The Time Machine

Well, the hubby’s away tonight, so I thought I would again indulge in a film on the trusty DVD player. This time, my choice was The Time Machine. No, not the George Pal version from 1960, but the version from 2002, by Simon Wells – the grandson of H. G. Wells.

Ooh, but I did enjoy it!

Not that I wish to deprecate the George Pal version. I have very fond memories of it. For my 11th birthday, my parents treated me – and all the children who were invited to my 11th birthday party – to a showing of the film in the Regal Cinema in Douglas. Gosh, it was magical – the curtain gradually rising, before the blackout, to reveal worlds that we could never have imagined – that was so, so extraordinary! It honestly does still bring tears to my eyes. A slight pause, while I blow my nose and wipe away the tears for my parents to whom I owe so much. And I don’t mean that in any facetious sense. I truly do thank the universe for their presence in my life. They did their best, and I’m truly grateful for it.

Anyway.

Sorry – again a pause to wipe the tears.

Simon Wells’ version of "The Time Machine". Well, actually, I enjoyed this as well. I confess that I have never read H. G. Wells’ original version, so perhaps it was not "true to the original". Having said that, I think that Simon Wells turned in a very credible rendering.

The whole drive of the need to invent a time machine, being powered by the loss of the love of the hero’s life, Emma, was very good.  

And, perhaps it was just me, but the realisation of the world of the Eloi in this version was as though the world of Riven had come to life. OK – shallow, I know, but that’s how it seemed to me.

And I just adored Orlando Jones’ camp rendering of a know-it-all piece of database software. "Live long and prosper", indeed!