Synopsis: H.G. Wells Races Through Time To Catch Jack The Ripper!

London 1893 is home to a killer with a macabre nickname… and also to a visionary genius who would write The Time Machine. But what if H.G. Wells’ invention wasn’t fiction? And what if Jack the Ripper escaped capture fleeing his own time to take refuge in ours – with Wells himself in pursuit?
From writer/director Nicholas Meyer, Time After Time is a marvelous entertainment of shivery suspense and sly social comment. In modern-day San Francisco, the Ripper (David Warner) finds our violent age to his liking. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) dislikes the brave new world of fast food and television, far from the utopia he envisioned. But he is cheered by the emancipation of women, particularly one irresistible banker (Mary Steenburgen). For mystery, romance and excitement, Time After Time is time well spent.
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Time After Time 7.5

Nicholas Meyer, who directed only a handful of films (but brought us the unforgettable ‘Star Trek II’ and ‘Star Trek VI’!) delivered his first film in 1979. It’s a sci-fi film done on what appears to be a limited budget, and it’s lots of fun.

The basic premise is as follows: H.G. Wells has created a working time machine but discovers that one of his friends has used it to escape the law. Wells follows him and attempts to track him down in then-present day San Francisco to stop him from committing any further crimes.

His friend: none other than the infamous Jack the Ripper!!!

Malcolm McDowell is the idealistic, but naïve, H.G. Wells. He plays the fish-out-water character perfectly, even if Meyer has written him in a way that’s not 100% credible. Meanwhile, his former friend and newly-discovered nemesis is played by David Warner, who has graced our screens in countless notable performance (and yet, never became a star or household name!).

And then there’s the soft-spoken, congenial Mary Steenburgen, who I’ve had an eye for ever since ‘Back to the Future Part III’. Without wanting to sound biased, I usually ADORE her, whether in the afore-mentioned ‘BTTFIII’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy’ or ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’. But here she gave a performance that only a drunk Dianne Wiest could match. Urgh. And yet she won an Oscar with her next film – so, surely this means that her performance in ‘Time After Time’ was intentional. Go figure.

Granted, this film is a flawed gem (there are holes in the story, lulls in the pacing and it benefits from a mildly enthusiastic suspension of disbelief), but it’s original and amusing enough for repeat viewings; it’s an enjoyable action-adventure/suspense/romance combo that I’d recommend to anyone who wants light, imaginative fare.