La machine à explorer le temps

This is one of the best science fiction movie from the '60s. Based on H G Wells' novel, Time Machine is probably the first movie dealing with time travel.

When time travel was not mainstream topic of science fiction, this movie paved the way for interest in time travel, and also sort of gave permission for people to think about time travel, and not be considered a crack pot. Now mainstream physicist write about how real time machines can be constructed without violating the laws of physics. In this sense this movie had seminal influence in the way we think about time.

All this probably wouldn't have happened if this movie had shoddy workmanship, but the production of this movie was impeccable. Everything about this movie is beautifully made. Story is intriguing, and also presents an interesting scenario about the future of man kind.

Not only is this a historically important film, it's an excellently made movie. If you're a science fiction fan, this is one movie you need to watch.

This is a very well-done adaptation of the H. G. Wells novella, with an Oscar for the special effects that are still impressive more than 40 years later. Good performances by an ensemble cast and a good script also help. One interesting side note: character actor Whit Bissell was in both the 1960 version here and the version done for television in 1978, playing essentially the same part with two different character names! Recommended.

Boy, did a nice DVD transfer of this not only mak me appreciate the visuals in here more but made the story seem better, too, for some reason. I only acquired the DVD as a memento, so to speak. I had to have at least one movie which had the woman I had a crush on back in the early '60s: Yvettte Mimieux. She still looks great, too. The main thing, however, is how I now viewed this story and how much more I wound up liking it than in the past. This was my fourth look at this movie over a 45-year span and I enjoyed it the most this last time.

Since time travel stories always fascinate me, my favorite part of the film is when "George" (Rod Taylor) is actually in his time machine and experiments with it, slowing it down here and then and then stopping it a couple of times to observe World War I and then WWII. Then, he stops in 1966 when supposedly there was a nuclear attack. (Apparently, scare-mongers back in '60 thought that was a short-term likelihood.)

Anyway, when "George" (H.G. Wells, the author of this story) finally stops, in the year 200,000-something, the story loses some of its momentum. However, it's a fairly interesting study of a group of ultra-passive people being dominated by others who live underground and then literally eat the good people. Taylor is astounded that mankind has not progressed as he had figured but seemed to have regressed.

The message I got on this last look is that man is still man, meaning sinful and capable of anything bad as well as good, and to put one's faith totally in man is a mistake. It's only going to lead to disappointments as "George" found out on each of his stops. (Notice he never stopped during a peaceful, progressive period.) Yet, "George" is still an optimist and wants to be one to help initiate change for the better. There's always hope for a better world and people like George, with his idealism put to action, can make a difference.

Overall, an entertaining and thought-provoking film.

One of those Sci-Fi films that's made just right to be watched over and over again and never gets old. The special effects were ahead of their time but the film is not bogged down with them and the actors are allowed to ply their trade. Rod Taylor puts in a solid performance as George the time traveler. George Pal did a great job with this picture. A remake would probably be flashier with the FX but would be hard to beat this classic.

In the early 1960s my mother used to take my younger sister and me to a nearby one-screen theater to see Saturday kiddie matinees. It was a great way to keep us entertained and out of her hair for a few hours, particularly after our baby sister was born.

One movie I saw during those matinees was the 1960 version of The Time Machine. It made such an impression on me that, for quite a while afterward, I would play Time Machine with my sister and cousin with me as the Time Traveler.

It wasn't until sometime in the 1990s that I was able to see it again when I got a VHS copy. It was very much the way I remembered it to be. I have since read the book and have found that the movie is quite faithful to the text, though some scenes involving two stops in the 1900s were added and a few bright spots appeared that weren't in the book, which is pretty dark.

The special effects look primitive by today's standards, but they did win the Academy Award for Special Effects in 1961, and rightfully so, though I have no idea what other films had been nominated.

This is still one of my top 10 movies and likely always will be. I haven't seen the 2002 version, which is probably just as well, since I'm happy with the 1960 version and don't want to ruin it.