Review of The Time Machine (1960) by Janna W — 19 Sep 2004

I enjoyed this movie. A lot. Much more than I though I would actually. That's right, like many times, I based my first impression on the cover and thought that it would be sub par, as every single one of the characters looked just plain nerdy and flat.

And like almost every other time, I was totally wrong. I actually enjoyed this one a little better than the remake which I also liked. The special effects were just amazing considering it was made in 1960.

Nowadays, we think "Meh, they used computer to make that. Nothing special." However they DIDN'T HAVE COMPUTERS BACK THEN, so these were a state of the art for that time period. The flat, nerdy looking characters? They were neither.

It's true that George fit the archetype of the "inventor who seems to be ahead of his time", but that's the point of the movie! He's ahead of his time, so he goes to the future and realizes that no time is exactly perfect.

He ends up in the middle of both world wars as well as Orson Wells' catastrophic view of the '60s (thanks to my dad for that observation). Anyways, he ends up in the near future where he meets Weena, a member of a childlike people.

They fit the stereotype of the dumb blonde which I found irritating at first as they spoke with a monotone and didn't do much but wander around aimlessly but then I saw the reason for it and all disgust was removed.

When it comes right down to it, this movie was very well done and it makes you think without being too psychological--that's a good thing, as it's hard to get a movie like that.