Les voyageurs du temps

This is actually a superior TV pilot coming from Irwin Allen, which is a big surprise. Allen is known to many sf fans as producing some of the most horrendous sf series ever to be broadcast.While his shows did have imaginative sets,fx, & good actors, they also had silly plots, little logic & no character development.Like some, I have fond memories of his series while growing up,but to sit through them as an adult is awful. Rod Serling was involved in the writing of this TV movie & that would explain the quality that comes through. And to Allen's credit, he did not tamper much with it creating a solid, intelligent story. For once. Time travel stories can be fun when dealing with the past because like the travelers, we know what is going to happen. We have knowledge that nobody else does from that era. The problem that crops up is that the accepted rule regarding time travel is that one should not tamper with past events.No matter how good the intentions are, they could spell disaster in the past & on through to the present timeline. I f that's the case do we want to watch the heroes go back in time each week only to have their hands tied? If they cannot take action for fear of altering events, then what can they do that would be of interest to the viewers? Standing by to only observe history unfolding without becoming a part of it would make for a dull series. But this movie manages to keep our interest with an intriguing plot. As a weekly show though, I doubt they could have kept it up.

I was really captivated by this wonderful pilot.

I am an enormous fan of the time travel genre, and intelligent sci-fi genre (not the cyber cowboy-cum-Star Wars-action-shoot-em-up kind of sci-fi)...and an avid fan of history and historical chronicles on film.

I should probably give credit where it is due, and that would be to ROD SERLING whose story was the solid germ which inspired this pilot/movie. We can't ever go wrong with SERLING, his was a great and yet in his time, woefully under-appreciated talent. Had the rest of the stories of this potential series been principally from his mind, I would venture to say it would have been a big hit.

I am so disappointed that it never went off the ground and I am perplexed at this fact after seeing this today. Another reviewer said that it would become dull eventually. I disagree vehemently. Was Quantum Leap dull? It was not and never jumped the shark! I am writing this just because the industry really needs to revisit this genre in a big way. We are bombarded all the time with time travel movies these days...and there must be a writer out there with deep knowledge of this genre and its foibles-to-avoid enough to make for intelligent television! We need MORE INTELLIGENT SCI-FI around. Not what the present SYFY garbage channel churns out in the past few years. SCI-FI is being DUMBED DOWN instead of lifting us up like the greatest OUTER LIMITS, TWILIGHT ZONE, OUT OF THE UNKNOWN, JOURNEY TO THE UNKNOWN, SCIENCE FICTION THEATER, TALES OF TOMORROW, ONE STEP BEYOND and a few others.

We need more INTELLIGENT TV, period! I recommend this movie for all ages.

Two time travellers go back in time and must deal with a city on fire.

An all-round great film with a wonderful performance from Richard Basehart as the doctor.

Irwin Allen combining his two favourite genres, science fiction and disaster, and the results are most pleasing in the later sections of the film.

Allen's regular 1970s TV composer, Richard LaSalle, does not score this film but his replacement composer does a fine job.

The two lead actors playing the time travellers could have been better...but all things considered...The Time Travellers is outstanding.

Irwin Allen's "The Time Travelers" is a surprisingly good TV film. As previously mentioned in other reviews, Allen's record with sci-fi might lead the casual science fiction enthusiast to bypass this film. That, however, would be a mistake.

Without going into too many details, the film's slow moving story about present day doctors (in 1976) seeking a cure for a deadly flu virus outbreak just prior to the 1871 Great Chicago Fire (believe me, that is not an insult) builds methodically to its satisfying, if not a bit predictable, conclusion.

Based on a Rod Serling tale, this is the stuff of old style SF that is sorely missed in a lot of today's productions.

The cast is top-notch. The four lead actors, actors Sam Groom (an alum from Allen's "The Time Tunnel," Trish Stewart *, Tom Hallick and especially Richard Basehart provide a warm, thought provoking charm to this small scale but involving tale. One of the nice touches are the bit roles filled by relatively unknown, but experienced actors one might recognize from many of the TV/film productions of the 1970s.

*Stewart played Jane Henderson-- in another review here mistakenly identified Francine York filling that role.

This reviewer highly recommends this small, somewhat obscure film. Fortunately, it can be found on the boxed DVD set to Allen's "Time Tunnel." Incidentally, on that same DVD is the 2002 filmed pilot, an attempt to revive "The Time Tunnel." It too, is VERY satisfying. It is really too bad this production didn't make it as a new TV series.

This review comes to you from the future. Having watched this movie in 2019, I hasten to let you know it's a charming movie and enjoyable to watch.

This message is mainly produced for those fans who watched this movie some 8 years ago and earlier. You might come across some other messages from my era as we are able to time travel without moving at all.

Signing off and going back to my time. Goodbye and good luck!