Subject: Review: Time Machine, The (2002)

From: Ram Samudrala <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 20:34:57 -0000

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The Time Machine
http://www.ram.org/ramblings/movies/the_time_machine.html

/The Time Machine/ is a great story for the ideas it introduces, more
than the plot. Here, Alexander Hartdegen (Guy Pearce), deeply effected
by the death of his girlfriend, invents a time machine to change the
past. After realising the futility of changing the past, he travels
into the future (stopping after having travelled 800,000 years)
seeking answers.

The primary theme in the film has to do with the circularity of time
travel, as well as the future of humanity. In this regard, the film
provokes some interesting thoughts: can a person invent a time machine
and go back in time and affect the reason that caused them to invent
the time machine?  Will humanity ever over-specialise to a point where
different tasks are done by different sets or "castes" of people?

The first question is a pseudo-scientific and -philosophical one.  The
answer may be that it is indeed a paradox. Alternately, the Many
Worlds interpretation of Everett's Relative-State Formulation of
Quantum Mechanics would say that it is possible to have a time line
where Alexander's wife dies and one where she doesn't, thanks to his
intervention (this would only result in a pre-existing time machine).

The second question tells something about the state of society
today. People are compartmentalised and there are definite economic
"castes". I don't see the trends getting better and only see them
taking a turn for the worse.  Still, if a catastrophic event that
threatened the humans on this planet accord, I doubt that our
evolutionary successors would move towards compartmentalisation.

This is because our current system (of specialisation), and the system
depicted in the /The Time Machine/, is highly inefficient. In nature,
such systems eventually lead to stagnation since it creates
bottlenecks--consider what happens in the film when our protagonist
kills off the "mind" portion of the humanoid species. So I think our
long term future is either our destruction or some sort of an
individualist collective (like the bacterial population on this
planet).

/The Time Machine/ is a great movie to watch also for its spectacular
visuals and imaginative use of special effects, including morphing
scenes of humanity's progress and destruction. The actors all present
solid performances. There are many plot holes in the story but
nonetheless the film is worth watching on the big screen.

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