Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Short and not so sweet, here were go. I love everything science fiction/fact. I've always been curious about time, time travel and paradoxes, so I thought I'd give this movie a watch. I have nothing to compare this film to because I haven't seen the original, but this particular film went from great, to somewhat boring. I enjoyed the atmosphere throughout the first quarter to half of the movie, and then it went very far-fetched and uninteresting (to me). I wish this film stuck to the 1800's - 2000's era because that's where the interesting story-line was. I wanted to see more time traveling as well, because the scenery changes throughout the years were very intriguing and borderline eye-candy to a sci-fi fan. The characters were pretty average and difficult to grasp onto. Visuals were nice. Plot wasn't overly enjoyable. It's worth a watch once, but I don't think I'd watch it again. So many other movies to watch. Mediocre. 5/10

sorry totally away from the wonderful,original there was never a romantic interest in it oh dear truly awful cant stand when any classic is remade away from the original leave great classics alone. I mean it doesn't even start of properly with his friends there at the end before the beginning why is it set in new York it should be London, if your going to base it on H.G. Wells novel at least get the location right I'm sorry this was naff. There is no romantic interest in it at the start he was Emglish not American I'm sorry but why did it not follow the same time line pattern in his journey wherever gets off innthe first. world war to meet his friends son. also as if their going to learn English while others talk cave language the young girl,didn't look surprised st all All so daft.

Some parts were a bit confusing and unnecessary (such as the blue guy) and the plot could've been better. But it was an alright movie. I first heard of it through an episode of the CBS sitcom "The Big Bang Theory", and saw it at a local bookstore on VHS. I still have a VHS player, so I decided to get it. The movie was totally worth 50 cents. By the way, another confusing part was the way it explained how humans evolved into two separate species caused just by the moon "falling out of the sky" even though the moon isn't in the sky! It's over 200,000 miles away from earth! There weren't any especially ridiculous scenes but it is quite convenient that the Artificial Intelligence lasted 800,000 years. I kind of liked him, though

I tried to watch this film with an open mind. After all, it's not an easy task to turn a short novella into a full feature length film. And, given that this and all of H.G. Wells' stories are told by first-person narration, it would take some careful adaptation to preserve the tone of the book, much of which takes place in the narrator's own head as he attempts to rationalise the world he has been thrust into, as any pragmatic man of science would. If that sounds dull to you, worry not, because this is not a careful adaptation, it's Hollywood. To their credit, they didn't cast Brendan Fraser as the time traveller, but when you see the way they hacked up the script, they might as well have.Spoiler time, so only read on if you've seen it - or don't plan to, which is a fine idea, since this film is now 12 years old and the intervening years have spawned a number of other bombs on which you could waste an hour and a half of your life.I'll begin at the beginning, which is the first thing they ruined. The beginning of H.G. Wells' novel is full of charm and mystery that sets the scene. Time's been kind to this story, unlike some of Wells' work, and there was an opportunity to tell a really good tale here whilst still being trendy and engaging...perhaps even a little steam-punk. The dinner party, the educated sceptics, the presentation of the machine - have been omitted entirely. Replacing it is a done-to-death tale of lost love, which is presented as the reason for the time traveller's invention, because apparently science needs a feminine muse and invention for invention's sake is not enough.Speaking of love, if you were hoping to see how the nuanced, innocent, paternalistic and vaguely uncomfortable relationship between the time traveller and Weena was handled, this simply isn't there either. The Eloi aren't as you might remember them, and the female lead is far from naive and child-like - she's a teacher. You don't need to be a linguist to want to start pounding your head against the screen when she begins speaking perfect English after a mere 800,000 years.It doesn't get any better after that. Cue heavy use of CGI and scary creatures that might as well be LOTR orcs (yawn), another bad dude and a big and poorly explained explosion. Big dumb happy ending, none of the reflective scenes from the end of the book. The addition of the holographic librarian is welcome and adds a sense of continuity and comic relief that this film so desperately needs.If you're not a reader, you may get something out of this film. There are worse in its genre. To understand why I'm SO disappointed, you really have to be familiar with Wells' work. He was a thinker, a visionary, a man of big ideas. His work is philosophical, but Wells takes the role of the observer as he postulates his ideas - he doesn't pause to moralise. This film does the opposite - no room for free thought is left with the viewer; the protagonist rushes in in shining armour so that you may go home comfortable.I had high hopes for this film, given that the great grandson of the book's author was involved in directing it. I'm left wondering if he's even read the original text. Oh, Simon, in a few short generations you have become an entirely different creature from your grandfather. How positively ELOI of you! You could say Wells foresaw this, in his lesser known work "A Story of the Days to Come".