10 Bad Film Adaptations Of Great Books

H.G Wells classic 1895 novel tells the tale of a Victorian scientist who successfully creates a working time machine. While testing his device, he travels to the year AD 802,701, where humanity has split into two societies; the peaceful child-like adults named the Eloi, and the ape-like troglodytes named the Morlocks who prey upon the Eloi.

There have been multiple adaptations of H.G Wells work, such as a film in 1960 and a television film in 1978. But the 2002 version attempted to use the latest in special effects to try and breathe new life into the story while also taking inspiration from the 1960 film.

But despite turning a small profit at the box office and good performances from Guy Pearce and Jeremy Irons, the film was largely panned by critics. Where the first half of the film focuses on a lost love story, the second half switches gears to accommodate a more action-thriller ending.

The original book served as an inspiration for future works of science-fiction that went beyond Wells’ original ideas. Ironically, The Time Machine demonstrated how dated the story was and how over-reliant it was on its main invention.