Minutemen (film) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Minutemen |
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Film poster
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| Screenplay by | John Killoran Bill Tobin |
| Story by | David Diamond David Weissman |
| Directed by | Lev L. Spiro |
| Starring | Jason Dolley Luke Benward Nicholas Braun Chelsea Staub J. P. Manoux Steven R. McQueen Kara Crane |
| Theme music composer | Nathan Wang |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Douglas Sloan |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Salty Pictures |
| Distributor | Disney-ABC Domestic Television |
| Budget | $5 million |
| Release | |
| Original network | Disney Channel |
| Original release | January 25, 2008 |
Minutemen is a fun science-fiction film from 2008. It was made by Disney Channel as one of their original movies. When it first aired, it was super popular! About 6.48 million people watched it in the United States. This made it the most-watched show on cable TV that week.
The movie was written by John Killoran, David Diamond, and David Weissman. It was directed by Lev L. Spiro, who even got an award nomination for his work on it. The film was first planned for March 2008. But fans were excited, so it premiered earlier, on January 25, 2008.
Story of the Minutemen
The movie starts on the first day of high school. Best friends Virgil, Derek, and Stephanie are trying new things. Derek joins football, and Stephanie tries out for cheerleading. But Virgil's day changes when Charlie Tuttle, a super smart kid, crashes football practice. He's riding a rocket car!
When the football team starts bothering Charlie, Virgil steps in to help. But then both Virgil and Charlie get picked on. They end up dressed like cheerleaders and hung from the school mascot statue. This embarrassing moment makes them outcasts.
Three years later, Virgil and Charlie are still not popular. Charlie tells Virgil he has invented a time machine! They team up with Zeke, a cool "grease junky." They build the time machine and try to buy a winning lottery ticket from the past. But they forget they are too young. A street performer buys the ticket for them. They have to return to the present early. The street performer then wins the lottery with their numbers!
After this, Charlie gets a new idea. They decide to use the time machine to fix embarrassing moments for other students. They wear white snowsuits to protect themselves from the time travel. People start calling them the "Snowsuit Guys." The students see them as heroes. But the principal thinks they are troublemakers. This is because they accidentally break his model of the school.
Soon, the "Snowsuit Guys" notice something strange. The students they helped are changing. Some who were once bullied are now becoming bullies themselves. Charlie then finds out that to make the time machine work, he had to hack into NASA. He stole old files! Charlie warns his friends not to use the machine anymore.
One day, Virgil sees Stephanie with a broken leg. She got hurt cheerleading and lost her college scholarship. Virgil convinces Charlie and Zeke to save her. He accidentally talks to her while in his snowsuit disguise. Later, Derek has a bad loss at the state championship. Stephanie asks Virgil to help him. This brings the old friends back together. Virgil starts spending more time with the popular kids. He begins to ignore Charlie and Zeke.
But then, Stephanie finds out Derek is being dishonest with her. Derek begs Virgil to go back in time to stop Stephanie from finding out. Virgil is unsure because he has started to like Stephanie.
The FBI gets involved because they notice strange activity. Charlie learns that their many trips through time have hurt the space-time continuum. This is like the fabric of time and space. It has created a black hole! They only have a few hours left. The three friends must go into the black hole to close it.
Inside the black hole, they are sent back to their first day of high school. The main part of the time machine was in Charlie's rocket car. Virgil realizes he can change the events that made him unpopular. Charlie tells him that even though Virgil hates this day, it's Charlie's favorite. It's the day he made a true friend. Charlie and Zeke leave Virgil to make his choice. Virgil watches the incident happen again. He sees that Derek did not defend him. Instead, Derek suggested putting lipstick on them to be more popular. Virgil understands now. He reunites with Charlie and Zeke.
The trio races back to the black hole just as it closes. They are then sent back to the day they first used the time machine. At school, no one knows about their heroic actions. Virgil stands up to Derek for his past actions. He also wins Stephanie's heart. The movie ends with Charlie getting a new idea about teleportation. Virgil and Zeke have to drag him away as he talks about his new plan.
Main Characters
- Jason Dolley as Virgil Fox: He becomes an outcast after an embarrassing event.
- Luke Benward as Charlie Tuttle: A super smart kid and outcast. He is Virgil and Zeke's best friend.
- Nicholas Braun as Zeke Thompson: A "bad boy" outcast who becomes Charlie and Virgil's best friend.
- Chelsea Staub as Stephanie Jameson: Virgil's former friend who still cares about him. Virgil has a crush on her.
- J. P. Manoux as Vice Principal Tolkan: The school's vice principal.
- Steven R. McQueen as Derek Beaugard: Virgil's former best friend. He chose popularity over Virgil. Later, he tries to use Virgil's time-traveling for his own gain.
- Kara Crane as Jeanette Pachelewski: A unique girl who likes Charlie.
- Dexter Darden as Chester: An outcast who becomes popular thanks to the "Snowsuit Guys."
- Kellie Cockrell as Jocelyn Lee: A popular girl.
- Molly Jepson as Amy Fox: Virgil's annoying younger sister.
Music from the Movie
The movie featured some cool songs! "Run It Back Again" by Corbin Bleu was the first song released. It came out on January 22, 2008, on Radio Disney Jams, Vol. 10. Its music video also premiered on Disney Channel.
Another song, "Like Whoa" by Aly & AJ, started playing on Disney Channel on January 19, 2008. You could buy this song on their album, Insomniatic.
See also
In Spanish: Minutemen (película) para niños
