Has anyone seen "Norman’s Awesome Experience?"
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This 1988 “Bill & Ted” like film was directed by Paul Donovan and has Brian Downey in it: [url=http://www.interlog.com/~mimyandy/time_travel/m_reviews/switch_in_time.html]http://www.interlog.com/~mimyandy/time_travel/m_reviews/switch_in_time.html[/url]
Doesn’t look like it’s available on VHS or DVD, just wondering if it’s any good. [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
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“Norman’s adventure begins when the voluptuous model Erica talks him into letting her do a photo shoot in the lab he works in. When someone hits the wrong button, Norman, Erica and her photographer are hurled back in time to the height of the Roman empire.”
Sounds familiar. [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
Excellent!
Norman’s Awesome Experience, also known as A Switch in Time, also known as Normanicus.
Written and directed by Paul Donovan, 2nd unit DOP, Les Krizsan, Brian Downey as Dr. Noblemeyer, supporting character.
Shot in Argentina in November, the film was located there for cost effectiveness. The script called for 150 horses, roman centurions, etc. Horses could be had for five dollars a day, the Argentine army could be hired on as extras and it was cheap in almost every way.
Problems started almost from the beginning. Roman costumes shipped by boat from Italy never arrived, although the principal costumes showed up via air. The costume department literally had to sew hundreds of costumes overnight with no budget and no materials. Sandals were out, everyone went barefoot.
Brian Downey recalls that theft was chronic.
Also, the production was shaken down by the Argentine mafia.The town, located near the Chilean border, had been in the neighborhood of a volcanic eruption. The entire area was covered in a fine sooty ash, that would squeeze up between your toes. Soot dirt was omnipresent, clouds got kicked up by walking. People looked like they were working in a coal mine.
In December/January the production ran out of money. There was a week’s hiatus while the backers were located and new financing arranged.
In the end, the backers were unhappy with the footage. A new director was hired, actors were brought from Argentina, more shooting took place. Donovan almost took his name off.
In the end, no one was happy with the completed work. Not Donovan, not the new Director, and not the backers.
The film went to a distributor. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure was a hit movie. As a result, the film, originally titled Normanicus, and then A Switch in Time,
was titled Norman’s Awesome Adventure to capitalize on that.Unfortunately, it was a fairly straight
Campbell style science fiction story, with
a less overt sense of humour than Bill and Ted fans would like.
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