'Idaho Transfer' Review | shameface.com

Idaho Transfer is a strangely enjoyable science fiction film from the early 70's directed by none other than Peter Fonda. I say strangely enjoyable because the film is so plagued with problems that one would expect nothing of interest could come out of it. The movie somehow manages to narrowly dodge the "good idea, ruined in execution" category and really does make you think. That's not to say Idaho Transfer isn't held back by these problems; had this film had a larger budget and more support it may have made a name for itself.

The story begins in the mid seventies, where a group of scientists have somehow discovered that a terrible catastrophe is about to destroy society as we know it. The scientists create time travel machines in order to repopulate the future earth. There's just one catch: time travel is fatal for anyone over 28.

The movie spends very little time explaining this, and instead follows the adventures of the specially selected youth who are sent to the year 2044 in order to save the human race. For a time they are able to move between past and future, but some unknown event cuts off the link and they become stuck in 2044. They explore what's left of the United States and search for survivors. Unfortunately for the human race all the time travel has made the entire group sterile, so they can't repopulate the earth. There's a couple of other quirks about time travel too. Seems you can't head to the future with any pants on. Glasses are also a bad idea. Something about the metal.

Idaho Transfer is at times truly bizarre. We spend a good ten to fifteen minutes being introduced to a girl who seems to be the main character. Her and a friend jump into the future where they observe wildlife. The main character then falls and hits her head, but remains conscious. The friend, Karen, helps her injured companion back to the present where she abruptly dies. The movie from that point on focuses on Karen, and never once references the other girl again. Her death doesn't seem to phase anyone though, as the project goes on as normal. As an interesting side note, the scientists who engineered the program are never shown, with the exception of "Louis", the most unprofessional looking scientist I've ever seen.

The movie is also very weak in the areas of dialogue and acting. Here's a sample conversation: "Did you get into any love affairs at the clinic?" "No." "Still a virgin?" "I thought they told you about that; I got raped. Couple weeks ago." That is, strangely, the most casual conversation of the whole movie. The acting throughout is rather weak, but that's to be expected when you consider these are young actors working on an ultra-low budget sci-fi film in the early seventies. With the possible exception of Keith Carradine, none of the actors in this film have seen any success. The actress who plays Karen, Kelly Bohanon, had only one other role: an extra in the 1971 film The Christian Licorice Store.

I might consider cutting this movie some slack on it's lackluster special effects, but it has virtually no special effects. The time travel sequences consist of the characters violently vibrating as the fade out of the room. The effect is shown at most three or four times, and isn't worth whatever money was spent on it. Props and locations are equally disappointing. The most expensive stunt in the movie was probably the destruction of a scientific calculator. Locations consist of one empty lab and some bare land in what is presumably the Pacific Northwest.

With all these shortcomings, it's easy to see why this movie has been almost completely ignored since it's release. Yet I somehow found Idaho Transfer strangely compelling. The underlying story is unique and original, and the film's surprise conclusion is a great end to the story. (I won't spoil it for you here, but if you want to know the ending check out this Wikipedia article.) While I can't say I completely understand this movie, I did enjoy what I did understand.

Contributing to Idaho Transfer's obscurity, the distributor went bankrupt just a few weeks into the film's theatrical debut. This prevented any sort of wide theatrical run, and the movie wasn't released to video for many years. Even today finding a copy on VHS or DVD can be difficult. Amazon sells a DVD for about $15, and the film is also available as part of a four-pack of time travel movies, and a larger 20-pack of sci-fi movies. It's not readily available at most video stores, however.

If you get the chance, Idaho Transfer is certainly worth a rental. It's far from perfect, but the originality and ingenuity here save the movie from being a complete waste of time. Plus, you'll be able to say you've seen something that few others have. Our final verdict:

Stats & Info
Rating: Rated PG
Rarity: Rare
Genre: Sci-Fi
Released: 1973
Country of Origin: USA
Video: Color
Audio: English
Plot: Teens are sent into the future to repopulate the earth after a devastating catastrophe.
How Bad Is It? - Bad acting and dialogue, sparse locations, slow pace, casual conversations about rape, pants ruin time travel.