When Time Ran Out...

Another funny film by Irwin Allen. This one is a hoot to watch. I really like the blue screen effect whenever the lava is shown--lol. If it has Shelia Matthews in the cast, you can be sure that it is going to be a funny film, especially if it is a drama. The ending with the volcano is hilarious--I did not know that volcanos could shoot a fireball that far away and still hit the target head-on!! Impressive. Sort of like scenes from "Bird of Paradise" meets "Diamond Head" were taken and spliced together and then had a few more ingredients added. All that was missing was the sacrificial virgin--but then, maybe that is why the volcano exploded--LOL. Not a movie to be missed for laughs!!

An active volcano threatens a south Pacific island resort and its guests as a power struggle ensues between the property's developer , James Franciscus , and a drilling foreman , Paul Newman . Molten lava and explosion spread across the island . As an all-star cast is on the run when Mother Nature blows her top .

Exciting film about a volcanic eruption threatens a Pacific island that packs blasts , thrills , overwhelming scenes of blowing up , suspense , excessive talking and turns out to be slightly entertaining . Allen's shameless rehash of all his disaster film clichés set on a Pacific island in which time never seems to run out , as a video version runs 141 minutes . Disastrous catastrophe movie in which lacks characterization , being an immense bore . Lousy screenplay by the prestigious Carl Foreman and Stirling Silliphant ; both of whom were presumably well paid . This formula intrigue movie belongs to catastrophe genre of the 70s , being the undisputed king , ¨The towering inferno¨ along with ¨Earthquake¨ , ¨Two minutes warning¨ and many others ; this formula disaster movie was widely developed by Irwin Allen , previously winner of numerous Oscars for ¨Poseidon¨ until the failures as ¨Beyond Poseidon¨, ¨Swarm¨ and this ¨When the time ran out¨ , retitled ¨Earth's final fury¨ . Filmed at the height of the disaster genre from the 7os , this entry in the spectacular series profits of an all-star though really wasted and a suspenseful final that takes place at a bridge surrounded by molten lava . The bridge was 30 feet above the stage, with smoke bombs and light flashes used to simulate the lava. Main cast carries out average acting such as Paul Newman , Jacqueline Bisset and William Holden , he was hospitalized for six days during production to treat his alcoholism after director James Goldstone convinced producer Irwin Allen that Holden was a danger to himself and others in the cast. Furthermore , a top-notch secondary casting such as Valentina Cortese , Barbara Carrera , Veronica Hamel , Alex Karras , Burgess Meredith , Red Buttons , James Franciscus , Pat Morita and Ernest Borgnine . Ernest Borgnine claims in his memoirs that the reason why the film's special effects were so cheap looking was that the huge amount spent on location shooting absorbed what was usually spent on FX. Many actors were all under contract with Irwin Allen, and appear in this film to void their contracts.

Colorful and gripping photography in Panavision by Fred J. Koenekamp . Intriguing and thrilling score by Lalo Schifrin in his usual style . This big-budgeted disaster movie was middlingly directed by James Goldstone ; this was final feature film of Goldstone . He was a director and writer, known for Scalplock (1966) , ¨Jigsaw¨ ,¨A Man Called Gannon¨ , ¨They Only Kill Their Masters¨ , ¨Red sky at morning¨ , ¨Winning" or "500 miles" and ¨Swashbuckler¨ . Goldstone was also an ordinary TV movies director and subsequently made another catastrophe film , Roller-coaster (1977), much better than the disastrous and monumental bore ¨When time ran out¨ .

In the 1970s and into the very early 80s, disaster films were very popular and brought in a lot of money. The movies were HUGE and sensational...and the king of the genre was Irwin Allen. He produced such blockbusters as "The Towering Inferno" and "The Poseidon Adventure" and he was so successful that there were many copycat films by other producers, such as "Earthquake" and the "Airport" movies. But the problem with the genre was that they ran low on ideas and after a while the plots and disasters became stupider and more farfetched. This led to really bad films like "The Swarm" and "Concorde...Airport '79"...which effectively put the nails into the coffin of disaster epics. Still, there were hopes of reinvigorating the genre which led to some latter films like "When Time Ran Out...".

"When Time Ran Out..." was one of Irwin Allen's productions. But because the public had already seen many disaster films with star-studded casts, this one felt to many like an example of 'been there/done that' and it fizzled at the box office.

This story is set on a tropical island in the Pacific. A company is drilling for oil on this same island where there is also a resort full of rich vacationer. But the island is also volcanic and the hubris and greed of the drilling company result in a disaster being unleashed...one that could easily turn all these tourists and oil company techs into crispy critters!

Like the other Irwin Allen disaster epics, this one has a very impressive cast...with Paul Newman, Jacquelin Bisset and William Holden in the leads. And, as you expect, a ton of A and B-list actors are there to lend support...as well as to become human torches.

As for the plot, it's the usual formula and the story isn't good nor bad...it's just pretty typical. But what IS different is that the special effects look relatively cheap and are little like the great sets, explosions and the like of Allen's 1970s films. In particular, seeing folks falling off the bridge into the lava...well, it could have been done better with Barbie dolls! Additionally, there seem to be less explosions...possibly to save money.

So is it worth seeing? Possibly. I'd place this in the category of a time-passer and not much more. It's NOT horrible (and wow, are there some horrible disaster epics out there) but it's also incredibly familiar and offers little to make you want to see it.

• 2/5 STARS -

The operator of a tropical hotel conceals the mounting threat of the island's active volcano when his laissez-faire partner and a renegade oilman start asking questions. When the volcano finally blows its top, a small group of hotel residents make a dangerous trek to higher ground, but not all will survive as the peak spews smoke, fire, and lava across the island.

This relaxed disaster movie signals the end of the first Golden Age of Disaster movies. It is appropriate, then, that it was produced by Irwin Allen and recycles a variety of cliches that spanned the seventies. When Paul Newman and Jacqueline Bisset start sipping wine on the beach with the volcano in the distance, for example, we know to start counting the minutes until the mountain blows.

With both Paul Newman and William Holden playing roles very similar to those in "The Towering Inferno", it isn't difficult to draw parallels between the two movies. "The Towering Inferno", however, was a unique project involving a joint venture between two studios, a huge budget, an all-star cast, and a blockbuster script culled from the best elements of two popular novels. Does When Time Ran Out represent what we should expect from Irwin Allen when all of the cards AREN'T stacked in his favor?

When Time Ran Out harkens back to the drama-heavy days of the original Airport, with a web of infidelity that will make your head spin. Battle lines are quickly drawn between the defensive developer of the island (Franciscus) and a renegade oil driller (Newman) who believes the mountain is, as he puts it, `a powder keg.'

Occasional visits to the volcano's crater provide distraction while the relationships between the characters are cultivated for the disaster. The oilman stirs up trouble when he wants to see for himself that the mountain is safe before drilling in a high-pressure oilfield. However, it's just ridiculous to think that his inspection would involve stepping into a laughable protective capsule and being lowered inside the smoldering volcano. Naturally, the capsule--with a glass floor!--experiences a series of unexplained malfunctions that send him hurtling towards bubbling lava at the bottom of the crater.

It's the kind of special effect that Irwin Allen was famous for from his television days on The Time Tunnel and elsewhere. But the silver screen requires a much greater level of believability than is needed by television. When Time Ran Out contains some of the worst effects in the history of the genre--images which aren't even acceptable for the SMALL screen. What happened to the Master of Disaster?

When Time Ran Out is heavy on talk before the volcano erupts, but the runaway action we were expecting during the buildup simply never arrives. Only two action sequences occur with the Newman followers, and they both involve a large group of people taking a very long time to cross a treacherous path to safety. It's a snooze-fest all around.

The special effects are ho-hum, even though Irwin Allen attempts to diversify the experience with flaming meteors fired from the volcano and a tidal wave that inexplicably levels part of the same island whose shock wave created it! They're not enough. Most of the visuals are clearly pre-existing volcano footage placed on a chroma-key in front of the actors. And the rest of the eruption footage appears to be poorly executed post-production animation.

The lush tropical setting is a refreshing change of pace for most disaster movies, and Jacqueline Bisset and Paul Newman try their best to keep things classy. But an unnecessary cock fight in the village and a preposterous laboratory perched on the rim of the volcano immediately suggest that this movie needs a dose of reality--and adrenalin. The first Golden Age of Disaster Movies closes with this whimper as `time runs out'-- on the genre.

I faithfully watch When Time Ran Out every time it comes on television, and am never bored by it. I had no idea it was such a terrible movie until I read these reviews on IMDB. Sigh...reviewers can be so cruel. At least now I know that I have bad taste in movies so you can stop reading this now if you like.

There are a lot of familiar faces in the cast and they do a good job. This is my favorite Paul Newman movie by the way. (But to be honest I don't watch many Paul Newman movies.) Edward Albert is also great in it, and even though his role is too small, he does get to be heroic but don't blink or you will miss those moments. The women aren't given too much to do but aint that always the way it goes. Sigh again... I did like Veronica Hamel's little bitty role. She was classy but stupid. Should have hooked up with Edward Albert.

This movie is a great soap opera with love, betrayal, danger, greed, and a dastardly villain. Oh, and the way some of the characters die is kinda funny. Sort of like every other disaster movie from the 70's and early 80's. So cut it a little slack why don't you.