The Time Travelers

The one thing that struck me right away was the static camera shots. Usually just one master shot and one other angle. I thought it might be the fault of the cinematographer, but when I looked it up I found that Vilmos Zsigmond was the cinematographer on Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Witches of Eastwich which are 2 of my favorite films with stunning cinematography. Of course, made for the big screen it wouldn't be as bad as watching it on a small TV. Actually this kind of cinematography is preferable to a lot of today's films that are shot like a music video. I am sure that having a low budget is constraining to the cinematographer's creative endeavors.

I saw this movie many times when I was growing up and was fascinated by the concept. I must have seen this movie at least a dozen times and I am now in the process of purchasing this DVD through EBay. I just noticed some very close similarities between parts of this movie and Director George Pals, "When Worlds Collide". The parts that look to be similar are when they are building the spaceship. My best guess is that the Director of "The Time Travelers" copied this part from "When Worlds Collide". Nonetheless, this movie in my humble opinion is a classic for SciFi. I just wish that they considered a sequel. Are there any Directors out there would would consider a remake?

The reason a film such as this (low budget '50s or '60s sci-fi) is on many viewers favorites lists is not necessarily fond childhood memories or nostalgia - it's because it's well made. Of course, they had very little money for props and such, but the story is more inventive than 95% of the stuff that's released now or has been since the nineties; no, make that the eighties. Yes, I'm one of those guys who saw it 30 years ago as a kid on TV during a Saturday matinée slot or something; but I've seen it again within a couple of years ago and it's still quite entertaining. Here, the writers proposed a question, a 'what if?' question about time travel. What if certain people, a small group of scientists, accidentally invented a time travel device? What if they used it? (Again, accidentally). What if the device short-circuited too early? What if this, what if that - and so on, with inventive answers provided to each question. If you've never seen this picture, you're in for a treat - you'll be wondering what's the next answer every 5 to 10 minutes. This is a quality sorely lacking in most films today. Maybe all the good ideas have been used. The same concept was utilized a couple of years later in the short-lived "Time Tunnel" TV series, but that show lacked the wild turns of this sci-fi set up. Some of the further situations in this story of the future are a bit goofy, but I believe it's intentional. The ending, which I won't give away here, actually puts some pressure on the viewers to wrap their minds around. Watch for famous sci-fi fan & publisher Forrest J.Ackerman in a cameo. Whatta trip!

The person who commented on this movie needs to remember when it was made. It was 1964, and for that time, I thought it was done pretty well, if you look at the themes the movie was trying to portray. Sure it was full of cheesy effects, but the premise was pretty good. Filmaking had at least progressed from the '50's Cold War hysteria to the 60's trying to understand one another (somewhat). Some people need to stop trying to be witty and hope they get to be the next Roger Ebert, and be be honest about a movie. I have great memories of seeing this movie in the 1960's at a theater, and I have a copy I obtained on the Internet simply because of the fun such sci-fi was and continues to be for fans of the genre. Without such movies, you would not have the Star Wars franchise!!! Think about the history of the genre, and not how clever you are!

If it weren't for Ib Melchior, Irwin Allen would never have made Lost in Space or The Time Tunnel. Yet Allen had connections so Ib mostly shut up. This, one of my three favorite time travel movies from the 60s (then others being the incomparable The Time Machine & Beyond the Time Barrier) is so well done it transcends it's low budget. Every penny is on screen. A group of scientists opens a portal into the future - a horrible one - and must find a way home.