Movie Stats:
Released 1960 (Italy)
American, in English
Director - George Pal
Stars - Rod Taylor, Alan Young, Yvette Mimieux
Plot Summary:
Inventor H. George Wells (Taylor) creates a time machine that he uses to take a fantastical journey into the future. Young co-stars as George’s friend, David Filby, and Mimieux as George’s love interest, Weena.
Warnings:
Violence; minor gore.
Bad Stuff:
I didn’t like George. He’s histrionic, sanctimonious, and incredibly condescending toward Weena. I’m unsure if it’s because she’s young or because she’s a woman or a little bit of both. Whatever the reason, it’s very annoying.
It’s dull.
It’s cheesy.
Good Stuff:
I liked David. Everyone could use a friend like him.
The beginning, while slow, was pretty interesting to me. I enjoyed the discussion of the fourth dimension and time travel.
The Verdict:
So, there are a lot of movies on this list based on the fiction of H.G. Wells. Also, I recently read one of his books (The Island of Dr. Moreau) for my book group. With so much exposure to him, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not a fan of H.G. Wells. I find his writing to be juvenile, I tend to not like his main characters (who are often histrionic), and he reuses ideas frequently. Every time another Wells story appears on my list, my heart sinks.
After reading a synopsis of the book, it seems that this version of the movie (there are several remakes) follows it most closely, but I think it suffers a lot from the time period it was filmed during. It’s goofy, the special effects are bad, and the music is almost painfully overbearing. I do think there were a couple of good ideas in there, but the execution was poor. I’m genuinely shocked that it has such great reviews on IMDB. I thought it was a boring chore.
I give it 2 stars.
Maybe there are so many H.G. Wells adaptations because he was the only Sci Fi game in town for a goodly period?
ReplyDeleteI guess you can mark this down as having watched so that the good sci fi movies will seem that much sweeter? Maybe?
Dan watched this with me and insisted we watch "First Men in the Moon" after, which he claimed was a much better movie. Well, guess who wrote "First Men in the Moon"? Dan had no idea. He also hadn't seen it since he was a kid. His memory was faulty. It was AWFUL. One of the worst things I've ever seen in my life. That may have added a little extra saltiness to this review.
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