Millennium Reviews

An underdeveloped script, anemic direction and pacing, uninspired production design, and miscasting of the two lead roles undermine some intriguing ideas and characters in MILLENNIUM. Despite its many deficiencies, however, this sci-fi brain teaser with love story elements is not entirely without interest. Directed by Michael Anderson, the film stars Kris Kristofferson as Bill Smith, the chief investigator of a team looking into the mid-air collision of a 747 and a DC-10. Smith happens upon what appears to be a futuristic weapon in the wreckage and finds several passengers' watches are moving backwards in time. Adding to the mysterious doings is the presence at the crash site of a noted physics professor (Daniel J. Travanti) and a beautiful flight attendant (Cheryl Ladd). Like much science-fiction literature, MILLENNIUM is saddled with more expositional, scientific, and philosophical baggage than the filmmakers can handle, at the expense of suspenseful storytelling. Hampered by a leaden pace, the film could have been buoyed by eye-catching visuals, but the camerawork and special effects never rise above a TV-movie level. MILLENNIUM remains little more than a dull jumble of some interesting ideas.