Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Beautiful Kylie Travis ('Models Inc.') plays Karen, a hostage negotiator with tragedy in her recent past. Having quit the force, she's traveling through rural Texas when she has car trouble and is then picked up by jovial sleaze bag Frank (James Belushi). When Frank realizes that his wife Rayanne (erotic film star Shannon Whirry) has been unfaithful, he murders her in cold blood. While Karen runs from Frank, she comes across an isolated government complex where lonely young scientist Brian (Frank Whaley) has been conducting time travel experiments. Karen then realizes that here is a situation where she can go back in time and do things over...so she does. The only problem is, she actually makes things WORSE. So she ends up back at the complex, and goes back in time again. And so it goes while she stubbornly tries, each time, to make better decisions.Yeah...this does indeed sound like a serious sci-fi version of "Groundhog Day", much like an an earlier TV movie titled '12:01', starring Jonathan Silverman. But the premise is amusing, and director Louis Morneau actually does a very creditable job at keeping things very taut and compelling. The movie has a breakneck pace to it, a respectable intensity level, and characters about whom we can actually give a damn. Travis is quite good in the central role, while Belushi relishes the opportunity to go over the top in his portrayal of a hair-trigger tempered piece of scum. Whaley is very likable as the scientist, and Whirry earns our sympathies as the timid wife. It's also nice, as it always is, to see M. Emmet Walsh, as he plays cheerful gas station proprietor Sam. Jesse Borrego ("Con Air"), Sherman Howard ("Day of the Dead" '85), and Guy Boyd ("Body Double") co-star."Retroactive" is slickly photographed in Clairmont-Scope by George Mooradian, and has an appropriate sun baked look to it in all outdoor scenes. Special effects are decent and not overdone. I don't know if the script (credited to Michael Hamilton-Wright, Robert Strauss, and Phillip Badger) will bear any close scrutiny, but at least while this thrill ride is still going on, the viewer may not mind too much. It does give in to some clichés (such as characters missing their targets all too often when they shoot, or guns that take forever to run out of ammo), but the action is first-rate, and our protagonist and antagonist do set off some big sparks.Seven out of 10.

It was hard to define my feelings while watching this. But sure they were all negative.Sometimes, it's the most pointless and boring sci-fi movie. Sometimes it's idiot, so outrageously crazy, action thriller. But mostly, it's one of the smartest, most unique, comedies ever made !Whatever what was that exactly; it's wired, yet stupidly wired. Nothing works in a good way. The sci-fi factor is thinly exploited for making pure violent cartoon. The characters are just used fragments not humans. The heroine has nothing to be attached to. (James Belushi) played a sarcastic low-life lunatic undying devil (!!). Yes, his lovable charisma made it kind of bearable but his rampantly loud performance ruled; due to rampantly loud script in the first place !The blank circles are highly comic; for instance I can't hold myself at the line of "we have to go back" !. And truly with all the random killing every time, being in bigger shape every time too; I have never laughed like this since "It's a Mad Mad Mad World". Let alone matters like having a gun with a 70 bullets, a governmental institution for time travel's experiments THAT HAS ONE HUMAN BEING TO WORK IN IT !, etc. The action was hyped in totally the wrong place; that made the movie like a piñata full of explosives or psychopath clown who plays with afire dynamite ! I'm pretty certain that there are plot holes, though I have enough headache to count them for you (sorry, I have just finished the movie !). Strikes me how its makers convinced any sane producer to finance it, or all its cast to do it (a hell of mystery indeed). And it's the top of silliness already when the end expresses something like being a feminist movie !Overall, it might be about don't mess with the time, however the movie itself did mess with the time travel's theme BIG TIME. If it succeeds in anything then it's making you nervous. Save the beauty of (Shannon Whirry), who played (Rayanne), some catchy yet absurd action, and some good yet wasted direction from (Louis Morneau), this is frantic B movie from pedant hell. In another word : "Mindless" wasn't literally, or monstrously, portrayed like this before. To admire this you have to be whether a 12- year-old, a stoned, an alien (the 3 together !), or a searcher of seen-to-be-believed bad movies; where it'll be a cult favorite indeed. Most importantly I think (Retroactive) is a very notable reason for why (Orion) bankrupted one year later (in 1998), according to this movie, they deserved what happened. THEY UTTERLY DESERVED IT ! Although this is worst than any nightmare I have ever seen, but did you see how the kid near the end traveled in time too ? Original moment in the history of comedy !

RETROACTIVE is one of those hidden gem films! A straight-to-video release, it is much better than a high percentage of what Hollywood churns out in theaters! I first saw it on cable years ago when it first came out and was immediately enamored by it. It drew me in from the start. I just love its premise! Really, one of the best time-travel movies you'll ever see. Well plotted, paced, and executed! RETROACTIVE stars uber-hot Australian model Kylie Travis (who does a great job carrying what is essentially an action film) as a Chicago psychiatrist Karen who at the film's start has left her job because 6 of her patients were heinously gunned down in a hostage crisis. Her helplessness has forced her leave for less grisly surroundings. On her way across country, her car breaks down on the desert highway and she is picked up by a bickering couple Frank (James Belushi in the best role he's ever had!) and Rayanne (played with heartbreaking solemnity by Shannon Whirry). It's obvious to Karen that Frank is an abusive boyfriend to Rayanne and in her efforts to save her from him, Frank kills Rayanne and then goes after Karen, who ends up in a super-secret government facility and next thing she knows, it's 20 minutes earlier and she is in the car with Frank and a very much alive Rayanne again!Genius! The plot is so incredibly simple, yet so immediately manipulative! You can't help but want to know what happens next! Turns out the facility is overseen by a brilliant scientist named Brian (solidly played by Frank Whaley), who has discovered time travel. So Karen tries to change the situation so that Rayanne survives and Frank is taken down. Each time she tries and goes back, the situation worsens. RETROACTIVE is one of the best examples of a movie where I have seen the "snowball effect" happen. Each worsening scenario is brilliantly thought out and constructed and unique from the previous one. Just one little change from the previous timeline makes a small difference in terms of immediacy, but a huge difference in terms of the final outcome! The ending is actually satisfying and powerful! RETROACTIVE is a lost gem in the sci-fi/action/time-travel genre...Highly recommended viewing!

I had picked up the DVD at a store not knowing much about the film, and was surprised that the film was as good as it was. I like Belushi. I think he played this part very well. I had never heard of Kylie Travis before, but I thought she was very good in this film. I thought she played the tough woman part well. I like the movies where there's a tough heroine. Like the Alien movies.Of course, it didn't hurt that Kylie's good looking too. The plot was interesting. I won't divulge the rest of the movie, but suffice it to say, if someone likes adventure and science fiction together, this movie might fill the bill. If you find it at your local video store, I would suggest buying it and adding it to your collection.My summary is that it's a better than average film. I recommend it.