The Time Travelers

Three scientists and the inevitable everyday Joe are catapulted over a hundred years into the future by a lab accident, into a post-apocalyptic nightmare in which atomic war has devastated the planet. Pursued by a band of savage mutants, they're rescued by the last few humans, a small group of scientists and technicians engaged in a race against time to construct a starship and get away before the more numerous mutants can break through their defenses.

None of these elements is particularly new to the genre, but writer/director Ib Melchior manages to combine them into a fairly entertaining and occasionally original piece of "upper low-budget" sf cinema. This isn't to say that the pace doesn't occasionally lag a bit toward the middle, with some sequences feeling like they were inserted just to pad out the running time. (Like a totally unnecessary scene devoted to what's supposed to be a demonstration of their futuristic "matter transmitter", which is clearly just a stage magician's prop.)

Mostly, though, there's scarcely a moment wasted in exposition or character development, as the story barrels along to its truly unique conclusion.

Set design, miniatures, costuming and makeup -- particularly the androids -- are surprisingly good, for its budget. The optical effects are sparse but imaginative. Though it's early in his distinguished career, having Vilmos Zsigmond behind the camera also contributes considerably to making this a much more polished and expensive-looking production than you'd normally expect to see from American International.

Whew! Had someone remind me of this movie just recently and I

did a "Boy, did that take me back". A time travel in & of itself.

Here is one that should get released on DVD, or at least get some

TV play on a late-night show. I remember this being great fun

when I was a kid, new to the movie experience.

Yes, saw it in an actual theatre, probably the same one where I

saw "Crack in the World" (1965) with Dana Andrews. Both high in

"cheese" content, but no less fun.

Not really giving anything away, plotwise, this movie deals with our

fearless scientists who because of having the ability to time travel

into the future, try to go about changing it. Something that has been

dealt with over & over again in the ensuing years. Just remember

they are in fairly new territory here. Can one change what

"happened" in the future?

I also remember being scared witless by the mutants they run

across in the future. One guy who has legs, but no feet. You don't

have to be a rocket scientist to figure out they had an actor with

birth defects or an amputation, but to a kid in a dark theatre – it

was really frightening!

Let's see if someone can get this out as a "late night" DVD, eh?

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.

There are a zillion B&W sci-fi cheapies out there, and every one is somebody's favorite. This is one of mine.

Scientists working on a time-camera experiment discover that it's actually a portal. They step through it into the far future, where remnants of a high-tech civilization battle troglodytes for survival. The cave-dwelling good guys and their androgynous androids are engaged in a desperate race against time to build a rocket to take them away from the ruined Earth. Our time travelers fall in with them, fall afoul of them, fall in love with them... well, you know.

This movie is one of those irresistible gems where the real battle is between energetic actors, imaginative directors, and talented technical people who toil fearlessly against a low budget and cheap sets. But if you're a fan of the genre, give this a watch. You'll thank me.

The first time I saw this movie was on a weekend afternoon on one of the UHF stations out of Sacramento. I only saw the first five minutes or so. Up to the part where the characters actually take their first steps forward, and then the family had to go somewhere.

Throughout the years I'd catch the same beginning time and again, but was always drawn away from it.

Well, I finally saw it all last year, and where it wasn't sterling scifi fare, it was decent for a 1960s reminisce-blast from scifi film making of days of yore. Finally being able to see this full film in its entirety put a smile on my face. The same kind of feeling I got when I saw other films that I had often heard about, but had never fully seen, just bits and pieces here and there on broadcast TV back in the 70s and 80s.

But, to the movie; it's standard science fiction time travel stuff. Throw in a few mutants, some robots, and you got yourself a movie. There's a romantic subplot of sorts, some rocket ships, a fight for survival, a battle of good and evil, all the things that make great science fiction great. Only this film isn't exactly the greatest thing ever, it's just decent enough to be watchable.

Lots of basic shots, mostly standard master shots and two shots to push the narrative forward. There are no or few dramatic closeups, no rapid machinegun editing, and a score that's your standard "danger of the unknown" music so prominent of scifi of the 50s and 60s.

It's the kind of movie that someone thought would be a good thing for people to see, and that scifi aficionados like myself thought would be worth seeing once or twice. And the film delivers on that account.

I'm so glad I finally saw it after decades of just catching snippits of it. I'm not sure I'll buy the DVD or bluray to add to my collection, but I'm glad it's out there for all to see.

If you're a scifi fan, then maybe give this film a chance on the player of your choice. Enjoy.