The film presents a story in which British author H. G. Wells uses his time machine to pursue Jack the Ripper into the 20th century.

Instead, he sees chaos in the form of airplanes, automobiles and a history of global war, crime and bloodshed.

Reasoning that Stevenson also needs to exchange British money, Wells visits various banks searching for him.

At the Chartered Bank of London, he meets employee Amy Robbins, who directed Stevenson to the Hyatt Regency hotel.

Upon being confronted by Wells, Stevenson confesses that he finds modern society pleasingly violent, stating: "Ninety years ago, I was a freak.

Wells demands he return to 1893 to face justice, but Stevenson instead attempts to wrestle the non-return key from him.

Wells follows him to the hospital emergency room and is told that Stevenson is dead but is not allowed to view the body.

To convince a highly skeptical Amy that he is telling the truth, Wells takes her three days into the future.

She is aghast to see a newspaper headline revealing her own murder as the "San Francisco Ripper's" fifth victim.

Stevenson flees with the key – and Amy as insurance – intending a permanent escape in the time machine.

[6] It was one of the last films scored by veteran composer Miklós Rózsa, who received the 1979 Saturn Award for Best Music.

Time After Time was filmed throughout San Francisco, including Cow Hollow, North Beach, the Hyatt Regency hotel, Westin Bonaventure Hotel, California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, the Marina District, Ghirardelli Square, Fisherman's Wharf, the Richmond District, the Golden Gate Bridge, Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill, the Embarcadero Center, Chinatown, the Marina Green, the Palace of Fine Arts, Potrero Hill, John McLaren Park, and the Civic Center.

Nicholas Meyer has deftly juxtaposed Victorian England and contemporary America in a clever story, irresistible due to the competence of its cast".

[9]The interior scenes set in London borrow heavily from the 1960 film The Time Machine, which was based on the 1895 H.G.

[11]The casting of Steenburgen for Back to the Future Part III appears to be deliberately intended to mirror the earlier role.

[14] Some similar time travel incongruities as well as the modern San Francisco urban setting also appeared in 1986's Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, for which Nicholas Meyer shared writing credit.

The details of time travelers from distant eras obtaining and exchanging present day American currency were similar in both films.