The Time Machine (1960)

Beautifully conducted and acting that is believable, this film is a great edition to the Science Fiction enthusiast's collection. H.G. Wells has always been a favorite of mine anyway, but the concept and idea of the film is so neat. I love how the feel of the film makes you think you're on another planet, when in fact, you're in another dimension. Truly, this was a great film and I would recommend it to anyone.

Watched this Movie at a very young age. The first fifteen minute were chatty where the four Businessmen at the table question a disheveled George's (Rod Taylor) whereabouts for the past week? George(H.G. Wells) inventor of the Time Machine in question tells his story from start to finish on his incredible journey into Man's future. This movie back tracks a week as the Five stand around this miniature invention of the scaled down time machine as Sebastian Cabot flips the switch and the machine disappears into thin air before the stunned group of established English Gentlemen. At this time in England's history, the Boer War was in full swing in Africa and these men wanted a new type of weapon for destructive purposes to invest in, not a better time piece. Even best friend and neighbor David Filby played by Alan Young tries to discourage George not to travel and destroy the machine before it destroys you. All George can promise is that" He won't walk out the front door." What grabs the audiences attention is the special effects. Our star Time traveler flips the silver knob foreword as a candle melts fast. Trees outside bear fruit as a snail races across the room. The sun and moon arch above and the mannequin from Filby's Store changes clothes and dress styles as the decades pass in seconds. The time travel scenes are the best as Creator George Pal goes to no expense. Nuclear war eventually breaks out as our time traveler stops in 1966 and is overjoyed with the tremendous strides mankind has made. Fancy automobiles and electric shavers grab his attention as the masses of people head to the bomb shelter.An elderly man in a silver air raid warden suit passes by who happens to be an elderly James Filby. Filby warns George that, " Run along run along. The mushrooms will be sprouting you silly young fool get into the shelter!" An aged Filby realizes that he spoke to the same man two wars earlier in 1917 when George first stopped.In 1917 George's house went dark due to the boarding up of his home which became dusty and filled with vermin. A stunned Filby looks at George with a familiarity and realizes that it was the same man who inquired about his Father and the boarded house that stood across the way. George confesses that he is that same person but Filby is so confused and dumbfounded by saying,"You don't look a day older and your clothes!" George wants to make conversation with so many questions to ask but the final siren goes off as a panic stricken Filby runs away and says," Come out when it's all clear." Bombs start to fall and buildings explode. Man's physical violence prompted the earth's volcanic violence of it's own. Molten lava spewing all around as George runs to his time machine for safety as a large pool of hot lava is flowing toward his direction Simultaneously as a huge wave of lava falls onto George and his time machine but as luck would have it the machine being activated spins forward as the lava cooled and George and the time machine were encased in solid rock for centuries. Finally the rock wore down and the Earth stayed Green with a large Sphinx some 800,000 years into the future. George stopped to examine and our story gets even more bizarre with a race of blonde people in togas called Eloi's.Did George think for a moment that he found the Garden Of Eden? Then a cry for help as a woman is caught in the under current of the stream as she's drowning. George dives in and rescues the female. Here we introduce Weena (Yvette Mimueax) as these blonde people watch idly by. Even Weena is not appreciative of George's heroics. They frolic swim and eat fruit all day. George is also curious why there aren't any elders here. No one knows about or cares about anything of the past. They don't even question Goerge's sudden arrival from the past. George asks if they have books? The Eloi replied, "Yes we have books."George and the Eloi enter the halls with items and sculptures of the past.Passing the dust laden book shelves, George in anticipation takes a book off the shelf as it crumbles into his hands binder and all.Humiliation overcomes our inventor with an anger to match.He questions the Eloi, "What have you done?" to the stunned Eloi. Centuries of mankind and for what? To run and play. George infuriated as he's yelling at the whole group of Eloi's simpletons that he's headed back to his time machine which was located adjacent to the sphinx but nightfall came and the predators of the night the Morlocks put the time machine inside behind the heavy metal doors. Now George is stuck in the future with these strange lot of Elois and what about the Morlocks. Many unanswered questions in this sci-fi classic. Great special effects Alan Young plays a duel role of Filby's and Whit Bissel who is synonymous with Time travel movies and shows. I.e. Time Tunnel and the remake of the TV version of the Time Machine. Sebastian Cabot plays a skeptical business man.The incomparable Paul Frees makes use of his million dollar voice for the talking rings which make this all the more enjoyable. After a while I question the casting of Yvette Mimieux as Weeena. Instead of a steamy romance, Taylor and Mimieux are more suitable for a Father Daughter relationship.

Before Back to the Future their was The Time Machine! Just saw The Time Machine on Turner classics and reminds me of seeing it as a child. My grade 4 teacher let us see the movie while he read the H G Well's book time machine at the same time. The class thought the book was better. Like all great story's, The Time Machine had great material for a story. The Time Machine had a riveting story where the viewer/reader is intrigued and wanting to know more as each scene/chapter evolves. The special effects stood up well. The acting was anything but corny. The endings much more positive than the book. Being a English lit major, one sees the class conflict in the book, and why the two groups cannot co-exist. For a movie made in the 1960's, it is better than many movies made today. 8 out of 10 for time travel.

A Victorian Englishman travels to the far future and finds that humanity has divided into two hostile species.I cannot say that I am terribly familiar with the original story. I am, however, somewhat familiar with the remake. Although that was not bad, you simply cannot beat the charm of this original.What I liked most was the progressive move forward in time, first by minutes, then years, and then many thousands of years. That was much more interesting than just jumping to the distant future and the Morlocks. The son who looks exactly like his father? Brilliant. And by setting it in Victorian England rather than 1960, the jump ahead could be accomplished with a true history... at least for the first fifty years.