Escape al futuro

Looking like a nerdy Richard Thomas, Malcolm McDowell plays H.G. Wells in this highly imaginative sci-fi thriller, that has Wells fast forwarded from 1893 to 1979, in a quest to find Jack the Ripper. The film's screenplay, direction, cinematography, editing, and costumes are all top notch. And Mary Steenburgen gives a fine performance in a support role.

"Time After Time" has an ever so slight comic book, tongue in cheek, feel to the plot, suggestive of Batman and Robin. Yet, right behind this entertaining, if somewhat superficial, facade is a serious message that is both timely and credible: no matter how much society advances in its technology, our world will always have two things ... violence and love.

H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) follows Jack the Ripper (David Warner) into 1970's San Franscisco, after Jack Aka John Stevenson steals Well's Time machine. H.G. falls in love with spunky feminist, Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen), while they try to stop the Ripper from striking again. Just a fun quaint little film with great acting all around and an atmosphere of wonder. The best parts deal with Wells getting accustomed to his new surroundings. Eagle-eyed viewers will notice a very young Corey Feldman in a very small part as a youngster who's the first to see Wells upon his arrival in the Seventies.

My Grade: B

DVD Extras: Commentary with Director Nicholas Meyer & Actor Malcolm McDowell; an article on time travel in movies; Theatrical Trailer; and Trailers for "The Time Mace (1960) & "The Time Machine" (2002)

"Time After Time" is an interesting movie. It has the legendary H.G. Wells chasing Jack the Ripper through time, from London in 1893 to San Francisco in 1979. Wells is played by Malcolm McDowell, as a young idealistic visionary and scientific genius, who looks upon the future as Utopia. (How many movies can you remember where McDowell was the good guy?) Jack the Ripper is played by David Warner, who exudes something cold and frightening as the infamous killer. While the future hardly turns out to be Wells' imagined Utopia, Jack embraces the prevalent violence of the 20th century. In "From Hell," Jack the Ripper said he had invented the 20th century. "Time After Time" gives that statement a kind of significance. The movie may not offer much to the many theories surrounding the Jack the Ripper mystery, but it's still enjoyable.

Easily one of the most charming science fiction films made in terms of subtle humour, romantic elements, and the bridging of today with yesterday, Time After Time tells the story of English author H. G. Wells coming to 1970's San Francisco in search of Jack the Ripper by way of his time machine. Sure the story has some holes, but in many ways it is extremely literate and thought-provoking. Malcolm McDowell excels in his role as the author looking for a better place in the future that ultimately finds that life has degenerated rather than progressed....at least in Wellsian terms. McDowell plays the Victorian literary giant with restraint and subtlety rather than hamminess. The rest of the cast is also very good. David Warner makes for a good Jack the Ripper. I am not sure I ever saw him give a bad performance. He seems to gravitate toward roles of an evil nature. Mary Steenburgen also does well in playing a woman who yearns to be a woman in the working world. The special effects are not so special, but the film is nicely filmed. Director Nicolas Meyer does a workman-like job with the material while also bringing forth many social issues from the script. More than anything, the film for me is a commentary on the state of our civilization. At every corner, on every channel, one can find violence and sex... in the film, H. G. Wells is disgusted with the evolution of man over the 20th century....is it with good reason? Would the real H. G. Wells be shocked at our "Utopia"? A thinking, yet entertaining film to be sure.

Often overlooked, "Time After Time" is probably one of the best time travel movies (if there is such a genre) ever made. The time travel effects are cheesy and mercifully few, but the film puts story and character way above visual effects, making for a good trade off.

Malcolm McDowell is H.G. Wells who, in this movie, actually invents a time machine rather than just writing about one. "The Time Machine" is told in flashback as "the time traveler" emerges from his time machine and recounts his adventures to a gathering of friends at his home. "Time After Time" borrows that scene from the book, having Wells announce that he has built the time machine and will embark on an adventure to the future utopia as soon as he works up the nerve. The proceedings are interupted by police at the door conducting a search in the wake of a new attack by Jack the Ripper. As it turns out, one of Wells' guests, Dr. John Leslie Stevenson (played by David Warner), is the Ripper. While the police comb through the house looking for him, Stevenson makes his way to the basement. There, he enters Wells' time machine and escapes to the future.

Feeling responsible for having turned the maniacal Jack the Ripper loose on the future utopia, Wells enters the machine (which returns to it's point of origin unless a special key is used) and follows Stevenson 90 years into the future. The time travel sequence consists of cheesy optical effects accompanied by a clever audio montage that depicts most of the 20th century. Wells emerges from the machine shocked to find himself in San Francisco, California in the year 1979. The time machine, as well as most of his possesions, are on display in a San Francisco museum.

While searching for Jack the Ripper he meets Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen), a foreign currency exchange officer at a bank. She reveals that she exchanged very old pounds for dollars with another Englishman, wearing similarly antiquated clothing. This leads Wells to find Jack the RIpper, now decked out in 70s threads, well integrated into modern society...and continuing his fiendish deeds.

From there, the movie engages the audience in Wells' and Robbins' pursuit of the Ripper through the streets of San Francisco with an entertaining mix of close-calls, sly humor, and the inevitable romance between Wells and Robbins.

Malcolm McDowell plays the part of H.G. Wells with his usual intensity and skill, and comes off as very believable. Mary Steenburgen is well cast as the feminine but strongly independent bank employee, and is adorably frail but surprisingly tough. As for David Warner....well, villians don't get much better than Warner. A fine actor, Warner plays Stevenson/Jack the RIpper as a cool, sophisticated psychopath - exactly, in my humble opinion, as Jack the Ripper should be played.

"Time After Time" makes good use of artistic license to integrate fact with fiction. Scotland Yard has always suspect that Jack the Ripper might have been a surgeon, as he is in this film. Also amusing is the fact that in real life, H.G. Wells did marry an Amy Robbins who was an outspoken feminist. All in all, 'Time After Time" is a well written and acted romantic adventure, and remains one of my favorite time travel movies.