The Time Machine 1978

Dr. Neil Perry, John Beck, is a meticulous 1970s scientist working for the fictional defense contractor Mega Corporation. His gift for rapid problem-solving is proven when he quickly reprograms an off-course satellite, averting a disaster that could have leveled Los Angeles. That achievement helps him secure a generous grant—$20 million—for his ambitious time machine project. With the clock ticking toward a full breakthrough, the corporation presses him to pause the time machine work and pivot to a new, formidable weapons program—the so-called “anti-matter bomb.” Yet destiny gives Perry a break: the power module he needs for the time machine arrives ahead of schedule, allowing him to run a test just before the scheduled kick-off of the weapons project.

Over the upcoming weekend, Perry makes two remarkable journeys through time, and he narrates his experiences to Branly, Haverson, and J.R. Worthington, the board chairman, as stylized, reverse-time-lapse images show his movements across different eras. Each stop presents its own set of dangers and moral questions. Branly [Whit Bissell] and Haverson [Parley Baer] respond with a mix of awe and alarm, while Worthington remains focused on strategic and financial implications. The machine itself is shown to travel to diverse locations rather than staying put, a departure from the sci-fiction norm of the era.

Perry’s first stop is 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, where he becomes entangled in the fevered atmosphere of the witch trials and is condemned for witchcraft. He is sentenced to burn at the stake with his time device, yet his ingenuity allows him to free himself and slip away from danger. He presses on, and a detour brings him to 1871 amid the California Gold Rush, where he is shot at by miners who mistake him for a thief. He is arrested, but the distraction of a bank robbery creates an opening for him to escape once more, underscoring Perry’s knack for turning peril into opportunity.

Upon returning to the present, Perry is confronted with a sobering report about the environmental harm associated with Mega Corporation’s latest weapons. This chilling news motivates him to push further: he travels into the future to show proof of the project’s consequences and to persuade Haverson that Mega’s current path would devastate the world. In this distant time, he witnesses a cataclysmic destruction of civilization, a world scorched by radiation and fire. He also sees a hint of resilience—the reemergence of nature from a wasteland, and humanity’s retreat underground.

In the future, Perry encounters the Eloi and Morlocks—the two-sides of a single, evolving tragedy. He is befriended by Weena, Priscilla Barnes, who explains how this strange world came to be. A Museum of Perry’s own era stands as a stark reminder of the path that led to ruin, with a card bearing his name on a weapon he supposedly designed. A foreboding video and audio presentation reveals that his assignment at Mega Corporation will be a direct catalyst for global catastrophe. Before returning to his own time, Perry and the male Eloi, Ariel, John Hansen, use plastic explosives found in the museum to seal off the Morlocks’ three entrances to the Eloi habitat, effectively protecting the remaining surface-dwelling community.

Back in the present, Perry reports what he has seen to Branly, Haverson, and Worthington. Branly is torn between admiration for Perry and horror at what the board’s ruthlessness could unleash; Haverson and Worthington, meanwhile, appear uninterested in safeguarding the world and instead seem intent on exploiting every scientific advance for power and profit. Agnes, the secretary, Rosemary DeCamp, shares Branly’s misgivings and resigns along with Branly. Perry, feeling the weight of responsibility, resigns as well and chooses to return to Weena and the Eloi—who are now free from Morlock domination—thereby redefining his own purpose beyond Mega Corporation’s ambitions.