Before Nicholas Meyer directed several entries into the original Star Trek movie franchise, he did another kind of sci-fi movie, a strange beast that looks and behaves like a kids' film but has enough darkness to apparently be a serious sci-fi movie. Which tone Meyer was going for is never very clear.

Malcolm McDowell plays H G Wells, a man who doesn't actually write the story of The Time Machine in the 19th century – he's an inventor who's actually built it.

Among the friends who've come to witness his maiden voyage to the future is a Dr Stevenson (Warner) who – when the police come to Wells' door in the middle of the demonstration – is revealed to be Jack the Ripper.

In the ensuing fight, Stevenson jumps into the machine and shoots off into the future. Wells wastes no time in going after him, arriving in San Francisco in the then–present day.

After half an hour or so of fish out of water gags and acclimatisation (the Wells of the movie believes the future will be a Utopian society), he gets together with modern girl bank teller Amy (Mary Steenburgen) and the pair have to use any trick they can think of – including time travel – to outwit and catch Stevenson.

It's ineffectual fluff, fun enough but hampered by the shonky visual effects of the day and has all the hallmarks of Disney's live action output at the time.