Richard Donner

FOR once, Superman failed to save the day -- Lois Lane was dead, killed by the machinations of Lex Luthor, and the Man of Steel was left wailing in grief. But then the hero launched himself into the stratosphere and furiously circled the Earth until time itself reversed and he was given a second chance to make things right.

The most exciting part of "Timeline," Richard Donner's dud of a time-warp adventure, is the big, blazing balls of death hurled from the trebuchets, catapults used by medieval armies to hurl flaming orbs and the occasional poor soul at the enemy. No one gets catapulted during the climatic siege in "Timeline," about travelers who leap from the 21st century back into a 14th century French battle.

The scariest part of this summer's movie lineup is not lizards threatening New York or Texas-sized asteroids threatening Earth, but whether the Hollywood studios behind them will come out alive. After two mega-budgeted films, Sony Pictures' "Godzilla" and Disney's "Armageddon," opened to softer-than-expected attendance, along comes Warner Bros.' entry, "Lethal Weapon 4," into the box-office derby.