I was eleven years old in 1960 when my brother and I went to the neighborhood theatre and saw a picture that, at the time and even till this day is believed, by many, including me, to be one of the greatest science fiction movies ever made.  It was the George Pal production of The Time Machine.  Great acting by Rod Taylor and Alan Young and special effects that were at least twenty years ahead of their time.  It was a fabulous picture and I always wanted to see a sequel but not a remake.  NEVER a remake.

Well, they remade it and it was a mistake.  When seeing remakes, I always try not to compare the two, especially while watching the latest version.  Well I did that this time and for the record, had the original NOT been made, this would have been just a mediocre picture.  Following the original, it is down right BAD!  It was flat and had no punch.  The special effects were just OK and run of the mill.  As far as the acting went, there wasn't much of it.  Guy Pearce (LA Confidential) was the inventor/time traveler and he seamed lost in the role AND in time.  Even the time machine itself was nothing special.  The original Time Machine was elegant and Victorian.  It was plush and very ornate.  This one looked WAY too high-tech for the year 1899 and it had no "class".  The director was Simon Wells who is the great, great (great?) grandson of H.G. Wells who wrote The Time Machine.  I wonder what old H.G. would have thought of this version of his book?   Hard to say but speaking for myself, I think he would be disappointed. I was.

RECOMMENDATION:  Take that show money, and rent the original.  Make sure to get the widescreen DVD.  Better yet, take the show money and put it with some MO money and BUY the DVD!

TWO REMADE, CHRONOLOGICAL THUMBS DOWN!!!  (no Rolex here!)  (not even a Timex)

Movie Review © 2002 by Terry Anderson