A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

The Evaluation System Reviews by Title Reviews by Date

Reviews from Video Reviews of the Classics Personal Background

Title: When Worlds Collide

Date of original theatrical release: 1951

Details:

Richard Derr

Barbara Rush

Peter Hansen

John Hoyt

Larry Keating

Rachel Ames

Director: Rudolph Mate

Score: 0

The Review: Cheesy adaptation of the first of two Balmer & Wylie science fiction novels of disaster and redemption. Disappointing.

The time is just after World War I, and astronomers discover that a rogue star and its frozen planet are on collision course with Earth. The orbital mechanics are such that Earth will be totally destroyed by the star, but its planet will survive and serve as a possible destination for those humans who choose to escape. The majority of the movie is focused on the American perspective, building a (single?) rocket to rescue a small group, and dealing with the conflict engendered by limited space, the anger of neglect, etc.

A bit weak in comparison to the more recent special-effects blockbusters of Armageddon, Deep Impact and The Day After Tomorrow, but then, the WWC SFX team is only cited as two people, and at the time (1951) computers were actually analog differential analyzers, not ray-tracing servers for animation. Fifty years has wrought tremendous improvements in SFX, but only marginal improvements in plot adaptation.

This was quite likely one of the first (two) books I discovered by Philip Wylie, back when my youthful reading diet was dominated by science fiction (come to think of it, some diets persist for life). The pair of novels (When and After Worlds Collide) were written in the interregnum between WW-I and WW-II (1933-34). It depends on your preference in science fiction themes whether you prefer the first (global disaster and plans for the rescue of a few humans) or the second (exploration of a new world, discovery of an ancient frozen civilization and its decipherment). My recollection is that I liked the second one much better, because it focused on long-standing topics of interest to me: hidden knowledge, deciphering puzzles of alien civilizations, unusual technical archaeology, etc.

However, as an introduction to Philip Wylie -- satirist, pusher of the envelope edge, angry young man, strident individualist -- the novels were definitely effective, and I was sucked in. Eventually, I became a Wylie completist, trying to acquire copies of essentially everything that he wrote. He crossed many genres, from his famous indictment of American culture and his attack on "Momism" in Generation of Vipers, to his less well-known, but fascinating science fiction novel The Disappearance, to his final novel, a dark vision of ecological catastrophe, The End of the Dream. Some have called him the first incarnation of Michael Moore, but I consider him an example of a well-rounded and articulate iconoclast. Even if this film doesn't interest you, Wylie the author should. Find his books, and read them.

(*) For those of you with good memories, note that there is a rumor that this movie is scheduled for a remake, due to be released in 2008.

(27-Jan-07)

Back to the chronological list of reviews