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A Sound of Thunder | 2005 | PG-13 | - 5.7.4
Sci-fi film set in the near future, with Edward Burns as a scientist who takes wealthy men on "time safaris" so that they can kill dinosaurs -- advance scouts identify dinosaurs that are about to die so that there are no changes in the course of time. However, on one trip a seemingly insignificant event compounded by 65 million years of evolution changes the present and humankind is threatened with extinction. Also with Catherine McCormack, Ben Kingsley, Jemima Rooper and David Oyelowo. Directed by Peter Hyams. [1:43]
SEX/NUDITY 5 - A nude woman (we see her bare leg and shoulder) sits in a chair while a man walks into his apartment; we see him later bare-chested and wearing boxer shorts, coming out of a bedroom -- the bed is rumpled and the woman is wrapped in a sheet (we see her bare shoulders) and it is implied that they have had sex.
► A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage. A man is bare-chested and in boxer shorts.
► A woman kisses a man on the cheek.
► A man makes a remark about betting that a man and a woman will have sex that night. A man makes comments about the size of a part of a man's anatomy.
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VIOLENCE/GORE 7 - We see two principal types of threatening creatures: One is a very large, baboon-looking creature, with large fangs and claws and reptilian skin and tail; the other is winged and looks like a large bat with heavy claws and pointed teeth.
► A man tries to climb a stone wall, he is wrapped in a vine and poked and slashed by large thorns, two other men cut him loose and pull out the thorns (we see bloody holes and slashes on his chest and face), and the man is affected by the toxins entering his blood stream (he can't move his legs and things begin to look blurry).
► A large baboon-looking creature jumps out of the woods, grabs a man, drags him away and we see it perched over the man prepared to eat him, but another man shoots the creature. Another man is attacked by another baboon-looking creature and another man shoots it.
► Many baboon-looking creatures approach several people who shoot at them and run; one man is unable to move and is left behind to scare the creatures off, but they approach him, surround him, jump on him and begin feeding (we do not see the man or any blood, just the creatures flailing and thrashing).
► A man in an hysterical state shoots at a man and a woman several times, fires the gun into the air, shoots a man twice in the chest (we see bloody bullet holes), and then shoots himself in the head.
► Large bat-like creatures swoop over a speeding car, fly into the car, cut the roof with their claws opening a hole, and pull a man out through it (we see him hanging from the creatures' claws and hear him screaming).
► People in protective suits walk through a thick jungle, they stop near a bubbling swamp, they feel large vibrations, a carnivorous dinosaur approaches them snarling and roaring, and the people appear frightened (one man is hyperventilating); they try to shoot it but their weapons do not work, so one man and a woman distract the dinosaur (it nearly eats the woman), while the weapons are repaired and the dinosaur is shot. In another instance, a dinosaur approaches people in protective suits snarling and roaring, they shoot it, it falls into the swamp and slips under the surface.
► A woman opens her apartment door she sees a woman covered with swarming beetles; the woman falls over onto the floor (presumably dead), the beetles swarm into the woman's apartment, she and a man struggle to keep them off each other, a spark ignites oxygen tanks, and the man and the woman are thrown off the balcony by the blast and land hard on tree limbs below.
► Three people walk through a flooded subway tunnel, they climb into a subway train car, the tunnel begins to collapse and more water floods in crushing the train car; a large eel-like creature breaks a window and pulls a woman out, another eel-like creature coils around a man, he stabs it, and the eel prepares to bite him when a large rock decapitates it (we see the eel's head pop up on the surface of the water later, while the man is unconscious until he is pulled out of the water by another person and is revived).
► We see two dead bodies with bloody wounds presumably inflicted by thorns lying in a hallway, and a man lunges out of a dark corner, points a gun at a man and a woman, and pulls the trigger but the gun does not discharge.
► We see a dead man submerged in blood-tinged water and we see another dead body floating in the distance. People walk through a darkened building and see a smear of blood on the floor.
► Several baboon-looking creatures surround a man, and presumably attack him (we hear the man scream). A man hides in a locker and is terrified; we look up at the ceiling of the room and see many, many sleeping baboon-looking creatures. A man and a woman run into a building, they are followed by many baboon-looking creatures that scale the walls and pound on locked doors trying to get at them. Two men receive injections in their arms and they wince and moan.
► Several "time waves" wash over a city and we see people being thrown around as they are hit and changes take place with each occurrence. A time wave washes over a car with several people inside knocking it through the air and it crashes on its side (the people appear uninjured). A man and a woman are knocked off a balcony during a time wave and they land hard on the floor below.
► People arrive at their destination just as a volcano is erupting, and some people are nearly caught in the flowing lava. A man comes through a portal and is nearly run down by Native Americans charging on horseback. People are startled by something flying over them as they drive along a road. People walk along a road, they see a small reptilian creature scamper by, they hear loud screeching in the distance and they are frightened.
► Several people in protective suits are strapped into an apparatus that will take them back in time (it looks like padded roller coaster brackets), light begins to spin and whirl around them, everything vibrates and they are flung through a vortex and we see them walking along a shimmering path.
► Plants and trees grow larger and stronger, bursting through streets and buildings. We see many beached fish and hear a news report about unusual weather conditions. A street begins to break apart, a car drives into the opening that is caused, and another car swerves to avoid falling into it.
► People knock on a woman's door, and she puts a gun through the peephole and threatens them.
► A man talks about a virus that attacked and destroyed all wildlife. A woman sprays a bottle of red liquid on a party of people and yells at them. A man yells at a man and threatens to sue him.
LANGUAGE 4 - 1 sexual reference, 5 scatological terms, 10 anatomical terms, 14 mild obscenities, name-calling (moron), 1 religious profanity, 13 religious exclamations.
SUBSTANCE USE - People drink champagne in several celebratory scenes, and a woman drinks wine.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Time travel, causality, technology, progress, greed, evolution, DNA, the extinction of wildlife, courage, facing death, viruses, male instincts.
MESSAGE - A seemingly insignificant event may have catastrophic repercussions.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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Become a member of our premium site for just $2/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. And you will be helping support our website & our efforts.
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We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we will accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we do not always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.