The Butterfly Effect
| The Butterfly Effect | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Eric Bress J. Mackye Gruber |
| Written by | Eric Bress J. Mackye Gruber |
| Produced by | Ashton Kutcher (executive) Anthony Rhulen Chris Bender J.C. Spink A.J. Dix Toby Emmerich |
| Starring | Ashton Kutcher Amy Smart Melora Walters Elden Henson William Lee Scott John Patrick Amedori Irene Gorovaia Kevin G. Schmidt Jesse James Logan Lerman Sarah Widdows Jake Kaese Cameron Bright Eric Stoltz Callum Keith Rennie Lorena Gale Ethan Suplee Camille Sullivan Tara Wilson Jesse Hutch |
| Cinematography | Matthew F. Leonetti |
| Edited by | Peter Amundson |
| Music by | Michael Suby |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
Release dates | January 23, 2004 |
Running time | Theatrical cut 113 min. Director's Cut 120 min. |
| Country |  |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $13 million |
| Box office | $96,000,000 |
The Butterfly Effect is a 2004 American science fiction thriller film starring Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Eric Stoltz, and others, distributed by New Line Cinema. The title is a reference to the butterfly effect, which theorises that a change in something seemingly innocuous, such as a flap of a butterfly's wings, may have unexpected larger consequences in the future, such as the path a hurricane will travel. The Butterfly Effect is directed and written by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber.
The movie was followed by a largely unrelated direct-to-DVD sequel, The Butterfly Effect 2.
Plot summary
 | This article may be unbalanced toward certain viewpoints. |
Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher), who suffered severe traumas as a boy (Logan Lerman) and a teenager (John Patrick Amedori), blacks out frequently, often at moments of high stress. While searching for an answer to heal his emotional wounds, he finds that when he reads from his adolescent journals, he travels back in time, and is able to essentially "redo" parts of his past, thereby causing the blackouts he experienced as a child. There are consequences to his choices, however, that he then propagates back to the present: his alternate futures vary from frat boy to prisoner to amputee. His efforts are driven by the desire to undo the most traumatic events of his childhood which coincide with his blackouts, including saving his childhood sweetheart Kayleigh (Amy Smart), from being abused by her father.
The actions he takes, and those he enables others to take during his blackouts, change the timeline in the new future wherein he awakes. As he continues to do this, he realizes that even though his intentions are good, the actions he takes have unintended consequences. Moreover, the assimilation of dozens of years' worth of new memories from the various alternate timelines he has caused, are causing him brain damage. Ultimately he decides that his attempts to alter the past end up severely harming those he cares about. He travels back in time once more to the first day he met Kayleigh and warns her to stay away from him, going so far as to threaten her. He succeeds in undoing his childhood as he knew it, and then destroys all his journals so that he's not tempted to bring any of it back. The film ends eight years in the future with a well-dressed Evan leaving an office building and passing Kayleigh on the street, Kayleigh turns around while Evan is still walking, he fails to notice her and carries on walking. Kayleigh carries on walking to her planned destination. Evan turns around and sees Kayleigh from behind, but does nothing.
Alternate endings
The director's cut of the film ends with Evan deciding that his ability to alter the past is causing tremendous harm. He travels back to the day of his birth, and as a fetus strangles himself with his umbilical cord. A voice-over replays his mother's confession that he survived while three children before him did not. This, along with her screams of "Not again!" suggest that the fetuses of the miscarriages before him had the same abilities and ultimately chose the same path he did. The resulting timeline showing his friends and family ultimately happier without him. [1]
Another alternate ending shows Evan and Kayleigh stopping on the street when they cross each other. They introduce themselves and Evan asks her out for coffee. [2]
Yet another ending is similar to the one shown in the film, except that Evan turns and follows Kayleigh after he sees her walking on the street. [3]
Cast
- Ashton Kutcher as Evan Treborn
- Amy Smart as Kayleigh Miller
- Melora Walters as Andrea Treborn
- Elden Henson as Lenny Kagan
- William Lee Scott as Tommy Miller
- John Patrick Amedori as Evan Treborn - 13
- Irene Gorovaia as Kayleigh Miller - 13
- Kevin G. Schmidt as Lenny Kagan - 13
- Jesse James as Tommy Miller - 13
- Logan Lerman as Evan Treborn - 7
- Sarah Widdows as Kayleigh Miller - 7
- Jake Kaese as Lenny Kagan - 7
- Cameron Bright as Tommy Miller - 7
- Eric Stoltz as George Miller
- Kevin Durand as Carlos
- Callum Keith Rennie as Jason Treborn
- Lorena Gale as Mrs. Boswell
- Ethan Suplee as Thumper
- Tara Wilson as Heidi
- Jesse Hutch as Spencer
- Sarah Gruber as Bystander 1
- Paula Shaw as Old Katlyn
DVD release
The DVD was released on July 6, 2004 in the Infinifilm edition. The Infinifilm edition was released with the theatrical cut (113 min.) on one side and the Director's cut (120 min.) on the other.
- Beyond the Movie features:
- Documentaries:
- The Science and Psychology of the Chaos Theory documentary
- The History and Allure of Time Travel documentary
- Fact Track - Trivia Subtitle Track
- All Access Pass features:
- Filmmaker Commentary by directors Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber
- Deleted and alternate scenes
- The Creative Process
- Visual effects
- Storyboard gallery
- Original theatrical trailer
- DVD-ROM features:
- Script-to-Screen (Director's Cut)
- Commentary digest
- Gallery
- Scene medleys
Sequels
The film was released on DVD on October 10, 2006, it was directed by John R. Leonetti and was largely unrelated.
The third installment in the Butterfly Effect series was released by After Dark Films in 2009. This sequel follows the life of a young man who journeys back in time in order to solve the mystery surrounding his high school girlfriend's death. [4]
Awards and nominations
- 2005 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (Saturn Awards)
- Nominated—Best Science Fiction Film
- Won—Pegasus Audience Award — Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber
- Nominated—Choice Movie: Thriller
Reception
According to the aggregate movie site Rotten Tomatoes, the Butterfly Effect garnered mixed to average reviews, with the film receiving a 33% rating classifying it as "Rotten." On Metacritic, it has got a score of 30 (generally negative reviews) out of 100.
The movie, however, was very popular with audiences, grossing around $57 million at the US box office, ($96 million worldwide,) despite the often difficult subject matter and low budget of only around $13 million.[5] Also, the IMDB rated the movie 7.8/10 with over 80,000 users. This movie also holds a 72% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes among the RT community.
References
- ^
Ashton Kutcher (Executive Producer). Directors Cut Ending (YouTube) (DVD). New Line Cinema. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
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Ashton Kutcher (Executive Producer). Happy Ending (YouTube) (DVD). New Line Cinema. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
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Ashton Kutcher (Executive Producer). Another Ending (YouTube) (DVD). New Line Cinema. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
{{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter|date2=ignored (help) - ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1234541/
- ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=butterflyeffect.htm
External links
