...they not actually met up in '99.
Somehow pops was already diagnosed as having terminal cancer due to his smoking so they knew he'd never survive until '99.
So pops and son, right before the Aurora disappears and they lose contact, say their final goodbyes and regrets of not being able to see each other one last time. Next they softly cry with no words left to speak.
Roll credits while millions of viewers dash for tissues.
I actually thought it was a good idea to have him quit smoking in order to survive to 1999. But whenever you have a time travel scenario a ton of contradictions come into play. For instance, wouldn't Dennis Quaid (Frank) have told Jim Caviezel (John) about the communication sometime between '69 & '99? So then it wouldn't have been a surprise at all when they first communicate on the radio. Of course the "many worlds" theory takes care of a lot of these inconsistencies.
But my main criticism of this film is, even though it's a very interesting idea they ruined the script by injecting the serial killer element into it. Then it became this ridiculous film about finding a killer.
Another thing that ruined it was when they were talking about life in '99 vs. '69 it was very abbreviated...they devoted like a minute to it. Remember they said: "how did Apollo turn out" and didn't even wait for a response. And they talk about a cellphone...and that was pretty much it. An extended conversation about those type of things would have made it very interesting...but they chose the serial killer cliche instead.
Last night I rewatched the first for the first time since its original release. It was basically like watching it for the first time, because I remembered nothing about it and when it turned out to be about catching a serial killer I was pretty surprised.
There's a definite story and tonal change when this shift occurs, as the first act of the film really feels like it's setting you up for a different movie. I'm not going to agree that this "ruined the script" or that it "became this ridiculous film," but I think I would've preferred that it remain the more heartwarming, family type of film that it seems to be early on.
You do realize this wouldn't go down well with the general American audience, especially families with kids. Even the movie execs would have told them to change the script to a happy ending.
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