Originally Posted by
pablo
Really pleased with the response to The Butterfly Effect. Such a great under-appreciated film (I guess because Kutcher's in it). But it's a really well done sci-fi story.
Well, it's a natural counterpoint to
12 Monkeys. Some fiction posits time as static -- even if you travel around past and future, every tiny event is fated. Directly opposite are stories presuming time is fluid and essentially unpredictable; tiny variations eventually result in drastic change. An equally uncomfortable notion. Films such as
Looper and T2 moderate to some degree of elasticity; the course of events is possible but difficult to alter, thus some measure of control is conceivable. BttF starts outfluid highly fluid but then makes it harder in later chapters for change to cause total catastrophe. Subtly, so as to maintain suspense. Ultimately, though, there's more story in BE than the nerdy premise. They knew they needed a form of destiny to reassert or risk their film being merely formulaic horror. In the director's cut, this involved a controversial gimmick a little too basic and still closely connected to the one idea. I feel the theatrical cut was superior, depicting relatable human experience of inevitability.