Andonia Katsaros, Charles Cioffi, Corey Feldman

In this clever speculative tale, story collaborators Karl Alexander and Steve Hayes and screenwriter-director Nicholas Meyer (Star Trek II and VI) send two famous historical figures ahea...( read more  read more... )d in time. In late 19th century England, writer H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) unwittingly includes Jack the Ripper (David Warner) in his social circle. When one of Wells's dinner parties is crashed by the police looking for the Ripper, Jack uses the author's time machine to escape. But there's one catch--after it has been used, the machine returns to Wells's time. Thus the literary genius bravely sets out to find his evil friend before he can wreak havoc on another time period, and soon arrives in modern-day San Francisco. What follows is a fascinating merger of a suspense thriller--as the charming and polite Wells tries to hunt down the shrewd, brutish Ripper and take him back to the past--and a love story, as Wells befriends and falls in love with a bank administrator (Mary Steenburgen) who acts as his guide through the future. Through its brilliant combination of creepy suspense and tender romance, Time After Time manages to become a classic in two genres at once--a rare cinematic achievement. --Bryan Reesman

Flixster Users

68% liked it

5,513 ratings

Critics

86% liked it

28 critics

PG, 112 min.

Directed by: Nicholas Meyer

Release Date: August 31, 1979

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DVD Release Date: August 6, 2002

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Flixster Reviews (308)


  • September 22, 2009
    very entertaining. happy b-day, hg
  • September 4, 2009
    Take a barrel of monkeys, multiple that by pi and you'll have an idea of how fun this movie is.

    HG Wells allows Jack the Ripper to escape in time through the use of his time machine, so naturally HG follows him to 1979 in order to capture him. Surprisingly funny and light heart...( read more)ed for a movie of it's body count.
  • June 15, 2009
    Nicholas Meyer's Time After Time is an interesting film. It takes two of the most prolific figures of turn of the century London H.G. Welles (Malcolm McDowell) and Jack the Ripper (David Warner, the photographer that loses his head in the Omen, or for you younger fans is the thug...( read more) working for Billy Zane in Titanic.) and sends them to 1979 San Francisco. This probably sounds idiotic and ridiculous, but the film uses Welles folklore (mainly the time machine) to give the film a little more credibility as Welles chases Jack after his identity is revealed to the authorities. It's a basic fish out of water story for Welles, yet The Ripper fits right into the violence of late 20th century America. Welles does find a girl named Amy (Mary Steenburgen, who ironically ends up with another time traveler in Back to the Future Part III).

    Time After Time is a film that is actually better than you would expect. The story is far fetched, yet you can still believe H.G. Welles is wandering the streets of San Francisco. Malcolm McDowell delivers his best performance since Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange. His out of his element face and emotional force when needed makes you feel for his character and what he goes through later in the film. David Warner is equally great as the creepy Ripper, making you see where he's coming from when he tells Welles that he was made for this violent age. Steenburgen is cast in a conflicted role that has her liberated one minute and totally dependent on Welles the next. She pulls it off with great ability and succeeds in keeping up with her two co-stars.

    A fast paced adventure in our own back yard if you will, Time After Time is a great combination of thriller, adventure, and romance that delivers a film that far exceeds the total of its parts.
  • November 1, 2008
    If you put H.G Wells and Jack the ripper side by side in modern times, it may sound ridiculous, well it is, but when it's done like this, with style, with two great actors like Malcolm McDowell and David Warner playing them, a beautiful score by Miklos Rozsa, adding time travel, ...( read more)adventure, romance, and humour to the odd but sweet mix; all you can do is step aside and enjoy the ride.
  • October 31, 2008
    Nicholas Meyer takes another crack at the cross between fiction and reality in film as he had before in the 7 percent solution. When done well you get this. When done mediocre you get the smearing of Alan Moore's League of Extraordianry Gentlemen.
  • July 19, 2009
    A well thought out "what if" crime caper. HG Wells seeks out his former best-friend now revealed as Jack the Ripper, as he takes up his prostitute-slaying ways in 1970's San Francisco.

    The morality lectures are short and to the point, and evoke a clever subplot: the Ripper is de...( read more)lighted by the decadence of modern society, almost tenderly declaring that it is where he belongs... while Wells languishes as his ideals of a future utopia are crushed.

    Thankfully, for a time-travel film, the obligatory "culture-shock" sequences don't overstay their welcome, and a both characters manage to act with actual intelligence in covering up their origins to avoid being thrown into the nuthouse.

    A clever little innocuous exercise which stands out for deftly avoiding the genres pitfalls... though, it hardly rises above them.
  • June 25, 2009
    I have been told to never waste my time on this movie.
  • June 7, 2009
    This movie is brilliant. It has everything: comedy, suspense, romance, a little horror, an interesting and exciting storyline, great actors and cast. It even has the always brilliant Malcolm McDowell, in one of his "good guy" roles, which he played very well. Overall, I'm very...( read more) impressed with this one, much more than I thought I would be.
  • May 5, 2009
    H.G. Wells chases Jack the Ripper into the future via his time machine. Quite good, recommended.
  • April 29, 2009
    So awful, it comes close to full circle and back to... not awful.

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Time After Time Trivia


  • In The Breakfast Club what does Bender say to Mr. Veron after he unscrews the library door?  Answer »
  • In what movie did Malcolm McDowell play H.G. Wells?  Answer »
  • Who played Jack The Ripper in the movie Time After Time?  Answer »
  • What movie did this John Leslie Stevenson's quote come from: "My Mother was quite an atrotious woman in her day, but amoung her many failings didn't include raising a mentally deficient son"?   Answer »

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