Rating: 
Summary: TAYLOR MADE CLASSIC
Review: Director George Pal will probably be more remembered for this film than any of his other classics, including "Giant." Why? Remember, this is 1960, and whether or not Pal's version is true to Wells' book is not the issue. Marvel at the unique special effects, including the mannequin's many transformations, the way the clouds scurry across the window; the lush but sterile world of the eloi and morlocks. This is quite groundbreaking in the world of cinema, long before the CGI and animatronics guys came along. Rod Taylor (The Birds, TV's Falcon Crest) is the perfect studly hero, but he also possesses a sensitivity uncommon in movies of the 60s, which is all more evident in his friendship with the delightful Alan Young (Tom Thumb, Mr. Ed). Add a trio of our most respected character actors (Sebastian Cabot, Whit Bissell and Tom Helmore) to lend upper crust credence. And how can one forget the lovely Yvette Mimieux. Yvette came to audiences attentions in a two part Dr. Kildare episode. She played his love interest, a surfer with elilepsy, who dies in the final moments. She also played the troubled young girl in "Where the Boys Are" and in the 1970s starred in a rarely known cult classic, "Hit Lady." Her beautiful innocence is captured in this movie.
Yes, it's campy, a little corny in its naivete about man's future, but as a scifi film, it's one of the best and far surpasses its glitzy remake with Guy Pearce.
Rating: 
Summary: campy
Review: Part of the problem with TTM, is that it was made in an era where technological restraints made it impossible to duplicate Wells story. Still, the deviation from the book, makes the movie hard to take. It's "Lost in translation".
Rating:
Summary: Time Travel. Morlocks. Eloi. Love. What else do you want?
Review: You know something, the Eloi remind me of myself.
They are disorientated, not knowing what the hell is going on, and just going places they just don't wanna go, but go, because they don't know that they don't want to go to that place they are going to!!! Read it again, it'll make sense. This movie is the best of the best when it comes to time travel flicks. George Pal couldn't have done a better book to film transfer. Music is eerie and Roddy taylor is perfect as the time traveller and is believable as a 19th century inventor.
Watch the Documentary on DVD, it's presented by Roddy and is over 45mins long. A must watch.
This is top of my list. A real gem. But I would still rather travel in time in a car, than a sofa chair, that looks like my grannys.
Rating: 
Summary: A science fiction classic that needs a full screen edition!
Review: This is one of my favorite movies. Compared to the 2002 version, I personally feel that is the better one. Probably because it is the original. It is the kind of film that I like to see over and over again because it is so good. However, I do prefer watching movies in a full screen format. I would love to see another release of this film that offers a standard version. Since many DVDs are now being released in both standard and widescreen formats, I don't see why a full screen version is impossible. Hopefully I'll see one soon.
Rating:
Summary: THE TIME MACHINE-OLD VS. NEW
Review: I like the original Time Machine movie of 1960 much better than the new one because rod taylor doesnt just zip into the future like guy pearce who only stops to explore in 2030 ad. then breifly in 2037, taylor does some exploring in both 1917 AND 1966 and stops to examine a dress in a nearby shop and saying a world where everyone is a blue eyed blond causcasian is bad, well the new version where everybody is dark skinned is not an improvement, thats just going from one extreme to another from anglo american in 1960 to african american in 2002.
Rating:
Summary: Go Back In Time With An Old Friend.....
Review: This review refers to the Warner Bros. DVD edition of "The Time Machine"(1960)...... I am so impressed with how this 43 year old classic Sci-Fi film looks and sounds on the DVD, that I am going to start with that this time. I wasn't expecting it to look as great as it did because the editorial review here gives it 3 out of 5 stars on both the picture and the sound. If you are a big fan of this film, or thinking of buying it as a gift for someone who is, you will not be disappointed with this transfer. The picture is presented in the original widescreen format,so you won't miss a bit of the action. To watch it you would think you went back in the time machine to 1960 and were viewing it for the first time. It is clear and sharp with vibrant color.The soundtrack is remastered in Dolby Dig 5.1 and is a welcome enhancement.The DVD also includes a terrific Behind The Scenes documentary called "Time Machine...The Journey Back". The film's star Rod Taylor hosts and fans will love this informative feature. You'll get a good look at how the actual machine was made and the journey that it has taken in the last 40 years as well as other interesting tid bits. This feature has it's own scene selections to choose from or you can just watch it straight through. The film may be viewed in French and has subtitles in English and French.(my only teeny complaint would be that the black bar area is not used for these subtitles, they are at the bottom of the film). The story based on the novel by H.G. Wells is as captivating today as it ever was. You know the tale.....
George(Rod Taylor)has all the time in the world. He tells his friends an incredible story of his adventures traveling through the ages in a time machine that he has built. As his story begins, he starts out slowly traveling through the 20th century. He doesn't like what he sees. War and destruction seem to be the fate of civilaztion.He pushes foward, quickly, and the years fly by. Finally stopping in the year 802701,he comes across what seems to be a paradise on earth. Clean air,fruit growing in abundance, and a society of young beautiful people, the Eloi, who don't seem to have a care in the world. But even in this Utopian like civilazation there's trouble amiss.The Morlocks are running things from underground and they are just as scary today as they ever were.So it's up to our guy George to save this future civilazation from the evil Morlocks,and try to get back home to the year 1900 for an 8pm dinner appointment..whew,what a great story! Directed brillantly by George Pal("7 Faces of Dr. Lao"/"Atlantis the Lost Continent"), the film also boasts the great talents of Alan Young, Sebastian Cabot, and the lovely Yvette Mimieux, as "Weena", who adds a little romantic interest to the story. The film was awarded a well deserved Oscar for it's special effects(also discussed in the featurette) for Gene Warren and Tim Barr.The movie is rated G, although the scenes with the Morlocks might be a little scary for very young children. A great story, fabulous film and an outstanding DVD. So go back in time, with your old friend "The Time Machine"..enjoy...Laurie
Rating: 
Summary: Well Made With Political Overtones
Review: An anti-war theme is prominent throughout this classic sci-fi flick. In the lead you have Rod Taylor starring as inventor H.G. Wells, a man seeking relief from, and improvement of, the world in which he lives. Demonstrating a miniature version of his time machine for a trio of friends (including Sebastian Cabot of "Family Affair" fame) on New Year's Eve 1899, he laments that he was born in the wrong time...and that he would like to journey into the future to live among more civilized peoples. He desires the utopia that he thinks technology will inevitably bring, but also cries out at the corruption of technology for other than peaceful purposes. His journey, however, leaves him feeling overwhelmed as it is far from what he expects. He initially watches the years go by from his machine as represented by a manequin he observes in a shop window across the street. There, he views what he regards as a harbinger of societal descent into a more liberal way of life. As fashions change dramatically over the decades, he blushingly remarks, "You call that a dress?". He makes three intermediate stops on his way to his ultimate destination--the first in 1917, the second in 1940, and the third in 1964. They all, conveniently, coincide with raging wars (the final one, a ficticious World War III fought with nuclear weapons that lasts for 326 years). Embittered and frightened, he moves on, ultimately coming to a stop some 800,000 years in the future. Wells is initially delighted with his new-found utopia and attempts to befriend the native Eloi, a blond-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned Aryan race of humans. He is quickly repulsed as he sees them passively watch as one of their own (Weena, played by the lovely Yvette Mimieux) starts to drown only a few feet from the others. After saving her, he learns that they are nothing more than a race of slow-witted, cowardly do-nothings who rely on the sinister Morlocks for survival. The Morlocks, who look like a cross between the Hulk and the gill man on "The Creature from the Black Lagoon," were the humans who chose to continue living underground after the end of the last war. They deevolved physically and morally and, as a result, developed into ravenous cannibals who fattened up the Eloi so as to devour them at a later date (eating the oldest ones first). There is no written word within either culture and that lends itself to the theory that cultures tend to stagnate without the written word. Without books there is no learning beyond pure observation and word of mouth and, in this case, both races eventually lost whatever skills and knowledge they once possessed. Eventually, the Eloi and Morlocks took on a primitive symbiotic relationship. You have the peace-loving, vegetarian, let-nature-take-its-course Eloi one one side, and the militaristic (they still use air raid sirens to hypnotize the Eloi), meat-eating (of a sort), control-your-own-destiny Morlocks. Despite his appreciation for much of the Eloi philosophy--he initially mistakes them for economic genuises--he quickly realizes the truth about them and grows disgusted with their apathetic attitude towards self-improvement and advancement.
Ironically, circumstances dictate him teaching the Eloi the value of fighting (back), a trait he abhorred. As a result, the Eloi defeat the Morlock in a demonstration that while war may be bad it can also be the LESSER of two evils. Still, after their victory, the Eloi are left to answer the question "How do we fend for ourselves now?". Wells chooses to stay among them, returning to his time only long enough to retrieve three books to help them in their journey. In the final scene of the movie, one of the inventor's friends discusses Well's future with Well's housekeeper. He finally asks her (and the audience), "Which three books would you have chosen?". The film confronts the positives and negatives of pacifism vs. militarism and, in an overall generic sense, liberalism vs. conservatism, all with regard to the survival and growth of a society. Eventually, the movie shows that raging examples of either philosophy isn't the solution--that the true solution resides closer to the middle of the spectrum (with the pendulum tilting into conservative territory. The story is timeless, the script and acting good, and George Pal's special effects excellent considering the age of the movie. The movie's depth is often overlooked, and it is a worthy addition to any DVD library.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Classic!
Review: I first saw this movie when I was a little kid, and have watched it at least thirty times since, it had a great impact on my life. The special effects leave a little to be desired, compared to a 'modern' flick, but it's a classic that belongs in everyone's movie library.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Sci-fi Classic!!!
Review: The Time Machine is one of the best science fiction films made and it has always been one of my favorites! The first time I watched this was when I was in the first grade. The movie is about an inventor named George[Rod Taylor] who has greated a time machine and goes on a journey into the year 802701. The movie starts out when you see David Filby[one of George's friends] walking up to George's house where you see some more of his friends. Then eventually you see George but he's been beaten up because he has gone on a long journey. Then he talks about the story. In the next part, George is showing his friends the tiny model of his time machine and he want's to proove that time travel really exists. But, when his friends don't believe him he decides to go on the long journey. Then you see George going through many different time periods into he finally gets to the year 802701. Instead of having a lot of technology it's just an area of grass. There are a group of people there named the Eloi and they obey a group of monsters called morlocks. The morlocks give the Eloi their food, clothing and in the end they take them underground and kill them. So then George meets one of the girls named Weena when she is just about to drown but luckily George saves her. But, soon George gets mad when he finds out that the Eloi don't work very much and they mostly just play, so he goes back to his machine. But, thats when the trouble begins. The morlocks have stolen his machine! They grabbed it and put it in their secret place. So, the only thing left to do is go to the underground area, kill the morlocks, save the eloi and get his machine back and that mostly takes you to the end where George gets his machine back and luckily travels back to his own time. When George finishes telling them the story they think it is silly but when George shows David the flower that Weena gave to him he starts to change his opinion. In the end George takes a few books with him and travels back to 802701 to see the eloi again. The special features include: Behind the scenes documentary time machine: the journey back, hosted by Rod Taylor and featuring Alan Young, Whit Bissel and others involved in the film soundtrack remastered in dolby digital 5.1. Interactive Menus Theatrical Trailer, Filmogaphies of Tayor, Yvette Mimieux, Young and George Pal scene access, languages and subtitles in english and francais. I loved every single part of this movie all the way through, the story is just amazing!! This is a sci-fi classic everyone should own!!!
Rating:
Summary: Buy this movie and skip the remake
Review: This one has a simple story of a man in the late 1800s traveling through time. He thought his invention would be laughed at; but little did he know ..... this thing did work! I loved the Morlock cannibals and they are just as scary now as they were all those years ago. The new people of earth could be seen as some of today's generation...in a daze and dependent on big brother to tell them what to do. I don't know if that was part of the original book or George Pals interpretation of it. All in all if you are looking for a good fantasy adventure, look no further...If you saw this as a child it loses none of it's impact. I wonder what the director George Pal would say if he knew how this movie still stands the test of time and is very important in cinema history. There is also a short sequel of sorts in the DVD. It was filmed several years later. The characters still come to life after all these years. I wish that George Pal made a sequel way back then. It would have been better than a lot of the material that passed for science fiction in the 60's.
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