Big Problem


As soon as he saves Emma, he should disappear because then he would never have built the time machine to begin with. This movie assumes that the time machine then never existed moments before her death. So Emma dies and he must try again in an infinite loop or until he decides not to go back.
Emma dying all these different ways makes no sense. It's as if fate is causing her to die. If he saves Emma to begin with and them she dies a few minutes later then he travels back in time a few minutes later. But by that time Emma already died initially. If he saves her initially he does change the paat and she dies minutes later. But then he goes back later... He should disappear when he saves her.
He should have just taken her before she dies and brought her to the future. Since he can change the past (causing Emma to die at a later point) she should exist. But the movie also assumes that if she doesn't die then he never makes the machine. It is not consistent.

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With all time travel movies, the idea of infinite timelines exists. We as the audience only saw Alex attempt to go back a couple times to save Emma--each time resulting in her death. Some would conclude it was her fate to die and for Alex to build the time machine as a result, but not necessary. I'm sure in one timeline, he does indeed save Emma and does not build the machine, but who would want to see that movie?

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The message of the movie is, I think, that you cannot change the past but you can change the future.

Of course, that doesn't make sense if you take everything about the movie into account but seeing as he couldn't save Emma and he stopped the Morloch future, I think that's the idea.

It's mentioned in the commentary on the DVD that they did run into a problem with the two Alexes when he went back to 1899 but they kinda just ignored it.

So yeah, the movie is kinda stupid and clumsy.

Time for aggressive negotiations!

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