Timecop | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Peter Hyams |
Produced by | Moshe Diamant Sam Raimi Robert Tapert |
Screenplay by | Mark Verheiden |
Story by |
Mike Richardson Mark Verheiden |
Based on |
Timecop by Mike Richardson Mark Verheiden |
Starring | |
Music by |
Mark Isham Robert Lamm |
Cinematography | Peter Hyams |
Edited by | Steven Kemper |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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98 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | US$27 million |
Box office | $101,646,581 |
Timecop is a 1994 science fiction action film directed by Peter Hyams and co-written by Mike Richardson and Mark Verheiden. Richardson also served as executive producer. The film is based on Time Cop, a story created by Richardson, written by Verheiden, and drawn by Ron Randall, which appeared in the anthology comic Dark Horse Comics, published by Dark Horse Comics.
The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Max Walker, a police officer in 1994 and later a U.S. Federal agent in 2004, when time travel has been made possible. It also stars Ron Silver as a rogue politician and Mia Sara as the agent's wife. The story follows an interconnected web of episodes in the agent's life as he fights time-travel crime and investigates the politician's plans.
Timecop remains Van Damme's highest-grossing film (his second to break the $100 million barrier for a worldwide gross) as a lead actor. It is generally regarded as one of Van Damme's better films by critics.
By 1994, time travel has been developed and is used for illicit purposes. The Time Enforcement Commission (TEC) has been established to police the use of time travel, with Senator Aaron McComb overseeing operations. Police officer Max Walker has been offered a position with the TEC but is unsure whether or not to accept. While at home with his wife Melissa, he is attacked by unknown assailants and witnesses the house explode, killing her.
Ten years later, Walker is a veteran of the TEC working under Commissioner Eugene Matuzak, who sends him back to 1929 to prevent his former partner, Lyle Atwood, from using knowledge of the future to financially benefit from the U.S. stock market crash. When confronted, Atwood admits to be working for Senator McComb, who needs the funds for his upcoming presidential campaign. Fearing that McComb will erase him from history, Atwood attempts to jump to his death, but Walker catches him mid-leap and returns to 2004. Refusing to testify, Atwood is sentenced to execution and is returned to 1929 where he resumes falling to his death.