Movie · 2002 · Science Fiction, Adventure, Action · 1h 36m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 0.9/10 (179.6K ratings)
The greatest adventure THROUGH all time!
Overview
Hoping to alter the events of the past, a 19th-century inventor instead travels 800,000 years into the future, where he finds mankind divided into two warring races.
Ratings
Curator score: 0.9/10
IMDb: 6.0/10
Letterboxd: 2.72/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 28%
Metacritic: 42
TMDB: 6.3/10
Director
Simon Wells
Production
DreamWorks Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Parkes+MacDonald Production
Cast
Guy Pearce, Samantha Mumba, Jeremy Irons, Omero Mumba, Sienna Guillory, Orlando Jones, Mark Addy, Phyllida Law, Laura Kirk, John W. Momrow, Josh Stamberg, Jeffrey M. Meyer, Alan Young, Max Baker, Thomas Corey Robinson, Myndy Crist, Connie Ray, Lennie Loftin, Yancey Arias, Richard Cetrone
Where to watch
fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential
Curator Review
Verdict
A moody, ambitious adaptation with a strong central performance and some striking production design, but it loses momentum when it shifts from emotional sci-fi to generic action spectacle. Worth it if you like earnest early-2000s adventure films or H.G. Wells adaptations; less so if you want a consistently sharp or fully satisfying time-travel story.
Best for
fans of literary science fiction adaptations
viewers who enjoy earnest, mid-budget studio adventure
people interested in melancholy time-travel stories
audiences who like strong lead performances carrying uneven material
Skip if
you want a tightly plotted or intellectually rigorous time-travel film
you dislike abrupt tonal shifts from drama to action
you prefer modern effects polish over early-2000s CGI
you need a fully coherent ending and payoff
Overview
The Time Machine has a lot going for it at the level of mood: a grieving inventor, a doomed attempt to rewrite fate, and a future civilization that feels like a cautionary fable. Guy Pearce gives the movie a sincere center, and the first stretch has enough emotional clarity to make the premise feel genuinely tragic rather than just gimmicky.
Worth noting
The problem is that the film keeps changing what kind of movie it wants to be. Once it leaves the intimate, reflective setup behind, it leans harder into creature-feature action and the result feels less distinctive. The production design and creature work are often imaginative, but the storytelling becomes thinner right when it should be deepening.
Bottom line
As a remake, it’s more interesting than its reputation suggests, but also less satisfying than its best ideas deserve. If you’re in the mood for a flawed but earnest sci-fi adventure with a strong melancholy streak, it can still work. If you want a classic time-travel film with a cleaner emotional and narrative arc, there are better options.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Joe (2.5★) · 604 likes
My wife ten minutes into this movie:
"Why do characters always need motivation? Why can't he just invent a time machine because it's cool?"
matt lynch (2★) · 339 likes
Crucially missing a hot tub.
Kat (3★) · 170 likes
It would have been better with Bill and Ted.
Rowan Palmer (2★) · 127 likes
I have a reputation in my friend group as the person who watches arty good films and they can never know that I spend most of my time watching stuff like this.
SilentDawn (1.5★) · 126 likes
The Time Machine (2002) is actually a pretty decent remake, until the final 15 minutes completely derail and become something different entirely. Honestly, the action in the climax was so boring, It could be used as a sleep remedy.
Guy Pierce is awesome though.
2005 · Action, Thriller, Science Fiction · 2h 16m · PG-13 · Curator 1.6/10 (480.9K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A glossy mid-2000s sci-fi adventure that also starts with a premise about identity and control before turning into action.