Let's be realistic.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Like many who have enjoyed this film as a youngster, I was pleased by its availability on Amazon. Others have written about the high quality of the story, and I completely agree. What really impresses me though, is the faithfulness to hard science. A lot of scientific principles are discussed in this film, and they are all correct! I can't remember the last time I saw a science fiction film that got ALL of its science right. Everything, from the limitations presented by the speed of light barrier, to the action/reaction principle of a photon drive. All of this film's science IS science. No warp drives, no subspace faster than light radio transmission. Everything (except, of coarse the time portal itself) fits within the confines of the universe as we know it today. A science teacher in grammar school could screen this for his class, and then use it as a jumping off point for additional sessions. I wish more of today's firms, that claim to be science fiction, would be as scientifically accurate as this little jewel of a film.

The first time I saw this movie was on a weekend afternoon on one of the UHF stations out of Sacramento. I only saw the first five minutes or so. Up to the part where the characters actually take their first steps forward, and then the family had to go somewhere.Throughout the years I'd catch the same beginning time and again, but was always drawn away from it.Well, I finally saw it all last year, and where it wasn't sterling scifi fare, it was decent for a 1960s reminisce-blast from scifi film making of days of yore. Finally being able to see this full film in its entirety put a smile on my face. The same kind of feeling I got when I saw other films that I had often heard about, but had never fully seen, just bits and pieces here and there on broadcast TV back in the 70s and 80s.But, to the movie; it's standard science fiction time travel stuff. Throw in a few mutants, some robots, and you got yourself a movie. There's a romantic subplot of sorts, some rocket ships, a fight for survival, a battle of good and evil, all the things that make great science fiction great. Only this film isn't exactly the greatest thing ever, it's just decent enough to be watchable.Lots of basic shots, mostly standard master shots and two shots to push the narrative forward. There are no or few dramatic closeups, no rapid machinegun editing, and a score that's your standard "danger of the unknown" music so prominent of scifi of the 50s and 60s.It's the kind of movie that someone thought would be a good thing for people to see, and that scifi aficionados like myself thought would be worth seeing once or twice. And the film delivers on that account.I'm so glad I finally saw it after decades of just catching snippits of it. I'm not sure I'll buy the DVD or bluray to add to my collection, but I'm glad it's out there for all to see.If you're a scifi fan, then maybe give this film a chance on the player of your choice. Enjoy.

After almost 50 years of bootlegs and cropped TV versions, the DVD from shout factory finally has come out, along with 3 other moves on one DVD for under 10 bucks. This was one of my favorite movies along with the original 1960 time machine movie.I like this ending better, however. you can listen to the soundtrack on you tube, the liumicord is a actual machine, and who knows what happened at the end. That is what a great idea can do with a limited budget. I believe the actors went above the usual "b" movie acting to give this a extra kick. Despite all the CGI today, this movie holds up.I believe you can buy the shout factory DVD at amazon.

I've been watching old sci-fi films for 45 years, and time travel is my favorite of the genre. I've seen them all, and collected most, and this is a must see for any aficionado of time travel stories. I'll skip the synopsis and stick to why your brain must ingest this movie. To begin with this is the first of the straight forward time portal movies, and one of the best. The budget is surprisingly meaty for an AI movie, and the effects are quite good for the time. The quaint rear screen portal effect may seem cheesy by today's standards, but it allows for the unexpected discovery of the portal, advances the storyline nicely by providing a plausible way to get them out of the room, and sets up the totally cool story twists....especially the ending. The collapsing portal effect is very neat. Compare it to Hewitt's remake/rip-off Journey To The Center Of Time (1967). That rehash (directed by the co-producer, co-story writer, and effects manager of this movie) has everyone leaving though the door. There are so many interesting features to the story including a post apocalyptic hell scape complete with radiation scarred mutants, androids, teleportation, advanced food production techniques, force-fields, weird recreational activities, futuristic blue pant suits, and of course 60's babes including Delores "Va-Va-Voom" Wells. Almost all of the actors are above par for the time and genre, with Steve Franken doing a memorable job as the comic relief guy, and Preston Foster and John Hoyt delivering their usual workmanlike performance. Carey is a passable hero, with his Heston-like delivery, and Wells and Anders provide more than just pleasant window dressing. Of course there's the obligatory as-much-boob-as-we-dare scenes, which adds to the campy fun. I disagree with some reviewers whom assert the android factory and Wells music scenes were drawn out to kill time. This was no Coleman Francis movie. You get the impression throughout that the makers thought this was cutting edge sci-fi stuff, certainly the best androids to that time. There's some good action as well, especially the mutant attack finale. By far though the best part of this movie was the great ideas generated by the writers, a skill that seems sadly lacking these days. So much of the science was cutting edge for the time and its hard for a contemporary audience to appreciate that now. Imagine living in 1964 and only having seen the movies to date and you can begin to give this film the credit it deserves. Finally, the time-loop ending and tie in foreshadowing to the first scene is a classic and was groundbreaking. If you like time travel stuff you must collect this if only for the historical perspective it will give you on the genre. I'm just disappointed that I won't live to the year 2079...really would like to have an android and see everybody in sky-blue futuristic jumpsuits :) .