When Worlds Collide (1951)

Of all of George Pal's remarkable body of work, I'd have to say that the films made during his tenure at Paramount are my favourites. The classic War of the Worlds, the splendid Conquest of Space and, of course, the still frightening When Worlds Collide. Based on the book By Wylie and Bulmer, the movie chronicles the end times, as a rogue star an planet head directly for Earth. Scientists propose a space ark that will, with any luck reach the rogue planet as it passes the doomed Earth. The eerie music score by Leith Stevens is just one of the elements that add to the genuine sense of unease that can still be felt today when viewing the picture. The special effects, groundbreaking for their time, are still eye popping.The acting is workmanlike,yet doesn't detract from the overall experience. One could certainly quibble with the science of the film,or the at times plummy dialogue, but after having watched When Worlds Collide recently, I found that I was glued to the screen all over again.

Fmovies: 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!

"THERE ARE MORE STARS IN THE HEAVENS THAN PEOPLE ON EARTH!" a portentous voice-over intones amidst the background of a celestial choir. And with that very important fact established for those in the audience that might actually believe otherwise, we're off and running. Some movies are so loopy they're just plain fun to watch no matter how absurd they are. And with an opening like the one described you know this George Pal gem is going to be a hoot. "When Worlds Collide" was Pal's follow-up to his successful "Destination Moon" which along with "Rocketship-XM" launched the Golden Age of fifties sci-fi. It was a simpler time, an era in science-fiction films when all that was required for space travel was to "Strap yourselves in!" and "contract your muscles!" When astronauts wore leather flight jackets instead of space suits, and were always on the make for a beautiful pair of gams, (i.e. women) when all scientists smoked pipes and wore goatees, (that's how you knew they were intelligent) and were completely absorbed in their ivory tower research, oblivious to everything including at times the safety of the world. Worse whenever some dangerous creature was running amok their response to stopping it was invariably, "It shouldn't be destroyed, it should be studied!" or "It's so much wiser than us, we can learn so much!" It was an era when a woman wasn't considered complete without a man in her life, and even if she was a brilliant astrophysicist, all she really needed to know (as every man knew) was how to make a decent pot of coffee, when radiation was the answer to any problem, as in "Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" or was the reason for every problem like the giant ants in "Them!" Well, with the exception of extraterrestrials, radiation and giant insects, "When Worlds Collide" has all this and more!

This film is so ripe some enterprising filmmaker could do a parody of it, except it's hard to imagine how it could be done better. Eminent astronomer, Dr. Emery Bronson, (pipe smoking and goateed) has made a terrible discovery from his remote ivory tower observatory in South Africa. Two "heavenly bodies" are on a collision course with Earth. One, called Zyra will pass close enough to wreak havoc on land and sea, while the other, called Bellus will actually strike the planet and destroy it days later. "Money doesn't mean anything now. Time is all that matters!" So the pertinent, secret data must be taken at once to Professor Hendron in New York for corroboration on the Differential Analyzer, a fifties version of the computer. Enter Dave Randall, a leather flight jacket wearing pilot-soon-to-be-astronaut. Dave is always on the make for a beautiful pair of gams sort of guy, and blissfully unaware of the bad news he is carrying. At the airport Professor Hendron's daughter Joyce, played with wonderful vapidity by Barbara Rush awaits him. A newspaperman has offered Randall $5,000.00 for the secret of the little black box handcuffed to him. But Dave takes one look at Joyce and like a starving man eyeing a sirloin steak tells the reporter, "No thanks, I'm working on a better offer!" With the clock ticking on humanity they decide to take a taxi through the New York traffic to the breathlessly waiting professor. Along the way Randall manages to coax out of the trusting Joyce, who evidently never heard the expression, "loose lips sink ships" that the end of t

When Worlds Collide fmovies. "When Worlds Collide" was one of the first of the Sci-Fi films that ruled the 1950s. Plus,it was in color. The movie was based on the novel of the same name and if I remember correctly, there were two books-part one(which the movie is based on) and part two which describes life on the new planet. An astronomer sees a new sun and planet coming right toward earth and we have less than one year before the new sun collides with us. At first, no one believes him. After a short period of time, several countries build rockets to bring a handful of survivors to the new planet. The interior of the rocket is pretty lame by today's standards but the outside is cool-looking. The paintings are OK but the one at the very end of the film is quite obvious.The acting is good, the plot is terrific and there is a good balance of action and drama. This is a nice film to watch.

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.

First, this is a nice-looking film with a good DVD transfer. Seeing an early '50s sci-fi film Technicolor is nice.

Also, having just watched - I'm not kidding - "Plan 9 From Outer Space" and "Invaders From Mars," this George Pal film looked like multi-million dollar Oscar winner in comparison. Except for the ending scene, the special-effects were passable, the acting was good and the dialog pretty realistic. The story plausible? Of course not, but what they did know of space travel in 1951? Hell, we didn't send a man on the moon until almost 20 years after this movie. No, this is not one of those popcorn flicks that "is so bad, it's good" or just plaint stink. No, this movie is just good......period....even today, almost 57 years later!.

This was a no-nonsense survival story without an overdone corny romance, no stupid or obnoxious kids nor goofy-looking adults. It had a solid reverence for God and to science at the same time, a realistic portrayal of people under stress and how they would react knowing their world was coming to end. For a mostly talky film, it moved fast with few, if any lulls.

John Hoyt, who plays the wheelchair-bound millionaire "Sydney Stanton," may not be a "name" actor but he's very good. Check his resume: it's awesome. The man was in about every good television show for decades. The man could act. So did the rest of this cast.

Overall, this "modern" Noah's Ark story was a good one, and far, far better than your normal sci-fi flicks from the time period. Well done!