(thanks, warnervod!) 

Amusingly enough, this RFoTW post was going to be about Somewhere in Time, but I’d mistakenly typed in Time After Time as the title of that film when doing a search for the poster, looked at the results and remembered that while SoT is indeed a fine (and highly underrated) gem, TAT is more pure fun to watch and does a few more interesting things with its characters and plot as it takes them from past to present.

Adding some unique twists to the time travel and Jack the Ripper mythologies, it combines mystery, drama, action and romance with bits of comedy that work despite some first time director flaws in the ointment. Oh, and it’s a grand little science fiction film that works because you’re sucked in so quickly and completely forget the fantastic elements being so farfetched thanks to the story, characters and direction making it so real…

The plot has H.G. Welles (Malcolm McDowell) in a bit of a fix after one of his buddies who happens to be Jack the Ripper (John Warner) steals the time machine he’s created in order to escape the short arm of the law after it comes a-calling during a dinner party Welles is holding. The machine’s special key makes it automatically return, so what’s a guy to to but go after his former dinner buddy to set things right? What’s brilliant about the film is it’s set in present day 1979 (well, when I first saw it, that was the present day), so Meyer didn’t need to create sets with questionable futuristic elements that would seem dated as the film aged. To Welles, things such as pay phones, digital watches, street lights and (in one of the funniest parts of the film) fast food would seem alien yet have some familiarity once a closer look was taken.

(thanks, robatsea2009!) 

John Leslie Stevenson (or Jack) on the other hand, finds the future a lovely place indeed for his killing needs and proceeds to become something of a cut-up to the local ladies. As his killing spree takes flight, Welles meets daffy but cute bank teller Amy Robbins (wonderfully played by Mary Steenburgen), gets a lead on Stevenson and the chase is on. Well, not before Amy makes the moves on Welles and they fall head over last and current century heels for each other. Naturally, Amy and Jack meet up, there’s a kidnapping and Welles needs to fight for his future sweetie’s fate. I’ll let you guess what happens afterwards (well, don’t guess – go watch the movie!), but rest assured that Welles’ machine gets used a few more times before things are over with.

The pacing is fluid, Welles’ time travel sequence (and the special effects in general) are excellently done, there’s a wonderful Miklós Rózsa score (one of my favorites of his) and if you can’t see the rather obvious chemistry between McDowell and Steenburgen lighting up their scenes (they were married soon afterward), you’re either blind or too just damn grumpy to be watching such a fine and fun flick. For me, it’s a truly great time travel movie because it doesn’t bury itself under too much fake science and it’s edited smartly into a snappy adventure that hops from scene to scene taking you along on the edge of your seat and stopping for a few laughs along the route. Amusingly enough, I had no idea Sunday’s TV lineup would be so damn depressing, so perhaps writing about this instead of the fine (but intensely beautiful yet even more depressing) Somewhere in Time was a better idea after all. Hmmm… perhaps time travel does work (at least for some minor things in life)?