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The Butterfly Effect
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The Butterfly Effect (2004) More at IMDbPro »

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The Butterfly Effect (2004) -- TH soon

Overview

User Rating:
7.8/10   87,313 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 1% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Writers (WGA):
J. Mackye Gruber (written by) &
Eric Bress (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Butterfly Effect on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
23 January 2004 (USA) more
Tagline:
Verändere die Zukunft, durch die Vergangenheit (Change the future, through the past.) more
Plot:
A young man blocks out harmful memories of significant events of his life. As he grows up, he finds a way to remember these lost memories and a supernatural way to alter his life. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
1 win & 3 nominations more
User Comments:
Surprisingly a great movie more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for violence, sexual content, language and brief drug use. (also director's cut)
Runtime:
113 min | 120 min (director's cut)
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS
Company:
BenderSpink more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
They only had three of the postboxes to blow up and they only got it right on the third try. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: When Evan first wakes up without arms, you can see small shadows not completely erased on the pillow from his "missing" right arm. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
[reading aloud as he writes a note]
Evan: If anyone finds this, it means my plan didn't work and I'm already dead. But if I can somehow go back to the beginning of all of this, I might be able to save her.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Eagle Eye (2008) more
Soundtrack:
My Elastic Eye more

FAQ

How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
A Note Regarding Spoilers
What is the "Butterfly Effect"?
more
233 out of 281 people found the following comment useful:-
Surprisingly a great movie, 14 November 2004
7/10
Author: christian123

Ashton Kutcher plays Evan Treborn, a troubled man who suffered blackouts as a child. When he discovers a way to travel back into the body of his past self, his time trips start to cause negative results on his present. As he uses his powers to try to fix his past and present, the effect escalates, creating alternate realities, many of which are worse than the past that he is trying to change.

The Butterfly Effect is a terrific thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The previews looked very intense and the whole film is pretty much like that. It held onto the audience right at the start and it didn't let go until the end. The plot is nothing new but the execution was very nice. It offers a bunch of interesting and unpredictable twists so it's hard to see where things are going. The whole film is like that, just one long engaging thrill ride.

The acting is okay, some people did better than others. Ashton Kutcher is surprisingly good as Evan and he does a good job for his first serious movie. Amy Smart is very pretty and talented and she plays Kayleigh perfectly. The only person I didn't really like was Melora Walters. She was pretty wooden and unconvincing. Besides for her, the acting was pretty good and convincing. No one really did a bad job.

This film was directed and written by both Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber. They did make their mistakes but the film is still pretty good. The critics never gave this movie a chance. As soon as they heard Ashton Kutcher was in it, they all prepared to give it thumbs down. The movie moves around a lot that its hard to keep up but it also keeps you paying attention. Plenty of movies have gone back in time before but this one does it so more effectively that its almost original in that sense. The beginning is done well, the middle it starts dragging but it starts picking up and the ending is done extremely well. This is one of the best films of 2004 and certainly an entertaining one. In the end, this underrated gem is worth checking out. Rating 8/10

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Butterfly Effect (2004)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Director's Cut Ending Question (SPOILER) steveb_007
Who ALL LOVED this movie ?? rahul_ssg
Evan in jail, WTF???? alextrevelian
Confused about drawing *spoilers* joonyung90
what happens to evan's alternate self when evan shifts into his body voyagerandsouthpark
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