Millennium

by John Varley, directed by Michael Anderson

Release: 24 August 1989
Format: Feature Film
Genre: Science Fiction
Audience: Adults
Content: Definite Time Travel
Original Language: English

Cheryl Ladd plays Louise Baltimore opposite Kris Kristopherson’s Bill Smith in this movie adaptation of Varley’s novel (1983), although on-screen credit is given only to his earlier short story “Air Raid” (1977).

— Michael Main

For one thing, paradoxes can occur. Say you build a time machine, go backwards in time and murder your father when he was ten years old. That means you were never born. And if you were never born, how did you build the time machine? Paradox! It's the possibility of wiping out your own existence that makes most people rule out time-travel. Still, why not? If you were careful, you could do it.

DEBUT

Millennium (at movie theaters, West Germany, 24 August 1989).

VARIANTS

1 English variant

PRIOR WORKS: based on Millennium by John Varley (1983)

TAGS(SPOILERS!)

Time Periods

Circa AD 1960 to 1969: Stun weapon is lost in AD 1963..
Circa AD 1970 to 1999: Investigator Bill Smith’s time is AD 1989..
Near Future, AD 2300 and Beyond: The time commandos are a millennium or so in the future, and Bill and Louise travel even further..

Timeline Models

Fragile Timeline: So-called timequakes.
Timeline Needs Immediate Attention!: When Mayer dies before inventing the Gate, there is a rush to save people in the future before the Gate disappears..

Time Travel Methods

Time Portal

Themes

Never Change the Past!: Changing too much causes disasterous timequakes..
Self-Defeating Acts: Mayer is killed before inventing the Gate, so how did the travelers come back to cause his death?.

Fictional Tags

Post-Apocalyptic and Post-Holocaust Worlds: An ultra-polluted future.

Groupings

Cited in Worlds Enough and Time, edited by Gary Westfahl ()

TIME TRAVEL ITINERARY: We haven’t yet mapped out the time travel itinerary.