The Time Machine Film Analysis

George Pal’s The Time Machine, released in 1960, is the first adaptation of H.G. Wells’s book of the same name. It is the story of George the time traveler as he explores Erth’s future while reflecting on the past. The film follows the concept of the book, but dives deeper into the struggles of the human race as we know it, and that of the future. The film adaptation of The Time Machine uses its literary inspiration as a guide, but takes a different course to deliver the intended message. The exposition of the two works are, for the most part, the same. The film tells the story in a different order, having the second dinner first then flashing back to the first, but the initial events are the same. The film replaces the time traveler’s changing …show more content…
Filby stays behind and just misses the time machine as George leaves once more. The film, however, leads you in a different direction than the book in terms of keeping the viewer wondering. The book ends with the time traveler saying goodbye to the narrator while taking a camera and bag with him through time, leading the reader to presume that he has the intention to return. When three years go by without a sign of the time traveler readers are left to wonder what happened to him. The films leads us towards a different conclusion. After George leaves Filby concludes that he had move the time machine back to its original resting place, and that he has taken three books with him. It is presumed that he has went back to the time of the Eloi and Morlocks. This time he bring books, leaving the viewer wonder what his intentions are in going back to the future. The Time Machine film adaptation consists of four main character, Filby, George, the Eloi, and the Morlocks, where the book only has three, which are the same minues Filby. Filby is a smaller character but still a main one. Filby is more important than he is in the book. He is less skeptical of George and his invention in the film. He also acts as a connection to George’s home as he travels to different points in time. Filby sometimes takes the place of the book’s narrator as well. Since there is no narrator the film follows George …show more content…
I personally imagined the Morlocks to look a lot differently. I imagined they looked something like the “zombies’ from I Am Legend. Overall, the Morlocks followed their book depiction fairly closely. The setting of the story is my favorite part of both the film and book. Taking place mostly in the year 802,701, The Time Machine portrays the future of Earth and mankind. A few new places are introduced in the film, like the field of wells and the underground Morlock caves. Other places were left out of the film, like the museum and the forest where the fire occurs. Both the film and book do a good job in making it clear that George is in the future, while still having recognizable elements of modern day