Minutemen (film)

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This article is about the film. For other uses, see Minutemen (disambiguation).

Minutemen is a 2008 adventure-comedy-sci-fi Disney Channel Original Movie. It stars Jason Dolley from Disney Channel Original Series Cory in the House.[1] The movie is written by John Killoran with a story by David Diamond & David Weissman.[2] Lev L. Spiro is set to direct this DCOM. Andrew Gunn, Ann Marie Sanderlin and Doug Sloan are the executive producers.[1] The movie was originally slated for release in March 2008,[3] however, the movie premiered on Disney in U.S. at 8:00 (ETC) on January 25, 2008. [4] The movie premiered on Toon Disney on April 21, 2008 as part of the Toon Disney/Jetix Envirolympics.

Contents

[edit] Plot

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Minutemen tells the story of three high school kids who invent a time machine and decide to use it to spare others from humiliation. Charlie Tuttle (Luke Benward) is the under-aged genius who designed the time machine, Zeke Thompson (Nicholas Braun) is the metal shop "biker guy" who built it, and Virgil Fox (Jason Dolley) is the leader of this trio and just crazy enough to be the person to try it out.

The film starts out on the first day of high school at Summerton High School. Virgil Fox and his best friend, Derek Beaugard (Steven R. McQueen) are talking about what high school holds for them when their friend, Stephanie Jameson (Chelsea Staub) joins them. Later on, Stephanie is trying out for cheerleading, Derek for football and Virgil is joking around with some football players on the football field. Derek seems to be having trouble throwing the football, until a rocket cart comes zooming through the field. Inside it is Charlie, an underage genius who skipped a few grades. He is about 10 or 11 years old. Derek throws a football to try to stop him, and it hits Charlie in the head, so that he falls onto the ground. The coach is impressed by his accuracy. The football players huddle around him and throw him around. Virgil tries to intervene and ends up getting thrown around, too. The football players lift both Virgil and Charlie in the air and carry them off. Virgil calls for Derek’s help, but Derek ignores him. The players carry Virgil and Charlie to the locker room and strip them down and eventually, Virgil and Charlie are hung from the ram statue, both wearing lipstick, hair bands, makeup, other accessories, and cheerleading uniforms. They meet and become friends.

There is a time skip of three years, and it is now their senior year. Virgil and Charlie are best friends now (Charlie is now only about 14 years old), but they are still eating at the “loser table.” Virgil still has a big crush on Stephanie, who has been dating Derek for three years now. Stephanie and Derek are now extremely popular, Stephanie being a smart cheerleader and Derek the star football player. Virgil persuades Charlie to build something useful, like helping Virgil to be rich and popular (He seems to have an obsession.) Charlie then starts work on building a time machine, after using the quantum accelerator from the rocket cart that he built the day of the “Incident”, which is what now they call their first day of high school. Virgil agrees to help Charlie build it, but they still need a "hardware guy" to help with the time machine's mechanics. They come upon Zeke Thompson, a mysterious, oversized, intimidating rebel who works in a metal shop. Together they build the time machine in "Room 77" the school's underground basement chamber. First Virgil tries to get rich by going back in time and trying to buy the winning lottery ticket at a local convenience store (Kemo's Corner Mart). However, when that fails, and they see a fellow student suffering humiliation at the hands of some bullies, Virgil and Charlie come up with a new plan. They use the time machine to go back and help "re-do" other students' embarrassing moments, preventing them from happening. He even names the group "The Minutemen", although most people call them the "Snowsuit Guys" until around the end of the movie.

The three are soon joined by excitable, spunky, bird loving Jeanette (Kara Crane), who has a soft spot for Charlie and calls him by different bird names every time she sees him. Charlie acts like he doesn’t notice whenever Virgil confronts him on the subject, saying that he is “married to science” although he can never seem to talk to Jeanette indicating he likely does have a crush on her. She decides to join the "Back to the Future Fan Club" even though she had never watched the movie ("The Back to the Future Fan Club" is the name they gave the Vice Principal in order to be allowed access to Room 77) and the boys let her in on the secret as they need someone to push the button and work the controls while they're gone. Jeanette also comes up with their trademark matching white snow suits and goggles, both to disguise the Minutemen's true identities, protect them from the cold of time travel, and give them a super-hero appearance. They become heroes around the school, but are only known as the “Snowsuit Guys” and no one knows who they really are.

It is then that Charlie reveals that he hacked and he stole a few files from NASA in order to make the itme machine and they should not use it for a while. Stephanie is accepted to her dream university, but still needs a cheerleading scholarship. She is very excited, but knows she still needs to work hard to impress the scout coming to see her. However, during cheerleading practice, Stephanie is hit by a football kicked by Eugene (A dork who suffered embarrassment)and is knocked from the pyramid dismount, resulting in her breaking her leg. Virgil convinces Charlie to go back in time to save Stephanie from breaking her leg, since that will prevent her from losing her scholarship. They go back in time and as Stephanie is falling from the hackysack that Eugene kicked, Virgil catches her, saying, "Get out!" when she tells him he's amazing, which susbequently causes Stephanie to figure out that Virgil, Charlie and Zeke are the “Snowsuit Guys” and time travelers even though at first she thought it was because they were psychic. Everything is going great, except that the Minutemen notice that they are being watched . Charlie reveals that he stole the missing piece of the time travel’s formula from NASA, although the files were defunct. Also their changes to the timeline are having unexpected results and consequences. For example one of the kids they saved became popular and was inadvertently responsible for Stephanie's fall because of that. Also their trip to change that event caused the Vice Principal (who is determined to catch the "disruptive Snowsuit Guys") who was driving by during cheerleading practice to suddenly brake his car, causing Robot Man (a man painted in silver who moves like a robot, he was formerly a street entertainer until the Minutemen inadvertently caused him to win the lottery amd become rich) to suddenly brake his own car, which causes an older woman on a bicycle to hit him (she is not harmed). Robot Man, who has obviously let his newly acquired money go to his head, sues her. None of this would have happened if there had been no time travel.

Later Virgil, Zeke, Charlie, and Jeanette go to the Football State Championship game, Virgil stating that "some poor kid always embarrasses themself" at games. Suddenly Chester, a former "nerd" who became mean and a bully after the Minutemen saved him from embarrassment runs along the sidelines only in his underwear (as a stunt), which distracts the quarterback, Derek, and causes him to get tackled, and lose the game. Later Stephanie tells Derek about the time machine and Virgil goes back in time to save the game for Derek by preventing Chester from entering the pitch, Virgil had taken the tape of Derek losing with him in the future to watch even though Derek had won after the time travelling. After the victory game Derek invites Virgil to a party. Virgil was supposed to hang out with Charlie and watch the top ten hailstorms on the weather channel, but he goes to the party instead. He forgets to call Charlie and he later (being Derek's neighbor) sees Virgil through Derek's window and is angry and hurt by the fact that Virgil has ditched him for the popular kids.

Time passes and Virgil, Charlie, and Zeke grow further apart. Finally Virgil apologizes to Charlie but Stephanie calls at the same time. Virgil puts him on hold and goes over to Stephanie's house. Once there he finds out from a distraught Stephanie that she saw Derek kissing Jocelyn (another popular girl who is generically pretty, shallow and mean-spirited; she had caught Derek's eye earlier on, as she was his French tutor). Derek calls her and Stephanie breaks up with him.

Charlie later finds out that by time traveling so much, they created a black hole. He confesses to the FBI and tells them about the black hole. Meanwhile, Virgil is taking Stephanie to their school’s dance (which has a '50s theme), as friends. Derek confronts Virgil saying they should go back in time to stop Stephanie from finding out about him and Jocelyn. Virgil reluctantly agrees and when the winners are announced, they find out that Stephanie and Virgil have been voted the King and Queen of the dance. Before they can finish their dance, Derek whisks Virgil away so he can time travel just as he was about to kiss Stephanie. Thinking Derek was angry about Virgil bringing Stephanie and that they would fight, most of the people follow them, including Zeke and his two unnamed admirerers. Charlie and Jeanette also come to the dance. They follow Virgil and Derek. Charlie finally tells Virgil and Zeke about the black hole and that they have less than an hour until the end of the world. Charlie tells them that the only possible way to save the world is to go inside the hole and close it from the other end.

On their way to the black hole, Jeanette kisses Charlie, who in return is shocked and doesn’t move (Zeke has to carry him outside). They also don't wear their hood and goggles and everyone now knows who they are and cheers them on. Stephanie wishes them good luck and Virgil's little sister Amy asks him if she can have his room when he dies, indicating she doesn't think he's coming back. They go into the black hole and land in a park across town. They start the procedure to close the black hole, but Virgil realizes that the hole had deposited them on their first day of high school, the day of the “Incident”. Virgil runs to the school, hoping to stop himself from standing up for Charlie three years earlier, which led to his becoming unpopular. Zeke tries to stop him, but fails. Charlie then tells Virgil that the day of the Incident meant a lot to him, because it was the day that he and Virgil became friends. After Zeke tells him that if it is the end of them knowing each other, that it was "a good ride". He and Zeke head off leaving Virgil to decide between his two best friends now, with whom he is unpopular, or his two best friends in the past, with whom he'd be extremely popular. Virgil initially goes to stop what happened in the past against Charlie's wishes, but he learns that Derek (who claimed to have tried to stick up for him) actually came up with the idea to smear lipstick over them and was encouraging the football players. He reunites with Charlie and Zeke having realized they are his real friends, and they begin running to catch the black hole, knowing if they don't, they would be stuck in that time period and would have to repeat the last 3 years of high school, a consequence they don't want to take.

The vortex starts to close so Virgil grabs Charlie's rocket cart, Virgil drives them there but misses their turning so Zeke finally puts his hook to use and ties it around the pole which turns them round and into the right direction which ends with the three racing back to the black hole and drive through it just as it finally closes. They make it through, but the rocket cart is destroyed in the black hole during the trip. They actually end up back on the day when Charlie, Virgil, and Zeke first tried out the time machine. They go to the library, where Jeanette shows up and compliments their suits. Charlie is so happy to see her that he grabs her and kisses her, forgetting that she hasn't kissed him yet. This seems to freak her out, but as she leaves she secretly smiles, with Charlie embarrassedly trying to explain. After Derek and Stephanie's first fight about Jocelyn, Virgil confronts Derek and permanently ends their friendship. He then goes to Stephanie to confess his feelings for her, which she returns positively. Charlie then comes up with an idea for teleportation and Virgil and Zeke drag him away, Charlie still sqealing, trying to convince him not to start another mess again (hinting there may be a sequel).

[edit] Paradox

If the climax is to be interpreted correctly, the Minutemen didn't time travel at all when they were supposed to. However, due to this, this means the black hole shouldn't have been created at all. If the black hole was never created, the Minutemen never went back to stop themselves from time traveling. But if they didn't stop themselves, the events would've taken place anyway. This causes an never-ending paradox that was never explained.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Notes

  • The first day of Virgil's freshman year, and where the story starts was September 3, 2005, and later in the movie takes place three years later, revealing that the primary portion of the film takes place in 2008.

[edit] Back to the Future allusions

  • Albert Felinestein (Charlie's cat) becomes the world's first time traveler, and his clock is one minute wrong when returning, alluding to how Doc Brown's dog, was in the exact same situation.
  • The club Virgil, Charlie and Zeke created to get a place to build the time machine in is named the "Back to the Future Fan Club".

[edit] Production

Disney Channel first released an official press via its press release website DisneyChannelMedianet.com on July 14, 2007 to confirm the production of Minutemen. The lead star, plot, writers, director and executive producers of this movie was also announced in this press. In addition, another 2008 DCOM named Camp Rock scheduled to begin production in August 2007 was also confirmed in the same press.[1]

[edit] Location

Minutemen was filmed at Murray High School in Murray, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City.[5] The Disney Channel Original Movie Read It and Weep was also filmed at Murray High, which is coincidentally another movie featuring Jason Dolley. The football field scenes were filmed at Highland High School located in Sugar House, also a neighborhood of Salt Lake City. Stephanie's room and balcony was also the house used in High School Musical as Gabriella's room and balcony.

[edit] Goofs

  • The first day of Virgil's freshman year, the opening scene of the film, was September 3, 2005, a Saturday.

[edit] Continuity errors

  • When the Minutemen travel back in time to help Chester, a wanted sign for the "snowsuit guys" can be seen in the hallways even though they were not known of until they broke Vice Principal Tolkan's diorama.

[edit] Featured music

The first single of the movie, "Run It Back Again" by Corbin Bleu has been released and the music video can currently be seen on Disney Channel. The song was released January 22, 2008 on the album, Radio Disney: Jams 10, as part of the series. Another single from the movie began airing January 19, 2008 around the world, as a music video on Disney Channel, titled "Like Whoa" from Aly & AJ. The song can be purchased on their newest album, Insomniatic. These songs are viewed as a tie-in with the plot of the movie and contain lyrics pertaining to the movie as a whole.

[edit] International

Premiered in the UK on 25th February 2008 at 6pm on Disney Channel UK Premiered in Australia on 12th April 2008 at 6:30pm on Disney Channel Australia Premiered in Asia on 20th April 2008 at 7:30pm (Singapore Time) on Disney Channel Asia Premiered in Japan on 23rd May 2008 at 8:00pm on Disney Channel Japan Premiered in Poland on 29rd February 2008 at 7:00pm on Disney Channel Poland

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Disney Channel Medianet Press (2007-07-14). "Production Begins on "Minutemen" and "Camp Rock", Disney Channel Original Movies for 2008". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-07-19.
  2. ^ "McQueen on clock for Dis' 'Minutemen'", Hollywood Reporter, 2007-12-06. Retrieved on 2007-12-11. 
  3. ^ 'Cory in the House' Actor Leads New Disney Movie
  4. ^ [1]It premiered with 6.48 million viewers.
  5. ^ Minutemen (2008). Disney Fan Club (2007-12-10). Retrieved on 2008-12-29.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Twitches Too		 Disney Channel Original Movies Succeeded by
Camp Rock