The Time Machine
Short description
In 1899 New York, scientist and inventor Alexander Hartdegen is determined to prove that travel through time is possible. When a personal tragedy takes away the woman he loves, his ambition turns into a desperate need to change what happened, and he devotes years to building a machine that will carry him into the past. His first attempt does not take him where he intended. Instead he is hurled 800,000 years forward, where he finds a transformed Earth and a human race split into two groups: one living above ground and one dwelling below it, with the two locked in a deadly relationship.
The film is a science fiction adventure directed by Simon Wells, working from a screenplay by John Logan and David Duncan. It is adapted from H. G. Wells's novel and follows the 1960 film version of the same story. It was the fifth feature Wells directed, after a run of animated films, and it remains his only live-action title before Mars Needs Moms. Guy Pearce leads the cast as Hartdegen, alongside Samantha Mumba, Jeremy Irons, Omero Mumba, Sienna Guillory and Orlando Jones. Produced on a budget of 80 million US dollars, it took in 124 million worldwide. Audiences rate it 6 out of 10 on IMDb and 6.4 out of 10 on TMDB, while the film critics' rating stands at 5 out of 10.
What's left behind the scenes
- After director Simon Wells was forced to interrupt his work on the project due to extreme exhaustion, Gore Verbinski was specially invited to replace him for the remaining 18 days of filming. Simon Wells returned to his duties during post-production.
- Director Simon Wells is the great-grandson of the famous science fiction writer H.G. Wells, who wrote the novel of the same name that served as the basis for the film.
- Initially, Vox was supposed to be a robot, however, around the same time as 'The Time Machine' was being filmed, Steven Spielberg's 'Artificial Intelligence' was also in production, featuring robots with very similar designs. Only after all possible options were exhausted did production designer Oliver Scholl come up with the idea to make this character a hologram.
- The film's premiere was initially scheduled for December 2001, but the tragic events of September 11, 2001, necessitated changes. One scene depicted futuristic skyscrapers in New York being struck by a meteor shower of lunar debris, and producers felt this imagery could remind viewers of the recent terrorist attack on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.
- Alan Young, who played Philby in the 1960 film, appears in a cameo as a florist.
- The passage that Orlando Jones (Vox) reads to the Eloi is taken from the 17th chapter of Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."
- Guy Pearce broke a rib during the filming of the fight with the Morlocks.
- A photograph of H.G. Wells, the author of the novel on which the film is based, can be seen in several shots in Alexander Hartdegen's house.
- In one of the scenes, when Alexander travels through time, the date 635,427,810 AD can be noticed on the counter of his machine.
- The time machine itself was, at that time, the largest and most expensive prop specifically made for filming the movie.
- Guy Pearce's acting was so confident and consistent that, if necessary, sound from one take could be overlaid onto footage from another and still match perfectly.
- Guy Pearce performed the vast majority of the stunt scenes without the use of stunt doubles and was very unhappy when he was not allowed to perform several tricks that the director deemed too complex.
- The Morlocks in the film were portrayed by actors in special costumes with animatronic masks. Computer graphics were used in the scenes where they run on all fours with incredible speed.
- Filming period: February-June 2001.
- When Alexander first meets Vox (an artificial intelligence appearing as a hologram in the library), he asks about books on time travel, and one of the suggestions is H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine." Vox also mentions the original 1960 film adaptation of "The Time Machine."
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
