DVD review
Directed by William Cameron Menzies
Starring Raymond Massey, Edward Chapman, Ralph Richardson
Release date 7 May 2007

HG Wells' classic future history of Everytown, from 1940 to 2036…

HG Wells' Things to Come (to give it its full title) should seem incredibly hokey by today's standards. But, thanks to its prescient script and superb production values, it remains one of cinema's most lasting visions of the future, even though much of its action takes place in what is now the past.

Set in three time zones: the present, the near future and the far future, the film depicts the fall and rise of human civilization through the prism of Everytown (essentially London-on-Sea). In every time zone, the inhabitants embody the universal human archetypes that Wells discovered in Hindu mythology: the Builder, the Preserver and the Destroyer, and each reacts to war and its aftermath in markedly different ways.

The depiction of that war makes for the film's most memorable scenes, as no expense is spared on the set of Everytown, or its subsequent destruction by a massive air raid. The big-budget spectacle is genuinely shocking, but it's the shots of dead children in the street that ground it in reality (along with the knowledge that the Blitz was just a few years away).

The middle section of the film takes place in the ruins of Everytown, where the survivors of the ongoing war eke out a brave but pitiful existence under a small-minded, philistine warlord known as the Boss (Ralph Richardson). Once again, the sets look fantastic, and Richardson makes for a believable and oddly sympathetic baron, despite his boorish and brutal methods. Born out of circumstance and driven by fear and paranoia, the Boss is a man out of time, as the world moves on from sectarianism and petty dictatorships.

But it's what the world is moving on to that might raise eyebrows today. In Wells' vision, destructive nationalism is overcome not by the march of democracy, but benevolent dictatorship, under the auspices of Wings Over The World. This technocratic elite rules wisely and well, but its authority stems from its mastery of the skies, and the morally dubious "gas of peace". These ambiguities are never explored, however, and Wells seems oblivious to the parallels between Wings Over The World's shiny supremacy and the Boss's more grubby desire for "victorious peace".

The third part of the story is the most distinct segment, heralded by an exciting montage of futuristic industry as the new order takes shape. An earlier sequence showing the destruction of the old world is similarly evocative, and both seamlessly combine live action and model photography, to the rousing score of Arthur Bliss.

By now, the war is long over and the characters we have met are long dead. In their place, the same actors play their descendents, clashing over the rights and wrongs of an experimental "space gun", that will send humans into space. After the involved and earthy dramas of the first two-thirds of the film, it's hard to muster so much enthusiasm for this bloodless utopia, but it still looks fantastic and affords plenty of opportunity for theatrical oratory.

The final speech goes to Raymond Massey, extolling the need for constant technological progress, whatever the cost. The message that mankind must always strive for more is a noble one, but the trust placed in machines now seems naïve. Wells' war lasts far longer than the real Second World War because he underestimated our ability to develop bigger and more final weapons, using the technologies he hoped would eventually save us.

But despite being very much of its time, Things to Come still has relevance today. Ironically, the base from which Wings Over The World spread world peace is in Basra, where the men Wells would recognise as the Destroyers now style themselves 'the rebuilders'. Much of the sermonising is heavy-handed, but that's in keeping with the film's portentous tone. If it sounds like a socialist tract at times, it's still much more fun than reading one.

This version of Things to Come has been restored and reconstructed from various sources to be 20 minutes longer than previous video prints, and the accompanying extras on this two-disc set are in keeping with the research and dedication that have gone into that process. An audio commentary by 'film expert' Nick Cooper is richly informative and entertaining, and a 'virtual extended edition' of the film uses stills and captions to bring the film even closer to Wells' original vision.

Other extras include a 1971 TV essay on Wells by Brian Aldiss, an image gallery of original marketing materials for the film, and an entire 1975 edition of Russell Harty, in which the elderly Ralph Richardson revels in his anecdotage (entertaining, even though he doesn't touch upon Things to Come). Altogether a fitting package for a classic film, that deserves to be ranked alongside that other exploration of mankind through the ages, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Simon Hugo

VERDICT: 9/10
A fascinating film and an important historical artefact.