Movie The Time Machine Differs Wildly From Book
by: Daniel Riehs
The Time Machine, the latest screen adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic science-fiction novel, fails to capture the plot, characters, and theme of the original story.
The new film by director Simon Wells is based on the 1898 book War of the Worlds, but screenwriter John Logan makes several notable changes, including the omission of the entire alien invasion and attack. These elements have been replaced by an original subplot involving a 19th-century scientist named Alexander Hartdegen and his experiences with time travel.
Although, as usual, Guy Pearce puts forth a brilliant performance; his acting fails to draw viewers away from the movie's ridiculous plot. If Orson Welles had adopted this version of War of the Worlds for radio, listeners would have broken out into laughter instead of running from their homes in fear.
By far, the most absurd element of The Time Machine involves a trip 800,000 years into the future. In the film, the human race has evolved into two separate species, the Eloi and the Morlocks. Through a series of events, the time traveler learns of the terrible relationship between the two groups.
The portion of the movie mentioned in the preceding paragraph seems to come from nowhere, has no relevance what so ever to alien invasions, and . . . come on . . . Morlocks? I know three-year-olds who could come up with cleverer words than that.
Overall, I would give The Time Machine a D-minus . . . H.G. Wells would have been so ashamed.
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