The time machine (1978)

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Movie
German title The time machine (1978)
Original title The Time Machine
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1978
length 99 minutes
Rod
Director Henning Schellerup
script Wallace C. Bennett
Based on: HG Wells
production Charles Edward Sellier Jr.
music John Cacavas
camera Stephen W. Gray
cut Trevor Jolly
occupation

The Time Machine is an American science fiction - adventure film from the year 1978 , the Sunn Classic Pictures as part of its Classics Illustrated series for television was produced. Although the plot was updated in the late 1970s, the film should John Beck and Priscilla Barnes in the lead roles , a more faithful reproduction of the original novel by HG Wells be from 1895 - in contrast to the film The Time Machine from 1960 , which some freedoms claimed for himself. The film first aired on NBC on November 5, 1978 during the Nielsen TV polls.

action

The film is a modern version of Well's novel and turns the time traveler into a scientist of the 1970s who works for a fictional US defense company , the "Mega Corporation". Dr. Neil Perry (John Beck), the time traveler, is described as one of the most trusted contributors to Mega by senior associate Ralph Branly (Whit Bissell and alumnus of the 1960 film adaptation). Perry's skill is evident in his quick reprogramming of an off-course satellite that averted disaster and could have destroyed Los Angeles . Thanks to his reputation , he had received a $ 20 million grant for his time machine project. A month after completion want the company that Perry resets his project so he started working on a new weapons project, the " anti-matter - bomb " can begin. The unexpectedly early completion of the power module that Perry needed to complete the time machine allows him to test his creation the weekend before he was supposed to start working on the anti-matter bomb.

Perry traveled twice during that weekend reporting to Haverson, Branley, and Worthington, the CEO of Mega Corporation. As Neil tells the story of his travels, time-lapse images of a new building are shown in reverse order, proving that he has traveled in time. In contrast to the novel, the time machine and its driver do not remain stationary during their journeys through time, as the machine has the possibility of being able to travel to different places. Perry first visited Salem , Massachusetts, in 1692, where he was found involved in a witchcraft trial and found guilty of witchcraft and eventually sentenced to be burned at the stake with his time machine . Tied to the seat of his machine, he can break free to escape. He makes a detour to the year 1871 to avoid a leap in time and arrives in the middle of the California gold rush , where he is shot at by miners and arrested for stealing a gold shipment. Perry's ingenuity and a bank robbery diversion allow him to escape.

When Perry returns to his lab in the present day, he receives a terrifying report on the environmental impact of the Mega Corporation's newest weapons. Perry then travels to the future to provide evidence for the report's predictions and to convince Haverson that Mega Corporation's current agenda will lead to global devastation. He witnesses the fiery destruction of civilization , but also the reappearance of nature from the wasteland . During the devastation, humanity retreated underground. Eventually some decided to return to the surface. Those who did this became the Eloi . Those who stayed underground became the Morlocks . The Morlocks have just begun “harvesting” the Eloi for food when Perry arrives on site, with the year unsettled. There he befriends the Eloi girl Weena , who explains to him how the Eloi Morlock world came about. A special technology museum showing weapons from Perry's time also contains a weapon he designed and an information board with his name on it. A video and audio - presentation in the museum shows that Perry's new contract will be directly responsible for the Mega Corporation for the destruction of the world. Before returning to his own time, Perry and Ariel (the male Eloi) use plastic explosives found in the museum to cordon off the Morlocks' three entrances to the Eloi habitat.

Perry hands Haverson and Worthington his report and finds out that they are not interested in saving the world from destruction. Instead, they are interested in using the time machine to gain a military advantage over other world powers . Perry leaves her and returns to Weena and the Eloi, who are now free from the Morlocks.

occupation

actor role
John Beck Dr. Neil Perry
Priscilla Barnes Weena
Andrew Duggan JR Washington Chairman of the Board
Rosemary DeCamp Neil Perry's secretary Agnes
Jack Kruschen John Bedford
Whit Bissell Ralph Branly
John Hansen Eloi Ariel
RG Armstrong General Harris
John Doucette Sheriff Finley
Parley Baer Henry Haverson
John Zaremba Defense Minister
Peggy Stewart Peg Stewart
Bill Zuckert Charlie
Nick Steury Dark Morlock

criticism

The film critic David Sindelar defended the film against the allegation that it deviated completely from the novel. He found that the film's anti-war message was better and more subtly translated through the George Pal film. Sindelar pokes fun at Perry's adventures in colonial America and the California gold rush and found that the Eloi seemed too much like contemporary American youth and acted too much like them.

Locations

The building complex of Collier & Heins Financial Consultants in Salt Lake City in the US state of Utah was used for some scenes of the modern era. James Collier was President of the Company in the late 1970s and his office was used as Haverson's office. The Morlock scenes were filmed in and around one of the mines in Park City, Utah . Portions of the film were also shot in Kamas, Utah.

Remakes

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Time Machine (1978). In: IMDb . November 5, 1978, accessed May 1, 2020 .
  2. ↑ The actor's real last name is Washington, but it is pronounced Worthington in the movie
  3. ↑ The Time Machine Project, by Don Coleman, In: colemanzone.com (English)
  4. ↑ John Hansen. In: IMDb . Retrieved May 1, 2020 .
  5. ↑ John Doucette. In: IMDb . Retrieved May 1, 2020 .
  6. ^ Parley Bear. In: IMDb . Retrieved May 1, 2020 .
  7. ^ Peggy Stewart. In: IMDb . Retrieved May 1, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Bill Zuckert. In: IMDb . Retrieved May 1, 2020 .