2071 - Mutan-Bestien gegen Roboter

Whew! Had someone remind me of this movie just recently and I

did a "Boy, did that take me back". A time travel in & of itself.

Here is one that should get released on DVD, or at least get some

TV play on a late-night show. I remember this being great fun

when I was a kid, new to the movie experience.

Yes, saw it in an actual theatre, probably the same one where I

saw "Crack in the World" (1965) with Dana Andrews. Both high in

"cheese" content, but no less fun.

Not really giving anything away, plotwise, this movie deals with our

fearless scientists who because of having the ability to time travel

into the future, try to go about changing it. Something that has been

dealt with over & over again in the ensuing years. Just remember

they are in fairly new territory here. Can one change what

"happened" in the future?

I also remember being scared witless by the mutants they run

across in the future. One guy who has legs, but no feet. You don't

have to be a rocket scientist to figure out they had an actor with

birth defects or an amputation, but to a kid in a dark theatre – it

was really frightening!

Let's see if someone can get this out as a "late night" DVD, eh?

The one thing that struck me right away was the static camera shots. Usually just one master shot and one other angle. I thought it might be the fault of the cinematographer, but when I looked it up I found that Vilmos Zsigmond was the cinematographer on Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Witches of Eastwich which are 2 of my favorite films with stunning cinematography. Of course, made for the big screen it wouldn't be as bad as watching it on a small TV. Actually this kind of cinematography is preferable to a lot of today's films that are shot like a music video. I am sure that having a low budget is constraining to the cinematographer's creative endeavors.

The reason a film such as this (low budget '50s or '60s sci-fi) is on many viewers favorites lists is not necessarily fond childhood memories or nostalgia - it's because it's well made. Of course, they had very little money for props and such, but the story is more inventive than 95% of the stuff that's released now or has been since the nineties; no, make that the eighties. Yes, I'm one of those guys who saw it 30 years ago as a kid on TV during a Saturday matinée slot or something; but I've seen it again within a couple of years ago and it's still quite entertaining. Here, the writers proposed a question, a 'what if?' question about time travel. What if certain people, a small group of scientists, accidentally invented a time travel device? What if they used it? (Again, accidentally). What if the device short-circuited too early? What if this, what if that - and so on, with inventive answers provided to each question. If you've never seen this picture, you're in for a treat - you'll be wondering what's the next answer every 5 to 10 minutes. This is a quality sorely lacking in most films today. Maybe all the good ideas have been used. The same concept was utilized a couple of years later in the short-lived "Time Tunnel" TV series, but that show lacked the wild turns of this sci-fi set up. Some of the further situations in this story of the future are a bit goofy, but I believe it's intentional. The ending, which I won't give away here, actually puts some pressure on the viewers to wrap their minds around. Watch for famous sci-fi fan & publisher Forrest J.Ackerman in a cameo. Whatta trip!

Three scientists and the inevitable everyday Joe are catapulted over a hundred years into the future by a lab accident, into a post-apocalyptic nightmare in which atomic war has devastated the planet. Pursued by a band of savage mutants, they're rescued by the last few humans, a small group of scientists and technicians engaged in a race against time to construct a starship and get away before the more numerous mutants can break through their defenses.

None of these elements is particularly new to the genre, but writer/director Ib Melchior manages to combine them into a fairly entertaining and occasionally original piece of "upper low-budget" sf cinema. This isn't to say that the pace doesn't occasionally lag a bit toward the middle, with some sequences feeling like they were inserted just to pad out the running time. (Like a totally unnecessary scene devoted to what's supposed to be a demonstration of their futuristic "matter transmitter", which is clearly just a stage magician's prop.)

Mostly, though, there's scarcely a moment wasted in exposition or character development, as the story barrels along to its truly unique conclusion.

Set design, miniatures, costuming and makeup -- particularly the androids -- are surprisingly good, for its budget. The optical effects are sparse but imaginative. Though it's early in his distinguished career, having Vilmos Zsigmond behind the camera also contributes considerably to making this a much more polished and expensive-looking production than you'd normally expect to see from American International.

I saw this movie many times when I was growing up and was fascinated by the concept. I must have seen this movie at least a dozen times and I am now in the process of purchasing this DVD through EBay. I just noticed some very close similarities between parts of this movie and Director George Pals, "When Worlds Collide". The parts that look to be similar are when they are building the spaceship. My best guess is that the Director of "The Time Travelers" copied this part from "When Worlds Collide". Nonetheless, this movie in my humble opinion is a classic for SciFi. I just wish that they considered a sequel. Are there any Directors out there would would consider a remake?