Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7214 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-04-23
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 109 minutes

Synopsis
Playing God has its consequences, which is the theme of the tricky time-travel shockfest THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT. J. Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress, who share writing and directing credits, make a splash with a gripping script that never fails to throw twists and loops into the plot. Both thematically and visually, the film is similar to the perfect commercial filmmaking in the team's script for FINAL DESTINATION II.
Here, Evan Trehorn (Ashton Kutcher) is a college student who has suffered from blackouts and memory loss since he was a child. Tormented by deeply repressed childhood memories, he has visions of his best friend and first love Kayleigh (Amy Smart) as a child (Irene Gorovaia) whose Dad (Eric Stoltz) is a child molester, and whose brother Tommy has a serious sadistic streak. In search of greater clarity, Evan pores over his journals and is physically transported back in time where he is still a young boy (John P. Amedori) and has the ability to change what happened. But soon he realises that changing history has caused calamitous results elsewhere. A mesmerising thriller with a dark underlying mystery, THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT is delightfully chilling.

Customer Reviews

WHAT IF THERE IS AN ALTERNATE LIFE OUT THERE FOR YOU?
What if you could go back to major junctions in your life and take the other path? What if there's an alternate life for you somewhere, out there, where the cumulative sum of your choices leads to a better reality, a happier and more fulfilling existence? On the flip-side - what if, at the end of the day, you really can't achieve a solid grip on these things, no matter how hard you try?

A great deal of science fiction works of art have tried to approach these meaningful questions throughout the years, all presenting many philosophical ideas and notions as to how one man can change his own fate, for better or for worse. In this surprisingly good sci-fi adventure from 2004, directors Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber (who are also behind the screenplay of Final Destination 2) raise all these questions once again, but use a different angle this time around. Time travel is not the issue here. Instead, our lead protagonist, Evan Treborn (portrayed by Hollywood prankster Ashton Kutcher - but more on that later) leads his whole life up until his early 20's without knowing he has a rare medical condition that seemingly helps him shut away traumatic incidents that occurred throughout his childhood and adolescence years. All he remembers from these various occasions are bizarre blackouts. But when a blast from his past comes back into his life only to leave it ever so tragically (Kayleigh Miller, portrayed by the lovely Amy Smart who we've since seen in films such as Just Friends and Crank), Evan learns that he can return to those important lost moments in his life and re-inhabit his younger body, thus changing the present and future. However, with every shift in the past comes an alternate present that may seem better at first, but is in fact a far harsher reality than the original one Evan has left.

What truly touched me about this film was the essence in which it captured the troublesome youth of my generation, that was born in the 1980's, grew up in the 1990's, and is ever since trying to adapt to the ever changing reality in which we all live in. Here, one man tries to alter all this, and his own personal journey is parallel in many ways to the journey many young people go through nowadays. Part of capturing this Generation X notion is the pop-culture presented throughout the film. When you see the young actors and actress fall in love, fight, and grow up real fast, it all happens amidst references to films of the period (Se7en, etc.), outfits, 1980's technology and other devices that fill you up with an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia and sentiment, as if you were there yourself, living these events and going through all these horrible/wonderful events.

Above all things, the makers of The Butterfly Effect do the unbelievable and turn Ashton Kutcher into a good actor - a feat I thought was unachievable at best. However, in this sci-fi epic it appears as though anything is possible. Bottom line, it was a fresh breath of air when I saw it, left me pondering for days, and gave me the inspiration and write something myself after a long period of writers block. If a film manages to be this inspirational and keep you on the edge of your seat throughout its 113 minutes duration, all I can do is humbly bow down in front of its makers' talents. I'm eagerly waiting for other outings by these young folks.

Directors cut the ugly brother of the real film
Ok so i saw the theatrical release a while ago and happened to catch this on sky and my god what an awful film the ending is poor and the film isnt as good -im guessing the reason is got bad reviews was because people saw the DC version of it and not the original

From searching for the real version on dvd i found out their are 4 endings but the one your looking for isTHE LEAD KID GOES TO THE PARTY SCARES THE GIRL - BURNS BOOKS- AND THEN SEES HER ON THE STREET"

If youve not seen that ending you havent seen the real film

A disturbing film, almost redeemed by its ending.
Unfortunately this film has very little to commend it. The plot premise - altering the future by changing the past - has been explored many times before but is a powerful one, capable of standing up to fresh treatment if handled with originality and ingenuity. Unhappily this film does neither, simply using the technique as a vehicle for showing us a succession of sordid and disturbing vignettes, with little coherence or internal justification other than a simplistic plot assumption. The direction is adequate, but the plot development, dialogue and acting is mediocre at best. There seems to be little regard for aesthetic awareness, even in the camerawork. The unpleasant ethos of the film is lifted a little by the ending, but unfortunately that itself raises such a huge existential question mark that one is left wondering why they bothered to make the film in the first place.