The first revelation about The Time Machine (1978) was that it was made under the brand of Classics Illustrated, the timeless comic book series adapting literary stories. I never knew there was a television “version” of the comic, much less that there were seven other movies in the series, including The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1980), which we’ve discussed before, and The Fall of the House of Usher (1979), with Martin Landau.
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To better explain the type of movies these are, though, it might be more helpful to say they were made by Sunn Classic Pictures. One of its executives, Patrick Frawley, owned the rights to Classics Illustrated at the time. Sunn Classics is known for its output of 1970s documentaries such as In Search of Noah’s Ark (1976) and The Bermuda Triangle (1979), as well as a handful of films like The Life & Times of Grizzly Adams (1974) and Hanger 18 (1980.)
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The Time Machine is loosely based on the source material, the novel by H.G. Wells. For one thing, the “Time Traveller,” Neil Perry (John Beck), goes back in time twice before going into the future. It’s his adventures in 1692 and 1871 that most resemble the faux history of a Sunn Classic film. In colonial America, he’s found to be a wizard and is nearly burned at the stake. In California during the Gold Rush, he’s accused of trespassing in a mine.
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Perhaps I should have led with the fact that the story begins in the “modern day.” There’s a long introduction about a Russian satellite full of lethal uranium that’s on course to crash onto Earth. The Mega Corporation has a new missile built to destroy satellites, but it hasn’t been tested. General Harris (R.G. Armstrong) calls scientist Ralph Branly (Whit Bissell), who in turn cries out, “Where the devil’s Neil Perry?!?”
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Well, Neil is on the way to the office on his bicycle. He’s been working on something that will mean much more to the world than a “laser death ray.” His bosses have given him the kind of latitude he needs; however, they expect him to work on the laser death ray. After saving the world, and demonstrating that his time machine works, the bosses still put it on the back burner in favor of a new priority project: an antimatter bomb.
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If you didn’t pick up the anti-war sentiment of the novel, it’s beaten into your head in this adaptation of it. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the more realistic take on the science. For example, the machine, which looks like an iron standing upright, has a lot more computers and machinery integrated to make it work. One thing I didn’t buy, though, was the fact that it travels not only to a different time, but also to a different location.
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With the additional material, you’d think the familiar part of the story, the trip to the future to meet the Eloi and the Morlocks, would be abbreviated. If so, it doesn’t feel like it. It is, though, less spectacular than other versions of The Time Machine. (Nothing will ever match the design of George Pal’s version of the antagonistic underground dwellers.) Also, a trip to the “museum” adds new connecting tissue between Neil and future events…
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…giving him a reason to return home to try and save the world. The bookends of imminent disaster at the beginning and end of the movie create a compelling structure, although less subtle than other versions of the film, and especially the book. However, it’s also sort of a cop-out. SPOILER! Unable to convince his peers they need to reverse their actions, he goes back to a future that probably hasn’t changed to make an impact where he can.
Visit the TV Terror Guide: 70's TV Movies playlist at ClassicHorrors.Club TV on YouTube to watch The Time Machine and other great movies from this series.
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