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"Time After Time" was one of those movies of which I didn't even knew it existed. It certainly is a movie that deserves more recognition for this movie truly was one of the most entertaining movies I have seen in a while.

The story its concept is already one factor why I liked this movie so much. In the late 19th century The scientist H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) has build a time machine which his good friend John Leslie Stevenson aka Jack the Ripper (David Warner) uses when the police has just discovered his true identity. Ripper travels to the year 1979 and Wells, who feels responsible for his escape to the in his eyes future Utopian society of 1979, follows him to the future, in an attempt to catch him and bring him to justice and prevent him from making more victims in the future. I highly enjoyed this original story and concept and thought that it was perfectly executed by talented director Nicholas Meyer, who made his debut as a director with this movie. After this he made two more well known and widely appreciated Star Trek movies; "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan" and "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" which by the fans are often regarded as the best in the series of Star Trek movies.

The movie has a fantastic and typical '70's atmosphere which I always adore in movies. It's also filled with some typical '70's tense chase sequences, which are brilliantly filmed and edited. The cinematography itself is also at times refreshingly original, especially the perfectly done opening sequence of the movie in which Jack The Ripper makes another victim.

But the movie isn't just tense and original, it also is highly entertaining and it features some good humor. Of course having an 19th century main character who for the first time takes a look in the future 1979 is already good for some laughs. Such as the time were he visits a McDonald's or comes up with the fake alias Sherlock Holmes when he gets in contact with the police. There are countless 'little' fun parts like this in the movie which makes this movie a pleasant and entertaining one to watch as well as a tense nail biting thriller.

Malcolm McDowell is extremely good and convincing as a 19th century gentleman and scientist H.G. Wells. Honestely he plays his best role since "A Clockwork Orange". David Warner is also perfectly cast as Jack The Ripper. He's a perfectly scary and mysterious gentleman. Warner is perhaps well known to everyone for playing Spicer Lovejoy in the 1997 movie "Titanic". The movie also features a at the time still very young Mary Steenburgen in one of her very first movie roles. She also was superb and the talent was already showing. One year later she even already won an Oscar for the movie "Melvin and Howard".

The movie further more features a highly good and underrated musical score by well known Hungarian composer Miklós Rózsa.

This movie is terribly underrated in terms of how well known it is. This movie deserves to be seen by everybody for this movie is an entertaining one as well as a tense thriller, with some excellent performances by the cast and good directing by Nicholas Meyer.

8/10

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Looking like a nerdy Richard Thomas, Malcolm McDowell plays H.G. Wells in this highly imaginative sci-fi thriller, that has Wells fast forwarded from 1893 to 1979, in a quest to find Jack the Ripper. The film's screenplay, direction, cinematography, editing, and costumes are all top notch. And Mary Steenburgen gives a fine performance in a support role.

"Time After Time" has an ever so slight comic book, tongue in cheek, feel to the plot, suggestive of Batman and Robin. Yet, right behind this entertaining, if somewhat superficial, facade is a serious message that is both timely and credible: no matter how much society advances in its technology, our world will always have two things ... violence and love.

H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) follows Jack the Ripper (David Warner) into 1970's San Franscisco, after Jack Aka John Stevenson steals Well's Time machine. H.G. falls in love with spunky feminist, Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen), while they try to stop the Ripper from striking again. Just a fun quaint little film with great acting all around and an atmosphere of wonder. The best parts deal with Wells getting accustomed to his new surroundings. Eagle-eyed viewers will notice a very young Corey Feldman in a very small part as a youngster who's the first to see Wells upon his arrival in the Seventies.

My Grade: B

DVD Extras: Commentary with Director Nicholas Meyer & Actor Malcolm McDowell; an article on time travel in movies; Theatrical Trailer; and Trailers for "The Time Mace (1960) & "The Time Machine" (2002)

Often overlooked, "Time After Time" is probably one of the best time travel movies (if there is such a genre) ever made. The time travel effects are cheesy and mercifully few, but the film puts story and character way above visual effects, making for a good trade off.

Malcolm McDowell is H.G. Wells who, in this movie, actually invents a time machine rather than just writing about one. "The Time Machine" is told in flashback as "the time traveler" emerges from his time machine and recounts his adventures to a gathering of friends at his home. "Time After Time" borrows that scene from the book, having Wells announce that he has built the time machine and will embark on an adventure to the future utopia as soon as he works up the nerve. The proceedings are interupted by police at the door conducting a search in the wake of a new attack by Jack the Ripper. As it turns out, one of Wells' guests, Dr. John Leslie Stevenson (played by David Warner), is the Ripper. While the police comb through the house looking for him, Stevenson makes his way to the basement. There, he enters Wells' time machine and escapes to the future.

Feeling responsible for having turned the maniacal Jack the Ripper loose on the future utopia, Wells enters the machine (which returns to it's point of origin unless a special key is used) and follows Stevenson 90 years into the future. The time travel sequence consists of cheesy optical effects accompanied by a clever audio montage that depicts most of the 20th century. Wells emerges from the machine shocked to find himself in San Francisco, California in the year 1979. The time machine, as well as most of his possesions, are on display in a San Francisco museum.

While searching for Jack the Ripper he meets Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen), a foreign currency exchange officer at a bank. She reveals that she exchanged very old pounds for dollars with another Englishman, wearing similarly antiquated clothing. This leads Wells to find Jack the RIpper, now decked out in 70s threads, well integrated into modern society...and continuing his fiendish deeds.

From there, the movie engages the audience in Wells' and Robbins' pursuit of the Ripper through the streets of San Francisco with an entertaining mix of close-calls, sly humor, and the inevitable romance between Wells and Robbins.

Malcolm McDowell plays the part of H.G. Wells with his usual intensity and skill, and comes off as very believable. Mary Steenburgen is well cast as the feminine but strongly independent bank employee, and is adorably frail but surprisingly tough. As for David Warner....well, villians don't get much better than Warner. A fine actor, Warner plays Stevenson/Jack the RIpper as a cool, sophisticated psychopath - exactly, in my humble opinion, as Jack the Ripper should be played.

"Time After Time" makes good use of artistic license to integrate fact with fiction. Scotland Yard has always suspect that Jack the Ripper might have been a surgeon, as he is in this film. Also amusing is the fact that in real life, H.G. Wells did marry an Amy Robbins who was an outspoken feminist. All in all, 'Time After Time" is a well written and acted romantic adventure, and remains one of my favorite time travel movies.

Having a premise of HG Wells ( Yes that one ) pursue Jack the ripper ( Ditto ) to the 20th century has all the makings of a really camp and totally crap film , but despite the outrageous idea TIME AFTER TIME is a very enjoyable fantasy .

Unlike most time travel films ( THE TERMINATOR , BACK TO THE FUTURE not to mention several DOCTOR WHO and STAR TREK stories ) TIME AFTER TIME doesn`t really concern itself with concepts like the blinovitch limitation effect ie a temporal paradox , instead it concentrates on how a radical 19th century idealist like Wells would have found 20th century " Utopia " and how he would have been sickened by it . It`s here that the film works best with Wells travelling through the time vortex listening to the history of the 20th century and the scene with Wells and Jack watching television . It`s also interesting to note that the movie`s most amusing moments ( And they are genuinely amusing )are when Wells notices the difference in sexual mores of the present day . The film is much weaker when it switches to " Hero tracks down serial killer " type thriller but that`s not really what the film is about .

This is a good movie starring Malcolm MacDowell and David Warner and the film introduced Mary Steenburgen with whom MacDowell married . Set in Victorian London, circa 1983 . H. G. Wells is experimenting with his time machine . Futurist H. G. Wells (Malcolm McDowall) believes that the future holds a Utopian society and he also believes in time travel . He has just built a time machine which he is displaying to a group of friends, including skeptical surgeon Dr. John Leslie Stevenson (David Warner) . Later on, he discovers the machine has been used by an associate who turns out to be Jack the Ripper , to travel to San Francisco in 1979 and Wells meets and subsequently falls in love for a beautiful bank clerk (Mary Steenburgen) . Then in San Francisco a series of grisly killings happen and Police Lt. Mitchell (Charles Cioffi) investigates the deeds , while H. G. Wells becomes the prime suspect. Wells follows to stop any further murders ! . The Wildest Chase of the Century!. H. G. Wells races through time to catch Jack the Ripper!.A chase through time -- to catch Jack the Ripper!. A brilliant scientist !. A criminal genius !. A delightful romance !. And a daring chase across time, the most exciting, mysterious and challenging dimension of all !. Imagine!

One of the most ingenious and agreeable thrillers of our time, in which H. G. Wells follows in contempary epoch to Jack the Ripper and the ensuing battle of wits is both imaginative and amusing Malcolm McDowall is attractive as Wells who goes into modern-day San Francisco via a time machine and Steenburgen is equally nice as Wells' modern American love interest. And David Warner is very good too , as a creepy character . Time after time (1979) results to be a brilliant pastiche that has quite a few splendid moments .

Special mention for the moving musical score by veteran composer Miklós Rózsa ; this was one of the last pictures scored by classic musician composer Miklós Rózsa , who received the Saturn Award for Best Music. As well as colorful and evocative cinematography by cameraman Paul Lohmann. The motion picture was competently directed by Nicholas Meyer, though overlong . Meyer's directing debut - from his own screenplay - occurred in 1979 with this Time after time. This was followed by Star Trek II - The wrath of Khan (1982) and The day after , (1983) ABC's nuclear-themed movie, which remains the single most watched television film ever made, nominated for fourteen Emmys. Its controversial telecast drew over one hundred million viewers. He's a prestigious screen-writer and novelist. Meyer novels include Holmes pastiches, The seven-per-cent solution (1974) that was cinematically adapted by Bob Clark , The West End Horror (1976) and The Canary Trainer (1993); also Black Orchid (1977) and Confessions of a homing pigeon (1981). Other directing credits include Volunteers , starring Tom Hanks and John Candy (1986), The Deceivers , starring Pierce Brosnan (1988), Company Business , starring Gene Hackman and Mikhail Baryishnikov (1991), Star Trek VI , starring Christopher Plummer (1992) and the HBO film, Vendetta , (1999), starring Christopher Walken, among others. Rating : 7/10 . Better than average. The pic will appeal to Malcolm McDowall fans and Science-Fiction enthusiasts.

"Time After Time" is the sort of escapist fantasy that you just need to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy--and very enjoyable this film certainly is. Additionally, it's quite romantic and is a movie I strongly recommend you watch.

The film begins in London during the time of Jack the Ripper (David Warner). Coincidentally, the famous writer H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) has just built a working time machine and the Ripper uses it to avoid being caught by the police. But Wells knows he cannot allow this maniac to escape and travels to 1979 in search of the murderer. There, Wells falls in love with a lady (Mary Steenburgen) and enlists her help to find the killer.

This movie works for a variety of reasons. It's certainly one of McDowell's best performances and it's nice to see him being vulnerable and more multidimensional than his other famous roles (such as in "A Clockwork Orange"). The film also looks and sounds wonderful (with a lovely score by Miklós Rózsa) and is wonderfully directed by Nicholas Meyer. Well worth seeing and a rousing adventure that both men and women will likely enjoy.

1979's "Time After Time" marked the directorial debut of Nicholas Meyer, previously the author of "The Seven Percent Solution," which featured the fictional Sherlock Holmes encountering the actual Sigmund Freud. Here, we are treated to real life novelist and 'women's liberation' advocate H. G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) actually building his legendary time machine in the year 1893, eager to test it until another Whitechapel murder is executed by Jack the Ripper, not surprisingly revealed to be Wells' best friend and chess rival John Leslie Stevenson (David Warner). Only after authorities leave does Wells discover how easily the Ripper vanished into thin air, stealing his prized time machine to make his way to modern day San Francisco in 1979, a period that Wells predicted would become 'Utopia.' Trailing his quarry in a manner befitting Sherlock Holmes (a pseudonym he actually uses when dealing with police), Wells appears in a museum display of works he has yet to achieve, and in exchanging pound notes for American currency meets a very liberated, independent divorcee working the Bank of London counter, Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen), who instantly takes a shine to this literally lost soul to not only show him the town but take him to her bed in highly amusing fashion. Meanwhile, the Ripper has taken to this new world like a duck takes to water ("90 years ago I was a freak, today I'm an amateur"), but Wells, in a nice allusion to their many chess matches, has the means to figure out how he can foil his rival, unless Amy winds up his next victim. David Warner is very good but in his low key, genteel way doesn't possess the kind of menace the part calls for, so the thriller aspects are overshadowed by the love story, which in this case was true to life, Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen proving that on screen chemistry works even better off camera as they were wed for 10 years and had two children. It was a delightful change of pace for the often villainous McDowell, exuding a wonderful sense of wit and likability that is nicely paired with screen novice Steenburgen, her only previous film Jack Nicholson's "Goin' South," an unconventional beauty perfectly cast as a fully emancipated woman escaping a miserable first marriage to become a genuine free spirit ('free love' indeed!). It is the two stars together that carry this picture beyond its science fiction origins for a fully fleshed out romance under most unusual circumstances, concluding with a most telling line: "every age is the same, it's only love that makes any of them bearable."

"Time after Time," from 1980, stars Malcolm McDowell, Mary Steenburgen, and David Warner, and is directed by Nicholas Meyer.

In this story, the author of "The Time Machine," H.G. Wells, lives in England, has invented the time machine, and shows it to guests visiting, among them, Dr. John Stevenson, who has arrived late. Wells then admits that he hasn't gone on a trip to the past or future because he hasn't gotten his nerve up yet.

Moments later, the police arrive, and it's revealed that Dr. Stevenson is really Jack the Ripper and has just killed someone. Searching the house, they can't find him, nor did anyone see him leave. Wells realizes that Stevenson took his time machine. The machine has a key in it that causes it to return to its starting point. Wells can see that he traveled to 1979. So he sets the dial.

He winds up in San Francisco, smack in the middle of an H.G. Wells exhibit, which is modeling his time machine. He sets out to find Stevenson; after changing some money, he realizes the doctor did the same and goes searching for the bank that changed it.

At the bank, he meets Amy Robbins. They fall in love. But Wells is there to do a job.

This is a great story, very tense, suspenseful, and exciting as Wells seeks out Stevenson and tries to keep him from killing again and also to get the key away from him - the key that will return the machine to its starting point.

In one scene, he faces off with the doctor at his hotel, and Wells points out that "neither of us belongs here." Stevenson turns on the TV and starts zapping the remote. There are hostages being killed in Israel, tanks moving through the desert, an assassination of a mayor -- "I'm home," Stevenson announces. He feels he's found a place and time where he fits.

Malcolm McDowell, young and cute here, does an excellent job as the brilliant and earnest Wells, and Steenburgen is lovely as a feminist who falls for him. They have great chemistry; they did fall in love during this film and married. McDowell's career didn't take off as it should have, due to some personal problems, and he wound up playing bad guys in low-budget films and on television. As can be seen here, that's a shame. However, he is in constant demand. Warner makes an attractive villain.

A delightful movie, a charming cast, that will keep you entertained and absorbed. Highly recommended.

An interesting mash-up of a time-travel, fish-out-of-water romance with a Jack the Ripper mystery never really lives up to its potential. Indeed, the romance is the worst part of it, mostly due to Mary Steenburgen's truly annoying performance, but also partly because it takes away from David Warner and his great performance as the Ripper. I would have loved to see more about his fascination and adoration of our violence-ridden culture - perhaps some sharp social commentary would have worked well. Instead, we're treated to a silly love story and not enough mystery. Malcolm McDowell is fine as H.G. Wells, but never really comes across as heroic. The script is surprisingly sharp at times, but really only when it's referring to the Ripper part of the story. It's well-made, but nothing special.

"Time After Time" is an interesting movie. It has the legendary H.G. Wells chasing Jack the Ripper through time, from London in 1893 to San Francisco in 1979. Wells is played by Malcolm McDowell, as a young idealistic visionary and scientific genius, who looks upon the future as Utopia. (How many movies can you remember where McDowell was the good guy?) Jack the Ripper is played by David Warner, who exudes something cold and frightening as the infamous killer. While the future hardly turns out to be Wells' imagined Utopia, Jack embraces the prevalent violence of the 20th century. In "From Hell," Jack the Ripper said he had invented the 20th century. "Time After Time" gives that statement a kind of significance. The movie may not offer much to the many theories surrounding the Jack the Ripper mystery, but it's still enjoyable.

In 1893, HG Wells (Malcolm McDowell) manages to create a time machine. When a friend (David Warner), who turns out to be Jack the Ripper, uses the machine to escape into the future, Wells follows after him to 1979, where he must stop the murderer while also having to come to terms with the shocking future, which is far from the utopia he expected it to be...

A very interesting and surprisingly lighthearted thriller/adventure, with quite a bit of comedy thrown in, 'Time After Time' has a silly and fantastic feel to it that kinda reminds me of the more young audience aimed films of the 70's and 80's.

The actors are very good. Malcolm McDowell's HG Wells is a nice counter to his usually darker roles (like in 'A Clockwork Orange' or 'Caligula'); he pulls off a brilliantly convincing and even comedic performance as the naive futurist. Likewise, David Warner is also very good as the villain; rather than making the Ripper a psychotic monster he makes for a more sophisticated, almost gentlemanly antagonist that is no less of a menace.

Mary Streenburgen is charming and cute, and has great chemistry with McDowell, making their characters' romance convincing and entertaining to watch; however I didn't like her character too much and something in her delivery felt a bit... off sometimes. For example, when she is being threatened by the Ripper her lips curl a bit, as if trying not to smile/laugh.

The plot has quite a few problems, both story-wise (the usual thriller clichés and nonsense, like the police not questioning Mary's character to check Wells' claims) and concept-wise (it is time travel based after all, though the movie smartly does not delve too much on the implications it carries); it develops quite predictably too, and sometimes far too silly at that. On the other hands, the movie does have an excellent visual quality and an excellent soundtrack, which helps bring a certain charm to the story.

Overall, 'Time After Time' is a charming and fun film with a rather good cast. Despite its nice concept, it ends up as little more than a lighthearted variation of your run-of-the-mill thriller; not so much, however, as to take away from the overall entertainment, and in the end there is more than enough of it in here.

Time After Time has Malcolm McDowell cast as the famous H.G. Wells who hasn't turned to writing yet, but is quite the scientist and has built the famous time machine he wrote about. It's peer into the future maybe see if and when the Utopia he thinks humankind is destined for comes about. It certainly hasn't in 1979 the year Wells travels to the future in San Francisco of that year.

But Wells is on a more important mission. Using the machine before him was David Warner, a doctor friend of Wells and a convivial dining companion who happens to be the infamous Jack the Ripper. Wells means to bring him back to face British justice.

Warner of course continues the activities which made him infamous. The challenge for Wells who represents the ultimate in civilization is does he have the right stuff to bring down a man who has become known in history as the incarnation of pure evil.

Along the way we learn that Wells snatched his second wife from the future one Amy Robbins played by Mary Steenburgen. That was the maiden name of Wells's second wife, not that he was the most faithful of husbands. But she put up with his infidelities in real life and had a few of her own.

Time After Time is based on an interesting notion produced well for the big screen. All three of the leads give great performances.

As for Wells he remains optimistic though far more realistic.

The idea of H.G. Wells inventing his own time machine and traveling to 1979 San Francisco to catch Jack the Ripper sounds like the sort of movie that would get created by Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay. But "Time After Time" is very well done. More than simply a get-the-villain story, it shows how Wells (Malcolm McDowell) arrives in SF and falls in love with local woman Amy (Mary Steenburgen), and also has to readjust to the world of the 1970s, with mass media and overt sexuality. My favorite scene is when he describes McDonald's; I guess that if I'd been a guy from the nineteenth century, I would have thought the same! Anyway, I consider this movie one to admire. Nicholas Meyer pulled off a cool one. David Warner makes one nasty Jack the Ripper. Also starring (in his debut, in fact) is a very young Corey Feldman.

I wonder if we'll ever find out just who Jack the Ripper was.

Time After Time is directed by Nicholas Meyer who also adapts the screenplay from a story written by Karl Alexander and Steve Hayes. It stars Malcolm McDowell, David Warner and Mary Steenburgen. Music is by Miklos Rozsa and cinematography is by Paul Lohmann.

How delightful, a wonderful idea is given an equally wonderful presentation. The makers have come up with the idea of pitching Jack the Ripper against H.G. Wells, in the present day of 1979. This after the Ripper (Warner) used Wells' (McDowell) time machine to escape the Whitechapel police back in 1891, thus forcing Wells to track the infamous killer to San Francisco in the future.

There have been so many fish-out-of-water based movies over the years, it's so refreshing to find one that has a genuinely original premise to work from. In the Ripper's case he sees all the violence around the streets of San Fran and believes it's his calling to be in this company. On the flip-side, Wells is perturbed to find that this is not the Utopia he had envisaged, but yet the science lover in him is fascinated by what he finds. Helps, too, that he has caught the attention of a very horny Amy Robbins (Steenburgen), who is equally fascinated by his genteel mannerisms.

Naturally the fun has to stop at some point to let the suspense and darker aspects of the story come to the surface. Meyer gets the blend right, dropping in little snippets of evil as Jolly Jack, resplendent with waistcoat and money belt, goes about his bloody business, and then switching to the Wells/Amy axis as they try to build a relationship whilst trying to convince the authorities that a nutter is very much in their midst. It builds nicely, ramping up the tension considerably, and there's always the pertinent question hanging in the air of if there is any hope for H.G. and Amy?

Such is the rich characterisations and quality of story telling, we most assuredly care about the outcome to this splendid piece of time travelling cake. 8.5/10

McDowell is very good, but Warner is outstanding as a villain!

The story is creative, but the script is full of massive holes even compared to other time travel stories.

Both characters, but especially Jack, become comfortable with the modern world way too quickly.

Steenbergen is not bad, but the dialogue doesn't help her character.

What do you get when you put H.G. Wells together with Jack the Ripper; you get this admirably ambitious and candid sci-fi fantasy thriller that sees the idealistic scientist / writer Wells pursing the notorious Ripper in to the future (that's 1979) after using Wells' newly created time machine to escape the authorities from late 19th century London. The interesting novelty is that the ripper is revealed to be one of Wells' gentlemen buddies. So it becomes a race against the clock to stop the ripper continuing his grisly attacks in the future, because from what he sees he feels right at home. "Time After Time" starts off quite well, setting up an atmospheric beginning, especially the ripper's first attack in the foggy streets of Victorian London and his revelation. Then it seems to play out accordingly when it hits present day San Francisco (where the director does capture a great sense of place). This is when the pacing does hit a halt, as a romantic angle kicks in… this might take away any real sense of urgency and even suspense, but nonetheless the inclusion involving the very sweet Mary Steenburgen has its charm and so do the scenes of a fish out of water Wells trying to adapt to new technology and present day ideology. But the gripping moments do arise when these two historical figures come to blows and the stellar performances go a fair way to cementing that. Malcolm McDowell is perfectly cast as Wells, fidgety but persistent in his quest and David Warner has that classy, but creepily formidable underlining as Jack the Ripper as he goes about leaving a bloody mess of his victims. It's an amusing chase… through time and some romance on the side. It's balanced out by some witty humour and a cerebrally literate script - that compares these two men's visions of the future --- one expecting a Utopia and the other believing man will never change. An Imaginative, if old-fashion Sci-fi trip.

"You astonish me HG. The future will prove you wrong."

Malcolm McDowell as H.G. Wells and David Warner as Jack the Ripper make wonderful adversaries in this squashy fantasy-thriller which doesn't have a firm narrative, doesn't know when to quit, but does include marvelous performances and a handsome production. The plot itself is rather ingenious, too: Wells, about to unveil to colleagues a time machine of his own design in Victorian-era London, instead must use his contraption to chase down John Leslie Stevenson, a mad killer who has hijacked the machine to escape into the 20th century. Wafty Mary Steenburgen is cute as a bank-teller who becomes involved (her precise talk meshes beautifully with her funny/frazzled personality) and Patti D'Arbanville has a memorable bit as a modern-day victim of the Ripper. Yet, in the film's final third, these cat-and-mouse games become confused and ridiculous, and director Nicholas Meyer drags it out to an ungainly length. **1/2 from ****