MovieChat Forums > The Time Machine (1960) Discussion > Goofs...

Goofs...

posted 8 years ago by morbius001
3 replies | jump to latest

Here's a couple that have always annoyed the hell out of me:
When George first presses ahead at a faster speed, and we're watching the sky... sun, moon, and stars rotating... the sun and moon are going in one direction, and the stars are going in the opposite direction... which of course, is impossible. All celestial bodies travel in the same perceived direction, because it is a product of the Earth's diurnal rotational motion of West, to East. (sloppy work)... but then, audiences of the 1960s were not at all sophisticated, nor was it percieved that anyone would notice, nor care.
Another issue:
When George is encased by the mountain in darkness, he strikes a match to read the display on the control panel of the Time Machine... yet- the day/month/year displays are rear-lit, and holding any type of light to the front, would tend to make the displays more difficult to read.
Where, I grew up watching this film as one of my favorites... I just wish that George Pal had put a little more effort into producing a less-flawed film... at least as much as his photographic effects. Of course, he may have been the victim of sobriety.

[–] kurthowe 8 years ago

The days of the year are moving at a faster rate than objects' arcs across the sky. So the concept seems to be more like he's seeing split-second photographs of the sky across successive days/months. In that sense, celestial objects don't necessarily have to behave exactly as they would to an outside observer. But it is flawed anyway since it does not depict any axis revolution of the Earth itself e.g. a longer arc in the Summer than Winter.

[–] sandersrodney-76234 8 years ago

When George sees the sun and moon, they appear to be moving left to right (east to west). When he sees the stars, they seem to be revolving counterclockwise around a central point. The problem is that the apparent movement of the sun and moon would be seen in the southern sky, but the revolving stars would be seen to the north around the north celestial pole. He wouldn't have been able to see both from the same direction. If he was looking south, George should have seen the stars arcing across the sky in the same manner as the sun and moon.
I'll get over it though. I still love the movie.

[–] goldenagefilmstv (178) 2 years ago

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