When Worlds Collide

Rating:
Summary: Rudolf Mate directs with a flair for color and scope.
Review: Director Rudolf Mate largely succeeds in acheiving a DeMille-like scope in his adaptation of Edwin Balmer's and Philip Wylie's successful book version of "When Worlds Collide". Shot in the rich tones of technicolor, much of the last half hour of the movie is drenched in a deep red that increases in intensity as the earth approaches it's doom.

The space ark is a Von Braun inspired dream and many of the special effects used to present the ship still hold up today, especially in the construction sequences. The Chesley Bonestell matte paintings are used to good effect with the awkward exception of the last shot of the movie, which depects the surface of the alien planet that the survivors of the collision have flown to. Resembling a Disney background from "Fantasia", it seems that the painting actually used was a rushed version of another painting that had been damaged before the shot was filmed.

While the first half of the movie is somewhat flat and uninteresting, the last half definitely picks up the action as the conflicts between the main characters become clear and the rushed, desperate construction of the space ark is initiated. Perhaps the most memorable sequence of the movie occurs when the sadistic, wheelchair-bound financier of the project meets his well-deserved fate as the space ark is launched at literally the last minute.

Despite some wooden acting and the leaden pacing of the first half of the movie, "When Worlds Collide" is justifiably a genre classic and well worth viewing.

Rating:
Summary: When Worlds Collide!!!!.....the DVD is excellent!!
Review: When Worlds Collide is one of my favorite films. WWC starts when that South African space observatory makes a terrifiyng discovery..the Earth is on a collision course with another star!! The scientists know the truth of what will happen, but the UN thinks that the new planet will pass the Earth's atmosphere. The scientists do know that is another planet thats called Zyra that was to have contained vegatable life, and water on it's surface. The scientists then build a giant rocket that will take a fraction of people, animals, and equipment and start a new life on Zyra. This movie took home an Oscar for it's special effects and it's packed with some good actors, Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, a very young Stuart Whitman and Frank Cady who later went on to play 'Sam Drucker' in Pettycoat Juction and Green Acres. I don't know who the guy was who played the role Dr. Hendron, but he would later go on to play on Mr.Ed as Wilburs pesty next door neighbor, and the guy who played the ruthless industry tycoon Mr.Stanton, does a very good job in the part.
The DVD version is very excellent, the movie color is outstanding, the special effects don't mess up a bit, and the sound is terrific. If you like disaster movies, give this movie a try. I recemend it.

Rating:
Summary: The Original
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but talk about non-PC run amuck!
Review: I've seen this movie several times over the years, most recently on AMC (or was it Turner Classics?).

The special effects are serviceable considering the age of the movie, and the plot line no worse than that of "Armegeddon." The acting is not stellar, but that's not why people usually watch sci fi, anyway.

There is one thing that bothers me about the movie, however... and I write this as someone that is distinctly Non-PC, quite conservative, and actually rather irritated that it is no longer possible for 3 or more people to have a meeting in TV commercials without having the mandatory hispanic, black or Asian (I mean, are all 3 people meetings in this country REALLY that well diversified? Televison's insistance that they apparantly are is cloyingly unrealistic). However, with that said...

Apparantly, the only people worthy of being saved according to this movie are white. I mean, not one Asian, not one Hispanic, not one black, token or otherwise, is included on the passenger ship bound for the new Planet (which will apparantly be named Caucasia). It's like a racial purist's dream come true. I may not care for racial quotas in movies just for the sake of making sure that enough of color X is well represented, but I also don't approve of suggestions that only color Y is worth even considering for salvation in the face of assured destruction. I can only imagine how a black kid down South who went to see the movie when it first came out must have felt about that.

I guess on balance, annoying self-conciously diverse TV commercials are preferable to that state of affairs.

Rating:
Summary: Rudolf Mate directs with a flair for color and scope.
Review: Director Rudolf Mate largely succeeds in acheiving a DeMille-like scope in his adaptation of Edwin Balmer's and Philip Wylie's successful book version of "When Worlds Collide". Shot in the rich tones of technicolor, much of the last half hour of the movie is drenched in a deep red that increases in intensity as the earth approaches it's doom.

The space ark is a Von Braun inspired dream and many of the special effects used to present the ship still hold up today, especially in the construction sequences. The Chesley Bonestell matte paintings are used to good effect with the awkward exception of the last shot of the movie, which depects the surface of the alien planet that the survivors of the collision have flown to. Resembling a Disney background from "Fantasia", it seems that the painting actually used was a rushed version of another painting that had been damaged before the shot was filmed.

While the first half of the movie is somewhat flat and uninteresting, the last half definitely picks up the action as the conflicts between the main characters become clear and the rushed, desperate construction of the space ark is initiated. Perhaps the most memorable sequence of the movie occurs when the sadistic, wheelchair-bound financier of the project meets his well-deserved fate as the space ark is launched at literally the last minute.

Despite some wooden acting and the leaden pacing of the first half of the movie, "When Worlds Collide" is justifiably a genre classic and well worth viewing.

Rating:
Summary: Outdated movie...thanks to 2001
Review: Well the fact is this movie is outdated. It's matte paints look like matte paintings, done very cheaply. The model rocket ship looks like it was put together with a cheap set battleship spare model parts. Now the story, well it's more like a B-movie cheap romance, similar to that in IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA, it does not work, and 2001; A Space Odyssey is a much better movie then this.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Groundbreaking Sci Fi Story About Doomsday
Review: Paramount's 1951 Sci Fi extravaganza dealing with the end of the world, "When Worlds Collide", was a startling creation for its time both in vivid storytelling and especially for the then state of the art special effects that rewarded Paramount with the Oscar that year. Although its look is certainly tame by today's standards it is a wonderful effort all round and makes for great viewing in its telling of the time in our Planet's life that we have all perhaps at one time thought about but can't really imagine happening: the end of our planet's life. Told in a straightforward manner the film manages to incorporate the dazzling special effects together with a rather at times mature examination of human behaviour under threatening circumstances and the lengths individuals will go to preserve their life no matter what the cost. It all makes for entertaining viewing from the old school of Sci Fi filmmaking before special effects took over completely at the expense of any real story.

The filmmakers here have actually used a rather novel approach to filming the book by Edwin Balmer by loosely basing their tale on "Noah's Ark", and have used it as the stories springboard by which a small number of individuals along with assorted cattle will be the ones to escape the World Wide holocaust when it is discovered that the Earth is due to collide with a fast approaching asteriod from far out in space. The assumption is made that a newly discovered planet called Zyra could sustain human life so all efforts are directed towards constructing a spaceship or "human ark" that will be able to travel to this new world. The film chronicles the at first strong disbelief among world leaders that such a catastrophe could ever occur to the Earth, gradually moving through the plans and construction of this "Ark of Mankind", which is financed by Millionaire Sydney Stanton (John Hoyt in a superbly frantic performance) and the gradual increase in terror as the prophecy of the world's end coming is proven correct. As construction continues the human dramas begin to unfold through the romance of Flyer David Randall and JoyceHedron (Barbara Rush) and then through the first of the frightening effects the encroaching asteroid has on the Earth's surface in huge tidal waves and dramatic climatic changes that threaten all existing life and civilization on Earth. Along with these occurences begins the crumbling of the earlier sensible approach to preserving mankind as individuals begin to fight to have a place on the departing spaceship. The climax of the story shows the ships last minute departure from a soon to be destroyed Earth that is close to collision with the runaway Star. Rather fittingly the major sponsor of the mission the greedy Mr. Stanton who is prepared to kill to ensure his place on board is left behind at the last moment to share the common fate of those he was prepared to leave behind.

Other reviewers have mentioned the moral lessons laid on quite thickly in the films storytelling and the fact that supposedly Caucasians are the only people depicted on this flight to safety. Well the film indicated that many other races are concurrently building similiar spaceships and indeed the all too familiar human qualities of self preservation shown in "When World's Collide", are very close to those that any person would employ in a similiar crisis. Performances in the film are average to good for this type of story. Richard Derr and Barbara Rush deliver acceptable performances as the romantic leads but as stated John Hoyt really excels in the role of the ruthless millionaire who finances the construction solely to save himself. A wonderful performance of great quality is turned in by veteran character actor Frank Cady, still best known for his long running role as Sam Drucker on the classic 1960's TV series "Petticoat Junction", and Green Acres". The very powerful scene when he attempts to turn the tables on his hateful employer and secure a spot on the ship after years of abuse from Stanton is one of the best parts of the film and shows human desperation at its very best. Of course the wonderful special effects courtesy of the legendary George Pal are the things that give "When Worlds Collide", its memorable quality. While not as breathtaking as those constructed for Paramount's classic "War of the Worlds", two years later they are still a sight to behold and the visual image of huge flood waters pouring down New York's streets is still one of the classic Sci Fi images from the 1950's. Combined of course with beautiful technicolour and a very exciting finale of the spaceship finally beginning it's departure from Earth just as the planet is due to be destroyed, and you have one of the 1950's most outstanding efforts in science fiction drama.

I always enjoy this film as a sort of pair with the infinitely better "War of the World's". We may look more critically on the science technology employed and on the storytelling in general than did 1950's audiences but if you like a good old fashioned exciting drama about a threat to mankind and how it turns the world upside down then you can't go past "When World's Collide". It is definately Hollywood moviemaking of the old school right down to the predictably very upbeat conclusion when the passengers safely arrive at this "New World" to start life afresh much like what Noah did in the bible story. Enjoy this doomsday story that still offers "hope" in Paramount's groundbreaking "When Worlds Collide".

Rating:
Summary: Captures the feel of an era
Review: The production values in this movie are not bad, given its age. I mean, the use of models, stock footage and artwork is painfully obvious in places, but the photography is decent and it's in TECHNICOLOR! So while the effects are primitive by today's standards, they're pretty good for the era. Where the movie falls down, in my opinion, is the sappy overt religiosity and the hammy acting. And the "flight scenes" near the end are just pathetic; the passengers just sit there with no indication that they are in an accelerating (or even moving) spaceship. They look like they're sitting in a bus ... a PARKED bus! Still, I have to give this movie 3 stars just because it looks good in places and it captures the feel of an era. If a runaway star had entered our solar system in 1951, this is probably the way events would have unfolded. And the quality of the images on the DVD edition is quite nice, with rich, saturated colors. Definitely worth watching if you keep your expectations realistic.

Rating:
Summary: OMG this movie is an insult
Review: Ok. This movie has made me so incredibley mad, talk about a stupid movie. This movie is supposedly based on the book, but... there is nothing even remotely similar to the book. At the start of the movie, nothing was even close to the book, i had to turn it off, before i started crying.

I know the movie is old, but the book is older; making this movie is an insult to the writers. The movie has such bad acting that i think if someone has no idea what the book is about, they won't read it after watching this movie because of its horrid acting, special effects, plot. *crys*

The book is so good. Go pick up the book instead of this trash.

Rating:
Summary: EEEE! THE SKY IS FALLING!
Review: I had always wanted to see this flick as a kid after seeing numerous stills from it in the Sci-fi & monster magazines. Now, 20 some odd years later I finally picked it up sight unseen and definitely was not dissappointed. I'll try my best to not drop a spoiler here, but I was pretty satisfied with the ending of this flick....well.....for the most part. Anyone who's seen this can likely tell you it's not a happy, happy, joy, joy ending overall, but then again it kinda is....and ..uh....isn't......well, you need to watch this and see what I mean and decide for yourself.
In WWC, the suspense is structured pretty darn good. It's the (what is now) usual, Scientists discover something headed towards earth and they proceed to warn the world scenario that kicks this flick off. In this case, to the ridicules of the United Nations and the world at large. The premise that independent money funds the enormous "Arks" that the mocking nations initially refuse to build is an interesting one that still, even today, doesn't seem that far fetched. Obviously due to this films age, some of it comes off rather dated (heck, it *IS* from the 50's!). Another reviewer had mentioned that there were only Caucasians picked for the Ark, and it's true. A sign of the times, but if you can overlook that bit as well as some of the other holes in the story, the film is otherwise quite an enjoyable ride. But it probably will work its magic best with those of us with them back in the day 50's movie fetishes;-)
The special effects are pretty cool considering this film's age. But despite the Oscar it had gotten for the SPFX, this film WILL look rather cheesy to some of the hard core digital FX junkies. The effects aren't awful, in fact they are state of the art 50's style.....but they cannot be compared to modern films. So keep that in mind. But put yourself in the seat as a 50's audience member and you'll likely be dazzled by the experience. The scenes of destruction still felt pretty intense within the context of this movie.
THE PRINT ON THIS DVD: I was quite happy with this transfer considering this is the first time I'd ever seen this flick. I couldn't tell you if it was the worse of others that might be available, but it DEFINITELY outshines the DVD transfer used in Pal's other flick WAR OF THE WORLDS, which was grainy throughout. There were parts here that were beautifully crisp, intermingled with some grainy parts of the film, but overall, I found it quite vivid and quite acceptable. This FELT & LOOKED like Technicolor to me. The "Special Features" suck, considering the price. I mean, there's gotta be a George Pal documentary or short that they could've stuck in here. In this, we are treated to the theatrical trailer....woohoo! There's also "Scene Selection" which is no more a special feature than the table of contents in a book. Don't stretch yerself there Paramount, we'd hate for ya took look like you care about your films or understand why the DVD format is supposed to be fun to collect.
Luckily, I was able to overlook this lacking DVD package thanks to the film being quite enjoyable.