MovieChat Forums > Timeline (2003) Discussion > I have a Question about Decker

I have a Question about Decker

posted 16 years ago by lydocaine
5 replies | jump to latest

I hope someone can clear something up for me. can someone clarify this for me ?
From what i understand, Decker (Martin Csokas) is the scientist who got "stuck" back there and became Lord Oliver's pal. But is that the same guy who appears in the opening scene: returning through time, stumbling out onto the desert highway dressed in Meideval clothing ? That guy goes to the hospital and dies, {presumably of "time-travel reaseembly} Or is that "dead guy" one of the other scientists ?

And aside from that, what was it exactly that Decker did back there that irked Doniger ?? It must have been something bad because, just before the group travels, Doniger [d
Davis Thewis] menacingly tells Gordon [neal McDonough] "and if you see Decker back there.....you know what to do"

can someone e-mail me the answer ?

thanx

[–] borstel-1 16 years ago

The guy in the desert was Taub. Have you read the book? The explination was something like this: Remember the damage Taub (dead guy in begining) had? Ateries not lined up, spine, etc.? That was physical damage. Decker had mental damage... they said he'd become violent and (I think) killed someone. That was supposed to be his last trip. He stayed because either:

A) He didn't want to be caught by police who would arrest him and put him in jail, or
B) The ITC people didn't want the police to get thier hands on Doninger and (maybe) figure out why he had mental issues.

Personally I'm inclined to think A, because it makes more sense (to me), but that creates the plot hole of... Why does he want to come back so badly?, so in terms of what best fits the plot I'll say B, because it also explains his hatred of archeological team-- they were going back, ITC cared about them.

Hope this helped!

[–] ye_river_xiv 16 years ago

umm... that's about right.

In the first scenes of the movie, you see a guy dressed as a priest being chased down by a guy dressed as a knight. The guy dressed as a priest is "Vincent Taub." Gordon mentions this when he picks up the guy's belongings and such. Taub, by the way is slashed in the guy by Decker, who is the guy dressed as a knight. He'd have died either way, back or not.
So, the dead guy is Taub, not Decker.

What did Decker do? Well, he definitely killed Taub. Apparently he also had a lot to do with the capture of the professor... and later on, he shows an uncanny knack for showing up to viciously attack other groups of time travelers soon after they arrive, something he may have been doing for quite some time. It's pretty clear that Decker has been interfering with Donninger's time travel plans, at least where Taub and the professor are concerned, and probably in other ways as well, judging by how good he's gotten at it.

During the scene with the guys tied to the cart, Decker mentions having gotten some sort of time travel damage, which is bad enough that he is reluctant to go back. The professor tries to convince him otherwise, but it isn't until he's already dying in the final battle scenes that he tries to go back again, because, after all, he's going to die anyway.

[–] mpoconnor7 15 years ago

As I understood it, Taub had been sent back to kill Decker and wound up getting killed by Decker himself.

[–] techlite17-1 9 years ago

In the book Decker/Deckard was a Marine they'd hired to travel and observe. ITC didn't know that traveling caused accumulated damage and it started affecting him, making him mean and irritable. They explain he had almost beaten a guy to death in a bar and was looking at jail time. So he volunteers for a last trip and doesn't come back. Traub going back and dying had to do with him trying to fix the machine to cause less errors but it dumped him out in the desert instead of back at ITC. Deckard decided he wanted to go home and that's why he was so desperate to kill Marek and his group so he could get their ceramic to come back.

[–] youngsteve 8 years ago

I can understand Decker wanting to come back even if he was killed by making a further trip. What I cannot understand is how he thought he would get away with it. Even if he had killed the rest of the group, found the ceramic, & got back to ITC headquarters, there is no way he would get out of there, and they would surely kill him.