# Time Machine, The (2002) - Mumba style



## stripe (Jul 19, 2001)

*Is Time Machine In Trouble?*

Orlando Jones states that given director Simon Wells' departure from The Time Machine, he's not sure that Dreamworks can complete the troubled picture in time for its intended Christmas Day release. "I don't know how they're going to get that film out," Jones said.

"I was pretty sure that Simon was going to burn out," Jones said. "It's his first live-action film. He was shooting all day and editing all night because The Time Machine is [due] out in December."

Wells is the grandson of The Time Machine author H.G. Wells and previously directed the animated features Casper 2 and The Prince of Egypt. Gore Verbinski (Mouse Hunt) took over the project after an exhausted Wells dropped out, but Jones--who shares the screen in The Time Machine with Guy Pearce, Jeremy Irons and Mark Addy--said he did not work with the new
director.


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## ZachWZ (Aug 26, 2001)

I read the time Machine by H.G. Wells about 2 mouth's ago.  Loved it!  many of todays Sci Fi writers are put to shame.

Before i saw Rush Hour 2.  I caught a preview for The Time machine.  Lame!!  the tag line stinks. 
Fron 0 to 800,000 year in 2 seconds.  On the pster it is writen above a odomator.  They better shape up in order to get me in the theature.

ZachWZ


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## Dave (Feb 14, 2002)

*The Time Machine.*

*The Time Machine.* 

Director Simon Wells has said that his remake of The Time Machine will feature more than 400 special-effects shots, enabling him to create a visual landscape light-years beyond what George Pal was able to realize in his 1960 film version. "There's a place in the original where the time machine gets encased with rock," Wells said in an interview. "Hundreds of years go by, and the Time Traveler is trapped inside the rock, which was basically a really clever cheat to get around showing that huge sweep of time changing."

Added the director, "We don't do that cheat. We stay out in the open. We see geological time travel. We see, literally, an ice age come and go. Right there, that's something you couldn't possibly do even five years ago."

Wells, who is the great-grandson of Time Machine author H.G. Wells, noted that his film will have one thing very much in common with the Pal version: Alan Young. The 82-year-old actor, who portrayed Filby in the first film, will pop up briefly in the remake. "We met with Alan, because we were told, `He's this wonderful old guy, and you have to meet him,'" Wells said. "We thought it would be nice to have him in the office and the studio and show him what we were doing on the new movie. When he came in, we just fell in love with him. He's such a nice guy. After he left, David Valdes, our producer, turned to me and said, `We've got to put him in the movie.' So he has a one-line cameo appearance. Aficionados of the original movie will be pleased to see him in there." The Time Machine will open nationwide in the US on March 8.


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## ZachWZ (Mar 2, 2002)

Alan young--



> Hi ya, wilber



If you don't who i am talking about here is another clue.



> A horse is a Horse of course, of course and no one can talk to a horse, or course.



ZachWZ


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## Dave (Mar 6, 2002)

Pearce Got Clocked In Time 

Guy Pearce, who stars in the upcoming Time Machine movie, has said that he suffered bumps and bruises to play the physically demanding role of a man who journeys back and forth through the ages. Especially hard was a hunting scene in which the monstrous Morlocks descend on Pearce's time traveler and his Eloi companions. "[The] hunt scene ... physically was quite demanding," Pearce told reporters while promoting the film. "And I actually broke a rib during that scene. So that became a little tricky then. And then all the scenes after that became quite challenging. Breathing and laughing."

But the hard work was worth it for Pearce, who confessed to being a fan of the original 1960 Time Machine film as a small boy in Australia. "That's why I wanted to be in this film, actually, because of being such a fan of the original film, the George Pal version" of H.G. Wells' classic SF book, Pearce said. "And I guess what it conjured in me, ... you know, the child within oneself ... just to sort of get back to that again is something that I found quite appealing, really. This is not normally the kind of film I would be drawn to doing, I suppose."

Pearce plays Alexander Hartdegen, a 19th-century scientist who suffers a tragic loss and constructs a time machine as a way to change the past. The lure of time travel is seductive, he added. "Possibly that notion that as human beings we tend not to want to concentrate on the present moment," he said. "We would always rather fantasize about the future or dwell on the past, or actually allow ourselves to feel very anxious about what possibly could happen in the future or dwell on sort of negative things that have happened in the past. And that's just our ego trying to sort of trying to create some identity for ourselves. We allow guilt and fantasy and all of these kinds of things to identify us. When really we would do ourselves a much greater service if we could actually exist in the present moment." The Time Machine opens March 8.


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## Dave (Mar 8, 2002)

Orlando Jones, who plays the holographic Vox in the upcoming Time Machine movie, said that it was a challenge coming up with the snarky personality for his artificial character. Jones appears in the movie as the computerized "compendium of all human knowledge," whom time traveler Guy Pearce encounters in futuristic New York.

"I know who Data is, I know who Spock is," Jones said in an interview about his SF forebears. "So how does an information unit 800,000 years in the future actually interface? ... There are now programmed responses [on the Internet] that are sarcastic, you know what I mean? So let's let this guy be all of that, plus four. ... Let's have him be HAL plus. And so that's really where the basic creation came from. And then, obviously, the secondary scenes, the same character is obviously in a very different emotional place. It's just about mapping out the emotions, how far the character grows, how much it knows."

Vox provides some comic relief in the film, but Jones--who is otherwise known for his humorous turns in films such as Evolution--said that the role did not require any improvisation. "Oddly enough, none of that is improv'd, really," he said. "It's probably the most scripted piece I've done. ... For me, the key was just, let's just figure out what the movie is about, and what the director is seeking to do with the picture. The second thing is how does my character plug into that, and how can I best serve the means that the director is trying to fulfill? ... The parameters are already sort of set up, and I find out what the parameters are, and then how to find out a way to sort of breathe some life into it in such a way as to make it compelling and interesting to watch." The Time Machine opens March 8.


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## Chilly (Mar 13, 2002)

*hey*

i just read that guy pearce is in the time machine as well as irish popstar samantha mumba. 
im sure guy pearce gave it his all like he does with all his other movies! hes excellent!


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## Mariel (Mar 16, 2002)

I saw this movie yesterday and really enjoyed it.  The visuals were amazing.  Jeremy Irons character was really interesting.  I've seen the origional, but it's been a while.  

:blpaw:


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## Legolas (Jul 18, 2002)

*Mumba style*

What did everyone think of the Samantha/Omaro Mumba duo? I thought Sammy was great as Mara, and her acting skills are good, but with more experience I think she could be quite big. Omaro is just cute as her younger brother, (he has a simgel out now called 'little big man' quite catchy...)

The storyline was a little hard to grab. I think because I haven't rea the book it's harder...but who else has seen this film? I don't know about...whats his name...oh that Irish guy...Guy somebody. He was kinda iffy. And the beginning was stuffy, but it turned out cool in the end.

:flash:


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## ray gower (Jan 3, 2003)

Don't think reading the book would help you a great deal, Legolas. If I remember, in the book our hero leaves the Morlocks and Eloi to get on with things.

So it won't actually explain what our looney Prof Hartdgen did at the end.

I would also like a set of whatever batteries the librarian had, though he did spoil the adventure aspect of the film, supplying all the answers. Another film with a dose of 'do something to wrap it up quick'.

All in all, this film is a good match for the 1960 version. The effects are better (obviously) and almost match the original scene for scene. And overall it fills some of the unexplained holes in the earlier version, at the expense of opening irritating new ones of its own.

For the record IMDB says:


> Based on the classic sci-fi novel by H.G. Wells, "The Time Machine" stars Guy Pearce in the role of scientist and inventor, Alexander Hartdegen, who is determined to prove that time travel is possible. His determination is turned to desperation by a personal tragedy that now drives him to want to change the past. Testing his theories with a time machine of his own invention, Hartdegen is hurtled 800,000 years into the future, where he discovers that mankind has divided into the hunter - and the hunted.


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## Krystal (Mar 3, 2003)

I really enjoy this movie, at first I wasn't sure I would like it but as the film progress it got me hooked.  Specially enjoy Jeremy Irons as the bad guy.  I specially love the ambience of the movie. It was very entertaining.  

Krystal


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## Metryq (Apr 25, 2011)

What a train wreck—yet another movie proving that special effects cannot compensate for a bad story.

I knew the movie was on the wrong foot as soon as Sienna Guillory was killed within the first 12 minutes. I'm also not a fan of time travel stories that work from the premise that time "happens again." If the Traveler tried to alter the events of that fateful night, he would cross paths with his earlier self. And when Emma (Guillory) dies a second time in a different way, I knew the hack writer didn't know the difference between paradox and fate.

The New York Public Library's holographic computer was annoying and kitschy. As Ray noted above, the computer was a lazy man's escape hatch from having to do some actual scriptwriting. Pal's 1960 movie took a little "short cut" with the talking rings scene, yet otherwise preserved the Traveler's explorations, ruminations, and revised hypotheses. 

Upon landing in 21st century New York, the writer could also have been more creative with the cyclist, rather than inserting another awkward "your fly is down" scene, as with the computer. For example, after remarking on the Traveler's "retro" clothing, the cyclist might have been more animated about the time machine itself. (Cappuccino machine jokes? Is that the best they could come up with? Really?) Perhaps—

"Wow! That reminds me of the time machine from that old movie."

"You know what it is?" (Thinking that time travel is common.)

Then the cyclist might look knowing, like a light coming on, "I get it—there's a convention in town, right? Nice work! Well, I gotta run."

And _20 megatons_ as an excavation charge? I doubt that would shatter the moon, but it's also in the same class as using a pile driver to cut diamonds.

Then we arrive in the distant future where everyone learns English as a child, yet forgets it by adulthood. Why would anyone be studying a nearly million-year-old language? I doubt any of our artifacts will still be around, like chiseled stone signage and the untended fusion power plant that was running the NYC library computer. Later in the movie the Traveler jumps another half _billion_ years forward to find the Morlocks and Eloi still as he left them—no change.

The world of 802,701 is just a bunch of stuff thrown together with no purpose: the Eloi know all about the Morlocks, but simply don't talk about it; the Eloi tend giant windmills that power the Morlocks' underground smelting plants; the Morlocks come out any time they like, including in broad daylight; they fire darts that appear to be poisoned, yet anybody hit with one simply pulls it out and keeps running; and where the heck did this überMorlock come from? What a waste of a great actor.



> *Ray Gower wrote:* If I remember, in the book our hero leaves the Morlocks and Eloi to get on with things. So it won't actually explain what our looney Prof Hartdgen did at the end.



In the book, the Traveler lost Weena in the forest fire on the trip back from the "palace of green jade" (a museum). Upon arriving back at the sphinx, he found his machine inside, but was ambushed as he stepped in to reclaim it. During his scramble to mount the machine he ends up traveling further into the future and seeing the last days of Earth. After returning home and telling his guests of the adventure, he takes off on another expedition—properly armed with cameras and other gear this time. The first-person relating the story explains that the Traveler never returned from that second trip.

Stephen Baxter wrote a not terribly creative sequel, _The Time Ships_.


(Below: Time Machine clock I built for a friend based on the design seen in the 1960 George Pal film. The base of the machine itself—not the base of the entire clock—was about 9 cm long. The brass gnomon at the top indicated the time as the wheel slowly turned.)


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## Rodders (Apr 25, 2011)

That's very cool.


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## Foxbat (Apr 25, 2011)

Good job Metryq. That's a fine looking clock


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## Connavar (Apr 25, 2011)

*Metryq

*Hehe i like your post because as a fan of the novel i thought similar thoughts about this movie.  Another speciel effects cant replace a good script.The 1960 film future was atleast similar to novel and not as stupid as this film future.


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## Metryq (Apr 25, 2011)

Connavar, I agree—the 1960 movie differed from the book, but was similar in spirit. Wells' novel was a social commentary about what he saw as a growing rift between the wealthy "masters" and the blue collar "wage slaves." Of course, it's silly to suppose that any trend like that would progress in such a linear fashion; something else would interrupt the evolution and a new balance would be found.

An excerpt from the epilogue of the book is on the clock—an idea also expressed in the 1960 movie:



> ...I stayed on waiting for the Time Traveler: waiting for the second, perhaps still stranger story, and the specimens and photographs he would bring with him. But I am beginning now to fear that I must wait a lifetime. The Time Traveler vanished three years ago. And, as everybody knows now, he has never returned...And I have by me, for my comfort, two strange white flowers—shriveled now, and brown and flat and brittle—to witness that even when mind and strength had gone, gratitude and a mutual tenderness still lived on in the heart of man.


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