A Sound of Thunder story
A big-game hunter travels back in time to bag a dinosaur. Directed by: Costa Botes. Story by: Ray Bradbury.
12 total · 2 choice · 3 major · 7 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| the butterfly effect | choice | Travis explained how little changes in the past can lead to major consequences in the future through a chain of causation. The story pointedly finished with the implication that Eckels had caused a preset-day political change, in favor of fascism, in the country by accidentally stepping on a butterfly in the age of dinosaurs, thus illustrating the butterfly effect somewhat literally. |
| time travel | choice | The story concerns a group of big-game hunters who time traveled to the age of the dinosaurs to kill a Tyrannosaurus rex. |
| cowardice | major | Eckels spoke of his own courage in slaying animals during safaris, but proved himself a hapless coward when he practically wet his pants before the T-Rex he was supposed to shoot. |
| facing a ferocious beast | major | The time traveling hunters shot and killed a T-Rex after a tense standoff. |
| hunting | major | The story concerns a group of big-game hunters who time traveled to the age of the dinosaurs to kill a Tyrannosaurus rex. |
| creative writing | minor | In the introduction, Ray Bradbury shared with the viewer the wellsprings of creativity that inspire his writing. |
| fascism | minor | The political change caused by Eckels when he stepped on the butterfly had many stereotypical hallmarks of fascism, even if it was not outright named. Deutscher was a far-right politician whose rule was likened to a dictatorship. People dressed and acted much more militaristic after the return. |
| freezing up in a critical moment | minor | Eckels was petrified and said that he couldn't move when he took in the size of the ferocious Tyrannosaurus rex he had come to kill. |
| human childhood | minor | In his introduction, Ray Bradbury recounted a childhood memory of being stopped by the police while out walking alone late at night. |
| murder | minor | The story concluded with Travis shooting Eckels dead for messing up history. |