"Retrograde" aka "Time Travelers" is a typical B movie, I had low expectations, but in the end it wasn't too bad. Dolph Lundgren plays a guy from the year 2200 who travels back to our time to avoid the discovery of an alien virus who killed most of mankind till 2200. The meteor which brought the virus to Earth was discovered by the crew of a ship near Antarctica. Now there's no denying we have loads of rubbish in this movie: they are searching for microorganisms in a lab that isn't sterile at all, the spaceship can also travel through time just like that, day and night near the South Pole last 12 hours each, and the hero's enemies don't really make sense when they try and stop him on his mission. However, he is in an interesting situation as he tries to protect the ship's crew, but on the other hand can't tell them he's from the future, so they only know he must be hiding something from them. Lots of fighting going on which one expects in a Dolph movie, and then there's the hostile environment and the nasty virus - a scratch could kill you. So... it isn't "The Thing", but I've seen worse.
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unbrokenmetal16 March 2009
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Yesterday I bought this DVD on sale in Blockbuster (Rio de Janeiro). The price was less than US$ 4,00 for an used DVD (called "previously seen"), which is very cheap for Brazilian usual prices. Unfortunately, I have just watched 10 minutes of the awfullest movie I have ever tried to see. Simply unbelievable how a producer can put his or her money in such a flick. Further, why the Brazilian distributor Europa bought such a garbage to distribute in Brazil? Meanwhile, in Brazil we have many important movies that have not been released on video or DVD, such as the work of Yasujito Ozu or "Fahrenheit 451" of Truffault. I saw another brave IMDb user that was capable of watching 30 minutes of this trash, and I would like to congratulate him for his courage. I would like to indicate this flick to "The Jerk of the Daily Votes". My vote is one.
Title (Brazil): "Retrograde" -
udar559 October 2009Dolph Lundgren vehicles have hit DVD every spring for the last few years. Apparently they have done well enough that some studio finally snagged this sci-fi time travel flick that has been sitting on the shelf since completion in 2003. John Foster (Lundgren) pilots a space craft from 2204 back to the 21rst century with the crew's mission to stop scientists from discovering plague carrying meteorites in Antarctica. Naturally, there are traitors on board who want to alter the future for their own personal gains and it is up to Dolph to stop them. This is pretty bad, thanks mostly to the flat direction by Christopher Kulikowski. The guy has no concept on how to stage or film a fight scene. And who casts martial artist Gary Daniels and doesn't give him a big fight scene? Even more disappointing when you see former PM Entertainment exec Joseph Merhi is a producer on this. The acting is uniformly bad with Joe Sagal (as a rich dude funding the scientific expedition) and Ken Samuels (as the boat captain) being the stand outs. Seriously, how do guys this bad get cast and maintain some semblance of a career? One has to wonder if working with such a poor director is what finally made Dolph decide to step behind the camera (his directorial debut was the film made right after this). He has directed 4 films since RETROGRADE and the three I've seen have been infinitely more entertaining than this.
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zardoz-133 November 2010Combine "The Terminator" with its travel back in time premise to save the future and "Die Hard" about one many against many gunmen, and you have the basics for Christopher Kulikowski's unconvincing but entertaining sci-fi saga "Retrograde" with Dolph Lundgren battling to save Earth from a global biological disaster with some maniac zombies thrown into the mix. There is nothing wrong with the plot, but Kulikowski has to work on such a threadbare budget that the film fails to grab you where it counts. John Foster (Dolph Lundgren) and a space ship full of heavily armed soldiers, including Dalton (Joe Montana) are dispatched from 200 years into the future to Antarctic where a ship is trapped in the ice. They see a meteor land in the frozen wastelands and tromp out to collect samples, little realizing the tragic mistake that they are making. Talking about tragic mistakes, Renee (Silvia De Santis of "Artemisia") leaves her toddler to take off on this historic voyage. Later, as she lies dying in the snow, with their ship sinking, she knows that she made a mistake. Of course, heroic Dolph saves the day, not once but twice! Gary Daniels co-stars but is wasted. The close-quarters combat fights register as lackluster. Presumably, they didn't have a stunt coordinator or they wanted to make double sure than nobody got hurt. Nevertheless, the thesping is quite good and the crew of the ship look like they actually know each other. Overall, "Retrograde" is an imaginative but shoddy movie because the budget doesn't make its science fiction believable. The settings are okay, but the special effects are less than special.
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RETROGRADE is a cheesy, choppy science fiction thriller with feels like a mishmash of previous movies such as TIMECOP and THE THING. Dolph Lundgren plays a fugitive time traveller, pursued by villains, who arrives on a research ship in the Antarctic just as a deadly virus breaks out. There's a lot of melodrama here and a little action, but the latter isn't very interesting and it's a crying shame that Brit kicker Gary Daniels has his undeniable talents almost entirely wasted. There are flashes of potential and some not-bad performances, but overall it's the cheapness that lets this down.
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tarbosh2200012 May 2010Dolph In Space!....Now calm down.
So far unreleased in the U.S., (almost with good reason). It's for die-hard Dolph fans (like myself) only.
"Retrograde" is about John Foster (Lundgren) who has to stop a bunch of bad guys who are trying to take over a boat in the future. Yes, that sounds like a poor plot and it is, but deep down it looks like they were trying. The budget is low and the special effects are cheap, but Dolph and Gary put in decent performances.
The movie's worst sin was to not pit Dolph and Gary Daniels' characters to a fight to the death. That would've been awesome.
To tell you the truth, if you liked "Direct Action" you won't like "Retrograde", unless you are a Dolph completist.
For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com -
Wizard-821 March 2013I thought that this movie had something going for it, because not only did it have Dolph Lundgren (one of my favorite B movie actors) in it, but that one of the producers was Joseph Merhi, who made some great B action movies in the 1990s. Unfortunately, I thought the end results were a big let down. Partly because of an inadequate budget, most of the movie looks really cheap, with interiors that were obviously not shot on a real ship, and exteriors that look nothing like the real Antarctic. An additional problem is that director Christopher Kulikowski directs the various going ons with a lack of conviction. The action scenes are sluggish and badly choreographed, and there is a curious matter-of-fact feeling to many scenes despite the plot of the movie centering around the fate of the human race! Even if you are desperate and it's a slow night does not make this movie worth watching.
A note to Joseph Merhi: Reunite with your old producer partner Richard Pepin and get back to making those great action movies you guys once made! -
rapper-48 February 2006I watched movie this morning and it is not as bad as most people say. Actually it is good for what it is - a sci-fi flick. So don't be confused when you see the box cover and read the names of Dolph Lundgren and Gary Daniels expecting an action movie with a lot of fights.
The movie is about a time traveller (Lundgren) who gets back in time to destroy a virus brought by a meteorite and this way he saves the future from it. There are some bad guys who want to trammel him.
So I suggest that this is a low budget movie and if you have this in mind you'll say that it is a very decent movie. It might have been better, of course.
I give it 6 out of 10 and suggest that all sci-fi and Lundgren fans should watch it. -
StargazerAntares2 December 2004Although "Retrograde" may be a tough find and I'm not sure of its shelf life, the film, on the whole, was not a bad piece of sci-fi entertainment for avid Dolph Lundgren and Gary Daniels fans. First and this is unfortunate, the film clearly didn't have the budget to really make it sparkle. However, for a Dolph movie, it's ambitious and different from the usual cop / secret service characters he's
played in the past. Also, Dolph looks pretty damn good for a guy in his mid- forties! The same holds true for Gary Daniels, who shines nicely in a fourth billing role, but who stays clear from his usual kick-boxing action.
From the start, Retrograde opens with some uneven and disjointed editing. In fact, this problematic issue presents itself later in the third act. There seems to be a scene missing between our lead villain, played with controlled intensity by Joe Montana and the film's spunky lead girl, Silvia De Santis. Also, the ending, feels like its missing something. Again, this may be due to money, time
constraints and or bad choices. In catching Kulikowski's first effort, the ultra low budget sci-fi drama, "Aurora", I doubt it had anything to do with him. His credits in post production are strong, but one never knows.
For a film of this type and budget, the effects weren't bad and the setting
interesting; an ice cutter and crew trapped in the Antarctic, battling a deadly off- world bacteria and a group of commandos sent from the future to kill them.
Other positives include the music score and action, once it gets going and the story, which holds up well, despite the occasional weak choice in editing and cinematography. There's also some very good performances by Gary Daniels,
Silvia De Santis, Joe Montana and the ice cutter's doctor, David Jean Thomas.
On a scale of one to ten, I give Retrograde a 7 1/2. -
acs05922 August 2010Just finished watching Retrograde, and I have to say that it was better then what I thought it would be. Many reviews on here have lamented the movie, but it was enjoyable. Dolph Lundgren (John Foster) is a genetically superior time traveler who is sent back in time to destroy a virus that wipes out humanity. But his crew rebels and he is left to fend for himself. They get to where the ship is that discovers the virus, and Dolph has to destroy it. Along the way there are some fights with the remaining 4 time travelers who are trying to kill Foster.
Some good things about this movie is that the cast and directors make the low budget aspect work. The time travel ship is decent, along with all the futuristic gear. Fights are good, some nice Dolph kicks, and quite an interesting story for such a low budget film. But the main downside is the budget as well. If the movie had a bigger budget, I feel like it could of been much better.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie. The plot was decent, and it was interesting. Acting besides Dolph was not very good. Its a good movie to kill some time, but I wouldn't see it again. -
I do not rate a movie a "1" unless it is *offensively* bad, and trust me, this one qualifies.
The writing, directing, and editing are comically horrid; many scenes are so badly done that you break out laughing, and no, it's not intentional! Washed-up Dolph is not being paid enough here to even pretend to act, and none of the other actors are helping.
The only thing that is half-decent is the special effects, or rather, the sci-fi bits from the future, and the passable intro with the meteors hurtling through space and plunging into the Earth.
Everything else about this movie is a total loss and a total waste of life. Don't bother. Please. -
baeckw16 July 2015I am a "Dolph completist" like another reviewer put so eloquently, yet this movie has left a bitter aftertaste. It could have been so much more, the story had potential to make the ultimate "The Thing"- meets-"X files" crossover, laden with spooky claustrophobia and an intriguing time-travel tale.
Alas, none of that has come about. The director is partly to blame for his total failure to bring focus and atmosphere to the story. Viewers are left less than ensnared. But what I found most appalling was the ACTING ! It's incredible how most of the cast just stands there, glazed over, rattling off their lines. How hard can it be to get a little immersed in the role ?
Dolph himself is enough of a professional to put in his routine quality, even when he finds himself in what looks like a high school project. I also enjoyed Jamie Treacher, who makes the most of his "pothead" part. And there's David Jean Thomas who manages to bring a natural performance as Doc. But the rest of the cast should be forced to attend drama school ! -
Maziun28 December 2014I have to admit that I was fast forwarding this movie very often. Well , to call it a movie is a big mistake. An unwatchable piece of s**t is more like it. I want to congratulate to anyone who is able to watch it from beginning to end.
This is a low budget science fiction movie with REALLY cheap special effects. I've seen a very old computer games with better CGI than "Retrograde". The action doesn't even deserve to be called action.
There is no acting in this movie. Even Lundgren doesn't seem to care.
There is no story here and what we have is pretty dumb in places. For example the villains motivations are never explained . You can't do most of the things in Antarctica that the characters are doing. Also the writers should know that there IS GRAVITY IN SPACE.
It's probably Lundgren's worst movie yet. I give it 1/10. -
drmkeeper25 November 2004I'm not sure, if I can write a review of this movie. But still I'll try. First: I watched about 30 minutes of it. I couldn't watch any longer. Second: it's terrible. For everyone who's gonna see it anyway, I must say: The movie has very low-budget special effects & very bad acting (just awful). When I say very low-budget I mean VERY-VERY cheap. I've seen video games with better computer graphics. The acting I'm not sure anymore, if this is the guy who acted in Universal Soldier or Punisher. This is not even acting. It's like a school performance And I'm not talking about such things like fights or shootings in this movie - no comments. There is scene in Retrograde where all characters in a spaceship fell on the floor because of the spaceship's twisting... In space!!!! Just think about it So that's what I can say about first 30 minutes of this film. You may consider it as review of Retrograde's first 30 minutes. 1 of 10.
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AnonymousReviewer17 February 2007Even though not on Region 1 DVD, it's worth a look if you like Dolpgh Lundgren movies. It's basically a sci/action movie about time travel to the past to save the earth. Dolph Lundgren is a scientist in this one believe it or not. This seems like a made for television movie, it's a low budget film. What this movie lacks in plot, it gains in action. The space crew wear uniforms that look like motorcycle leathers. Surprised that this didn't have a US release considering how popular direct to video movies are. I also recommend The Mechanik (The Russian Specialist) , starring Lundgren as well. I bought the Region 5 PAL DVD, it has a few trailers (in Russian though). Full frame and 5.1 English Audio sound.
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ccunning-735878 February 2021I found this much better than most of Dolph Landgren's films. Though listed as a 'Low Budget' film the plot, photography, sound, & lighting were surprisingly very good. It is more of a SiFi drama. It was not the usual Dolph shot'em up, close quarter combat, & fighting grunting noises flicks. If that is what you want then this movie may not be for you. Brief Synopsis: A meteor carrying deadly bacteria lands in the Antarctic and remains frozen in place until a science vessel discovers the meteor fragments. Unknowingly this leads to the spread of the deadly plague worldwide. 200 years after their discovery the deadly bacteria have mankind on the verge of extension. Dolph leads a team in a time-travel spaceship to travel back in time in order to 'Alter the timeline' and save mankind. Paradoxical Dilemma/Catch 22: The time-travel spaceship crashes in the Antarctic, which, as an unintended consequence, exposes the deadly meteor fragments. The science vessel observes the spaceship crash landing and, believing it to be a meteor, go to the impact site to investigate. If the spaceship had not gone back in time the science vessel would not have been drawn to the meteor impact site and the meteor fragments would not have been exposed for the science vessel to find. Major Subplot: Dalton/Joe Montana leads some of the spaceship's crew mutiny in order to steal the time-travel spaceship to use it to get rich. A glimpse of Dolph being Dolph as in most of his earlier movies: He forsakes heavier weapons, takes only a pistol, and goes after many heavily armed & well trained adversaries. This part of the movie takes on some of the action packed scenes for which Dolph is known. I do not know why this movie is rated 'R'. There is no skin and you can hear more profanity on primetime TV. Enjoy!
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melody2327 November 2009What's not to dislike? From the mega-cheap production values, to the terrible performances (the non-European accents -- and stereotypes -- are the worst), it's infinitely awful. They might have considered reading an actual book about Antarctica, that might have helped the script although I doubt anything outside of burning it would have prevented this abomination on film. In Antarctica, you simply can't physically do 75% of what they showed characters doing. It's not just a really, really cold place. When Dolph Lungren is your star performer, you have a serious problem from the start. They couldn't even agree upon the time of day (when in doubt, take wristwatches off your performers and off the walls of the sets.
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NoDakTatum7 October 2023I'm not sure a lead actor has ever appeared so bored onscreen. In 2204, a plague has wiped out most of the planet's population. Foster (Dolph Lundgren) and his motley spaceship crew go back in time two hundred years to stop the plague. The disease came to Earth on a meteor that crashed in Antarctica, and it was being investigated by an ice cutter's crew, who brought it back to civilization (I think). Foster and the gang arrive in 2004, when Dalton (Joe Montana, not the football player) decides to take over the spaceship for vague reasons. The spaceship crash lands on the snowy tundra, and the ice cutter heads in the direction of the explosion. The ice cutter Nathaniel Parker has many expendable characters on it, including the captain (Ken Samuels), serious astrobiologist Renee (Silvia De Santis), pothead and lame comedy relief Mack (Jamie Treacher), and jerk Schrader (Joey Sagal), who reminds everyone he has hired the ship to prove that humanity originated in outer space- we never find out how a trip to Antarctica was going to prove his theory. The plague, which resembles grape jelly and can be passed by touch, begins infecting both the time travelers and the ice cutter's crew. It has differing gestation times depending on how important the character is to the plot, and eventually Foster and Dalton shoot it out on some cheap sets.
Thinking of Lundgren, with his Denis Leary haircut and Jurgen Prochnow cheeks, I am drowsy. My heavy lids and yawning are mirroring what I viewed. Lundgren is bored here. There is no other explanation for his half-hearted acting, fighting, and screen presence. Normally, he has some gravitas, but here he goes through the motions just enough not to get fired from the picture. The film was shot in Luxembourg and Italy, which make lousy substitutions for the South Pole. The computer generated effects are cheesy. The cast flounders under the terrible script. There is too much footage of people leaving the ice cutter to visit the spaceship crash site, and then walking back to either alert others, or send more people out to visit the spaceship crash site. Specifics are not found and plot points are not followed as we wonder about Renee and Foster's connection, Dalton's post-mutiny plans, and the fact that everyone who shoots at Lundgren is a lousy shot. In 2204, motorcycle racing attire is the fashion rage, and I was curious as to where Foster got his blonde highlights in the futuristic wasteland. Director Kulikowski tries, but the film starts abruptly, and then pulls the viewer along from one badly choreographed fight scene to another. Lundgren sleeps on his feet, the supporting cast looks completely lost- yelling their lines as if that might help the pacing, and as characters begin dying of the plague or stabbings and shootings, the film and Foster don't seem to care. I, too, didn't care about the proceedings. "Retrograde" isn't even bad-movie fun, but it is a learning opportunity. It shows the lengths one actor will go to in order to cash a paycheck. Thanks for the lesson, Dolph, you can go back to sleep now. -
killersocke18 December 2005Once there comes a time when all the good old Stuff and Actors come back to us and surprise us with a great Movie.This here is one of them.Hard Action,Nice CGI's,good Actors,Actionheart what do you want more ???More from this !!!! Sure,they don't have so much Money for make a excellent Movie like Star Wars or Battle of the World,but so what.Producer Richard Pepin produced this Movie with everything he have on Money.Of course it is not so much money that he have after the break with Joseph Merhi.But enough Money to pay Guys like Dolph Lundgren and Gary Daniels.And this Guys do a good Job.Lundgren as the Hero and Daniels as the bad guy.Director Kulikowski also directed the Movie Aurora.This Movie Retrograde was a Co Production with Luxemburg.
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If I watch a movie all the way through I think it deserves at least a 5. But this one makes me second guess that system, I like some of Dolph Lundgren's B movies and this one was going to score higher because I liked what they were trying to do, but the unbelievably uneven story-line and nonsensical stretches of illogical time-line just takes way too much suspension of disbelief to believe. On top of that, these guys from the future go into the past so ill-equipped it's impossible to believe that they actually manage to make a time machine in the future to go to the past and save the future, but if they didn't have the plague, what was the motivation to build a time machine to stop the plague, so effectively destroying their own existence by traveling back in time. This would have been a really good low budget laugh fest, with the horrible combat scenes and really poor acting jobs by some of the cast. There is just too much going against it for it to be a good bad movie. One particular scene that stuck out to me was this inexplicably missing gap where this woman shoots a guy in the face with a flair gun and seconds later she's being man-handled up a flight of stairs by him. That scene was setup like some sort of heroic moment for that lady but the followup was like it never happened. It makes for a very obvious "what the F" moment. Could this movie have been better? No, I don't think so, they had a big enough budget for this film to get really expensive Oakley glasses that stand out like a sore thumb, but couldn't pay anyone to create better sets with believable keypads and controls. Everything looked so cheaply made it should have been grounds for investigating fraud. The controller he uses to navigate his ship looks like an off-the-shelf stick from a PC flight simulator in the 90's.(I just found the flight stick, they actually used a "Logitech Attack 3 USB Flight Stick" with what looks like the ring from a light-up PC fan glued to it) Yeah, someone just wasted a crap-load of money on this movie and the end results are not surprising. To put this movies budget in perspective, the sci-fi comedy "Idiocracy" a film about 2 years after this, had a similar budget and the contrast is staggering. What did they spend the money on? Dolf's paycheck maybe? I'd really like to see an itemized list of expenditures on this project it would be fascinating if not incriminating.
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jkling-131 October 2011DOLPH?! He still makes movies? Really?
People actually invest money in movies that star Dolph? Really??
OMG ... well don't be shocked if you don't like this movie (or any that has him in it). I think that the ONLY recent movie with Dolph in it that was worthwhile was Expendables. They certainly understood that D's role MUST be minor at best and well-controlled or ... he'll probably take the entire movie down with him ... :-)
Bottom line, unless you are one of those people who are inexplicably drawn to Dolph ... don't see ANY of his movies ... unless you also appreciate being disappointed :-)
It is what it is ... -
Jay_Rusty16 September 2023If you read the Trivia section for this title then you might be inclined to cut it a bit more slack.
I was actually quite surprised by the production values & set designs of this movie, as well as the visual effects; not too bad and half decent indeed!
Where this movie falters is in the acting department. The acting is not bad per se, but quite wooden, stilted and a tad amateurish. Pace & editing are ok; the music score is pretty forgettable. Fight scenes choreography is a bit lame, nothing to write home about. Make up effects are also decent, if not underused, again perhaps due to budget limitations.
The running time is tight, so in summary: Not a bad way to kill 90 minutes with this little known B movie from 2004. -
I have watched many of Mr. Lundgren's films which I have managed to sit through until now. I don't know if it was the low budget or the cast no wait it was the whole idea of actually making this film, why did they bother! We can always do with more science fiction but this was so bad how could they, even my other half agreed with me to change the channel before we had watched the first quarter. By the time they're ship left for Earth arriving 200 years in the past and the crew mutinied I lost interest as the ship rolled in space and they were all still standing except for the ones being shot. Turning over the channel to watch Lethal Weapon 3 meant my evening was not spoilt.