This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Most fascinating story telling of the highest degree awaits you when you visit with this quality flick brought to us by author H. G. Wells and to the screen by George Pal. Well done gentleman and a hearty pat on the back to the supporting cast and players too. The theme of the movie is of course Time Travel which tends to boggle the mind if one goes into the details. If one stays on the surface and does not go deep, then we are only entertained but quite satisfied at that. The idea of being able to come and go through time raises so many complex questions that we quickly get side-tracked and forget to just enjoy the premise of yesterday, today and tomorrow and the mystery surrounding all three. You see yesterday gives way to hindsight of which we all have allowing us to consider what we could have done or did not do or shouldn't. Then, today gives us the moment or the present where we can begin anew and create, explore or adventure as we choose. Tomorrow tends to be the carrot of life beckoning but not being able to be caught. That's why this movie is a hit. Don't you see? It triggers one imagination to soar, ponder and ask the why and the how questions. Most satisfying wouldn't you say? I had a bowl of hot farina with nuts, berries, bananas and flax seed to further add to my enjoyment. find yours and travel well.

As the gin-soaked wreckage of Errol Flynn was being swept off the Hollywood landscape in the late 1950s, a younger but more stable Aussie Adonis was training hard down on Santa Monica beach. A former lifeguard and amateur boxer, his name was Rod Taylor and movie critics of the day quickly got to the core of what the sandy-haired, blue-eyed newcomer was all about. He was soon being described as "solid", "ruggedly handsome", "charming" and, after proving himself in a string of successful pictures, "reliable".Following a succession of support roles on both the big and small screen, Taylor finally got his first crack at movie stardom in 1960 when the producer-director George Pal gave him the lead in "The Time Machine", MGM's rendering of the landmark novel of the same name by H.G.Wells.Ideally cast as George, the strong-willed inventor in late Victorian London who speculates about the possibility of being able to travel through the fourth dimension to the future, Taylor struck gold. In an effort to realize his ambition, he builds an amazing machine, a wondrous creation of brass rails, ivory and rock crystal with a red velvet seat. Launching himself in a spectacular blaze of flashing colored lights, he hurtles away and, after a blistering burst of speed, he arrives in the year 802,701 where he comes across what looks like a paradise on earth.Populated by a society of beautiful young people known as the Eloi, the air is fresh and clean and magnificent fruit grows in abundance. But he soon discovers that all is not well. The gentle Eloi are, in fact, being held virtual prisoners by a brutal colony of mutants called the Morlocks who run the place from their underground hideaway. After falling for Weena, a particularly cute Eloi girl, George snaps into hero mode and with, the damsel's life at stake, he decides to save her people from the evil ones. However, there are matters he has to attend to back in his own world. What follows is a study of divided loyalties and a moral dilemma which stretches between the ages.Unsure about making another foray in science fiction, Taylor was swayed after he met George Pal as he explained in the July,1986 edition of Starlog magazine. "George was a genius. He had a marvelous talent for illustration and I was fascinated by his pre -production drawings". Movie novice Yvette Mimieux played Weena and provided just the right look of wide-eyed innocence and vulnerability for the brave and chivalrous Taylor to defend. Other cast members included TV regular Alan Young as the inventor's closest friend David Filby together with Sebastian Cabot, Tom Helmore and Whit Bissell. Writer David Duncan supplied an intelligent and imaginative script while veteran cameraman Paul Vogel did the cinematography and Russell Garcia handled the music.Released on August 16,1960, The Time Machine became an overnight sensation at the box office, with the special effects by Gene Warren and Tim Baer going on to win an Oscar. Now considered to be a classic of the genre, both the picture in general and Taylor's contribution in particular were hailed by the critics. Pauline Kael, of the New Yorker later described it as being "one of the best of its kind". Bosley Crowther of the New York Times drew attention to the standard of the photography, saying that "The color lends exciting hues to everything from Victorian wine glasses to the Morlocks flashing green eyes". Variety called Taylor's characterization "a gem".Most significantly, it marked the beginning of Taylor's big career which, as it turned out, barely extended beyond the end of the decade.However, during his stay at the top he stood alone as Australia's only major Hollywood identity. Greatly respected for his range and versatility as an actor, he moved easily and competently between drama, comedy, romance and, later, action movies as he co - starred opposite the likes of Rock Hudson, Doris Day, John Wayne and many others.

Watched this Movie at a very young age. The first fifteen minute were chatty where the four Businessmen at the table question a disheveled George's (Rod Taylor) whereabouts for the past week? George(H.G. Wells) inventor of the Time Machine in question tells his story from start to finish on his incredible journey into Man's future. This movie back tracks a week as the Five stand around this miniature invention of the scaled down time machine as Sebastian Cabot flips the switch and the machine disappears into thin air before the stunned group of established English Gentlemen. At this time in England's history, the Boer War was in full swing in Africa and these men wanted a new type of weapon for destructive purposes to invest in, not a better time piece. Even best friend and neighbor David Filby played by Alan Young tries to discourage George not to travel and destroy the machine before it destroys you. All George can promise is that" He won't walk out the front door." What grabs the audiences attention is the special effects. Our star Time traveler flips the silver knob foreword as a candle melts fast. Trees outside bear fruit as a snail races across the room. The sun and moon arch above and the mannequin from Filby's Store changes clothes and dress styles as the decades pass in seconds. The time travel scenes are the best as Creator George Pal goes to no expense. Nuclear war eventually breaks out as our time traveler stops in 1966 and is overjoyed with the tremendous strides mankind has made. Fancy automobiles and electric shavers grab his attention as the masses of people head to the bomb shelter.An elderly man in a silver air raid warden suit passes by who happens to be an elderly James Filby. Filby warns George that, " Run along run along. The mushrooms will be sprouting you silly young fool get into the shelter!" An aged Filby realizes that he spoke to the same man two wars earlier in 1917 when George first stopped.In 1917 George's house went dark due to the boarding up of his home which became dusty and filled with vermin. A stunned Filby looks at George with a familiarity and realizes that it was the same man who inquired about his Father and the boarded house that stood across the way. George confesses that he is that same person but Filby is so confused and dumbfounded by saying,"You don't look a day older and your clothes!" George wants to make conversation with so many questions to ask but the final siren goes off as a panic stricken Filby runs away and says," Come out when it's all clear." Bombs start to fall and buildings explode. Man's physical violence prompted the earth's volcanic violence of it's own. Molten lava spewing all around as George runs to his time machine for safety as a large pool of hot lava is flowing toward his direction Simultaneously as a huge wave of lava falls onto George and his time machine but as luck would have it the machine being activated spins forward as the lava cooled and George and the time machine were encased in solid rock for centuries. Finally the rock wore down and the Earth stayed Green with a large Sphinx some 800,000 years into the future. George stopped to examine and our story gets even more bizarre with a race of blonde people in togas called Eloi's.Did George think for a moment that he found the Garden Of Eden? Then a cry for help as a woman is caught in the under current of the stream as she's drowning. George dives in and rescues the female. Here we introduce Weena (Yvette Mimueax) as these blonde people watch idly by. Even Weena is not appreciative of George's heroics. They frolic swim and eat fruit all day. George is also curious why there aren't any elders here. No one knows about or cares about anything of the past. They don't even question Goerge's sudden arrival from the past. George asks if they have books? The Eloi replied, "Yes we have books."George and the Eloi enter the halls with items and sculptures of the past.Passing the dust laden book shelves, George in anticipation takes a book off the shelf as it crumbles into his hands binder and all.Humiliation overcomes our inventor with an anger to match.He questions the Eloi, "What have you done?" to the stunned Eloi. Centuries of mankind and for what? To run and play. George infuriated as he's yelling at the whole group of Eloi's simpletons that he's headed back to his time machine which was located adjacent to the sphinx but nightfall came and the predators of the night the Morlocks put the time machine inside behind the heavy metal doors. Now George is stuck in the future with these strange lot of Elois and what about the Morlocks. Many unanswered questions in this sci-fi classic. Great special effects Alan Young plays a duel role of Filby's and Whit Bissel who is synonymous with Time travel movies and shows. I.e. Time Tunnel and the remake of the TV version of the Time Machine. Sebastian Cabot plays a skeptical business man.The incomparable Paul Frees makes use of his million dollar voice for the talking rings which make this all the more enjoyable. After a while I question the casting of Yvette Mimieux as Weeena. Instead of a steamy romance, Taylor and Mimieux are more suitable for a Father Daughter relationship.

H. G. Wells's classic novel popularized the concept of time travel. I've never read the novel, but George Pal's 1960 adaptation of "The Time Machine" is a really cool movie. There were a few things that I interpreted from it.The time-traveling scientist (Rod Taylor, RIP) goes to multiple points in the future and finds repeated wars. I suspect that the screenwriter added these to the plot for historical accuracy. The time traveler notes that in his own time he sees governments creating more and more ways to kill each other. No doubt Wells's socialist views led him to grow disgusted with this. Indeed, the Eloi and Morlocks are supposed to be the descendants of the rich and poor, respectively.The depiction of a future in which all the world knowledge has died out reminds me of Mike Judge's "Idiocracy", in which a man gets cryogenically frozen and wakes up 500 years later, finding the world populated entirely by stupid people (to the degree that there's a TV show about a man suffering repeated crotch injuries, and a movie that's a two-hour shot of someone's butt).As for the rest of the cast. Alan Young (Filby) is best known as Wilbur on "Mister Ed"* and Scrooge on "DuckTales". Yvette Mimieux (Weena) later starred as the Princess in a segment of Pal's "Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm". Paul Frees (the talking rings) provided the voice of Boris on "Rocky and Bullwinkle" and also the Ghost Host in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion.Basically, it's one of the neatest movies that you'll ever see. Ditto Pal's movies "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" and "The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao". There was a 2002 adaptation of the book, but I think that I'll skip that movie.*I only watched that show to see Wilbur's wife Carol. You don't know what a hottie is until you've seen her.