The Time Machine (1960) is a science fiction film based on the book of H.G. Wells who is also known for The War of the Worlds. We all know about Star Wars and Star Trek, and new sci-fi films are made every year. However, this movie category often doesn't make much money and is forgotten. The Time Machine is not one of those. It's a classic with a history spanning past the film's release.
STORY: It's the end of 1899, and a new century is in sight. A young inventor is fed up with wars and wishes to escape. He creates a functioning time machine in search of a utopian society.
What makes this unique is that practical effects needed to be used since special effects and computers were not yet available. With exceptions like Blade Runner 2047, every modern sci-fi film uses more CGI than not. The Time Machine had to show time speeding up by going frame by frame while filming. Watching the sunset and sunrise and candles melting along with the time-honored clock face spinning is neat.
This movie won the Oscar for effects and deservedly so. The creature designs are pretty off-putting and freaky too. The film didn't win anything else, but this was the year of Spartacus and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.
The protagonist, George played by Rod Taylor and named after the author, is exceptional in the role. He's fed up with war and is looking for peace. His work has kept him away from romance and much of a personal life. He wants to learn and is always intuitive to learn more.
The leading lady, played by Yvette Mimieux, is excellent too. It was her feature film debut.
The legacy of this film goes beyond the actual movie. It's the time machine itself. It's a classic design that's the second most popular time machine device behind Back to the Future's DeLorean. The original prop was auctioned off then forgotten and lost. It was later discovered at a thrift store in Florida in poor shape. However, it was refurbished to match the original exactly. More recently, a time machine replica was used in The Big Bang Theory.
MORAL (slight spoilers in this paragraph): George was looking for a utopian society assuming that it would eventually happen. However, every time he stopped the world was still in conflict. This is telling of our reality. Humans are imperfect and ideas will clash. Wars will happen no matter how hard we try to stop them. People won't be able to do nothing all day with no crime or struggles. It's why those styles of societies have yet to maintain because they won't. That being said, we can work and try to make the best of our situation. I think that is the idea behind the film.
The Time Machine has to be watched by anyone claiming to be science fiction fanatics, but the common movie-goer will enjoy it too. My film rating is an A.
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