In 1893
London, popular writer
H. G. Wells displays a newly invented "
time machine" to his skeptical dinner guests and explains how it works, including having a "non-return key" that keeps the machine at the traveler's destination and a "vaporizing equalizer" that keeps the traveler and machine on equal terms. Police constables suddenly arrive, searching for
Jack the Ripper. A bag with blood-stained gloves belonging to Wells' friend John Leslie Stevenson, a surgeon, leads them to conclude that Stevenson may be the killer. Wells races to his laboratory, but the time machine is gone. Stevenson escapes to the future but without the "non-return key", causing the machine to reappear in 1893 automatically. Wells then pursues Stevenson to November 5, 1979, where the machine is now on display at a museum in
San Francisco. Wells finds the twentieth century's history of warfare, greed, and violence deeply shocking, as he intended to travel to the future in the belief humanity is capable of an enlightened
socialist utopia. He also learns that a series of unsolved murders, all of women, have occurred. Unable to spend his antiquated British currency, Wells exchanges it for American dollars. Hungry, he enters a
McDonald's and is alternately puzzled and pleased with modern dining options. Reasoning that Stevenson also needs to exchange British money, Wells visits various banks in search of him. At the
Chartered Bank of London, he meets employee
Amy Robbins, who directed Stevenson to the Hyatt Regency hotel. Smitten with Wells, she gives him her card, saying he should “give her a ring”. Upon being confronted by Wells, Stevenson confesses that he finds modern society pleasingly violent, stating, "Ninety years ago, I was a freak. Today, I'm an amateur." Wells tries to convince him they do not belong in 1979, but Stevenson instead attacks him and tries to steal the key. Their struggle is interrupted by a maid, and Stevenson flees, only to be hit by a car during the frantic chase. Wells follows him to the hospital emergency room, but Stevenson is able to escape injured; the hospital, not wanting trouble, lies to Wells that he is dead. Wells meets up with Amy again, and she initiates a romance. Stevenson returns to the bank, and suspecting that Amy led Wells to him, he frightens her into giving Wells a message and later discovers her address. To convince a highly skeptical Amy that he is telling the truth, Wells takes her three days into the future. Amy is aghast to see a newspaper headline revealing her as the fifth victim of the "San Francisco Ripper". Wells persuades her that they must go back to prevent the fourth victim's murder, then prevent Amy's. Upon returning, they are delayed and can do no more than phone the police. When the fourth victim is found dead, Wells is arrested and charged with the crime. Amy is left alone, totally defenseless against Stevenson. While Wells unsuccessfully tries to convince the police of Amy's peril, she attempts to hide from Stevenson. When the police finally investigate her apartment, they find a woman's
dismembered body. Finally believing him innocent, the police release a now-heartbroken Wells. However, that woman was Amy's co-worker. Stevenson contacts Wells, tells him he has taken Amy hostage, and demands the key for her life. Stevenson flees with the key – and Amy as insurance – intending a permanent escape in the time machine. Wells erratically drives Amy's car and follows them to the museum. While Wells bargains for Amy's life, she is able to escape. As Stevenson starts the time machine, Wells removes the "vaporizing equalizer", casting Stevenson across the space-time continuum forever while keeping the machine in the present time. Wells informs Amy that he must return to 1893 and destroy the machine, given what he has experienced. Knowing that she is already legally dead, Amy insists on going with him. The film finishes with the caption: "H.G. Wells married Amy Catherine Robbins, who died in 1927. As a writer, he anticipated socialism, global war, space travel, and women's liberation. He died in 1946." ==Cast==