Movie Rec: Time After Time (1979)

It doesn't seem that long ago, but 30 years ago this move captured my attention for some reason. I saw it three or four times in the theater. You can read the IMDb information here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080025/ and here's a blurb from Amazon:

Amazon.com
In this clever speculative tale, story collaborators Karl Alexander and Steve Hayes and screenwriter-director Nicholas Meyer (Star Trek II and VI) send two famous historical figures ahead in time. In late 19th century England, writer H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) unwittingly includes Jack the Ripper (David Warner) in his social circle. When one of Wells's dinner parties is crashed by the police looking for the Ripper, Jack uses the author's time machine to escape. But there's one catch--after it has been used, the machine returns to Wells's time. Thus the literary genius bravely sets out to find his evil friend before he can wreak havoc on another time period, and soon arrives in modern-day San Francisco. What follows is a fascinating merger of a suspense thriller--as the charming and polite Wells tries to hunt down the shrewd, brutish Ripper and take him back to the past--and a love story, as Wells befriends and falls in love with a bank administrator (Mary Steenburgen) who acts as his guide through the future. Through its brilliant combination of creepy suspense and tender romance, Time After Time manages to become a classic in two genres at once--a rare cinematic achievement. --Bryan Reesman

While the movie is *very* dated as far as styles and such go and it wasn't a hugely budgeted film to begin with - the performances by Steenburgen, McDowell and Warner are all top-notch. This is one of those movies that tries to crossover into a lot of different genres and, really, it shouldn't work. But somehow they managed to do so.

Running time is 112 minutes. I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys sci-fi and suspense.