As I mentioned in my recent review of Time After Time, the author
H.G. Wells was prescient, able even a century ago to predict social
trends and technologies we now take for granted. Apparently, he was
also able to predict the plotlines for sci-fi movies. Little more than
one hundred years ago, he wrote a short story named "The New
Accelerator." The protagonist was described as having invented a
chemical compound that, when ingested, would accelerate mental and
physical activity by a factor of a thousand or more. From the user's
point-of-view, he could move about a world that was virtually standing
still. Wells explored that premise, making clear just how dangerous
such a drug might be. Wells realized that air would become almost
fluid-like to the accelerated person - you've experience that when you
stuck your hand into the air-stream from a speeding car. He suggested
that if such a user ran fast enough, his clothing might catch on fire
due to atmospheric friction. And don't bump into that bumblebee at a
thousand miles per hour. Momentum still applies; it would be like
being shot. In director Jonathan Frakes' film, no such intriguing
physical limitations impede the wearers of watch-like mechanisms that
act as Clockstoppers.
Dr. Earl Dopler (French Stewart),
a brilliant student of advanced physics, who was taught by the even
more brilliant physics professor Dr. George Gibbs (Robin Thomas), has
invented a mechanism that places the wearer in hypertime. The wearer
experiences life at a greatly accelerated rate while all around, life
and objects appear to function in extreme slow motion. But there's a
flaw. In the wearer's frame of reference, the aging process continues
normally - just like in relativity's frames of reference - stay in
hypertime for one or two of our hours and the wearer might age three
years. An anti-aging subsystem is needed, and Dopler - threatened and
held captive to finish that aspect of the design - sends his technical
notes and a sample of the invention to his old mentor, Dr. George
Gibbs, requesting his help. Gibbs has a teenage son, Zak
(Jesse Bradford), the quintessential artful e-Bay auctioneer.
Constantly scrounging for items to sell on the Net to finance his
first car, he stumbles upon the hypertime device, mistakes it for a
watch, and straps it on. But Zak and his father don't have a close
relationship; the father is so caught up in his science that he rarely
connects. The hypertime machine is about to change that. When Gates
discovers that Gibbs had been sent a sample of the invention, the good
professor is kidnapped to complete the anti-aging work. His incentive?
Failure to cooperate will doom his son. With hypertime as an ally, Zak
and Francesca will team up to try to save Dr. Gibbs and defeat the
evil Gates.
Clockstoppers is energetic, sports great
special effects, but doesn't quite know who it's entertaining. The
movie is a Nickelodeon production, but unlike other similar films
targeted for all ages - like Spy Kids - there doesn't seem to
be any whimsy directed at the adults in the audience. It isn't
sophisticated enough for teenagers, so that leaves preadolescents and
children; but, the threats of death and the harrowing car chases
earned the film a PG rating. One cannot fault the performances, or
Jonathan Frakes' direction (he gives himself a little satirical
tribute, having one of the characters say, "Make it so, Number
One") with the exception of a DJ contest that stops the film cold
and doesn't propel the story forward. Unfortunately, the movie simply
becomes an opportunity missed; dealing with the physical reality of an
accelerated state and a slightly more sophisticated plot could have
elevated the material to appeal to all ages. 
Video: How
Does The Disc Look?
The film's theatrical aspect ratio of
1.85:1 is presented in anamorphic video opened up to the 1.78:1 frame.
This is a great-looking transfer that has some visible edge halos,
which don't seem to adversely affect small object details and
textures. Colors are accurate and vivid. Flesh tones are very natural
and the primary colors worn by several of the characters neither smear
nor show chroma noise. Nighttime scenes have fine shadow detail. I
noticed no instances of mosquito noise or blocking.
Audio:
How Does The Disc Sound?
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is
great. The surrounds are used very aggressively, enveloping the viewer
in a sea of sound. Deep bass is present, and may be felt as well as
heard. Sound effects are reproduced with authority and little
compression. The music is composed essentially of source tracks, and
for what its worth, they seem to be reproduced well. Dialog remains
crystal clear throughout. EX decoding of this non-EX mix will enhance
the surround experience, creating a more stable and believable sound
field. 
English and French tracks are offered in Dolby Surround
2.0, along with English subtitles and English Closed Captions.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
Paramount Home
Entertainment has included a full screen featurette The Making of
Clockstoppers (10:37), which gives away entirely too much
of the plot and some of the jokes, so save it for after the film. In
addition to the usual self-congratulatory comments by cast and crew,
we're given a nice demonstration of how some of the effects shots were
done. CGI, green-screen, bullet-time still-camera arrays, and wirework
are featured, and we're also given a glimpse of Jonathan Frakes
directing his cast. The short featurette is a cut above the usual
fluff piece. 
The 1.85:1 theatrical trailer is shown in
non-anamorphic widescreen. In addition to the theatrical trailer, we
have four thirty-second Promotional Spots, which may be played
individually or sequentially. There are two music videos:
"Holiday in my Head" by Smash Mouth; and, "It's The
Weekend" by Lil' J. There are sixteen chapter stops.
I
must mention that not only has Paramount locked out our ability to
skip over the unavoidable copyright warnings we know so well, we
cannot even skip the new studio trend of stating for the record that
any comments made by the players or the filmmakers are not the views
of the studio. These silly declarations have been showing up on more
and more DVDs. I wonder what brilliant studio attorney came up with
that one?
DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop
the disc in your PC?
Despite the kid-friendly nature of the
material, oddly no ROM extras are included.
Parting
Thoughts
I'm left to assume that Clockstoppers might
amuse youngsters, so be cautious before you purchase this disc for an
adult audience. The transfer is quite nice, the sound is impressive,
the supplements are a bit thin, and the price is a tad high. Proceed
with caution.
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