Wow! Such a good movie.

Simply Perfect

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Strange music in this movie threatened to put me into a sleep inducing trance in this strange science fiction movies. Former B movie stars Preston Foster and Joan Woodbury provide a bit of Hollywood class among the younger stars (the only one I recognized being Philip Carey of "One Life to Live") where what used to be the earth is now a moon like atmosphere where decrepit ruins of cities look like giant space rocks. Surviving humans live in the middle of the planet and encounter time travelers who are shocked to find their planet a shell of itself. Animated color photography and skin tight costumes on the surviving humans are certainly eye catching, but other than a few chases from earthbound mutants, I was completely bored. There's the subtle glimpse of barely covered female flesh, but that isn't as titillating as it sounds as the wretched dialog and maudlin line delivery might have you yawning and losing consciousness during those scenes. It tries too hard to seem smart, but the script is just too convoluted and uninteresting for most of the film. I guess I should give it credit for some interesting attempts at advancing special effects, but it would take a few more years for the next age of science fiction to take off with "2001: A Space Odyssey". At the point where the survivors left behind realize their options, I'd be willing to face the mutants. Otherwise, this is 82 minutes of an eternal death.

This title has remained one of my favorite sci-fi films. The excellent F/X of both the suspended-in-air time portal and the collapsing time portal, the early electronic music, the interstellar spaceship in the crater, the raging mutant attacks, the futuristic underground society, and the incredible ending sequence were some of the iconic sci-fi sights and sounds that left an indelible impression on my young mind. In addition, veteran actor John Hoyt (who appeared in classic Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, and Star Trek episodes), bright Merry Anders, TV sitcom fave Steve Franken, and even a cameo by Forry Ackerman certainly contributed a nice cast to cheer for.This was a well staged, imaginative, colorful film that should delight any true fan of vintage sci-fi.

First saw this one in a theater when I was sixteen--sat through it twice. It's a pretty standard entry in the "what comes after the end of the world" genre, from the "we did it to ourselves" theme to the cheesy mutants (lots of mutants in the fifties and sixties--them atom bombs, y'know).That said, this is a pretty good movie with some familiar faces. Preston Foster is the obligatory 1960s German Scientist--no accent, but he does sport a monocle and a goatee. Foster is the veteran of quite a few two reeler Westerns. Philip Carey is the "hunky" Scientist. His claim to fame is that he was Philip Marlowe on TV. The real pro here is John Hoyt, who did just about everything one could do on film and TV. Merry Anders (remember "Dragnet?") and Steve Franken, as the love interest and comic relief, respectively, round out the cast.As for the story line, the protagonists sure are a lucky bunch--after winding up on a burned-out earth, they manage to stumble onto the only bunch of people on the whole planet who have any technology and are actually willing to help them out.The only real minus is that there is a considerable amount of dead time comprising views of the future scientists' underground labs and factories, all to the strains of perky background music, but it's not too excruciating.As with all drama, there is conflict, mostly with the aforementioned mutants. In addition, there's a "villain" among the future people. Not that he's really what you'd call "evil"--he's more of a cranky guy who just doesn't like competition with the bunch from the past.Even with the holes, the story is better than many other SF offerings of the era and has a neat little twisty ending. If you really want to close the loop on this one, watch the whole show then replay the beginning. Watch carefully and you'll see what I mean just prior to the line, "What was that?" about six and a half minutes in.Hard core fans, be sure to look for Forrest J Ackerman at about minute 44.

Three scientists and the inevitable everyday Joe are catapulted over a hundred years into the future by a lab accident, into a post-apocalyptic nightmare in which atomic war has devastated the planet. Pursued by a band of savage mutants, they're rescued by the last few humans, a small group of scientists and technicians engaged in a race against time to construct a starship and get away before the more numerous mutants can break through their defenses.None of these elements is particularly new to the genre, but writer/director Ib Melchior manages to combine them into a fairly entertaining and occasionally original piece of "upper low-budget" sf cinema. This isn't to say that the pace doesn't occasionally lag a bit toward the middle, with some sequences feeling like they were inserted just to pad out the running time. (Like a totally unnecessary scene devoted to what's supposed to be a demonstration of their futuristic "matter transmitter", which is clearly just a stage magician's prop.)Mostly, though, there's scarcely a moment wasted in exposition or character development, as the story barrels along to its truly unique conclusion.Set design, miniatures, costuming and makeup -- particularly the androids -- are surprisingly good, for its budget. The optical effects are sparse but imaginative. Though it's early in his distinguished career, having Vilmos Zsigmond behind the camera also contributes considerably to making this a much more polished and expensive-looking production than you'd normally expect to see from American International.