenCorp has quickly established a copyright and placed copy protection on his software, preventing him from editing it.

Later that day, Nick, noting the sparse condition of his fridge, heads down to the local supermarket where he encounters Lisa; she is quick to apologize for her outburst earlier, though Nick brushes it off. Seizing the opportunity, he invites her to dinner with him, and the two return to the now-guarded airfield, and travel to the year 1951, where they eat at a diner and stroll through a quiet neighborhood. Their next stop is back to 2041, but when they arrive they find the once prosperous area in a state of heavy decay. Landing, the two set out to explore but are quickly accosted by an armed gang. As they are herded along, the group is suddenly fired upon by another gang; in the confusion, Nick and Lisa escape and come across an old couple taking refuge in an abandoned warehouse. After excusing themselves, they review what they've discovered; at some point after the transport's potential was revealed to Robertson, he used the machine as a weapon of some sort which altered the course of history to its present state. Nick decides the best option is to confront Robertson with the information and convince him to change his plans, or use his authority as inventor to stop the time transport project entirely.

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