1. THE TIME MACHINE
(George Pal; 1960) (star)(star)(star)
A very likable, sometimes magical, adaptation of H.G. Wells’ visionary antiwar sci-fi novel of time travel, in which the hero scientist (played by Rod Taylor) travels from New Year’s Eve 1899 to the far future. It’s a cautionary tale: First, he sees nuclear apocalypse in 1966 and then, thousands of centuries later, discovers a brutal society where subterranean monster Morlocks tyrannize (and eat) the childlike surface people, the Eloi. With Yvette Mimieux, Alan Young. (available on DVD/video)
2. TIME AFTER TIME
(Nicholas Meyer; 1979) (star)(star)1/2
Diverting time-travel tale in which the young H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) pursues Jack the Ripper (David Warner) to 20th Century U.S. and falls for Jack’s target, Mary Steenburgen. (DVD/video)
3. TIME BANDITS
(Terry Gilliam; 1981) (star)(star)(star)1/2
A British schoolboy wanders through history, escorted by six fugitive dwarfs.
A glorious Gilliam voyage, packed with wit and adventure. With Sean Connery, Ralph Richardson, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Shelley Duvall. (DVD/video)
4. THE TERMINATOR
(James Cameron; 1984) (star)(star)(star)(star)
A stylish, ultra-gory, madly exciting sci-fi adventure starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a huge, indestructible cyborg from the future who tracks a woman whose child holds the key to the future, while another time traveler tries to save her. With Linda Hamilton, Bill Paxton. In Cameron’s 1991 sequel, “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” ((star)(star)(star)), Schwarzenegger changes from killer robot to hero robot. (both on DVD/video)
5. THE ‘BACK TO THE FUTURE’ TRILOGY
(Robert Zemeckis; 1985, ’89, ’90) (star)(star)(star)1/2 (the trilogy)
One of the few Hollywood studio series that deepens and expands the original story, rather than simply repeating it. Here, Michael J. Fox’s Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd’s Doc Brown meet in the past when Marty travels back in Doc’s time dragster to his parents’ teen years. Later, they become involved in a complex set of time travel paradoxes, shuttling between the decades, from future to past and back again. Ingenious fun. (all on DVD/video)
