Gary Westfahl says "Things to Come qualifies as the first true masterpiece of science fiction cinema, and those who complain about its awkward pace and uninvolving characters are not understanding Wells's message, which is that the lives and actions of individuals are unimportant when compared to the progress and destiny of the entire human race"
No. I am one who gets the message, and doesn't even really disagree, it's just still an odd movie. A lot of monologuing, strangely stilted characters, pacing is all over the place; it cannot decide what sort of movie it is. Sometimes it's an FX driven montage, showing the passage of time, sometimes it's these little character driven stories. Sometimes it gives very memorable intertitles, sometimes it gets rather long voiceovers.
And so much clunky wording. This from Wells? He must have used up all the good ones. Plenty of strange phrasing but just the proper nouns "Everytown" and "Wings Over the World" are horrible, make sure any investment in the truth of the story are back to distant observer.
Sadly, hardly anyone works with the material, but instead has these affected mannerisms and speech, that even for the 30s was odd. I watch plenty of films from this era, and Things to Come is still a very strange and hard to watch movie.
I might lament that it's been butchered with repeated edits but it's not gaps in the story that is the problem. It's just weird within individual scenes.
No. I am one who gets the message, and doesn't even really disagree, it's just still an odd movie. A lot of monologuing, strangely stilted characters, pacing is all over the place; it cannot decide what sort of movie it is. Sometimes it's an FX driven montage, showing the passage of time, sometimes it's these little character driven stories. Sometimes it gives very memorable intertitles, sometimes it gets rather long voiceovers.
And so much clunky wording. This from Wells? He must have used up all the good ones. Plenty of strange phrasing but just the proper nouns "Everytown" and "Wings Over the World" are horrible, make sure any investment in the truth of the story are back to distant observer.
Sadly, hardly anyone works with the material, but instead has these affected mannerisms and speech, that even for the 30s was odd. I watch plenty of films from this era, and Things to Come is still a very strange and hard to watch movie.
I might lament that it's been butchered with repeated edits but it's not gaps in the story that is the problem. It's just weird within individual scenes.