Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		2.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Timebomb Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson October 16, 2017

The sci-fi action thriller Timebomb was likely meant to capitalize on the fledgling career of Michael Biehn as an action star after the Alabama native co-starred in big hits like The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), and Navy Seals (1990). However, Biehn originally wasn't considered for the lead. According to Giuseppe Rijitano of 10kbullets, MGM/UA wanted either Chuck Norris or Jean-Claude Van Damme but director Avi Nesher lobbied the studio to choose Biehn, who took a pay cut for a film that was produced on a shoestring budget. Biehn plays Eddy Kay, a watchmaker who lives a quiet and seemingly ordinary life. But when a city gas leak causes a large building to burn, Eddy becomes a hero when he rescues a mother and her child from the blaze.

An overnight sensation, Eddy's heroics are featured on the late local news, which catch the eye of secret government agent Colonel Taylor (Richard Jordan). Taylor recognizes Eddy as the one CIA-sponsored experimental subject who didn't pan out and later escaped from the agency's clandestine laboratory. Taylor was not only Eddy's boss but also one of the masterminds behind a pre-planned assassination attempt on an aspiring politician who vows to dismantle the CIA's covert programs. Taylor realizes that Eddy must be eliminated so he orders big bad Mr. Brown (martial artist Billy Blanks) over to Eddy's apartment to eliminate him. Mr. Brown draws a hunting knife on his sleeping prey but Eddy awakens in the nick of time. A big scrum ensues and Eddy somehow defends himself well enough to stave off Taylor's brainwashed assassin. Detective Sanchez (the late Raymond St. Jacques) and the police believe the intrusion is only a burglary but Eddy thinks he was a deliberate kill target. Yet Eddy can't reckon why this brawny man is after him and begins experiencing fragmentary memories and nightmares of himself in another world suspended from reality. The pretty blonde Dr. Anna Nolmar (Patsy Kensit) visits Eddy's shop one day and when he learns that she's a psychoanalyst, he goes to her place for a session. Eddy reasons that his supposed hallucinations stem from his drinking but Anna has her own theories. The two of them haven't a clue what they're in for...

Dr. Anna Nolmar and Eddy Kay are on the run.

Timebomb was released in US theaters in autumn 1991 but flew completely under the radar due to an advertising campaign from MGM/UA that was practically nonexistent, resulting in scant press attention. Nesher's movie received some treatment in the trades after MGM released it on videocassette. One syndicated review called it "an obscure delight that warrants more attention than its brief theatrical review allowed." Writing on Timebomb in Variety, Lawrence Cohn gave it a mixed review: "a breathless sci-fi thriller that isn't original or large scale enough to compete with the big pictures, but good action scenes and above-average cast should generate a favorable homevideo response." In general, critics accurately described Timebomb as a blend of The Manchurian Candidate (1962), A Clockwork Orange (1971), and Jacob's Ladder (1990), although its artistic and technical merits are definitely not in the same league as those three classics.

Timebomb deserves some credit, though, for having some ambitious ideas and aiming high. Unfortunately, Nasher's script contains a convoluted plot that tries to cram in too much material. Patsy Kensit's Dr. Nolmar is written in as a classic femme fatale but her character is vanilla and placid. Nasher wants sparks to fly between Biehn and Kensit but the pair don't establish much chemistry. Additionally, there's some typecasting and sexism. Kensit isn't given anything to do aside from taking Biehn to her uncle's lab for brain scans. Tracy Scoggins is ravishing as Ms. Blue but she's also portrayed as a mean bitch. For all its faults, Timebomb is an entertaining ride with plenty of eighties-derived action scenes to satisfy the most hard-core genre devotees.

Timebomb Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Timebomb makes its global debut on Blu-ray with a budget release courtesy of Shout! Factory. The label has given the main feature an MPEG-4 AVC encode and an average video bitrate of 26997 kbps. (The whole disc sports a total bitrate of 30.18 Mbps.) MGM/Fox previously released the 1991 film on the studio's Limited Edition Collection burn-on-demand service. The DVD-r was purported to have a 1.85:1 presentation (replicating its theatrical exhibition) but disc owners measured it at 1.78:1. The movie's PAL DVD was also shown in that aspect ratio in Germany but framed in the native 1.85:1 on DVDs released in Australia, Holland, Italy, Spain, and the UK. Thankfully, Shout! frames it in the proper ratio here. The print is struck from a dated master. The first two-thirds of the picture is littered with dirt, debris, and flecks. See Screenshot #s 4, 10, and 11. In addition, there's a faintly visible tramline that sticks for at least the first half (see #16 of the cityscape). Contrast is average at best with a lack of shadow and background detail. The image improves when Eddy and Anna travel to the fictional desert town of Oracle, Arizona. The picture is much cleaner with warm and bright tones: e.g., capture #s 17 and 18.

Twelve chapter breaks are available and can be accessed through the menu or via remote.

Timebomb Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Timebomb was recorded and mixed in Ultra Stereo. As the audio knowledge base Trigger Tone documents, Ultra Stereo was introduced in 1984 "as a competitor to the Dolby Stereo process of encoding surround sound for theatrical presentation. Like Dolby Stereo, the Ultra Stereo process took four channels of LCRS audio (Left, Center, Right and Surround) and matrix-encoded them to fit onto the two channels of 35mm optical theatrical release prints. These two channels can then be decoded by the cinema processor in the theater and played back again in their original LCRS configuration." Shout! renders the film's original sound track as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix (1575 kbps, 24-bit). Dialogue is stable and clear enough but still sounds pretty flat. Some of the f/x during action sequences make use of the fronts but it's predominantly center-oriented. Patrick Leonard's electronic score does the job for the film but isn't particularly memorable. Shout! has selected the best thematic material from his score and used it to accompany the main menu.

Dialogue is mostly in English but there are some scenes with spoken words in Hungarian. For such instances, Shout! has imposed white subtitles (see capture #s 19 and 20). Shout! has also made optional English SDH available for the entire feature.

Timebomb Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (1:49, 1080p) - MGM's original theatrical trailer for Timebomb displayed in anamorphic widescreen with DTS-HD MA 2.0 sound. It's framed in about 1.85:1 and appears in pretty good shape. None of the DVDs included the trailer or any other extras.

Timebomb Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While Timebomb is a lean, mean action thriller with "B" roots, it's best appreciated as a character mystery. While his screenplay is flawed, Avi Nesher keeps the pace fairly rapid. I think you will feel involved in the story as I did. Shout! Factory struck an older print from MGM/UA and the unrestored transfer is unsurprisingly mediocre. For fans of Biehn, Timebomb earns a RECOMMENDATION but don't spend more than $18 for this very average BD.