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THE TIME MACHINE
For this release, THE TIME MACHINE has been given a new Dolby Digital 5.1 channel remix. The remix makes the most of the original recordings, without ever sounding artificial. Stereo recordings of Russell Garcia's wonderful musical score serve as the base upon which the rest of the mix is laid. The music is spread nicely across the forward soundstage, with the rear channels providing fill. Occasional direction effects are called into play, but never to an overwhelming extent. There are also a few surround effects that appear during key moments of the film. Dialogue reproduction is crisp and fully intelligible throughout. Additionally, there was no perceivable hiss or distortion on the track. Warner has truly produced a fine remix, which shows what can be done with older soundtracks. A French monaural soundtrack is also encoded onto the DVD, as are English and French subtitles.
THE TIME MACHINE is a classic science fiction film that has been given a marvelous presentation by the folks at Warner Home Video. If you are a fan of the film, or even the genre, this is a DVD that is not to be missed. Very highly recommended. |
This DVD review 
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DVD
reviews are Copyright © 2000 THE CINEMA LASER and may not be copied
or reprinted without the written consent of the publisher. |
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Director
George Pal's THE TIME MACHINE ($25) is a movie that I love and
have watched countless times since childhood. In fact, I have been so
taken with THE TIME MACHINE that I've owned all the Laserdisc editions
of the film and had been looking forward to the DVD release with much
anticipation. Now that I have Warner Home Video's superb new DVD edition
of THE TIME MACHINE in my hot little hands, all that I can say
is WOW!
THE
TIME MACHINE is based upon the classic H.G. Wells tale of a man who
builds a time machine to travel into the future in search of a utopian
society. Rod Taylor stars as an intrepid inventor named George (aka H.
G. Wells), who on New Year's Eve 1899 bids farewell to his friends and
pilots his device into the future. Going slowly at first, George is bemused
by the changes that are occurring in the world. However, when he makes
several stops in the twentieth century, George finds that the world is
repeatedly in the grips of war, so he decides to move steadily forward.
Unfortunately, George's final stop in the twentieth century occurs just
moments before nuclear weapons come raining down on what used to be his
home. The results of this war force George to travel into the extreme
future, to a time where the world has healed itself of the nuclear oblivion.
Finally stopping in the year 802,701, George thinks that he may have finally
found his Utopia.
In
this far off future, George encounters a non-aggressive race of humans
known as the Eloi. However, George quickly learns that Utopia doesn't
exist amongst the Eloi. As it turns out, the Eloi are really nothing more
than ignorant sheep that are being maintained by another race known as
Morlocks, whose society is hidden beneath the ground. When the Morlocks
take his time machine, George finds himself trapped in the future; with
no way of returning home. However, with the help of a beautiful Eloi girl
named Weena (Yvette Mimieux), George is able to enter the Morlocks' underground
city to retrieve his machine. While underground, George discovers the
horrifying truth about the Morlocks and the future of mankind. The cast
of THE TIME MACHINE also features Alan Young, Sebastian Cabot,
Tom Helmore, Whit Bissell and Doris Lloyd.
As
I stated above, Warner Home Video has done an absolutely marvelous job
of transcribing THE TIME MACHINE to DVD. THE TIME MACHINE
is framed at 1.78:1 and the wide screen presentation features the anamorphic
enhancement for 16:9 displays. Like Warner's previous release of NORTH
BY NORTHWEST, THE TIME MACHINE looks totally amazing. Sure,
there are a few errant blemishes on the print, but there is nothing here
to indicate that the film is forty years old. There transfer is almost
always razor sharp and highly detailed, but there are a few slightly softer
shots that crop up. Intricate details in the sets and costumes really
stand out thanks to this incredible transfer. The MetroColor elements
on THE TIME MACHINE have provided a nice looking pallet to previous
video incarnations of the film, but on this DVD the colors are truly exquisite.
From start to finish, the colors are all richly saturated and are reproduced
without any chromatic distortion or bleeding. Flesh tones are very appealing
and don't appear overly made up. Blacks are solid and the image is able
to produce a good level of shadow detail for a film that has been entertaining
audiences for four decades. Dual layer authoring keeps all traces of digital
compression artifacts well hidden. 
Sound
effects have been added to the DVD's basic interactive menus. Through
the menus, one has access to the standard scene selection and set up features,
as well as some very nice supplements. The Time Machine: The Journey
Back is a fifty-minute documentary/featurette that was produced
in 1993 and is hosted by the movie's star Rod Taylor. The film also includes
appearances by Alan Young and Whit Bissell. Much of the film focuses on
the history for the actual "time machine" prop that was built
for the movie. It is interesting to follow how the "time machine"
changed hands and how its present owner finally restored it to its 1960
luster. This is a very enjoyable film that is certain to appeal to every
fan of THE TIME MACHINE. A theatrical trailer and filmographies
fill out the DVD's supplements.
