One of the most fascinating films of the 1930s, this rare British foray into the realm of speculative science fiction – in which humankind nearly destroys itself in a world war and is eventually saved by messianic technocrats – was also a hugely ambitious venture for our usually cash-strapped national cinema. No surprise really, as producer Alexander Korda was nothing if not ambitious; you can certainly see the money on screen in the ground-breaking effects and fantastic art direction, which still manage to powerfully convey both an Earth devastated by war and a gleaming art deco future. The money was also spent in getting HG Wells to write a script based on his own work, which gives the film its visionary daring and guarantees its occasional lapses into passages of pure Wellsian propaganda (see ‘The Time Machine’, FT199:33–35, for more on Wells in the cinema).

Network are to be congratulated for sourcing the longest-running print for this DVD release, which also includes a second disc containing a ‘virtual’ reconstruction using script notes and other materials to fill in scenes either lost or never shot. Other extras include a brilliant little Reflections programme from 1971 in which Brian Aldiss gets to the heart of Wells in 25 minutes and an irrelevant but delightful Russell Harty interview with the always charming Ralph Richardson.