When Worlds Collide [DVD] [1951]

 

 

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There was a time, long, long ago, when teachers taught their young students to crouch under their desks for protection if the Russians lobbed nuclear bombs into the town square. There was a time when kids would look at the marvelously detailed galactic paintings by Chesley Bonestell and rush to read more science fiction stories. There was a time when the human hand, not computers, created special effects in movies that made kids go "Wow!"

George Pal's When Worlds Collide, based on the science fiction novel by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie, may seem dated to today's jaded crowds fed on computer-generated excess, but give your inner young teen a chance to enjoy this good movie. It's all about, of course, an attempt to save a remnant of humanity from oblivion by whisking them off in an untried rocket ship to a new planet.

Astronomers have determined that Bellus, a star a dozen times larger than our own, is hurtling through the cosmos directly at earth. Circling Bellus is a new planet, Zyra. This planet will sweep past Earth bringing cataclysmic disaster. Then Bellus, days later, will obliterate Earth. A small group of scientists plan to build a space ship that will leave Earth just before Bellus hits and travel to Zyra, which, it is calculated, will be captured by the sun's gravitational pull and settle in to an orbit similar to what Earth's was. The rocket will only be able to take 44 men and women, plus a selection of animals and plants. Humanity's skills, dedication, selflessness...and ruthless desperation...will be tested to the full.

Among the people we'll get to know are Dr. Cole Hendron (Larry Keating), a wise scientist who heads the project and who sounds like an avuncular radio announcer; his daughter, Joyce (Barbara Rush), conflicted by her love for two men and evidently a recent graduate of the Ann Blythe School of Self-Consciously Gracious Acting; Dave Randall (Richard Derr), pilot, adventurer and a man who discovers he loves Joyce; Dr. Tony Drake (Peter Hansen), a man who also loves Joyce who must make a decision only he can make; and, best of all, Sydney Stanton (John Hoyt), an immensely rich businessman, confined to a wheelchair, whose idea of humanity would make a pride of lions at feeding time look like pussycats. He will fund the project if he gets a seat on the ship. He also brings rifles along to the building site. "Your salvation doesn't interest me; mine does," he snarls at Dr. Hendron.

When Worlds Collide offers up two great pleasures. First, the story hums along. Except for a lull in the middle when we have to deal with the Joyce-Dave-Tony triangle, there are no slow or dull spots. Granted, building a rocket ship in the mountains may not seem exciting, but the movie establishes the rush to get it done before Bellus hits. We also get to deal with the disasters that occur when Zyra speeds by. Rudolf Mate, the director, keeps his foot on the accelerator.

The second and best pleasure comes from the model work of George Pal. With no computers to make improbable disasters mundane, Pal gives us meticulous handmade models and special photography that stops us in our tracks. Just the work on the huge rocket ship, poised at the top of a ramp that sweeps down into a valley and then up the side of a mountain, is enormously satisfying. Pal and his memorable models give us everything we could hope for: exploding volcanoes with white-hot lava moving right towards us, oceans roaring across the land, buildings crushed, Manhattan seriously awash, a dramatic send-off of the rocket ship, and a hopeful look at humanity's new planet, combining snow, green-carpeted hills and some unusually tall and weird flowers.

Sure, the acting and the actors are all B-movie quality. The brief angst of the three-way romance is small stuff by today's Jen-Brad-Angie standards. The optimistic science is sketchy at best. The movie now seems more than a little naive. Well, so what? It moves quickly, looks great and it sure beats crouching under your desk waiting to be incinerated.

There are no extras on the DVD. The video and audio are good.

To find out what happened after the landing on Zyra, you'll need to read Balmer and Wylie's After Worlds Collide. Pal planned to film it but couldn't get financing. Let's just say it involves evidence of an older civilization, plus the realization that...perhaps...more than one rocket ship was able to escape Earth's destruction. I've got a feeling that life won't be all milk and honey for our new Zyranians.

This 1951 film is a minor classic in the history of science fiction films.
The film has tended to be overlooked as it came out the same year as The Day the Earth stood still (which IS a better film). But if you look back prior to 1951 there is really only Metropolis which stands out.

The title explains everything about the plot. A passing planet is going to pass near the Earth and cause chaos, however it will be closely followed by its star which will destroy the Earth. A team of scientists have to build a Rocket to take a selected few from the Earth so that the human race can survive. This provides a lot of opportunities for various sub-plots about the morality of who should get a place on the Rocket.

Its only real flaw is the science, where the film just doesn't add up! For example when the star is getting very close this doesn't seem to raise the temperature on Earth all.....

The special effects now look incredibly primitive, but for the time they were brilliant. In 1951 at the Cinema, this film, which is in colour must have been absolutely stunning for the audience at that time. You might want to see it first before buying, but for me it is a milestone movie of its day.

I must say, War of the Worlds and this movie have been fantastic. The post war angst of disaster is there, in your face. But the characters are interesting, and I now know where the concept of burning money comes from.
There is a touch of humour, in the midst of disaster which makes the film more of a human epic. The special effects aren't all that bad, remember, man on the moon was in the realm of sci-fi at the time, so whatever they came up with is amazing in its imagination and often so close to the truth. The burning up fuel, nothing left to land with is a reality in our modern space shuttles of today. And yet, they thought of it in great detail in this film. Re-entry into atmosphere, hadn't been addressed or landing gear, but then the landing wouldn't be as dramatic at the end.
Only criticism is right at the end, the canvas painting foreign planet looks like a painting.
If you like classic sci-fi, this one is a gem.

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5.0 out of 5 stars MY FAVORITE
This is my favorite end of the world old time film. Again for me I watched this on WGN channel 9 out of Chicago on a Sunday afternoon. Read more

Published 4 months ago by pdwood

5.0 out of 5 stars great
This to is one of my childhood films and I really enjoyed watching it again with my son. Now he can pass this on to his son. quick delivery.

Published 5 months ago by daz

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Science Fiction !
This 1951 classic science fiction epic was produced by legendary special effects genius George Pal and I believe it won an Oscar for its spectacular special effects . Read more

Published 5 months ago by David McDonald

4.0 out of 5 stars nostalga
good family entertainment, no bad language,no loud background music,you can actually hear what the actors say,not a great film but watchable all the same

Published 8 months ago by George Nuttall

5.0 out of 5 stars what it there's no tomorrow
this a great film by the ledgendary producer george pal,with the way our climate is changing, someday perhaps we will face something akin to the dilemma faced by the characters in... Read more

Published 10 months ago by Mr. Joseph Taylor

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Sci-fi film's
I ordered Forbidden Planet, When World's Collide, This Island Earth. three of I think the best Sci-fi film's ever made.1956,1951,1955. Read more

Published 12 months ago by Captain scarlet

5.0 out of 5 stars When Worlds Collide
This film, to me, seems to be something very plausible.

For the time in America, when religion and christianity, were very much the height of things, this film has... Read more

Published 13 months ago by The Academate

5.0 out of 5 stars A much forgotten classic.
I'm simply going to say that this classic has been much forgotten, and would even be a candidate for a modern quality remake, so long as they don't get lost in effects and stick... Read more

Published 14 months ago by Buys A Lot

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic 50's Sci Fi Movie
Made in 1951, This pioneering sci fi movie tells the story of an impending collision with the earth, involving a fast approaching star. Read more

Published 15 months ago by Alan James

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining movie
Enjoyed this 1951 film. Interesting story line. Makes you wonder who was giving them technical advice and ideas when they were writing the film. Read more

Published 18 months ago by Friar Tuck

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