When Worlds Collide
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Movie Reviews of When Worlds Collide
Movie Review: One of the best of the period
Summary: 5 Stars
When Worlds Collide was (albeit loosely) based on the novel by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer, first published back in 1932. George Pal (who became known as the best producer of SF genre films of the 1950s) produced this film after his highly successful "Destination Moon". The cast was comprised mainly of unknowns, probably to save money, only Barbara Rush and John Hoyt (who played the nasty industrialist Stanton to the hilt). going on to moderately successful film careers. Or you might notice Frank Cady, as Stanton's assistant, who later became well-known in the 1960s TV shows "Petticoat Junction" and "Green Acres", playing the same character in both shows, or a very young Stuart Whitman in a bit part. The recently released DVD was long overdue, as the film has been restored to what I can only imagine was the original Technicolor clarity and hue of it's theatrical release. As has been pointed out, the film was a product of it's time (for instance, there are only <gasp!> white people on the space Ark). But if you keep in mind when the film was made, and the structure of American society at the time, such details, so politically incorrect today, fall into the irrelevancy they deserve.
Also, I don't think this was Pal's effort to do some kind of nuclear holocaust allegory, as some have suggested. Pal was a deeply religious man, and this was reflected to varying degrees in all of his films, and after seeing this movie many times, I lean more towards it being a truly Biblical "end of the world" story, rather than the more common 1950's "atomic doom" sort, although he was certainly cognizant of this angle (see his version of "The Time Machine"). As usual, Pal got an Oscar for special effects (nearly all of his movies did).
The acting is good in spots, stiff in others. I have never seen Richard Derr (David Randall, the pilot) in anything else, but always felt he played his character quite believably and well in WWC. The story starts slow, but picks up with the flow of events leading up to the launch of the space Ark to the new world.
Technically, the film was fairly accurate for it's time, with a few scientific holes you could fly their spaceship through. But then the book upon which the movie was based had the same issues. Master space artist Chesley Bonestell's fingerprints were all over this one, as was his excellent artwork. Yes, I know some complain about that last matte shot at the end of the movie, showing the new world's landscape, but I think both Pal and Bonestell intended for it to have that "stylized" look, and if you are not out to pick nits, I think they pulled it off. The DVD version of When Worlds Collide deserves a place of honor in any SF movie aficionado's collection.
Movie Review: Salvation Lottery!
Summary: 5 Stars
"When Worlds Collide" (1951) was a glamorous sci-fi film for those times! There is no doubt in my mind that the "alma mater" of this film was producer George Pal.
He produced and/or directed many sci-fi classics of the `50s as "Destination Moon" (1950), "The War of the Worlds" (1953) and "The Time Machine" (1960), this first cinematographic version of Well's opus is unforgettable.
The present film contains many Pal's key distinctiveness traits: no great stars in the cast, small/medium budget, excellent special effects, a quick rhythm and a solid cinematographic language.
The story is as follows: astronomers in South Africa send an urgent communiqué to a colleague in USA. Earth is going to be smashed by a rogue planet. Free-lance pilot David Randall delivers the message and casually gets involved in Dr. Hendron's team devoted to build a rocket ship that will enable a very tiny human group to try to jump to the passing planet... and hope for the best.
The catastrophe scenes are unforgettable: NY devastated by tsunami waves, volcanoes exploding, structures being erased by fire storms.
The rocket and launching platform are quite believable (for those times). Only two points IMHO are poorly solved: the last scene cartoon (why such carelessness?) and some feeble science support.
Play acting is more than correct: John Hoyt as Sydney Stanton the selfish patron is the best; Richard Derr as Randall is very accurate; Barbara Rush as Dr. Hendron's daughter was starting her long actress career and this was one solid step.
Special effects in charge of Paramount Team earned the Oscar Award.
Color cinematography in charge of Howard Green (he earned the award once and has several nominations more) and John Seitz (also multi-nominated for the award) was nominated too; this DVD honors it with a very good transfer.
This movie is by far one of the best of the `50s sci-fi genre. Do not miss it!
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
Movie Review: The Original
Summary: 5 Stars
Before Deep Impact and Armageddon, there was When Worlds Collide.Astronomers in South Africa--one played by Hayden Rorke, who went on the play Dr. Bellows in 'I Dream of Jeannie'--discover a star is on a collision course with Earth. Along with associates in America, most notably Larry Keating, in the role of Dr. Hendron, they try to convince a skeptical world that doomsday is just around the corner.
Unable to convince the world of the coming calamity, they set to work in building a rocket of salavation--to fly to what they believe is a habitable planet circling the star eventually named Zyra (the planet, they name Bellus). The rocket building is funded by a meglomaniac wheelchair-bound millionaire name Sydney Stantion--played wonderfully wicked by character actor John Hoyt. You also have Frank Cady, looking very young yet still very bald, who went on to greater fame in Green Acres.
As doomsday draws nearer, the rest of the world becomes convinced of what is to happen. As Hendon put it early in the movie, "Even a layman will be able to see the danger."
I didn't really find Richard Derr convincing as ladies' man Dave Randall. He was just a little too much Howdy Doody in the face to pull it off. The lovely Barbara Rush play Dr. Hendon's daughter, Joyce, and Randall's eventual love interest. By the way...a little Trek trivia here...Barbara Rush was the real-life wife of actor Jeffrey Hunter, who played Captain Christopher Pike in the original Star Trek pilot in 1964 (ultimately played by Shatner, of course).
The story does manage to build some tension, but the film is more genre than epic. There are some nice scenes, such as the U.N. scene (they must have spent some money on that) and closeups of the rocket. Unfortunately, the effects fall apart upon landing on Bellus. Obviously, they ran short of money at the end and had to settle on some hokey-looking painted backgrounds.
Overall, a very good movie whose premise has been copied time again in the decades since.
Movie Review: A Fantasy Trend-setter...
Summary: 5 Stars
The DVD's been out a while and I finally got it. This is a worthy film on many levels; as one reviewing predecessor said, there was no baggage to bring along: it could be as new and daring as it wanted to be. Certainly, this is unsettling in its premise, and, in 1951, probably freaked everyone out. I saw it about 10 years later as a little kid and was seriously affected by its message. That final scene of the rocket launch has been repeatedly referred to in most SciFi anthologies. I don't know the work of Rudolph Mate, the director, but he kept things going at a swell pace. The script and editing were appropriate, also, to keep interest. As in all SciFi films, one's thoughts must be provoked and tension should be created. "When Worlds Collide" has every element of great SciFi. The cast was well chosen. Richard Derr was solid as the lead character, delivering some goofy lines so they didn't sound as goofy as they were. Great confidence, though I've seen him in a few Outer Limits episodes and not much more. Barbara Rush is customarily concerned, and John Hoyt is wonderfully hammy as the bad rich guy. Hayden Rorke ("I Dream of Jeannie") and Frank Cady (Sam Drucker in "Green Acres"/"Petticoat Junction") found success on TV. Cady in particular was fun to watch, in retrospect. This won the Oscar for Special Effects in 1951. The previous year, "Destination: Moon", another George Pal production won that award, and two years later Pal won again for "War of the Worlds". When onethinks back to that era, if you can imagine, it must've been wonderful to see this kind of entertainment for the first time. 50+ years later, I'm as comfortably entertained as ever, probably more so. Though much of the special effect footage was done with "fake" looking artwork (by the brilliant Chesley Bonesteil), it all worked for me. References to Biblical stuff (the Ark) were not entirely inappropriate. All in all, "When Worlds Collide" belongs in the film library of every serious SciFi afficianado.Movie Review: Just Good Fun... for a disaster movie.
Summary: 5 Stars
Truth be told, if you listened to the negative reviews of this film, you would be cheating yourself out of a fun adventure. Yes, it's dated. Yes, the story is tawdry. But the point of this kind of film is about expressing the spirit of science fiction, the flat out incredible nature of the crisis and how people respond. No, it's not at all realistic, but who cares? It's a great little film even with all it's supposed flaws.
I've read the books and thoroughly enjoyed them. I still like the film even after reading them. The whole idea of science fiction in that day, just as with 1950's "Destination Moon", an equally ridiculous film if you listen to the detractors, was to entertain people with the "idea" of "what if" supposition.
Critics of these kinds tend to be exactly the opposite with more modern fare, thinking films like "Red Planet" and "The Astronaut's Wife" are great art because they have a more realistic depiction of space and space ships and alien terrains, but lack the essentials of good story telling.
I find the incredible lack of imagination that goes into modern science fiction films to be disturbing to say the least. Films like "When Worlds Collide" stimulate the imagination to think beyond the possible and to embrace the impossible.
Who didn't like "Armaggedon"? It was completely ridiculous. But I loved it because it didn't take itself too seriously and the pile of improbable events and "They would never do that" moments could make the film unwatchable to the critical eye.
So a film like this to be compared with "When Worlds Collide" is valid because both films not only dealt with impending doom of humankind, but also used, in practical terms, improbable solutions to save humanity. Hurrah for the imagination.
And hurrah for "When Worlds Collide". It's as much fun today as when I first saw it over thirty years ago. If you like good story telling, you will like this film.