After the death of his wife and son Dr. Scott McKenzie (William Devane) is still teaching as a college professor. His extra time is spent practicing his fast draw and collection items from the old west. One day he attends an auction of Wild West memorabilia with his friend General Joe Brodsky (John Ratzenberger). They purchase two old trunks, one of leather and one of tin. Scott takes the leather trunk. Inside are several items and some old tin types from 1886. One tin type is of three men in coffins that were killed by a gunman. At the edge of the tin type is a man holding a .357 magnum that was not invented until the 1980s. Scott does some investigating. The tin type is real.
As a history professor the incongruity intrigues him. He writes a paper about the man in the picture being a time traveler. After giving the paper to his students to read Scott is approached by a woman named Georgia Crawford (Lauren Hutton) about his thesis. She says she is working on a similar theory. Together they find that the picture was taken in a town called Crossfire. They go there to check out the spot.
Georgia is a time traveler on the trail of Dr. Joseph Cole (Klaus Kinski). At Crossfire Georgia secretly goes back to 1886 to try to pick up Cole’s trail. She finds out that he headed off to a nearby river. At the river she finds signs that Cole was there but she doesn’t see him. Cole sees Georgia and knows she is after him. Before he can kill her she takes off back to Crossfire where she once again goes to 1986. Cole follows Georgia to 1986. Cole sees Georgia with Scott. He tracks down Scott’s address and finds out that Joe was researching events in 1886 for Scott. Cole wants this information to pinpoint where in time he has to be to put his plan into action.
Eventually Georgia admits to Scott that the man in the tintype is actually Dr. Joseph Cole. She tells him that she and Cole are from the 26th century. She tells him that her father, Doctor Crawford (John Considine) and Cole invented a time machine. Cole became unhinged and stole the control crystal that operates the time travel technology. Her father made another crystal for Georgia to go after him and stop him. He has gone back in time but for what purpose she is still trying to figure out. She knows he wants to change history but how is the question.
Through research Scott and Georgia figure out that in 1886 a band of outlaws attacked a stagecoach thinking it had gold. Instead the stage was transporting then President Grover Cleveland (A.J. Freeman). One of the escorts for the president was Georgia’s ancestor Matthew Crawford (John Considine). An old song about the event says that the bandits were stopped by a mysterious “Star-Handled Stranger”. Scott and Georgia believe that Cole is out to find and kill the stranger of the song so that the bandits will not be hampered when they attack the stage coach. Killing Crawford’s ancestor will ensure that Dr. Crawford, in the 26th century, is never born. Cole will then be free to exploit time travel for his own benefit.
“Timestalkers” was released in 1987 and was directed by Michael Schultz. It is a science fiction made for Television movie for CBS. It is also part of the sub-genre called weird west. The film is based on the novel “Tintype” by Ray Brown.
The story is a twisting tale that wanders back and forth from the twentieth century, the nineteenth century and the twenty-sixth century but the way the story is presented it’s not that hard to follow. In fact the back and forth style of relating the tale keeps the action going and keeps you interested in what is going on. The premise may be a bit of a stretch but, again, the way the story is laid out makes it just an interesting and entertaining movie.
If you like time travel stories this is a fun one. You don’t get bogged down with a lesson in physics or an involved explanation of how the time travel devise works. Everything is concentrated on the story itself. The story is told well and the acting is good. It’s an enjoyable narrative that gives you a new spin on the old west yarn.
Forrest Tucker, who plays Texas John Cody, died before the movie aired.