ically . ▁It ▁failed ▁to ▁rec oup ▁its ▁market ing ▁costs ▁in ▁its ▁cinema ▁release ▁and ▁Hem dale ▁did ▁not ▁have ▁the ▁money ▁to ▁meet ▁its ▁pre - s ale ▁oblig ations . ▁Hem dale ▁then ▁agreed ▁to ▁pay ▁a ▁reduced ▁amount ▁of ▁$ 2 ▁million ▁but ▁there ▁were ▁difficulties ▁in ▁obtain ing ▁this ▁as ▁well . ▁ ▁David ▁Str at ton ▁later ▁wrote ▁that : ▁The ▁story ▁of ▁The ▁Time ▁Guardian ▁is ▁an ▁object ▁less on ▁in ▁how ▁the ▁deal - dri ven ▁ 1 0 BA ▁films ▁could ▁be ▁white - anted ▁by ▁the ▁non - cre ative ▁people . ▁Hann ant ▁and ▁B ax ter ▁might ▁have ▁made ▁a ▁memor able ▁sci - fi ▁drama ▁to ▁stand ▁alongside ▁class ics ▁of ▁the ▁genre ▁but ▁they ▁had ▁the ▁wrong ▁produ cers , ▁the ▁wrong ▁de als , ▁the ▁wrong ▁budget , ▁the ▁wrong ▁cast ▁and , ▁in ▁the ▁end , ▁the ▁wrong ▁script . ▁Film ink ▁wrote ▁" It ’ s ▁hard ▁for ▁film m akers ▁who ▁want ▁to ▁make ▁sci ▁fi ▁in ▁Australia . ▁The ▁Time ▁Guardian ▁made ▁it ▁that ▁much ▁harder ... ▁There ’ s ▁Dean ▁Stock well ▁as ▁an ▁officer , ▁Car rie ▁Fish er ▁running ▁around ▁as ▁a ▁war rior , ▁Tom ▁Bur lin son ▁as ▁a ▁g ri zz led ▁war rior ▁in ▁a ▁performance ▁that ▁killed ▁his ▁career ▁as ▁a ▁leading ▁man , ▁Nik ki ▁C og hill ▁being ▁genu in ely ▁char ming ▁amid st ▁the ▁car n age . ▁A ▁film ▁that ▁should