One of the very few sci-fi movies that I really liked! The story is not just amusing, but also meaningful. There are a lot of memorable quotes in this picture. As for Guy Pearce, he is AMAZING as usual!
"The Time Machine" is obviously not a very good film, but neither is it the total disaster it is rumoured to be. I was a bit afraid at first that it would turn out to be about as historical as the recent Jackie Chan version of "Around the World in 80 Days", but it is slightly more serious than that, though the main character does have a lot to do with that film's Phileas Fogg.
This second adaptation reduces H.G. Wells' novel to its bare essentials (so that the time travel begins before the 20- minutes mark, according to Hollywood canons, and you get sufficient time for explosions and chase and fight scenes), slightly modernizes it (with references to a clerk named Einstein and the introduction of a rather useful virtual librarian from the year 2030), and peppers it with borrowings from other time travel classics, such as "Back to the Future 2" or "Somewhere in Time" (for the romantic element.) There is even the now obligatory Vulcan salute, though it is less gratuitous than in "Heroes" for instance.
There is much silliness in the movie (whoever is quoted on the poster as saying that it is "mind blowing" has a mind that blows easily.) For instance, the big question the hero asks is "Why can't we change the past?", when he just has. Or: he is very careful to hide his time machine behind a curtain so that noone can see it, but when he turns it on, he is in full view of the street, and illuminates London like the Blitz.
The special effects are decent, though I found the Morlocks' faces more funny than scary (they reminded me of the dumb-looking creatures from Lucio Fulci's sword and sorcery turkey.) As for the acting, I didn't find Samantha Mamba's worse than Guy Pearce's in the first few minutes, but Pearce's does improve.
Finally, the score is quite good, some say much better than the film actually deserves, and is probably more worth purchasing than the DVD.
If you have read the book by H.G. Wells or seen the 1960 movie of the same name, you will realize this movie takes more liberties with the original book than the 1960 version does. Mind you the basis of Eloi and Morlocks and that the Eloi being the source of food for the Morlocks is still there. I think they could have done a better job of the remake.
Guy Pearce plays an inventor determined to prove it is possible to time travel, and when an event occurs that causes him to want to go back in time, he tests his theories. An okay film.
Great sci-fi/adventure flick with some very cool scenes involving those creepy morlock creatures, plus I do love Samantha Mumba and she was great in this :)
Great Movie! Scientist and inventor Alexander Hartdegen is determined to prove that time travel is possible. His determination is turned to desperation by a personal tragedy that now drives him to want to change the past. Testing his theories with a time machine of his own invention, Hartdegen is hurtled 800,000 years into the future. There he finds a post-apocalyptic world where he discovers that mankind has been divided into the hunter... and the hunted.
In 1899, a scientist Alexander "Alex" Hartdegen (Guy Pearce) is a Professor @ Columbia University where he teaches: Applied Mechanics & Engineering obsessed the ideal of time travel. Alex is Albert Einstein's pen pal & meets his girlfriend Emma (Sienna Guillory) @ the park in New York City. Inventor Alexander spends time working on his time travel calculations to build time machine in his laboratory. Alexander brings the time machine in 802,701 AD to find civilization called the Eoli. Alexander's relationship with a teacher named Mara (Samantha Mumba) has a younger brother hamed Kalen (Omero Mumba). Alexander travels back in time to rescue Mara to build new life with Mara to rebuild civilization. Vox (Orlando Bloom) tells the Eloi the stories in his memory.
It was OK. I wanted know more about the time machine itself, and how it worked. Irrelevent, I know, but I was bothered by the quick passing of its conception.
As what the movie poster for "The Time Machine" says, it's an action-packed, mind-blowing time travel adventure. Since sci-fi writer H.G. Wells published his original "The Time Machine" novel in 1895, time travel has remained a favorite theme in sci-fi movies, TV, and literature, and I've always been interested on time travel as it involves time and changing it. And so is scientist and inventor Alexander Hartdegen. He is determined to prove the possibility of time travel with his time machine after a personal tragedy struck him, which forced him to alter the past. Then, while looking for answers why he couldn't change time, Alex travels forward to the future time of the year 802,701, and discovers that mankind has evolved into the tribal Eloi and the savage Morlocks. That was when the action begins....we have a war between the Eloi and the Morlock races, and Alex is the future's hero. Some science fact and science fiction has good depictions in this film title; I see this as an example of the decline of humanity caused by the Moon's destruction. But it's only a scenario- we can really continue the human race without devolving it.
Directed by Simon Wells- who is, in fact, H.G. Wells' great-grandson- "The Time Machine" features great acting performances that include these cast members:
1.) Guy Pearce (Alexander Hartdegen)
2.) Samantha Mumba (Mara)
3.) Jeremy Irons (Uber-Morlock)
4.) Orlando Jones (Vox)
5.) Mark Addy (Dr. David Philby)
6.) Sienna Guillory (Emma)
7.) Phyllida Law (Mrs. Watchit)
8.) Omero Mumba (Kalen)
The spoken dialogue is very good, especially with the Eloi language not only being outlandish but also out-of-time. I learned of a memorable example of the "sess'quin'tan", or the steps of rope. I was so amazed that the English language survived well into the future and that the Eloi could easily speak it as a "stone language" passed from tradition!
With a modern look of time travel plus lots of good special effects, "The Time Machine" is a sci-fi film title that could last forever, even in the far future. Now I can dream of the plausibilities of time travel and the effects of its use! :-)
Makes you wish that this REALLY can happen. Don't It? I mean.. You do something wrong and you wish you could go back in time to that spot and stop yourself from doing it again. I have a lot of times I wish I could do that..
I really likes this movie, i mean there have been attempts into creating time machine movies that follow that story line, but this one tops them all i think. I mean a really great cast. You cant go wrong with Guy Pearce, and a very interesting storyline it has you hooked from the beginning.
its not terrible in some places its actually really quite good, but then again samatha mumba is in it trying to be an actress. sas all u need to no really. never heard of er again after this. not musically or anything.
This film is a traitor to the book causing many illogicalities in the plot. However it is still an alright watch thanks to its special effects during the time travel scene as well as the fantastic musical score.
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