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A Sound of Thunder

Play trailer Poster for A Sound of Thunder PG-13 2005 1h 41m Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
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6% Tomatometer 98 Reviews 18% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
In the year 2055, greedy entrepreneur Charles Hatton (Ben Kingsley) makes a fortune with his company, Time Safari Inc., which allows millionaires to travel back to the prehistoric era to hunt dinosaurs. Strict regulations are in place so that the present is not altered. But, during one time-travel safari, a hunter steps on a butterfly and unleashes a drastic ripple effect through time. Now researcher Dr. Travis Ryer (Edward Burns) must travel back to prevent the source of the disruption.
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A Sound of Thunder

A Sound of Thunder

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Critics Consensus

Choppy logic and uneven performances are overshadowed by not-so-special effects that makes the suspension of disbelief a nearly impossible task.

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Critics Reviews

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Helen O'Hara Empire Magazine 09/02/2006
2/5
Good idea unsuccessfully realised with Ed Burns doing his best. Go to Full Review
Tasha Robinson AV Club 09/26/2005
At the risk of making an overly broad and limiting generalization, it's generally wise to make sure an action movie's plot has actually kicked into gear by the time the first hour has elapsed. Go to Full Review
Marc Savlov Austin Chronicle 09/24/2005
0/5
It's somehow refreshing to know that the spirit, if not the flesh, of Edward D. Wood Jr. lives on. Go to Full Review
Dorothy Woodend The Tyee (British Columbia) 08/24/2017
This film deserves a gold plaque in the plague of summer stink bombs. . . Go to Full Review
Steve Biodrowski Cinefantastique 05/12/2009
Based on the Ray Bradbury short story of the same name, this is a colassal disapopintment - unworthy of the memorable source material. Go to Full Review
Felix Vasquez Jr. Cinema Crazed 04/29/2009
The special effects are on par with a basic film you'd see about a giant squid on the Sci-Fi Channel, and the story is just as boring. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Author W.A. S Sep 14 This is supposed to be based on the Ray Bradbury story of the same name. Bradbury is one of my all-time favorite writers and the reason I started writing speculative fiction, so I am truly upset. Like the movie The Box, there are lots of extraneous scenes and characters. Just added so they could get their one hour and forty-five minutes in. Read the short story, or go to Amazon and look up the Ray Bradbury Theater series and see it there. And the poor special effects. You can tell the characters are in a studio with a green screen. It seems that they are moving in place to look like they're walking down the streets of Chicago (I think that's where it takes place). The only reason why I found this was because I was looking to see where I could read the short story and this came up. Some of the twists were OK but the rest of it just goes into cliche' end of the world science-fiction. See more Andri Y Sep 3 Bradbury's short story is butchered. A pretty handy cast led by Ed Burns, Ben Kingsley and David Oyelowo is woefully directed by the usually dependable Hyams in this terribly paced, nonsensically written sci-fi schlock fest. The CGI is so bad it's astounding. A full 12 years after Jurassic Park, and this feels like a 1995 PC game cutscene. Shot on a budget by an indie developer. A student indie developer who hired his mates. It's not just the general appalling quality but physics also goes out the window. Watch the Allosaurus rampage and you'll get what I mean. This is exactly why I tell people who dare say Primitive War (2025; budget AUS $8M) has janky dinosaur effects to go do one. Storyline had potential, though. See more Sep 1 Long time science fiction director Peter Hyams brings Ray Bradbury’s famous short story “A Sound of Thunder” to life, and boy did he not do it any justice. This film is like a felony, lock it up and throw away the key. Not only does it VERY LOOSELY follow the source material, the outdated CGI and poor acting just kill any chance of this film being good. If I had seen this film on its own rather than having read the short story, I believe I actually would have enjoyed it. To be honest, I loved the sets built for this movie. I don’t know who was in charge of that but they stand out as a diamond in the rough. I just really wanted to like this movie but unfortunately I couldn’t. .5/5 stars. See more roger s Jun 2 Despite its abysmal Rotten Tomatoes scores – both critical and audience – this is a fantastic, old-school sci-fi movie that's definitely worth a watch. See more Jim P Jan 2 The spirit of Bert I. Gordon lives on. I expected to giant grasshoppers climbing the bad CGI of the Wrigley building. If Ray Bradbury had seen this he would have burned the book in Fahrenheit 451. Patrick Stewart, Buckingham palace called, they want their Sir back. See more Mark B Dec 31 The story has promise the acing is ok but cannot get over the script. The low budget special effects are on par with a 1960’s low budget sci-fi movie. See more Read all reviews
A Sound of Thunder

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Movie Info

Synopsis In the year 2055, greedy entrepreneur Charles Hatton (Ben Kingsley) makes a fortune with his company, Time Safari Inc., which allows millionaires to travel back to the prehistoric era to hunt dinosaurs. Strict regulations are in place so that the present is not altered. But, during one time-travel safari, a hunter steps on a butterfly and unleashes a drastic ripple effect through time. Now researcher Dr. Travis Ryer (Edward Burns) must travel back to prevent the source of the disruption.
Director
Peter Hyams
Producer
Howard Baldwin, Moshe Diamant, Elie Samaha, Phil Anchutz
Screenwriter
Thomas Dean Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, Gregory Poirier, Clement Enlatarne
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Dante Entertainment, Forge, Franchise Pictures, Warner Brothers, Crusader Entertainment LLC
Rating
PG-13 (Partial Nudity|Language|Sci-Fi Violence)
Genre
Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 2, 2005, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 24, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.9M
Runtime
1h 41m
Sound Mix
Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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