Alistair1918 (2015) User Reviews

Enjoyable and Intriguing

[Ionizing · 7/10 · 25 March 2017]

If, like me, you enjoy low budget films with interesting ideas that are nicely executed and are also unpredictable, then I would definitely recommend Alistair1918.

Looking like a labour of love by writer/actor Guy Birtwhistle, it's partly documentary style, but not nauseatingly so (and not 'found footage' as another reviewer suggested) and for once it's done well and seems authentic. The acting is good and natural from all the characters and so keeps it all plausible, as they have a credible mix of belief and cynicism which works well in this scenario, leaving the viewer also vacillating between believing his story and thinking he probably just had a bad knock on the head, his 1000 yard stare working in both cases.

Spoiler Alert

Like most movies it does start faltering at the last third when it has to conclude things, and invokes my habit of mentally doing some re-writing, like having them searching the archives for his war record, and even looking for his living ancestors, also running DNA tests on his hair and his wife's, even if they are all inconclusive so as to keep the audience still guessing. The reaction of the characters lose some consistency as well and their certainty in the final goodbye's really gives it away, and their reactions to him actually disappearing are underwhelming, as people would still be incredulous and mind- blown at this even if they had largely come to believe in him.

Mind you, I only really do this to films that I've enjoyed, and this was certainly the case with Alistair1918, but if only they'd called me before the final draft..................

Glad I Watched It (spoilers)

[xetaprime-64257 · 7/10 · 24 June 2017]

7 out of 10 for Good Directing, believable writing (for a time travel movie) and good acting all around. I admit to fast-forwarding twice for just a few minutes each time where I was getting impatient. But a decent well made film. You don't find yourself saying people wouldn't act this way- even in such a situation.

I don't feel let down by the ending and I mean upon hitting the metal box... but wonder if there was just something more, some extra little tug at the heart that might have pushed this over the top. Yet, who am I to say, it's not my vision of the film. The ending was satisfying enough which is more than you can say for lots of films. Good job!

Strange but calm

[HumbleMensa · 7/10 · 14 November 2021]

I found this film oddly comforting. I don't know why or how, but I felt peaceful at the end. The story is completely farcical, or is it? If you have even a basic understanding of relativity and are okay watching low budget 1970's cheesy science fiction...you'll be entertained.

Don't Know Why

[nkbrules · 4/10 · 8 February 2017]

I don't know why this film is being rated so highly. The ending just peters out with no creative conclusion. It's essentially a 'found film' with less shaking but still an unkempt experience.

No innovative recording left on the Go-Pro left me as unsatisfied as the missing ninety minutes in Contact.

I finished the film with a hollow feeling for the hour and a half it took to watch.

The acting was true to life and projected real life feeling, but with the lack of closure in a sci-fi picture, it wasn't strong enough to carry the attempt.

Good intentions, vision lacking

[aimanwm · 2/10 · 26 June 2018]

The first 20 minutes is as if it were character produced, either for Poppy's documentary or via their computers/phones, etc., which has a Blair Witch effect, but that comes with drawbacks and limitations, so it's mostly abandoned, though the style tries to stay consistent. I'm not sure how a WWI British soldier unexpectedly blown forward in time 100 years would behave, but I'm not sure this Allistair is it (though he fleetingly turns into B. Willis). The only mildly interesting developments that might start to signal some type of meaning is the contrasting attitudes of Poppy and Brandon toward homeless people in general and Allistair specifically, perhaps in contrast with the connection Allistair seems to have with/for his wife. But then the outrageous Monty-Python accent of Sophie unloads a sci-fi package not worthy of anyone suspending their disbelief. And since the characters are all paper thin, the attempt at drama over getting Allistair home feels tired. The payoff for all the choppy, poorly-framed footage we suffered though and whatever sense of authenticity or realism it can muster is in the very last, over-before-you-know-it-scene. I won't give it away, but it wouldn't matter if I did.

Film School Idea That Failed Like the Graf Zeppelin

[Easygoer10 · 3/10 · 24 October 2019]

Quite bad.. However, the part that blew it was after they failed to send him home. Not because the Dr. miscalculated, but the way the filmmaker "promised to get him home". That is so stupid. I believe in the possibility of "wormholes" (this was a cheesy but believable one). To clarify, its not bad that the Dr. tried and failed or whatever. It's the fact that the filmmaker got so upset it didn't work, is outright woeful. Bad acting to the nth degree. At least she proved you can't "Craigslist" a wormhole scientist after all (good one, huh?). That alone turned a not half bad film, into a bad home movie. This had several very bad actors; especially the "angry ex girlfriend". My daughter could play that part10 times better, and she is a teenager who is a musician; not an actress! Amazon will buy a film for probably less than $5000. Then, they show the trash and call it a good film. Skip it. Pure pablum made by completely hideous amateurs.

Short and very timely .

[geoffdreamwalker · 8/10 · 6 April 2017]

I liked this film.It had a down to Earth and realistic feel to it, along with some fine acting.An interesting story that had me absorbed and immersed in it from the start.What more does one want from a film. The characters were everyday folk whose actions and motivations felt natural and real.I think that this is what held me from the movie's start.The accent of the Yorkshire soldier was real and true.All in all, a well spent hour and a half.On the film-makers budget, not large I presume, this work was worth every cent spent on it.One can only imagine how this story with these actors and crew would have shone even more brightly had more financial backing been available to them. To sum up: well above average acting, clever and sensitive writing, and shot superbly.A little gem, indeed.

Unrealistic. Low budget student type movie

[jamwalt73 · 3/10 · 17 December 2021]

I did watch the whole thing but wanted it to end quickly. Allister's reaction to the world of the future should have been a strong theme of the film but it was weak. Hardly any reaction to modern technology. Even plastic bags and cups should have been very strange to him as well as cameras, laptops, smart phones. He sat in the modern car like it was totally normal.

Blair Witch without the witch

[Bernie4444 · 4/10 · 5 October 2023]

This is one of those shaky camera movies. With stilted dialog and not well-thought-out plots. You cannot have "time travel" without a whole (wormhole). But this is too many holes in the plot and the execution.

Someone might think "how can he adapt to technology so quickly?" This is explained in the movie. A cell phone is just a combination of phone and radio which both exist in 1918, etc.

Others may ask why not ask questions of that time to help verify his story? Try asking a teenager where Belize is.

Alistair (Guy Birtwhistle) gets blown out of 1918 France to today (2016) in the U. S. He immediately becomes a homeless bum and counts the days accurately for filmmakers that cannot hold the camera still.

All he wants to do is worm his way home. All the filmmakers want to mess with his life and film it. Can the two wants coincide?

Can you stand to watch this slow-moving movie to the end to see if there is any twist or turn? I doubt it.

Disappointing, nearly worth watching

[mdavey-46023 · 5/10 · 26 November 2021]

It was completely unconvincing how Alistair was unfazed by his modern surroundings. And when he sat down to use a laptop, he tapped away better than a lot of people in 2021 do. They could have made much more of the story, for example the other characters could have been seen trying to research details about him and his regiment etc to see if he was telling the truth. Similarly at the end, it would have been good to see them trying to find out what happened to him after the war and maybe contacting his descendants. I would, in their situation.

Wasted Opportunity

[diogenes-858-449167 · 3/10 · 21 July 2018]

When you undertake to tell a story about a time traveler, you can't then ignore the central tenet and drama of your story in exchange for modern, cultural detritus. Unfortunately, the makers of Alistair 1918 never come close to getting to grips with their subject matter in any believable way which supports the drama of what we're told has happened.

This story fails to convince us that they're dealing with anything resembling the consequences of time travel, for themselves or the man who is the film's focus. Mostly, the cast and Alistair wander around Los Angeles with a (handheld) camera pointed at their quaint English accented subject, unphased by the enormity of his situation or the consequences of what they'd have us believe they're dealing with. The actors do their best with poorly conceived material that lets them down at nearly every turn. The director lacks imagination in solving the many story and plot problems.

The introduction of a French time travel scientist who is suddenly able to solve the problem of controlling time travel, merely because the story has her meet Alistair, shows just how clumsily conceived the writing and this project was. Alistair 1918 was a challenge that the script and story developers had neither the imagination nor skill to tackle in a meaningful way. Instead of providing a climax that we can at least suspend our disbelief for, the script collapses into horrible cliche's. It's about as convincing as a Days of Our Lives storyline, and offers scientific solutions and effects that make Dr Who look like genuine quantum physics. I mean, he (the time traveler) stands in a bucket of water to return to 1918. Horrible. Just horrible.

Raw, realistic to an extent, but you need to use your imagination

[jussb · 8/10 · 23 May 2017]

If you were in a Hollywood movie and you stumbled across a man that said that he'd time-travelled from 1918, I bet you'd help him and there would be amazing special effects. If the same scenario happened to you in real life, I wonder if you'd be more likely to run away and perhaps report him to local services of some sort?

I found this film quite extraordinary, but something about it intrigued me enough to watch it all the way through.

I initially felt that it was obviously very low budget (which it clearly is). Then I felt that the acting was nothing special, until it struck me that the acting was incredibly natural. It all just seemed very real to me which makes a change because in these types of found footage/hand-cam movies I'm used to clichés. There were no corny lines that I noticed.

The reason that I've put in my subject title that you have to use your imagination is because there are parts in the film where I thought "that doesn't explain something", or "you just wouldn't do that, would you?". That is where I had to make allowances. It's confusing in parts. I felt emphasis with the female lead who wasn't sure if she believed the soldier, but she wanted to. - And then her male partner/husband who was very cynical. (That also confused me because at one point, unless I misunderstood, she's gay?).

The script was written beautifully and with realism, the lead actor (and writer) I felt was very handsome. It even picked up on the fact that because of what had happened to him and the fact that he'd been in his uniform for a while, that his body might smell a bit. Little touches to the movie like that are often not noticed or generally not even mentioned.

I suspect that most people won't like this movie. Personally I thought it was very good. Not superb, but very good. 8/10 from me and I'm going to see what else I can find from at least the 2 lead actors in this movie. Particularly the male.

How Odd

[robin_sayer · 5/10 · 5 July 2021]

Seems very strange.

"What do you think?" a person says, one time to the camera man busy filming the time traveller

"What do I think about what?"....... "Oh what do I think about him"

This entire thing is about the quality one would expect if you were in a drama class at school - and the teacher threw this scenario at the class, and said 'Everyone Go'.

Awful

[james-91788 · 3/10 · 6 April 2021]

Terrible movie.just awful wouldn't watch literally home made.

Suspend logic with this one.

[garcinder · 3/10 · 26 January 2021]

Interesting premise certainly, but anyone in this man's situation would certainly have more questions regarding all the changes he's seeing and everything he's experiencing.

"Where he's headed there's no need for roads" Sort of...

[fred-schiller1 · 8/10 · 8 June 2018]

I didn't click the 'spoiler' button because if you've read the story description on the main page--you know the story.

This is a tough movie to review. Upfront and foremost I applaud the creative team behind this film. It's built on the frame of a unique story with no star power attached. I can only imagine the hurdles you had to leap and the obstacles you needed to circumvent to to get the film made. But now it's made and being shown on cable for millions to see. Congratulations to everyone involved, and kudos to the director and lead actress--Annie McKay. It appears this is a freshman effort in the director chair by McKay, and it doesn't look like she had a bundle of money in her budget, but she seems to have squeezed every penny out of the cash she had to work with.

McVey's directing style is brisk and light, and if I'm remembering correctly the camera always seems to be moving, flitting here and there, trading staged set pieces for footage of actors doing real things, unaware they're being filmed,acting like real people. These roaming shots pick up tons of characterization and flavor.

Kudos again (this time the chocolate chip ones with oatmeal and cinnamon) to the director for playing a major part in the film. She steps up to the job and delivers an honest and true performance. The same has to be said about her appearance. If I may be allowed to objectify, Annie McCay may never appear on the covers of French fashion magazines, but her natural beauty and crooked smile make her far more attractive and far more appropriate to this role.

If you twisted my arm and demanded I identify my least likable aspect of the film, I would be forced to point a finger at actor and screenwriter, Guy Birthwhistle. I know he's spent plenty of time in front of the camera in supporting roles, but it's my opinion he dropped the ball once too often in Alistair1918.

It was explained once to us exactly how long Birthwhistle had been Fast Forwarded the present time. I think it was either 30 of 5 days. Even if it turned out to be six months, I doubt if his shock of the changed world would still be affecting him. In the past 20 years alone we've had more scientific advancements than in the previous 1000, so his lack of awe didn't ring true at all. By all indications we witness his first trip in an automobile, but he handles it like he has two Buicks and a couple of Chevys back home. The knife gets twisted each time we see him using a cell phone, searching on the internet, and sending email.

Birthwhistle also seems to be unsure about the path of his character. Perhaps it was in the script of his direction, but during the middle of the film we keep getting looks from him like he's an actor and all the events up to this point have been filmed for a reality show, or that he really is a time traveler but instead of getting zapped from the middle of a battlefield it was from a laboratory in Nazi Germany. If the budget had allowed for it I would have loved to see Alistair scribbling in his notebook, sketching his long lost wife, or just trying to figure how his life is going to get together. In the same vein, we should have seen McVey bumping around in her apartment, wondering what she's doing. Maybe she could talk to someone on the telephone for some fresh perspective.

I've read a couple of reviews that were filled with questions about ending the film where it ended. I think it's a terrific ending, but some people just can't deal not having things spelled out for them in exact detail.

I greatly look forward to seeing future films from Annie McVay. I think she has amazing potential. Once again, great work, everyone.

Low Budget , but worth watching

[ahollyhead · 8/10 · 28 December 2019]

I was looking for time travel movies and this isn't one really. Its easily watchable with natural acting and virtually no special effects. There is a feel good factor throughout but you always fear the worst outcome .

I appreciate its not for everyone , but it cost peanuts to make so for me it kept me watching so I rate it highly

Good Effort

[pch-52716 · 8/10 · 20 April 2017]

Just caught this little gem on Amazon Prime. A commendable job done on a clearly limited budget from what is an intriguing concept.

A homeless English guy in modern day LA claims to have been thrown forward in time after an explosion in WW1 France. Logic would dictate he is just mentally ill but could he actually be telling the truth?

A lot of what transpires is cleverly handled and touching. Let's face it, even the gutters of 2014 LA are preferable to a WW1 trench and probable certain death!

Alistair's back story that he has been here for 30 days does explain some of his acceptance of this modern nightmare he has possibly found himself in, but one minor quibble is that he is not as strung out by what he claims to have happened as you would expect. Maybe it just reflects the stoicism of a 1918 British army Sargent from Yorkshire?

Alistair does claim to have a wife he wants to get home to which adds emotion to his plight real or not. He must at the very least believe he loves her a lot because his new found google skills would quickly alert him to the fact that if he went back to May 1918 he would have another 6 months of trench hell to survive, swiftly followed by a Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50 million +, oh and then the Great Depression swiftly followed by 'guess what?' another World War. Personally I would say 'Sorry Millie' and take the 2014 camper van beach bum life every time. I do not dispute though that being a simple man with a simple plan is part of the charm and possibly the most realistic coping mechanism he could adopt.

That's the great thing about time travel movies, so much is possible, even before we get to the obvious collating sports results so you can go back and make millions.

The actual science portion involving a French wormhole expert does descend into parody at times but you do sense that everyone is desperate to believe Alistair, regardless of his story being ludicrous on the face of it.

There are echoes of KPAX and Somewhere in Time, I just wish there had been a bit more detailed reflection and emotional distress by the protagonist regarding the loss of his world and being stranded in ours.

A goose bump inducing online ancestry search, throwing up an old photo akin to the signature match scene in Highander, would have also made more sense rather than cutting directly to calling the local wormhole specialist to send the bloke back.

Enjoyed it all the same and these are just ideas for the big budget Tom Hardy remake!

If you are a time travel fan, it's hour and 21min run time is well worth the investment.

Finally

[solonche-637-153706 · 10/10 · 29 September 2020]

I've been scorching underwhelming time travel films lately while hoping to find a good one. Finally. All I can say is an emotional thank you to Guy and Annie for this wonderful, sentimental labor of love. And thanks you to those who fell on the fields of France during those terrible years. I will include the three names.....Willie Walton, Robert Birtwhistle, Fred Booth.

A lovely little film that makes one want to believe...

[matthangas · 10/10 · 4 June 2017]

A wonderful little film...superbly acted, well scripted...makes one want to believe in time travel. Nothing too ambitious, just a small tale very well told...a soldier is launched forward in time, and desperately wishes to get home to a wife he is certain is waiting for him. Although some characters doubt his sanity and veracity, watching this one wants to believe him...all in all a lovely bit of cinema, and one of the few documentary style movies that actually delivers...bravo all...

Inventive low budget film

[Mark Harrison · 8/10 · 2 May 2021]

I was expecting the usual American rubbish with the fake British accents thrown in for good measure but I was pleasantly surprised. OK it was unrealistic but all time travel films are unrealistic (how could you go back if you could kill your own parents etc.). However having overlooked this and the fact a British soldier transported from WW1 happens to land in LA and not outer Mongolia, where presumably there are no audience dollars, it is almost credible. The Yorkshire accent is good and the reactions of the Americans he meets are just about believable too. I also liked the concentration on a good plot rather than special effects and furthermore give the producers credit for mostly eschewing the woke agenda and not risibly shoe horning in some fictitious ethnic minorities from WW1 to appease the BLM crowd (as the film 1917 did).

Gave this a 10. I don't give 10s.

[scothia · 10/10 · 23 April 2018]

*SPOILERS GALORE*

We just finished this excellent film and are astonished at its quality, given the very low budget. Not one character rings untrue. The script is tight, the storyline (mostly) plausible, the acting is spot-on. I particularly congratulate them for making the time-traveling protagonist so intelligent. Having quickly accepted his impossible situation, Alistair just gets on with the business of survival, dedicated to getting back to his proper time and place. He doesn't waste time on gap-mouthing at all the futuristic wonders surrounding him in ours. He knows how to hunt squirrel and, likely, how to find exact coordinates in a park that doesn't exist in 1919 or whenever it was when he gets (got?) back. (I have to wonder just where and when the wormhole deposited him. Hopefully, not back in the middle of battle wearing Timberlands and a nylon backpack.)

This movie is going to stay with me for a long, long time.

Seriously, there is a word for people who can take such meager resources and spin a treasure like Alastair1918: Alchemists.

A great low budget film

[stephenbinion · 9/10 · 15 June 2017]

The premise is intriguing. The acting was outstanding for a low budget film. I was quite entertained. The film is far better than any of the regurgitated pap coming out of Hollywood these days. Hollywood needs to hire these guys and spend a few million to work with and give us a great film.

Spoiler Alert.

The ending was better than I expected. I laughed aloud.

Kickback... put your feet up... and... ENJOY!

[greenacres-88103 · 8/10 · 1 February 2024]

This movie is always viewed from the angle of the camera man... but, it's not hokey and jerky like found footages are known to be. I had never heard of this movie before... and, with me loving the odd, thought impossible, unexplainable topics, I jumped in! I was not disappointed!! It doesn't move along fast, and maybe there's a couple of "say whut?!!" moments, but I found the movie very entertaining and pretty satisfying!! I loved the story, the acting and the emotions it put out there... both between the characters and for myself. Movies don't have to be Oscar winners to have what it takes to entertain and have merit! Just sayin'.....