The Time Machine (1960) Review: Classic Hollywood At Its Finest.

This movie is inspirational in soo many ways; the audience at the time was opened to the idea of time travel and various sci-fi concepts, and the entertainment industry had some higher expectations to meet.

George is a scientist who has made a miniature model of a time machine. He invites his friends and colleagues over to his house to showcase this model to them. Later on, George unleashes the full scale model of the time machine and travels to the distant future. Beforehand though, he gradually goes to the future, to events such as WW2 and is shocked to see how humanity is evolving. Anyway, he arrives in the year AD 802,701 where humanity has separated into two species; the Eloi who are the harmless and naïve slaves to the aggressive cave dwellers known as the Morlocks. George becomes knowledgeful on all the events leading up to this time period and leads the Eloi in a revolution against the Morlocks.

George (played marvellously by Rod Taylor) is a scientific and logical man, akin to a character such as the Doctor from Doctor Who. He aspires to adventure and learn as much as he can, particularly about where humanity will end up. The main Eloi, Weena, is desperate for human connection and internally wants to escape a lead a life much bigger than the one she already has. Unlike our main protagonists, the Morlocks are savage beasts who appear like they were born in Hell; Morlocks rule over the Eloi providing them with the resources they believe the Eloi have a right to have and restricting them from doing anything else.

This movie has a very positive moral message which is brilliant. The Eloi are an allegory of communism, they are what happens when every human becomes equal to the point that you lose ambition and will to move on. The Morlocks are symbolic of authoritarianism, the people who rule over you in authority and alleged moral superiority are beasts who need to be fought against.

The music is one of the best pieces ever, the set designs do not hold up, but were way ahead of their time. The fight scenes are cringe but the story is really what makes this film.

8/10 (Brilliant)