Rating: 
Summary: An outstanding story, incredible special effects and music
Review: With all due respect to the traditionalists (I was one, I grew up with the original being one of my favorites), this movie is better in my humble opinion. The story is more compelling, Pearce is more believable as the main character and the special effects allow me to completely "suspend disbelief". I have watched this movie several times and enjoy it more each time.
Rating: 
Summary: "A Noble Attempt That Fell Short"
Review: The movie has several things to recommend it: The special effects will probably strike you as more spectacular than anything you have seen to date. Simon Wells guides his camera with an artisic hand, gently leading us from epoch in time, to the next, with beauty, and panache. Then there is newcomer Samantha Momba, who gives a moving performance as the time traveller's Eloi love interest, Mora.I liked the remake. I didn't love the remake. When I saw it at the theatre, I caught myself dozing, somewhere between the apocalyptic Moon sequence, and Hartdegen's introduction to the Morlocks. The acting by many of the performers is extremely flat. The friendship between the time traveller, and David Filby--a marvellous corner stone of the original George Pal film, is greatly diminished here. The slam bang visuals overwhelm the characters, I think. Part of the problem is the score. Many people hold Klaus Badelt's musical landscape in very high regard. And hearing it alone, on CD, I can understand why. However, when the soundtrack is heard, in tandem with the images in the film, it becomes extremely ponderous, and slow moving. I purchased the remake because of my fondness for the Wells novel, and for the 1961 film version. It's not terrible, but I think I'd wait for a used copy to come along, or maybe pick it up in some discount bin.
Rating: 
Summary: The Time Machine - Not a movie to watch Twice
Review: I saw this movie first at the Theaters! I have to say that I liked it, actually I loved it... A half year later it came out on DVD; I bought it the second it came out. I was so excited to see it again... I didn't liked it as much as the first time. It wasn't the same! I knew what would come; after that I watched it again, but my conclusion didn't change... I don't have that with other movies like 'the Omen', I watched that movie almost 6 times, I still love it. So don't buy this DVD, go rent it and never see it again, you'll love it the first time!!
Rating: 
Summary: A Movie you have to "Experience!"
Review: On the spur of the moment I rented The Time Machine the other night. I had heard mixed reviews but I'm a sci-fi fan and a H. G. Wells nut so I thought what the heck. I was extremely surprised how much I enjoyed it. It wasn't perfect but it had so many things to like that I would most sincerely recommend it. Probably the weakest aspect of this movie is the plot. It's not bad but average at best. It follows the book relatively so, although they made the time traveler's purpose much more compelling. We're taken step-by-step through his tragedies to his travels into the past and future. The movie doesn't really hit it's stride until about the half-way mark when we're introduced to the Eloi, a race of humans 800,000 years in the future. The pace begins to build to a exiting but predictable climax. What makes this movie a must see is the way it was put together. The cast is first rate. Guy Pierce plays a lost but dedicated scientist wonderfully well. Samantha Mumba deserves credit for her performance, considering this was her first major picture role. Jeremy Irons is just excellent in a limited role as the ultimate "villian." His portrayal of the uber-Morlock could have been just a straight forward "I'm-evil-and-you're-not" villian but instead we're treated to a very complex character. Both likable and detestable. Orlando Jones plays a computer-generated figure who somehow has survived all the years, first meeting the traveler in the year 2030, then again after 800,000 years. Although the concept is a little weak Jones' characher is necessary to bring the good Dr. (and us) up to date. It was an neat addition. The very best part of this was the music. The Klaus Badelt score was awesome at the very least. He has the talent to capture the mood without overpowering the scene. His soundtrack coupled with Simon Wells beautiful vison makes for a great experience. Also the very last scene showing characters in two different times showed real imagination. I would recommend this movie to anyone who goes to the theater to escape. As long as you try not to out-think yourselves you will enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: great movie
Review: The Time Machine is way better than the origonal. the special effects are great and it has a great plot. but if u buy the dvd, dont use the sceen selection cuz if u miss even 5 minutes of it the rest doesnt make any sense
Rating:
Summary: Special Effects Don't Overcome the Weak Plot
Review: We get to ask a question in this movie that seems to plague our movie industry: Just because you can make a movie over again, should you? In the case of this movie, the original was made in 1960 and starred Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Alan Young and Sebastian Cabot and is now considered a classic George Pal movie. The special effects then, as now, were state of the art and brilliantly accomplished. Furthermore, the central theme of the story then was the promise of mankind and civilization, and George's desire to be a part of the propagation of mankind. The story: Instead of George Wells being the central character, we have Guy Pearce, who you might recognize from "The Count of Monte Cristo", playing Alexander Hartdegen, an inventor who notes in an off-handed way that he knows a clerk by the name of Einstein who has "good ideas". Alexander has always been a misfit, as most geniuses are, and when his fiance tragically dies, he feels guilty and drives to create a time machine. He accidentally ends up in a far future where the moon has been destroyed, which caused the destruction of civilization, and the subsequent evolution into Eloi, Morlocks, and a being that controls the Morlocks. The real star of the movie is the special effects. The village where the Eloi live is very creative. The art of the Eloi is stunning. The underground scenes in the Morlock caverns are suitably dark and forbidding. However, while the Morlocks are bigger and scarier than the 1960s Morlocks, I found the 1960s version more believable. Smaller size is an advantage in the underground. Sensitivity to light is a natural side-effect of underground living. Furthermore, if the Morlocks has lived underground for millennia, then their eyes would have evolved to see better in dim light conditions, which should have made them much less tolerable of outside light. Of course the implausibilities stretch even further than that, with Morlocks performing physical feats that seem to defy physics as we know it, and how does that time machine always seem to end up above ground on a flat spot? I was also less pleased with Hartdegen's motivations. George's motivations in the original were the destiny of mankind and the goal of civilization. Hartdegen's motivations seem to be to find a woman and settle down creating huge three dimensional sculptures in the far future. The equivalent in the present would be that someone creates a device that changes society for all time to come, and their goal was to buy a double wide and be able to drink a six-pack a night, while not having to work. I was expecting an intelligent thought-provoking movie equivalent to the 1960 version. Instead I got a fairly mindless action adventure movie that had all of the flaws of the original with all new flaws added. While the special effects are excellent, they do not overcome the weak plot. I was somewhat disappointed. This movie turns out to be a one-time watch that requires you to disengage your brain before watching. Three stars for what should have been an improvement over the original.
Rating:
Summary: The Time Machine...Falls Short on Time!
Review: THE TIME MACHINE is a decent movie, but at 96 minutes, it seems too short for what could have been a film of epic proportions. The exploration of inventor/scientist Alexander Hartdegen (Guy Pierce) wanting to go back in time to prevent a tragedy was intriguing, but it was too short lived and not explored enough and then even his venture into the future to witness an earth shattering global catastrophe was also too short lived. One interesting part of the film is his visit to a future New York City library where he interacts with a computerized/hologram librarian played by Orlando Jones (Mad TV, EVOLUTION). Then the story shifts gear to the original H.G. Wells plot line where he goes 800,000 years into the future and meets a humanoid race called the Eloi and another race of underground dwellers called Morlocks who control the Eloi. There is a pivotal scene in the film when the Morlocks emerge and attack the Eloi and it resembles a scene from the recent remake of PLANET OF THE APES. The film becomes predictable from there. The special effects are top notch, the direction is decent (by H.G. Wells great grandson, Simon Wells - - -a PR ploy if there ever was one!)and some pretty decent support roles by Mark Addy (THE FULL MONTY),pop singer Samantha Mumba, and a strange cameo in the last part of the film by Jeremy Irons as a mutant underground dweller made up to look uncannily like pop singer Edgar Winter. The "time machine" itself has been making the rounds being displayed at sci-fi and comic book conventions around the country and it is an impressive piece of movie prop. It is listed as one of the most expensive movie props ever constructed for a major motion picture. There was another film version of THE TIME MACHINE in 1960 directed by George Pal and starring Rod Taylor, Alan Young (tv's MISTER ED),and Yvette Mimieux. Though dated, it is a classic piece of film making.
Rating:
Summary: Not the original story, but a nice movie
Review: Despite I read the story of "The Time Machine" many years ago, it was still fresh in my memory when I watched this movie. Of course I was expecting some changes to adapt the original story to both a screen and to us viewers of this century, but I was somehow surprised when the movie showed its *reason* to build the time machine up. This was not in the original story. However, this did not affect badly the flow of the story, but all the opposite: it was not only the reason to build up the machine, but also the reason for almost every thing that happens in the movie. The middle part is just nice. The director's efforts to adapt the story for our time have a good outcome. Oh, and the movie gets somehow back to the book. At the end I was again expecting some changes but then there was a big, big one; but a good one. You could say it's another story, but you will enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: KES Evenstar
Review: it's wonderful. I even saw some people standing and applauding in the theaters! I was told about the book so I expected it to be terrible. The male hero is heroic and brilliant. In it, he seeks an answer to his largest question. The herione is impressive and intelligent. In this, the future is an interesting battle between good and evil. Cannibalistic monsters verses peaceful beautiful people. The effects and fights were astouding. The monsters are so throughly barbaric, horrid, and revolting. They're fun to watch when they're running. It's interesting to watch the hero's character develop.
Rating:
Summary: Flawed, Yet Moving. Great Music.
Review: I found this movie to be disappointing with its story, yet I came away liking it a lot. The earlier movie tied the past and future together in a more coherent manner. Yet, I found myself surprisingly moved by the love story aspect. The flower conversation that tied future to past actually made me gasp, which I'd never done before. The future gets quite weird, and I get the feeling that something was omitted from the story which might have filled in the gaps better. The best part of the movie is the music, which has echoes of Star Trek + Titanic + Enya. I listen to the soundtrack CD over and over. Maybe that's why I found the movie more moving than its story deserves. The time travel sequences are terrific, and the machine itself is a worthy homage to the first movie.
| 
