Monday, October 12, 2009

World Without End (1956)


Another classic science fiction movie from the 1950s. A team of astronauts have just finished their observational orbits of Mars and are on their way home. Suddenly their ship accelerates and they crash land on a strange world full of giant spiders and huge one eyed cavemen (or mutates). Upon finding a human graveyard complete with English language tombstones they realize that they have landed on Earth, only the Earth of the future. You gotta hate that. Like most science fiction of the time they try to add complicated scientific theory to explain their situation but it only comes across as sounding goofy and simplistic. Also, everyone just accepts what they are being told. No arguing the theory if you need to advance the plot. It helps that everyone asks the right question at the right time too.

They get attacked by the mutates and that had me wondering why they just didn't try to dazzle them with a lighter or some other kind of 'magic'.

The four retreat to a cave and find a large steel door. When the door is opened they meet a human looking, elderly, silver shirted, group that look like rejects out of 'Star Trek's' costume department. I wasn't impressed that high heeled stilettos made their way to the future. Of course all the girls are pretty and don't wear pants. Do I smell romance? Freaky space romance?

There is much arrogance coming from our stranded astronauts who in record time decide that the future humans are cowards who have forgotten their courage to fight despite there being no evidence of that. They can't believe that people would live underground with all the modern conveniences instead of the surface were roving bands of psychotic cavemen and huge mutated animals would menace them daily. Of course being cold and wet and scared is preferred. I mean that is how a REAL man would live...a rugged AMERICAN man.

Overall pretty dumb but no dumber than any of those other space movies that came out in the 1950s. Reminded me of the matinees we went to as kids.

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