Sci Fi Sunday: Time After Time
Such a simple idea - H. G. Wells builds a time machine, Jack the Ripper steals it and Wells has to chase him into the future - it’s a wonder no one thought of it before. This isn’t heavy SF, the effects, what few there are, aren’t what you called jaw dropping but the films is more concerned with character than exploring the fantastical elements of the story. There are no time paradoxes here, no fear of changing the past or the future, of destroying the fabric of reality; instead we get a love story.
Malcolm McDowell’s Wells is a stranger in a strange land, everything is alien to him and he brings a whimsical quality to the film. As his nemesis, David Warner gives the film its edge. Even though the Ripper is never really explored, we don’t find out what made his tick, why he does what he does, Warner still manages to make him real, not just a one dimensional bogeyman. The films best scene is their confrontation in a hotel room. It not only shows what great actors the pair are but also the contrast between the characters, with Warner’s Dr Stevenson as at home in the ‘70s as Wells is out of place.
