Cheap The Time Machine - Limited Edition Collector's Set (DVD) (Rod Taylor) (George Pal) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Time Machine - Limited Edition Collector's Set

George Pal turns in an outstanding job in the special effects department, never more so than when Rod Taylor, as the inventor of the time machine, sees the world around him moving at fast-forward, then super-fast-forward, then hyper-fast-forward. Sitting in his machine, he sees World War I, World War II, natural disasters, rebuilding and destruction and rebuiding again and destruction again, whizzing by right before his eyes. This is certainly a feast for the viewer's eyes, as captivating now as it was then.

The scientist's final stop: 802,701A.D. Civilization has gone full circle, returning to a primitive state where the Eloi (humans) are the food of the Morlocks (evolutionary throwbacks much like cavemen). There is no electricty, no vehicles, no paved roads, no buildings. The only link to the distant past is a "library" of rapidly-disintegrating books that no one even knows how to read. Naturally, our scientist-hero is appalled at what he sees, and sets out to put the Eloi back on the path towards civilization.

Overall, this is a great film, well worth the price of the DVD because of the outstanding special effects and the insightful script. I would readily have given it five stars if not for one major turnoff: Rod Taylor's acting is the worst thing this side of William Shatner. I'm sure the producers could have done a better casting job than this, but I guess they decided to capitalize on his pretty face.

The Time Machine DVD Delivers
Like most people, I had only seen this classic science fiction movie on television. That never detracted from the story, which is one of the best that Wells wrote, but it didn't prepare me for how great this movie looks and sounds. The DVD provides brilliant color and a generally sharp picture with only a little, infrequent softness that I suspect is from the original film. I was surprised at how clean the transfer is. I did not see any scratches, dust or other defects. The movie is presented in its original, widescreen aspect ratio. The sound is also excellent. It has been remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 and it is an excellent job for a movie that is forty years old. As you would expect from such an old sound track, most of the action is in the center and front channels, but it uses the rear channels (especially noticable in key scenes, as when Rod Taylor is making echoes in the ruined dome building) and the subwoofer kicked in a few times, also. The disc provides more extras than you would expect from a Warner release of an old movie. It includes a trailer, filmographies for the three lead actors and George Pal, and a very good behind-the-scenes documentary. The documentary was produced by Bob Burns 32 years after the making of the movie and focuses on the important part the time machine prop played in the making of the movie and it's history since, with an interesting account of how Burns found and then restored the original prop. The documentary also features a scene in which Rod Taylor and Alan Young recreate their characters from the movie, acting out a scene that might have appeared in the movie but did not. The scene uses the restored time machine prop to good effect and it was rather touching to see these much older actors slip so comfortably into their roles. You could tell that this movie had been one of the high points of their careers and they remembered it fondly. Likewise, Whit Bissel recreates his character in a short monologue full of a sense of nostalgia. This old documentary was much more informative and interesting than a lot of the publicity puff pieces included on more recent films as extras. I highly recommend this DVD. It delivers far more than I ever expected and does this classic movie justice.

Don't let it fool you
I gave it 5 stars just for the movie, but this edition deserves 3, cause you see the audio cd shown on the picture won't be inside the package. I returned it, and got myself the standard version, cause I bought this edition most for the cd. The picture is from an initial pressing of this edition and is no longer available, you'll get all the stuff you see, but no cd. I just thought you'd better know it.