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''The Time Machine'' is a 1978 American television film produced by Sunn Classic Pictures as a part of their ''Classics Illustrated'' series. Despite updating the plot to take place in the late 1970s, the film, which starred John Beck and Priscilla Barnes, was intended to be a more faithful plot recreation of the original novel by H.G. Wells—as opposed to the 1960 film adaptation, which took several liberties. The film aired during the November Sweeps on NBC. ==Synopsis== The film was a modernization of the Wells' story, making the Time Traveller a 1970s scientist working for a fictional US defense contractor, "the Mega Corporation". Dr. Neil Perry (John Beck), the Time Traveller, is described as one of Mega's most reliable contributors by his senior co-worker Branly (Whit Bissell, an alumnus of the 1960 adaptation). Perry's skill is demonstrated by his rapid reprogramming of an off-course missile, averting a disaster that could destroy Los Angeles. His reputation secures a grant of $20 million for his time machine project. Although nearing completion, the corporation wants Perry to put the project on hold so that he can head a military weapon development project. Perry accelerates work on the time machine, permitting him to test it before being forced to work on the new project. Perry time travels twice over the course of a weekend, and reports to Haverson (an analog to the novel's Hillyer), Branley, and J.R. Worthington (Andrew Duggan), chairman of the board of Mega Corporation. As Neil tells the story of his travels, reversed time-lapse images of building construction demonstrate Neil's passage backwards in time. Unlike the novel, the time machine and its rider do not stay in the same place as they travel through time, and the machine can travel to different locations. Perry first goes to 1692 Salem, Massachusetts where he is caught up in the Salem witch trials and found guilty of witchcraft. He is sentenced to be burned at the stake with his time machine. Tied up in the seat of his machine, he is able to free himself in order to escape. He detours into 1855 to avoid a time warp and arrives in the midst of the California Gold Rush, where he is shot at by miners and arrested for stealing a gold shipment. Perry's ingenuity and the distraction of a bank robbery allow him to escape. When Perry returns to his lab in the present, he receives a chilling report of the environmental impact of Mega Corporation's latest weapons. Perry then travels into the future to supply proof for the report's projections and convince Haverson that Mega's current agenda will lead to global devastation. Neil witnesses the fiery destruction of civilization, but also the re-emergence of nature from the wasteland. The Eloi and Morlocks inhabit a part of the earth that had been reclaimed by people who had retreated underground. The Morlocks have just begun to "harvest" the Eloi for food when Perry arrives on the scene. He is befriended by Weena (Priscilla Barnes), who explains how the Eloi-Morlock world came to be. A special museum of technology, showcasing weapons from Perry's era, includes Perry's name on a card identifying a weapon he designed. A video and audio presentation in the museum reveals that Perry's new assignment at Mega Corporation will be directly responsible for the world's destruction. Before he returns to his own time, Perry and the male Eloi use plastic explosives found in the museum to seal off the Morlocks' three entrances to the Eloi habitat. Perry gives his report to Haverson and Washington, and discovers they are uninterested in saving the world from destruction. Instead, they are interested in using the time machine to gain a military advantage over other world powers. Perry leaves them and returns to Weena and the Eloi, who are now free of the Morlocks. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Time Machine (1978 film)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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