Time After Time (1979 film)
Encyclopedia
Time After Time is a 1979 American fantasy film written and directed by Nicholas Meyer
. His screenplay is based largely on a novel by Karl Alexander
(which was unfinished during the time the movie was made) and a story by Steve Hayes. It concerns British author H. G. Wells
and his fictional use of a time machine
to pursue Jack the Ripper
into the 20th century.
, popular writer Herbert George "H.G." Wells (Malcolm McDowell
) displays a time machine
to his skeptical dinner guests. After explaining to his guests how it works (including a 'non-return key' that keeps the machine at the traveler's destination, and a "vaporizing equalizer" that keeps the traveler and machine on equal terms), police constables arrive at the house searching for Jack the Ripper. One of the constables finds a bag, with blood stained gloves, belonging to one of Herbert's friends, a surgeon named John Leslie Stevenson (David Warner
), whom they are unable to locate in the house, and realize that he might be the infamous killer. Wells then races to his laboratory where he finds the time machine now missing.
Stevenson had escaped to the future by using Herbert's hitherto untested time machine, but because he does not have the machine's 'non-return' key, it automatically returns to 1893. Herbert uses it to pursue Stevenson to November 5, 1979, where the machine has ended up on display in a museum in San Francisco, but is deeply shocked by the future, having expected it to be an enlightened socialist
utopia
. Searching numerous banks for Stevenson – an Englishman who might have tried to exchange old English currency – Herbert meets liberated Chartered Bank of London employee Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen
). She directs Herbert to the Hyatt Regency hotel, as she previously had Stevenson.
Confronted by his onetime friend Herbert, Stevenson confesses that he finds modern society to be pleasingly violent
. Apologetically, he states "90 years ago, I was a freak. Now... I'm an amateur," point-blank refusing Herbert's demand to return to 1893 to face justice. Stevenson, who without the 'return key' would be unable to prevent the machine from automatically returning to 1893 (and thereby blocking Herbert from any further pursuit), attempts to wrest it from him. Their struggle is interrupted, Stevenson flees getting hit by a car during the frantic chase on foot. Herbert follows him to the hospital emergency room and mistakenly gets the impression that he died in the accident.
Herbert then meets up with Amy Robbins again and she strikes up a romance (succeeding, once Herbert is sure that she is in earnest). Stevenson returns to the bank to exchange more money with Amy. Rightly concluding that it was she who had led Herbert to him, he flees, then finds out where she lives. Herbert, hoping to convince her of the truth, takes a highly skeptical Amy three days into the future. Once there, she is aghast to see a newspaper headline revealing her own murder as the Ripper's fifth victim (a temporal paradox
). Herbert persuades her that they must go back – it is their duty to prevent the fourth victim's murder, then prevent Amy's. However, once returned, they are delayed and can do no more than phone the police. Stevenson kills again, Herbert is arrested because of his knowledge of the killing, and Amy is left alone, totally defenseless, and at the mercy of the 'San Francisco Ripper.'
Herbert unsuccessfully tries to convince the police of Amy's peril (his claim to be "Sherlock Holmes
" has marked him as a lunatic well before mentioning a "time machine") and Amy attempts to hide from Stevenson. When the police finally do investigate her apartment, they find the dismembered body of a woman. Thus, Wells is released, mourning Amy's brutal death. Suddenly, he is confronted by Stevenson, who has actually killed Amy's coworker Carol, who had accepted an invitation for dinner and to meet Wells. Stevenson then kidnapped Amy in order to extort the time machine key from Wells.
Stevenson flees with the key – and Amy as insurance – then attempts a permanent escape in the time machine. Herbert bargains for Amy's life in return for Stevenson's escape, but removes the "vaporizing equalizer" from the machine. The removal of this component, Herbert had confirmed earlier, causes the machine to remain in place while its passenger is sent traveling endlessly through time, with no way to stop; in effect destroying him. Once this happens, Herbert proclaims his plans to return to his own time, on his own, in order to destroy a machine that is too dangerous for primitive mankind. Amy pleads with him to take her along (despite her aversion to living in Victorian England). As they depart to the past, she says that she is changing her name to Susan B. Anthony
. The end credits reveal that the two later married.
.
Five years prior to writing and directing Time After Time, Nicholas Meyer published the novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
, in which Sherlock Holmes
meets Sigmund Freud
.
While preparing to portray Wells, Malcolm McDowell obtained a copy of a 78RPM recording of Wells speaking. McDowell was "absolutely horrified" to hear that Wells spoke in a high pitched, squeaky voice with a pronounced Southeast London
accent, which McDowell felt would have resulted in unintentional humor if McDowell tried to mimic it for the film. McDowell abandoned any attempt to recreate Wells' authentic speaking style, in favor of a more dignified speaking style.
It was one of the last films scored by Miklós Rózsa
.
Time After Time was filmed throughout San Francisco, including Cow Hollow, North Beach
, the Hyatt Regency
hotel, California Academy of Sciences
in Golden Gate Park
, the Marina District
, Ghirardelli Square
, Fisherman's Wharf
, the Richmond District
, the Golden Gate Bridge
, Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill
, the Embarcadero Center
, Chinatown, the Marina Green
, the Palace of Fine Arts
, Potrero Hill
, and the Civic Center
.
Time After Time was the first time that actors Malcolm McDowell
and Mary Steenburgen
worked together. They play lovers in this film, offscreen they were subsequently married in 1980.
, Janet Maslin
said the film "is every bit as magical as the trick around which it revolves." She continued, "Mr. Meyer isn't a particularly skilled director; this is his first attempt, and on occasion it's very clumsy. But as a whizkid he's gone straight to the head of the class, with a movie that's as sweet as it is clever, and never so clever that it forgets to be entertaining. The satisfactions Time After Time offers are perhaps no more sophisticated than the fun one might have with an intricate set of electric trains. Still, fun of this sort isn't always easy to come by, not after one's age has climbed up into two digits. There's a lot to be said for an adult's movie with the shimmer of a child's new toy."
Variety
termed it "a delightful, entertaining trifle of a film that shows both the possibilities and limitations of taking liberties with literature and history. Nicholas Meyer has deftly juxtaposed Victorian England and contemporary America in a clever story, irresistible due to the competence of its cast."
, Mary Steenburgen won the Saturn Award for Best Actress, and Miklós Rózsa
won the Saturn Award for Best Music
. Saturn Award nominations went to Meyer for Best Director
, Malcolm McDowell for Best Actor
, David Warner for Supporting Actor, and Sal Anthony and Yvonne Kubis for Best Costumes, and the film was nominated for Best Science Fiction Film
.
Nicholas Meyer won the Antenne II Award and the Grand Prize at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival and he was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
.
Nicholas Meyer
Nicholas Meyer is an American screenwriter, producer, director and novelist, known best for his best-selling novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, and for directing the films Time After Time, two of the Star Trek feature film series, and the 1983 television movie The Day After.Meyer graduated from...
. His screenplay is based largely on a novel by Karl Alexander
Karl Alexander (writer)
Karl Alexander is an American writer. He is the author of Time After Time, which was adapted into a successful film of the same title in 1979, and several other novels. Jaclyn the Ripper, the sequel to Time After Time, was published in March 2011.-External links:*...
(which was unfinished during the time the movie was made) and a story by Steve Hayes. It concerns British author H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
and his fictional use of a time machine
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
to pursue Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
into the 20th century.
Plot
In 1893 LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, popular writer Herbert George "H.G." Wells (Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...
) displays a time machine
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
to his skeptical dinner guests. After explaining to his guests how it works (including a 'non-return key' that keeps the machine at the traveler's destination, and a "vaporizing equalizer" that keeps the traveler and machine on equal terms), police constables arrive at the house searching for Jack the Ripper. One of the constables finds a bag, with blood stained gloves, belonging to one of Herbert's friends, a surgeon named John Leslie Stevenson (David Warner
David Warner (actor)
David Warner is an English actor who is known for playing both romantic leads and sinister or villainous characters, both in film and animation...
), whom they are unable to locate in the house, and realize that he might be the infamous killer. Wells then races to his laboratory where he finds the time machine now missing.
Stevenson had escaped to the future by using Herbert's hitherto untested time machine, but because he does not have the machine's 'non-return' key, it automatically returns to 1893. Herbert uses it to pursue Stevenson to November 5, 1979, where the machine has ended up on display in a museum in San Francisco, but is deeply shocked by the future, having expected it to be an enlightened socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
. Searching numerous banks for Stevenson – an Englishman who might have tried to exchange old English currency – Herbert meets liberated Chartered Bank of London employee Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen
Mary Steenburgen
Mary Nell Steenburgen is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Lynda Dummar in Jonathan Demme's Melvin and Howard, which earned her an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.-Early life:...
). She directs Herbert to the Hyatt Regency hotel, as she previously had Stevenson.
Confronted by his onetime friend Herbert, Stevenson confesses that he finds modern society to be pleasingly violent
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
. Apologetically, he states "90 years ago, I was a freak. Now... I'm an amateur," point-blank refusing Herbert's demand to return to 1893 to face justice. Stevenson, who without the 'return key' would be unable to prevent the machine from automatically returning to 1893 (and thereby blocking Herbert from any further pursuit), attempts to wrest it from him. Their struggle is interrupted, Stevenson flees getting hit by a car during the frantic chase on foot. Herbert follows him to the hospital emergency room and mistakenly gets the impression that he died in the accident.
Herbert then meets up with Amy Robbins again and she strikes up a romance (succeeding, once Herbert is sure that she is in earnest). Stevenson returns to the bank to exchange more money with Amy. Rightly concluding that it was she who had led Herbert to him, he flees, then finds out where she lives. Herbert, hoping to convince her of the truth, takes a highly skeptical Amy three days into the future. Once there, she is aghast to see a newspaper headline revealing her own murder as the Ripper's fifth victim (a temporal paradox
Temporal paradox
Temporal paradox is a theoretical paradoxical situation that happens because of time travel. A time traveler goes to the past, and does something that would prevent him from time travel in the first place...
). Herbert persuades her that they must go back – it is their duty to prevent the fourth victim's murder, then prevent Amy's. However, once returned, they are delayed and can do no more than phone the police. Stevenson kills again, Herbert is arrested because of his knowledge of the killing, and Amy is left alone, totally defenseless, and at the mercy of the 'San Francisco Ripper.'
Herbert unsuccessfully tries to convince the police of Amy's peril (his claim to be "Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
" has marked him as a lunatic well before mentioning a "time machine") and Amy attempts to hide from Stevenson. When the police finally do investigate her apartment, they find the dismembered body of a woman. Thus, Wells is released, mourning Amy's brutal death. Suddenly, he is confronted by Stevenson, who has actually killed Amy's coworker Carol, who had accepted an invitation for dinner and to meet Wells. Stevenson then kidnapped Amy in order to extort the time machine key from Wells.
Stevenson flees with the key – and Amy as insurance – then attempts a permanent escape in the time machine. Herbert bargains for Amy's life in return for Stevenson's escape, but removes the "vaporizing equalizer" from the machine. The removal of this component, Herbert had confirmed earlier, causes the machine to remain in place while its passenger is sent traveling endlessly through time, with no way to stop; in effect destroying him. Once this happens, Herbert proclaims his plans to return to his own time, on his own, in order to destroy a machine that is too dangerous for primitive mankind. Amy pleads with him to take her along (despite her aversion to living in Victorian England). As they depart to the past, she says that she is changing her name to Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony
Susan Brownell Anthony was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. She was co-founder of the first Women's Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as President...
. The end credits reveal that the two later married.
Production notes
Films set in the near future are often set decades (or at least a few years) after their release date, however, Time After Time is particularly notable for its 'futuristic' setting – the week of November 5, 1979 – barely two months in the future. 'November 5' would be featured as a key date in two later time-travel films by different directors, 1982's Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann and 1985's Back to the FutureBack to the Future
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
.
Five years prior to writing and directing Time After Time, Nicholas Meyer published the novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D. is a 1974 novel by American writer Nicholas Meyer. It is written as a pastiche of a Sherlock Holmes adventure, and was made into a film of the same name in 1976....
, in which Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
meets Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
.
While preparing to portray Wells, Malcolm McDowell obtained a copy of a 78RPM recording of Wells speaking. McDowell was "absolutely horrified" to hear that Wells spoke in a high pitched, squeaky voice with a pronounced Southeast London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
accent, which McDowell felt would have resulted in unintentional humor if McDowell tried to mimic it for the film. McDowell abandoned any attempt to recreate Wells' authentic speaking style, in favor of a more dignified speaking style.
It was one of the last films scored by Miklós Rózsa
Miklós Rózsa
Miklós Rózsa was a Hungarian-born composer trained in Germany , and active in France , England , and the United States , with extensive sojourns in Italy from 1953...
.
Time After Time was filmed throughout San Francisco, including Cow Hollow, North Beach
North Beach, San Francisco, California
North Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco adjacent to Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf and Russian Hill. The neighborhood is San Francisco's Little Italy, and has historically been home to a large Italian American population. It still holds many Italian restaurants today, though...
, the Hyatt Regency
Hyatt Regency San Francisco
Hyatt Regency San Francisco is a hotel located at the foot of Market Street and The Embarcadero in the financial district of San Francisco, California...
hotel, California Academy of Sciences
California Academy of Sciences
The California Academy of Sciences is among the largest museums of natural history in the world. The academy began in 1853 as a learned society and still carries out a large amount of original research, with exhibits and education becoming significant endeavors of the museum during the twentieth...
in Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
, the Marina District
Marina District, San Francisco, California
The Marina District is a neighborhood located in San Francisco, California. The neighborhood sits on the site of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, staged after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake to celebrate the reemergence of the city...
, Ghirardelli Square
Ghirardelli Square
Ghirardelli Square is a landmark with shops and restaurants in the Fisherman's Wharf area of San Francisco, California, USA. A portion of the area is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Pioneer Woolen Mills and D. Ghirardelli Company....
, Fisherman's Wharf
Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, California
Fisherman's Wharf is a neighborhood and popular tourist attraction in San Francisco, California. It roughly encompasses the northern waterfront area of San Francisco from Ghirardelli Square or Van Ness Avenue east to Pier 35 or Kearny Street...
, the Richmond District
Richmond District, San Francisco, California
The Richmond District is a neighborhood in the northwest corner of San Francisco, California.-Location:Lying directly north of Golden Gate Park, "the Richmond" is bounded roughly by Fulton Street to the south, Arguello Boulevard and Laurel Heights to the east, The Presidio National Park and Lincoln...
, the Golden Gate Bridge
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
, Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill
Nob Hill, San Francisco, California
Nob Hill refers to a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, centered on the intersection of California and Powell streets. It is one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills."-Location :...
, the Embarcadero Center
Embarcadero Center
Embarcadero Center is a commercial complex of five office towers and two hotels on a site located off the Embarcadero in the financial district of San Francisco, California. The Trammell Crow, David Rockefeller and John Portman development was begun with Tower One in 1971, with the last...
, Chinatown, the Marina Green
Marina Green
The Marina Green in San Francisco, California, is a expanse of grass between Fort Mason and the Presidio. It is adjacent to San Francisco Bay, and this location provides good views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island, Alcatraz Island, and parts of Marin County. Houses built mostly in the 1920s...
, the Palace of Fine Arts
Palace of Fine Arts
The Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, is a monumental structure originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in order to exhibit works of art presented there. One of only a few surviving structures from the Exposition, it is the only one still...
, Potrero Hill
Potrero Hill, San Francisco, California
Potrero Hill is a hilly neighborhood in San Francisco, California.-Location:Potrero Hill is located on the eastern side of the city, east of the Mission District and south of SOMA and the newly designated district . It is roughly bordered by 16th Street to the north, Potrero Avenue and U.S...
, and the Civic Center
Civic Center, San Francisco, California
The Civic Center in San Francisco, California, is an area of a few blocks north of the intersection of Market Street and Van Ness Avenue that contains many of the city's largest government and cultural institutions. It has two large plazas and a number of buildings in classical architectural style...
.
Time After Time was the first time that actors Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...
and Mary Steenburgen
Mary Steenburgen
Mary Nell Steenburgen is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Lynda Dummar in Jonathan Demme's Melvin and Howard, which earned her an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.-Early life:...
worked together. They play lovers in this film, offscreen they were subsequently married in 1980.
Cast
- Malcolm McDowellMalcolm McDowellMalcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...
as H. G. WellsH. G. WellsHerbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games... - David WarnerDavid Warner (actor)David Warner is an English actor who is known for playing both romantic leads and sinister or villainous characters, both in film and animation...
as John Leslie Stevenson/Jack the RipperJack the Ripper"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the... - Mary SteenburgenMary SteenburgenMary Nell Steenburgen is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Lynda Dummar in Jonathan Demme's Melvin and Howard, which earned her an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.-Early life:...
as Amy Robbins - Charles CioffiCharles CioffiCharles Cioffi , also credited as Charles M. Cioffi, is an American movie and television actor.-Biography:He was born in New York City and attended Michigan State University, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity....
as Police Lt. Mitchell - Patti D'ArbanvillePatti D'ArbanvillePatricia "Patti" D'Arbanville is an American actress and former model.-Early life:D'Arbanville, born May 25, 1951 in New York City, New York, is the daughter of Jean , an artist, and George D'Arbanville, a bartender, and attended PS 41 on Eleventh Street...
as Shirley - Joseph MaherJoseph MaherJoseph Maher was an Irish character actor who appeared in 43 films and was nominated for three Tony Awards and a Drama Desk Award for his supporting roles on the stage.-Career:...
as Adams - Corey FeldmanCorey FeldmanCorey Scott Feldman is an American film and television actor. He became known during the 1980s, with roles in the Hollywood films Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, The Goonies, Stand by Me, The Lost Boys, License to Drive, Dream a Little Dream, Gremlins and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...
as boy at museum
Critical reception
In her review in The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
said the film "is every bit as magical as the trick around which it revolves." She continued, "Mr. Meyer isn't a particularly skilled director; this is his first attempt, and on occasion it's very clumsy. But as a whizkid he's gone straight to the head of the class, with a movie that's as sweet as it is clever, and never so clever that it forgets to be entertaining. The satisfactions Time After Time offers are perhaps no more sophisticated than the fun one might have with an intricate set of electric trains. Still, fun of this sort isn't always easy to come by, not after one's age has climbed up into two digits. There's a lot to be said for an adult's movie with the shimmer of a child's new toy."
Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
termed it "a delightful, entertaining trifle of a film that shows both the possibilities and limitations of taking liberties with literature and history. Nicholas Meyer has deftly juxtaposed Victorian England and contemporary America in a clever story, irresistible due to the competence of its cast."
Awards and nominations
Nicholas Meyer won the Saturn Award for Best WritingSaturn Award for Best Writing
The following is a list of people who have won the Saturn Award for Best Writing.-Multiple Winners:*James Cameron - 3 awards*Christopher Nolan - 3 awards*William Peter Blatty - 3 awards-External links:* http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html#writing...
, Mary Steenburgen won the Saturn Award for Best Actress, and Miklós Rózsa
Miklós Rózsa
Miklós Rózsa was a Hungarian-born composer trained in Germany , and active in France , England , and the United States , with extensive sojourns in Italy from 1953...
won the Saturn Award for Best Music
Saturn Award for Best Music
The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Music.-Multiple Winners:*John Williams - 7 awards*Danny Elfman - 5 awards*James Horner - 3 awards*Alan Silvestri - 3 awards*Alan Menken - 2 awards*John Ottman - 2 awards*Miklós Rózsa - 2 awards...
. Saturn Award nominations went to Meyer for Best Director
Saturn Award for Best Direction
The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Direction:-Multiple Winners:*James Cameron - 5 awards*Steven Spielberg - 4 awards*Peter Jackson - 3 awards*Bryan Singer - 2 awards...
, Malcolm McDowell for Best Actor
Saturn Award for Best Actor
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed, who felt that films within those genres...
, David Warner for Supporting Actor, and Sal Anthony and Yvonne Kubis for Best Costumes, and the film was nominated for Best Science Fiction Film
Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film
The Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film is a Saturn Award given to the best film in the science fiction genre by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.-Winners:-External links:*...
.
Nicholas Meyer won the Antenne II Award and the Grand Prize at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival and he was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
.