H. G. Wells might be best known for War Of The Worlds and The Time Machine, but even those masterpieces are dwarfed by this monster for sheer volume of ideas — despite it being made in 1936, everything from laptops, mobile phones and slimline TVs to a predilection for ’80s-sized shoulder pads are evident in his own adaptation of his novel, The Shape Of Things To Come. Directed by William Cameron Menzies (though word has it Wells was heavily involved throughout production), we are taken 100 years into the future of Everytown, Britain.
Decades of war and plague leave Britain in a second Dark Age, before scientists, with an almost fascistic devotion to progress, ‘save the day’. A fascinating experience on many levels, despite the clunky performances.