When Worlds Collide

source: When Worlds Collide

The popularity of DVD has spawned a resurgeance in the output of old movies, and "When Worlds Collide" is one of the better old ones. Made when I was about 5 years old, I don't ever recall seeing it in a theater, nor on TV in subsequent years. But today, as a loan from my public library, here it is! Despite the defects on the film, on DVD it comes across as a colorful and fairly sharp picture. Sound is only mono. There are no extras. This film dared to tackle the difficult question of what we would do if astromomers found a fast-moving star/planet system heading directly for Earth, and one large enough to destroy us. We have about 8 months, and the only hope for mankind as we know it is to quickly build a spaceship, select about 44 people to go along, plus a good variety of various types of livestock, blast off right before Earth is destroyed, attempt to land on the new planet, and hope that the atmosphere will support life. Quite a lot to ask for, especially in 1951! As with other sci-fi films of that generation, you have the straightforward, unsmiling scientists, you have the wheelchair-bound selfish rich guy who will finance the spacecraft if he can save his own skin, you have the beautiful young lady who has no greater purpose than creating love tension among two of the main protagonists, and you have the kid rescued with his dog off a rooftop. The film's strength is neither the Earth's destruction nor the arrival on the new planet. Rather it is the interplay among the scientists, governing bodies, and common folk wrestling with the idea that our home, Earth, may be destroyed and what we can or should do about it. What a concept, what a slim margin for error. New wall calendars are printed, and as each day is peeled off, you see how much time is left before the destruction. Signs posted at the spacecraft construction site say "Waste anything but time. Time is our most valuable resource." When the space travelers are chosen by lottery, one man chooses to stay behind because his fiance' can't go. Some angry non-winners begin to revolt. major SPOILER - As the Earth is being destroyed, the spaceship starts gliding down its mile-long ramp (never mind the bad physics here) and then upwards into space. Later, while running out of fuel, they manage to make an awkward but safe landing on what now has to be their new home. There can be no escape. While one says "let's test the atmosphere before we open the door", the brave pilot says, "it's the only air we have, it doesn't matter" as he opens the door, then says, "It's the best air I've ever breathed." We see a beautiful, verdant landscape, although a very strange one, and we only can imagine what could have happened in futue generations in this new home for mankind.

When I was six, I was told that if you were ever in a runaway elevator, you wait till you are just about to crash, and then jump onto the bottom floor. That's the scientific principle at work here. Wait...there are no scientific principles. People keep saying what a great movie it is because it has such great characters. What it has are a group of stereotypical beings that you can find in virtually every disaster movie ever made. Science fiction does have the word "science" in it. This is a great movie if you don't think about the five hundred impossibilities that permeate it. It was disappointment to me as a child and it still is.

Whilst I wholeheartedly agree with other amateur reviewers on line that stress you have to put yourself back to 1951 to appreciate the film more, it still doesn't take away from the fact that the film is one of the poorer offerings from the disaster/sci-fi genre of years gone by. The methodical build up of characters is fine for adding weight to the final reel, the effects are solid for the time, and the ending has an element of heart tugging hope to it, but the film still remains a drawn out laborious watch. No amount of shouting about lack of budget and the time frame of its birth can't detract that the film over relies on heavy dialogue to keep the viewer interested. This is all well and good if the pay off is handsome in the extreme, which sadly isn't the case on this occasion. I have taken myself back to 1951, and for that reason alone I give it the average rating of 5/10, while I certainly have no hesitation in recommending this to genre fans for at least one watch. It deserves to be looked at, and it deserves respect of course, but that doesn't mean it's particularly above average either.

I love this movie! I loved it as a kid for the special effects (what a great rocketship! And that launch system!) As an adult, I enjoy the film for the brisk pace, plausible plot-line, wonderful character stereotypes, and I've always loved planes, rockets, sci-fi, space stuff, et al. It's also interesting in the context of the "Cold War" and the threat of nuclear annihilation. And I've never understood why Richard Derr wasn't more successful. Tall, good looking, blond with a deep voice--do I smell some studio politics? Anyway, I think this little movie is just a whole bunch of fun to watch and it's very well crafted for any era. Enjoy!

This is a moving film, a profound film, and well-deserving of classic status among other 50s genre masterpieces such as "War of the Worlds" and "Forbidden Planet." I feel compelled to defend it against the comments of "walcaraz" from San Diego, who posted in April 2003. Here are my comments: MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD! 1.) The science is wholly convincing for 1951; it even takes into account such things as accumulated velocity and gravitational pull. Is it totally accurate? Certainly not; this is, after all, science fiction. 2.) It is made clear multiple times in the film that the US is not working on the project at all. It is a wholly private endeavor. Note the last of the newspaper headlines when we scroll down on the newsrack - "Laughed Out of United Nations." No government believes the scientists, so they must team up with industrialists and do everything on their own. 3.) Cultural diversity in 1951? I'm afraid the idea did not yet exist. It seems bizarre to fault any movie of this era for not being perfectly race-coordinated according to current fashions. 4.) It is true that it would be more efficient to have fewer men and more women, but the movie makes clear that the passengers are to be chosen by lot in as "fair" a way as possible. A moral point is being made here, not a scientific one. Regarding the genetics, let's not forget that DNA was not discovered until the 1950s, after this movie had already been produced. Eugenics had been around since the 1920s, but if anything it is a strength of this movie for resisting that kind of race-purity thinking (as walcaraz allows). 5.) These final images do stand out as different from the rest, which are more realistic. But remember, we are talking about a new world here, a magical and poetic (and dare I say spiritual) beginning of mankind, after the flight of a modern Noah's Ark. Why not add a touch of idealism here at the end? Let's not let jaded modern-day cynicism ruin this earnest and touching moment. To me, if there is anything about "When Worlds Collide" that will mar it for contemporary viewers, it is the film's myriad Bible references. Scarcely 10 minutes will pass without a reference of this type. But I think that such gravity only adds to this film's impact. Indeed, it is perhaps most fair to see "When Worlds Collide" as a film that moves completely beyond the political, rising to the heights of archetype, religion, and myth.

I had read a lot of comments saying this movie was a sci-fi classic. I watched it last night and I am really disappointed. OK. I understand it was 1951 and people did not know much about outer space or space travel, but the story itself is very flawed. A rocket containing 64 people going to live to another world because Earth is devastated. Did they really think the other planet was going to have the same conditions as the Earth? LOL So from the start this was a flaw. Then it seems the only people who are concerned to find a way to survive are in US. Then these 64 people are all WASP. Oh, and there is a child! What made this child so different to be chosen? And these people just took the trip without any type of training. Don't make me tell you about the landscape in the other planet... Plus the acting and the script were horrible. The only good was the special effects. I mean, if you consider this movie was made in 1951 the FX were really great. Now I don't know why so many people think this movie is a sci-fi classic. I would say it is a so-so postcard of its time, but not a classic.

This is an often overlooked sci-fi movie from the 50s--being not nearly as famous as the excellent Day the Earth Stood Still or Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Despite this, it is still one of the best ones of its era. The basic story is good, but not great. What sets it apart are the characters within it and the insight into human nature it gives you. This makes the film very allegorical and makes you think. Many of the characters, such as the leads, rise to the occasion and only think of saving others when it appears most life on Earth will be destroyed. Then, there are the jerks who also show their true colors--such as the crowd who try to storm the space ship bound for a safe new world, and especially the evil old financier who who wants to save his own skin and could care less about others. John Hoyt plays this role beautifully and it is very, very much like the character C. Montgomery Burns from the Simpsons! Oh, and lest I forget, for 1951, the special effects are absolutely amazing. Aside from a pretty flat-looking matte painting used at the end, the space ship effects and flood effects were just terrific and earned this movie a well-deserved Oscar. This is a great sci-fi film that all fans of the genre need to see.

I am partial to older movies such as "When Worlds Collide," because the acting and limited technology were more crucial to making an interesting movie. You have to try to place yourself in the movie's time period and in the characters' environment before making judgment. Having done so, I believe this movie is a "thumbs-up" for carrying out a lengthy story line in just 86 minutes. The actors all made up for the absence of modern, computer-generated graphics and second-class props, by today's standards. And they did a good job of bringing to life the human problems and issues that would arise in similar situations if their predicament happened today. I first saw this movie in 1960 at the age of six. It blew me away then. And today, I still enjoy watching it, but I have to remind myself about my previous comments and put myself back in the movie's time zone. This is a good Sci-fi movie for its time. Sit back, grab a bucket of popcorn and a soda, and go back to the early 1950s if you can. Then let the movie do the rest.

Astronomers discover two planets coming Earth's way that will destroy our planet. Time is needed to do the unthinkable: create a rocket ship that will fly 40 or so people to one of the planets passing by to keep the legacy of mankind alive. This is an innovative, thought-provoking science fiction film. Little action is in the movie. It could have focused on the despair and panic people would have endured with such news, but instead the film, deftly directed by Rudolph Mate, focuses on the group of scientists and people involved trying desperately to fight against their greatest enemy - time. Calendars have pages ripped off showing the urgency. Sure, the science and logic in some of the physics of the ship are a bit ludicrous, but everything is presented in a very believable manner. Acting leads Richard Derr and Barbara Rush do workmanlike jobs while supporting players Larry Keating, Hayden Rourke, John Hoyt and Frank Cady(Sam Drucker from Green Acres) really give the film some life. Most importantly the film has you thinking about its premise well after having seen it. What would our world do with such news? How would we determine who would go? What would they find once they got there? Many scenes in the film stand out: the flooded vision of New York City with skyscraper tips jutting out of the water and the last scene of a group of space pilgrims landing on a new home for humankind surveying their new world with wide-eyed optimism, hope, and fascination. This is a sci-fi gem; one not to be missed.