Barnes & Noble

A classic science fiction novel by H. G. Wells, previously adapted to film in 1960, gets a vigorous reworking in this sumptuous, visually arresting popcorn movie directed by the author's great-grandson, Simon Wells. Guy Pearce plays Alexander Hartdegen, a brilliant mathematician who builds a time-travel device and, following the untimely death of his fiancée, uses it in an ill-fated attempt to change the course of history. Inadvertently, he catapults himself some 8,000 centuries into the future. There he finds a technological wasteland in which Homo sapiens has split into two subspecies: the peaceful Eloi, who enjoy a potentially idyllic, arboreal existence on the planet's surface, and the Morlocks, cannibals who only emerge from their underground dwellings in search of human food. Director Wells employs a wide variety of digitally created visual effects -- in combination with imaginatively designed sets, props, makeup, and costumes -- to create the illusion of an Earth that is almost unimaginably different from the one we know today. Jeremy Irons, deliciously malevolent, turns up late in the proceedings as the über-Morlock against whom Alexander is pitted. Former model Samantha Mumba is suitably decorative as Mara, the Eloi maiden who steals the time traveler's heart. Not to be taken seriously, The Time Machine has been expertly turned out and will amply reward viewers willing and able to suspend disbelief. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

The classic science fiction novel by H.G. Wells becomes this big-budget adventure directed by the author's great-grandson Simon Wells. Guy Pearce stars as Alexander Hartdegen, a scientist, professor, and inventor in 1895 New York City who believes that time travel is possible. The sudden and unexpected death of his fiancée spurs Alexander to build a time machine, which he hopes to use in an effort to change the past. When he is unable to change the past, Alexander hurls himself more than 800,000 years into the future, seeking answers about the nature of time, but instead encountering a dystopian world where humanity has divided up into two races, the peaceful Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks. Befriending the beautiful Eloi woman Mara (pop singer Samantha Mumba), Alexander must set out to save her from the underground world of the Morlocks when she is captured by them. Along the way, he is aided by Vox (Orlando Jones), a bio-mechanical being from the 21st century. Ultimately, Alexander makes a shocking discovery about the true nature of the Eloi and Morlocks and decides that the only way to change the future is to alter the present. Due to exhaustion, director Wells was briefly replaced during the last few weeks of production by Gore Verbinski, director of The Mexican (2001). The Time Machine co-stars Jeremy Irons and Mark Addy. Karl Williams

Chicago Reader

As old-fashioned movie fun, this isn't bad...and it's better than the 1960 George Pal version. Jonathan Rosenbaum

Product Details

• UPC: 667068997224
• Source: DREAMWORKS VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby Surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Français, Español
• Subtitles: English, Español
• Time: 1:36:00
• Sales Rank: 8,928

Features:

DVD MENU