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Timecop (1994): Almost a Cult Classic
What do you get when you hand Jean-Claude Van Damme a time machine? Ninety minutes of flying kicks, bad science, and a plot that folds in on itself faster than spacetime after a paradox. Timecop (1994) had everything it needed to become a cult classic, but somewhere between the sparks and the synth, it lost the plot.
The movie teases a smart idea about policing time travel, then dodges its own consequences. The result? A film that can kick down a door but can’t open one into deeper storytelling. Still, there’s charm in the chaos. Between the goofy science, solid effects, and Van Damme’s half-heroic, half-melancholic glare, Timecop remains one of those rare near misses, a movie that almost makes you believe it could have been legendary.
Interrogation of a Time Traveller
When it came time to decide which of the two I would expand into a larger piece, the choice was unexpectedly difficult. Writing about my friend would have been meaningful, but the limitation of just 1,000 words felt like a disservice. Her life deserves more than a word count cap. Out of respect, I chose instead to expand on Wells’s character and write a fanfiction piece featuring the Time Traveller.
That gave me freedom: a freedom to invent, to experiment, and to engage with Wells’s world without worrying about compressing or oversimplifying a real person’s experiences.
The challenge then became stylistic. I had to keep close to Wells’s 19th-century voice while making it accessible to a modern reader. That tension shaped how I wrote dialogue, how I described scenes, and even how I played with etymology.
Blog Post One
It all begins with an idea.
Time travel is one of the most fascinating and challenging elements to write in fiction. It opens up endless possibilities for plot twists, character arcs, and thematic depth but also presents a labyrinth of potential pitfalls.