y the year 4039, Earth was a scarred and desolate battlefield. Hoards of armored robots created by mankind went rogue, intent on bringing the human species to extinction. In a last-ditch attempt to survive, a group of time-travelers journey back to a safer era (in their spaceship city) … until the killer automatons (dubbed the Jendiki) inevitably catch up with them again. This premise, of course, is virtually identical to “The Terminator.”

Sure enough, the opening moments utilize slow-moving, pulse-rifle-firing, devilishly-armored, towering cyborgs mowing down platoons of human soldiers. Unfortunately, the lighting is so dark and obfuscating that it’s difficult to make out the particulars of the action; neutron cannon blasts are exchanged continuously, bodies collapse, explosions detonate, and bland words of encouragement are barked, but it’s unclear who is winning or losing and what each of the warring factions are attempting to accomplish. These futuristic sequences contain sets that look generally decent, but the costumes and armor are noticeably cheap and unoriginal. This goes doubly for the dialogue; no one ever says anything that stands out. “A lot of my people are out there face down in the mud because of what you did.”

In present-day 1988, conspicuously attractive geologist Annie (Nikki Coghill) searches for Storm Valley, where mysterious things occur. “I’d rather be under her than this bloody truck.” Her quest will be linked to the salvation of the future when a 32nd-century military commander (Dean Stockwell) assigns hardened warrior Ballard (Tom Burlinson) and 20th-century-expert Petra (Carrie Fisher) – who have absolutely no respect for one another – to travel back in time for a mission that will shape all of history. “There’s gonna be a battle.” Peculiarly, that life-saving task isn’t properly detailed for such a great stretch of time that the eventual revelations lose all potency; at a certain point, no one will care. “It’s a bit hard to explain.”

With weak special effects, a pitiful score, a hopelessly contrived story, mediocre acting, poor pacing (even for what should have been a rather swift 88-minute runtime), improper casting for characters that never seem to fit in this premise (with an unconvincing romance shoved into its midst), a laughable end-credit song (“This Time I Know” by Angry Anderson), and essentially no unique concepts, “The Time Guardian” is a total Z-grade production. It’s something of a curio due to Fisher’s involvement, just a few years after “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi,” as well as with Brian Hannant’s direction, who co-wrote the screenplay for “The Road Warrior,” but that’s not enough for the end result to be entertaining in the slightest. “You’ve been reading too much science-fiction.”

– Mike Massie