MovieChat Forums > Time After Time (1979) Discussion > A huge plot hole / dumb writing

A huge plot hole / dumb writing


Not only that Wells could have saved a bunch of lives of SF women by simply travelling to the past and killing Stevenson (or sending him to 'infinity'), he could also go further back into the past and stopped him before he killed the first prostitute in London.

Dumb.

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Ha, yes exactly. Could have stopped the Ripper from even being born.
But then there wouldn't have been this movie.
It is still a fun film to watch though.

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Why should he do all that? Those other victims weren't his problem.



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Really? You're even bigger psycho than Jack the Ripper.

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Oh my, you are clever.

But think about it.

If he'd done what you suggested, there wouldn't have been this movie - and you wouldn't have written this oh, so clever (not) comment.

There are many plot holes in this movie. That is not one of them.

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Yeah, and Skynet could have saved itself by killing John Connor's mother before he was born.

It's called the Grandfather Paradox, and it seems to elude your intellect. If he goes back and stops the Ripper before the first murder, then the police wouldn't have shown up at his house, Jack wouldn't have run and the whole movie wouldn't have happened. Dumb writing, indeed.

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"Movie Logic" is often the answer to most of the questions on MovieChat.org.

Also: Wells' time machine just HAPPENS to materialize in the same place as its place in the museum.

And: Wouldn't there be a problem with the time machine appearing right where the latter-day time machine was located? You can't have two bodies occupying the same space.

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"Movie Logic" is often the answer to most of the questions on MovieChat.org.

A good movie would not be able to have its questions answered in this way.

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I think this movie was all about being "clever" with H.G. Wells creating the time machine of his story. Beyond that, this movie has giant plot holes.

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Time travel movies always hazard major plot holes, but even as a kid, I couldn't really accept the arrival of the time machine in the same exact spot in San Francisco.

I suppose, SUPPOSE, the machine could work by remaining anchored in time while the traveler simply teleports from time to time within the machine. But the film expressly denies that's what happens, the machine clearly travels through time itself (rotating lamely as it does), and David Warner's character gets destroyed by traveling without the machine so .... guess I'm just spinning my wheels uselessly.

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No, you GOT it! Trust me. :-) It's nuts, and a complete rabbit hole to go down into.

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Similar to the Kill Hitler as a child paradox. How do you know if the next guy might have been a worse choice?

All Wells is trying to do is fix his mistake not change the past that was already established.

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Yeah, I love it when people critique “plotholes” especially in time travel movies. Lol.

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I can see H.G. Wells being extremely wary about trying to change the past and potentially making a mess of the present.

That said, I think it's funny how Wells treats Jack's time machine jump with so much urgency that he just immediately follows him right away, as if Jack must be stopped "before it's too late!" Even though, you know, they literally have 80 years to come up with a plan to deal with him. I'm fine with it since it's all just a set up for a lighthearted comedy story but it's pretty amusing to think about.

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