Time Chasers

Time Chasers

Year: 1994

Runtime: 89 mins

Language: English

Director: David Giancola

DramaRomance

Inventor Nick Miller builds the Transport, a time machine to help humanity. He sells it to a defense contractor, where the CEO weaponizes it. Future turns wasteland as the device is sold to those exploiting history. To stop the devastation, Nick must prevent his past self from creating the Transport, racing to rewrite history and save the future.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – Time Chasers (1994)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Time Chasers (1994). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

2041, 1950s, 1777, present-day

The film moves through multiple eras driven by Nick's time travel device. Each jump exposes different social moods—an optimistic near-future, a nostalgic 1950s era, and the war-era 1777—before returning to the present. The shifts show how a single invention can ripple across centuries and alter personal destinies. The narrative culminates in a tense awareness of the dangers of temporal interference.

Location

United States, GenCorp facility, supermarket, 1777 battlefield

The action unfolds across the United States, from a GenCorp facility and high-tech labs in the near future to a suburban supermarket in the present day. It also visits a battlefield setting in 1777 during the American Revolution. These locations highlight the contrast between corporate ambition and everyday life, and provide the stage for time travel and conflict.

🗺️ United States 🏭 GenCorp HQ 🛒 Supermarket

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 14:54

Main Characters – Time Chasers (1994)

Meet the key characters of Time Chasers (1994), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Nick Miller (Matthew Bruch)

Nick Miller is a physics teacher and amateur pilot who builds a working time travel device using a Commodore 64 and his small airplane. He is driven by curiosity and a belief in progress, often pushing ahead with experiments and seeking licensing from GenCorp. His journey through multiple eras reveals his vulnerability to shortcuts and his capacity for self-sacrifice as he tries to avert catastrophe.

🧠 Innovative 🛩️ Risk-taker

Lisa Henson (Bonnie Pritchard)

Lisa Henson is Nick's old high school flame and a reporter who travels with him through time. Her presence links personal history with the present and intensifies the stakes of their temporal exploits. Her fate becomes a turning point that pushes Nick to rethink his methods and goals.

📰 Reporter ⏳ Time-traveler ally

Matthew Paul (Peter Harrington)

Matthew Paul is a GenCorp executive who arranges Nick's initial meeting with the company’s CEO. He represents corporate interest in licensing the time travel technology and embodies the push for rapid commercialization. His role highlights the tension between innovation and exploitation.

🧭 Ambitious 🧪 Tech-savvy

J.K. Robertson (George Woodard)

J.K. Robertson is GenCorp's CEO, a powerful figure who dismisses threats to the time-travel project and views Nick as a threat to corporate control. He pushes for the progression of the technology despite risks, and his confrontations with Nick drive much of the conflict.

👔 CEO 🛡️ Authority

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 14:54

Major Themes – Time Chasers (1994)

Explore the central themes of Time Chasers (1994), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

⏳ Time Ethics

Time travel serves as a moral test for the characters. Nick's pursuit of control over the past clashes with the consequences felt in the present and future timelines. The narrative questions who should regulate dangerous technologies and whether beneficial outcomes justify risky interference. Lisa's fate and the near-fatal attempt at altering history underline the high stakes of temporal manipulation.

🏭 Corporate Power

GenCorp's drive for licensing, profit, and dominance drives the plot. The company's willingness to manipulate time travel to gain leverage showcases corporate greed and the erosion of ethics. The antagonists' actions threaten civil order and personal safety, illustrating how corporate ambition can overshadow human consequences.

⚖️ Consequences & Sacrifice

The protagonists face tradeoffs between personal relationships and the greater good. Nick and Lisa must weigh the risks of changing history against their desire to protect the future. Sacrifices are demanded as the timeline destabilizes, culminating in the destruction of the time machine and the erasure of many events. The ending emphasizes restraint and responsibility when wielding powerful technology.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 14:54

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Time Paradox Movies Like Time Chasers

Stories where altering the past comes at a profound, heartbreaking personal cost.Explore movies like Time Chasers that delve into the emotional consequences of time travel. If you enjoyed the story of Nick Miller sacrificing his invention and love to save the future, you'll find similar bittersweet sci-fi dramas here about rewriting history and its personal toll.

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Narrative Summary

Stories in this thread typically follow a protagonist who gains the ability to travel through time to correct a catastrophic mistake. The narrative arc involves discovering that the solution requires an impossible choice, often erasing a core part of their own happiness or identity. The journey culminates in a resolution that saves the world but leaves the hero isolated or forever changed by what was lost.

Why These Movies?

These films are grouped together because they share a specific narrative and emotional pattern: they use time travel not just as a plot device, but as a mechanism to explore profound themes of sacrifice, regret, and the unintended consequences of playing god. The tone is consistently reflective and bittersweet, prioritizing emotional stakes over pure action.

Corporate Dystopia Films Similar to Time Chasers

Thrillers where technological innovation is corrupted by greed, creating a bleak future.Find movies similar to Time Chasers that explore themes of corporate greed and technological ethics. These films often depict a well-intentioned invention being weaponized, leading to a future disaster that the inventor must desperately try to prevent.

tenseanxiousdystopiancorporateethicalthrillingmelancholic

Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern involves an inventor or scientist who creates something meant for the good of humanity, only to see it co-opted and weaponized by a powerful corporation. This betrayal leads to a tangible, often futuristic, dystopia. The protagonist's journey becomes one of redemption, involving high-stakes corporate espionage and a final, drastic act to neutralize the technology they once championed.

Why These Movies?

These movies share a common vibe of tense anxiety about the future, driven by a specific thematic focus: the danger of coupling advanced technology with unethical corporate or military interests. They blend medium-intensity thrills with a melancholic tone, exploring the grim consequences of good intentions meeting bad actors.

Unlock the Full Story of Time Chasers

Don't stop at just watching — explore Time Chasers in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what Time Chasers is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

Time Chasers Summary

Read a complete plot summary of Time Chasers, including all key story points, character arcs, and turning points. This in-depth recap is ideal for understanding the narrative structure or reviewing what happened in the movie.

Time Chasers Summary

Time Chasers Timeline

Track the full timeline of Time Chasers with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.

Time Chasers Timeline

Time Chasers Spoiler-Free Summary

Get a quick, spoiler-free overview of Time Chasers that covers the main plot points and key details without revealing any major twists or spoilers. Perfect for those who want to know what to expect before diving in.

Time Chasers Spoiler-Free Summary

More About Time Chasers

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about Time Chasers: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.

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