Review of Things to Come (1936) by Steve G — 27 Apr 2008

Visually innovative and still a cinematic spectacle to behold in these days of CGI-heavy effects, H.G. Wells's Things To Come suffers from the same ailments of even the best aging Sci-Fi stories: it's nearly outlived itself.

While some predictions astound in hindsight (specifically the foresight of a second great World War and the deadly ramifications of biological weapons), others that may have been quite shocking in 1936 now evoke giggles and grins (its prediction that by 1970 humankind has, for the most part, recessed into a second medieval age certainly doesn't help in the modern suspension of disbelief).

At it's core it still presents an interesting look at social and scientific progress and the philosophical questions that surround mankind's endless desire to reach outward and conquer the boundaries of space and time.

And because such great design, detail and craftsmanship were used in its production, not to mention some of England's best film performers of the 30s, the film now stands as both a beautiful visual metaphor for our hunger to become greater, larger and more evolved that what we once were, while simultaneously taking its niche in the kitsch of retro-futurism.