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The Main Characters
--John Sullivan (James Caviezel) is a cop who discovers his late father’s old ham radio and begins using it. He soon realizes he is communicating with his father 30 years in the past. Together, they try to change history and stop a serial killer.
--Frank Sullivan (Dennis Quaid) is the father of John and while using his ham radio one night realizes he is communicating with his son who is 30 years older in 1999. He is skeptical at first but then believes him when he starts predicting Mets games and saves his life. He helps out his son in stopping the “Nightingale Killer.”
The Setting
New York City, bridged between 1969 and 1999.
The Plot
We begin in 1969, introducing Frank Sullivan of the NYPD. It is October and the Mets are in the midst of their playoff run. We see Frank’s wife (Julia) and her son, John. He comes home and sees the Aurora Borealis over the skies. We flash forward 30 years and John is a grown man. While sifting through his fathers belonging he finds a transistor radio. He turns it on and starts communicating. Of course, they start talking about the Mets and John soon realizes he is talking to a man in 1969 and is further shocked to find out it is his late father.
John is very shocked to say the least. His father has been dead 30 years from a fatal fire he was on the scene for. John himself is a cop and has been plagued by the serial killer that had been terrorizing woman in his neighborhood back in October of ’69. With his father’s help, John tries to stop this criminal and finally solve the case that has never been closed. He will also try to save his father.
Movie Review
This movie was sort of like a mix between a sci-fi/drama movie. The sci-fi is the time travel aspect of John speaking to his father Frank. Other than that, it’s like a mystery film in trying to piece together the clues to solve the Nightingale murders. Once you get past the time travel part of things you find that is a very well done movie. The story is pretty solid and not something you see everyday. I saw the movie something like 6 times in a row when I reviewed this movie, and I didn’t get sick of it. Maybe it has something to do with tying into sports and the Mets and it takes place in Queens where I live. Dennis Quaid and John Caviezel do excellent jobs as the two main protagonists and Shawn Doyle is excellent as the creepy Jack Shephard. The movie flows seamlessly from 1969 to 1999 and it is very parallel. As it happens in 1969, it happens at the same time in 1999. Overall a very excellent movie that keeps the suspense up and continues to the climactic end.
DVD Features
A) Extras
1) Audio Commentaries
There are three Commentaries to Choose From:
---A) Director Gregory Hoblit
Greg starts off right away with some scientific facts about the sun and the solar flares etc. There are some periods of silence but he does explain a lot about the movie. The best is him describing the plot hole of what this murderer did for 30 years and he actually wrote an alternate ending for this. Of course, at the test screenings, the crowd loved it so he knew he wouldn’t be able to change it. He says it may have been a better movie the other way since it would’ve been more honest. He says the way it should’ve happened is this killer dying in 1969 and John hearing the gun shot while the murderer is over John. So he shoots the bullet and as it goes towards it freezes in mid-air then dissolves and the killer’s body starts to disappear as John’s memory starts to change again. So Frank starts talking into the radio and John doesn’t know how to use it. Frank walks in 1999 confused that John is there since it’s been his house. I think they should’ve filmed it as an alternate ending but hey, you can’t go back and change time. He has a many interesting things to say and it is enjoyable commentary, but there were some long droughts of silence included.
---B) Writer Toby Emmerich and Actor Noah Emmerich
I think this may be my favorite track of the three. Toby and Noah have some fantastic stories and Toby is actually a very funny guy. Noah leaves about 3 quarters of the way through and Toby says he is alone talking to himself like most writers do.
---C) 5.1 Isolated Music Track with Commentary by Composer Michael Kamen
Michael Kamen knew he always wanted to be a musician as he tells us in the opening of this commentary. It’s an interesting commentary in that the sound is turned off and the only thing you’ll hear is the musical score, which he tells us about. Also, when the music is playing, he is not speaking. So the bulk of this commentary track was the score of the film (which is very good) and when the score is not playing the film, Michael is talking about the songs he wrote for the film, his other work experiences, etc. It is a very good track to listen to when you’re doing something else (like reading a paper or something) and it is very good background “noise.”
2) Fact & Trivia Track
This is a trivia track that plays at the bottom of the movie giving scientific, historical and trivial facts involved in the story of Frequency.
3) The Science Behind Frequency (37:55)
This is a featurette on the science behind the film. It is broken down into 5 categories that you can select: Solar Science, Ham Radios, Time Travel & Theoretical Physics, Fighting Fires and Creating Natural Phenomena For The Film. You can also choose to Play All. This is actually an excellent documentary full of great information on all the topics. Definitely recommended for a view (or two).
4) Deleted Scenes
There are 4 Deleted Scene
---A) John Talks to Little Gordo (2:14)
This is more with John talking to Gordo (the yahoo scene!)
---B) Toby Emmerich Cameo (:36)
This is a Toby Emmerech cameo. He is in the police station.
---C) Frank & Julia Dance (1:22)
This is pretty self-explanatory. This happens after Frank sings Take me Out to the ballgame to John.
---D) Frank & Shep Confrontation (1:23)
This is more with Shep and Frank at the station. Shep asks how Frank knows and tells him to kill himself or he will kill his family.
5) Theatrical Trailer (2:31)
The trailer plays up the fact that they speak to each other and then touches on them changing the past and John’s mom being murdered.
6) Conceptual & Solar Galleries (2:04)
This is basically a brief look at the opening segment of the film (flying by the sun) showing it in four different stages, the Rough 3-D animation, the animation with lighting, the Complex animation and the final film.
7) Cast & Crew
It’s a listing of the cast and crew with the movies and stuff they’ve been in.
8) DVD Rom Game Demo (:35)
This is a commercial for the game “Ground Control,” which I’ve never heard of.
9) DVD ROM Features
---A) Script to Screen
This is basically a copy of the script, which runs side by the side with the movie so you can read the script as the movie plays.
---B) Original Website
The Frequency website.
---C) Time Capsule
This is a link to a site that doesn’t seem to be active anymore.
---D) Game Demo
You need a key code and clicking on the link to get the key code doesn’t work.
---E) Lord of the Rings Online
Two years before the movie came out, here’s the official website.
B) Audio/Video
The audio is in Dolby Digital with Stereo Surround 5.1. The video is in Widescreen with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. I watched this on a small TV with two small speakers so I can’t mention much about the sound, though it sounded decent during the fire scenes. The video was very good though. There were little signs of compression and it does get very dark in some scenes.
C) Liner Notes
None, it is a snap shut case with the chapter listings on the inside cover.
D) Easter Eggs
None.
Overall Review
Overall, it’s a 3 star movie and a pretty decent DVD. There are 3 commentaries that will keep you busy for a while and they are interesting to listen too. The extras other than that are pretty sparse, but the 30-minute featurette on the science behind Frequency was absolutely spectacular. I would say that this is easily recommended to men, women, and children alike!
Overall Rating
8.0
10.0 Perfect
9.0-9.5 Near Perfect, Highly Recommended
8.0-8.5 Really good disc, Recommended
7.0-7.5 Good DVD, Mildly recommended
6.0-6.5 Above Average DVD. Mildest of mild recommendations
5.0-5.5 Decent all around disc, but catch it on TV
4.0-4.5 Great Movie but horrible DVD
3.0-3.5 Horrible movie but great DVD
2.0-2.5 There’s at least some merit to this DVD, but not much.
1.0-1.5 Horrible DVD, don’t even bother
0.0-0.5 Worst DVD ever
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