Time Machine: The Journey Back (Video 1993)

In this follow up to the Time Machine, Filby is still the caretaker of his friend George's house ten years following George's trip to the future. Filby is then surprised to see his old ... See full summary »

Director:

Clyde Lucas

Writers:

David Duncan, Bunky Young

Stars:

Rod Taylor, Alan Young, Whit Bissell

Cast

Credited cast:
Rod Taylor	...	Himself - Host / Narrator / H. George Wells
Alan Young	...	David Filby
Whit Bissell	...	Walter Kemp (as Whitt Bissell)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bob Burns	...	Himself
Wah Chang	...	Himself
Michael J. Fox	...	Himself (archive footage)
Mike Jittlov	...	Genius (archive footage)
George Pal	...	Himself (archive footage)
Gene Warren	...	Himself

Storyline

In this follow up to the Time Machine, Filby is still the caretaker of his friend George's house ten years following George's trip to the future. Filby is then surprised to see his old friend return to his home to retrieve some books to help in his quest to rebuild humanity. During the stay, Filby implores his good friend to stay and resume his life there. However, George refuses and tells James that he has chosen to remain in the future. Also, it is a sad return for George due to the fact that at the time he returns it is just prior to the beginning of World War I and he does all he can to try to not reveal the tragic future of his good friend.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Company Credits

Production Co:

7th Voyage Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

48 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Edited from Back to the Future (1985)

User Reviews

Outstanding addition to the film

One of the things that I really love about the topic of time travel is the possibilities that it entails for stories. The 1960 version of the Time Machine ended with the suggestion that George traveled back into the distant future to continue to try to help the Eloi escape the oppression of the Morlocks. In this documentary, Rod Taylor and Alan Young, who played George and Filby, respectively, are reunited after not having seen each other for more than 30 years, and they reprise their characters in a wonderful new scene.

George has traveled into the future, lived there for 30 years, and then returned to 30 years after the original story took place to meet up with his old friend and tell him about where he has been. Too bad he didn't just go back to 1899 so Filby wouldn't have had to wonder all those years.

There is a lot of time spent in the documentary talking about the design of the original time machine, as well as various thing that happened to it after post production, which are pretty interesting. At one point it was lost for several years, only to turn up badly damaged at a thrift store in southern California. The film details the restoration of the time machine, and talks about how it appeared in later films like World Without End and The Wizard of Speed and Time, neither of which I can find anywhere.

Rod Taylor hosts the documentary, and tells some wonderful stories about making the movie as well as cast and crew reunions years later, and pays his respects to the late George Pal. This is not just a documentary about a movie, it's a celebration of science fiction and the sub-genre as a whole, as well as the deep friendships that are often formed during and after their production.