A Sound of Thunder

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A Sound of Thunder

PG-13

2005

1h 41m

Sci-Fi

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

6%

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94 Reviews

18%

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25,000+ Ratings

In the year 2055, greedy entrepreneur Charles Hatton makes a fortune with his company, Time Safari Inc., which allows millionaires to travel back to the prehistoric era to hunt dinosaurs. Strict regulations are in place so that the present is not altered. But, during one time-travel safari, a hunter steps on a butterfly and unleashes a drastic ripple effect through time. Now researcher Dr. Travis Ryer must travel back to prevent the source of the disruption.

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Critics Consensus

Choppy logic and uneven performances are overshadowed by not-so-special effects that makes the suspension of disbelief a nearly impossible task.

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Helen O'Hara

Empire Magazine

Sep 2, 2006

2/5

Good idea unsuccessfully realised with Ed Burns doing his best.

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Tasha Robinson

AV Club

Sep 26, 2005

At the risk of making an overly broad and limiting generalization, it's generally wise to make sure an action movie's plot has actually kicked into gear by the time the first hour has elapsed.

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Marc Savlov

Austin Chronicle

Sep 24, 2005

0/5

It's somehow refreshing to know that the spirit, if not the flesh, of Edward D. Wood Jr. lives on.

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Dorothy Woodend

The Tyee (British Columbia)

Aug 24, 2017

This film deserves a gold plaque in the plague of summer stink bombs. . .

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Steve Biodrowski

Cinefantastique

May 12, 2009

Based on the Ray Bradbury short story of the same name, this is a colassal disapopintment - unworthy of the memorable source material.

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Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

Apr 29, 2009

The special effects are on par with a basic film you'd see about a giant squid on the Sci-Fi Channel, and the story is just as boring.

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Drew C

@RT84931406 1 day ago

Cheesy but the story is brilliant I’m a sucker for anything time travel! I love this movie the early CGI MAKES IT EVEN BETTER!

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Robert P

@Superbad Sep 17, 2026

Sound of Thunder = a *1* star Movie

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Chuck A

@RT20597543 Aug 18, 2026

In case you didn't know, this movie is adapted from a short story of the same name by the great Ray Bradbury. Bradbury reportedly was pretty happy with the film, which surprises me, because it's a real dog. While it started off rather promisingly, by the second half it had degenerated into a ridiculous creature feature. The otherwise talented director, Peter Hyams, reportedly had a budget of only $30 million to work with, and it shows. Primitive CGI, unconvicing miniatures, and very bad use of "greenscreen" all contributed to my inability to take the movie seriously.

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Freddy C

@Freddy1910 May 2, 2026

Tem uma trama basica e por um momento aparentemente inevitavel mesmo com atores medianos temos uma boa equipe e um bom elenco. Os efeitos são o ponto mais detestavel do filme provavelmente por falta de recursos financeiros. Acredito que um remake com um grande investimento pode gerar uma franquia e tanto

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John C.

@RT34612521 Dec 11, 2025

Poorly executed attempt at a classic Bradbury story. Well, on second thought, Bradbury's story was... executed.

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Author W.A. S

@RT04138528 Sep 14, 2025

This is supposed to be based on the Ray Bradbury story of the same name. Bradbury is one of my all-time favorite writers and the reason I started writing speculative fiction, so I am truly upset. Like the movie The Box, there are lots of extraneous scenes and characters. Just added so they could get their one hour and forty-five minutes in. Read the short story, or go to Amazon and look up the Ray Bradbury Theater series and see it there. And the poor special effects. You can tell the characters are in a studio with a green screen. It seems that they are moving in place to look like they're walking down the streets of Chicago (I think that's where it takes place). The only reason why I found this was because I was looking to see where I could read the short story and this came up. Some of the twists were OK but the rest of it just goes into cliche' end of the world science-fiction.

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Peter Hyams

Director

Edward Burns

Travis Ryer

Catherine McCormack

Sonia Rand

Ben Kingsley

Charles Hatton

David Oyelowo

Tech Officer Payne

Wilfried Hochholdinger

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Synopsis

In the year 2055, greedy entrepreneur Charles Hatton makes a fortune with his company, Time Safari Inc., which allows millionaires to travel back to the prehistoric era to hunt dinosaurs. Strict regulations are in place so that the present is not altered. But, during one time-travel safari, a hunter steps on a butterfly and unleashes a drastic ripple effect through time. Now researcher Dr. Travis Ryer must travel back to prevent the source of the disruption.

Director: Peter Hyams
Producer: Howard Baldwin, Moshe Diamant, Elie Samaha, Phil Anchutz
Screenwriter: Thomas Dean Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, Gregory Poirier, Clement Enlatarne
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Dante Entertainment, Forge, Franchise Pictures, Warner Brothers, Crusader Entertainment LLC
Rating: PG-13 (Partial Nudity|Language|Sci-Fi Violence)
Genre: Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 2, 2005, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 24, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.9M
Runtime: 1h 41m
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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