20 Milhões de Léguas a Marte

World Without End has four astronauts on a Mars mission enter a time warp similar to what Charlton Heston and his crew encountered in Planet Of The Apes. Only they figure out before the end that it is earth about 500 years into the future where an atomic war has pretty well decimated the planet.

Fortunately for them the world is not just the savage mutants they inhabit outside. There is a civilization kept alive in earth's caves. But they're a pretty pacific lot and frown on these 20th century types with their weaponry which simply consists of handguns.

The four astronauts are Hugh Marlowe, Nelson Leigh, Christopher Dark, and Rod Taylor who would soon star in his own film about time travel. In the end it turns out that these guys and their knowledge of weapons come in pretty useful after all.

The director of this film Edward Bernds who did this for Allied Artists. Bernds who started out working on Frank Capra films was a director of several Bowery Boy features for Allied Artists formerly Monogram Pictures. This was a man used to working with minuscule budgets and realizing that the film didn't turn out half bad.

And unlike Planet Of The Apes it ends on a somewhat optimistic note.

A low-budget kiddie sci-fi flick from the same period that brought us "Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers," and interestingly enough starring the same actor, Hugh Marlowe, a sort of older version of that other '50s sci-fi star, Richard Carlson. Four astros headed for Mars go through a time warp in space and end up on Earth after atomic Armaggedon has decimated the planet. This makes things convenient both set- and costume-wise, as all the cities and highways are gone and all that's left on the planet's surface is a bunch of murderous cavemen. Ah, but inside one particular cave, the astros encounter an underground habitat containing what's left of humanity. The plot is sort of H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" in reverse. Because the story is actually interesting (the sun-deprived humans are dying out and the astros try to convince them to return to the planet's now-decontaminated surface), it's easy to forgive the theatrical photography, cardboard sets, and the three '50s-type females in their restaurant hostess outfits and bouffant hairdos. One way or the other, the always-dependable Marlowe keeps everything nicely grounded as the leader of the astros. The film looks like it cost $1.98 to make, but a reasonably strong story and decent-enough cast make it worth a glimpse. A young Rod Taylor. the Russell Crowe of his day, plays one of the other astros -- although he's given little to do except to bare his chest and make the ladies swoon.

There are many existing comments in regards to this particular film and most of them are quite similar and accurate, therefore there is not too much new substantial information left to be offered. I would just like to express and confirm that this is quite an excellent film for its time [1956]. Do not expect CGI quality graphics and effects -- this was a lower budgeted film, but it did indeed have some very nicely done SFX by its own standards. The wonderful screenplay, rather strong acting [HUGH MARLOWE, ROD TAYLOR, etc.], Color-Cinemascope production, and a fair amount of actual outside location shooting [no cheap soundstaging] combined to make this an absolutely wonderful film [still ranks as one of my favorite 50's Sc-Fi-Flix today!]. OK - for you meticulous purists, there is a large RUBBER SPIDER attack ... but it actually looks fairly decent. Try not to nit-pick, sit back and enjoy a really tight film. And, HEY -- it even has a well-constructed, moral, POSITIVE ending -- which is not sappy! ENJOY!!

I recently watched this movie for the first time and found it a cross between Planet of the Apes and The Time Machine, complete with Rod Taylor.

Four astronauts returning from a space mission go through a time warp and end up on earth thousands of years into the future after a nuclear war. They encounter rubber giant spiders, mutant cavemen and hostile survivors who have survived the war and are living underground. At first they don't believe how the astronauts got there but they do eventually and they help them to destroy the mutants and start afresh and live without the fear of these unfriendly cavemen. Two of the astronauts fall in love with two of the local women.

As well as The Time Machine's Rod Taylor, the film also stars Hugh Marlowe (The Day The Earth Stood Still) and Nancy Gates. The acting is good from all.

I found this movie enjoyable and is beautifully shot in colour, despite the low budget. The giant spiders look cheap though. A must for sci-fi fans.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

A few years ago I watched this movie with a group of friends. We had a terrific time with it. It was great to see `The Time Machine' star Rod Taylor with `The Day the Earth Stood Still' star Hugh Marlow. Other high points included that great rocket ship (which was first designed for `Destination Moon', but rejected in favor of the one actually used). The rocket was first used in `Flight to Mars', and it later appeared in `It! The Terror from Beyond Space' and `Queen of Outer Space'.

If your not into rockets, perhaps the stunning girls in the short `futuristic' skirts will hold your interest. Famed pin-up artist Alberto Vargas is listed in the credits, although he's credited with `production design', instead of `costume design'. Perhaps he did both.

The story has strong points and weak points. The weak points are forgivable: few special effects, a terrible `giant spider', and sets that not exactly spectacular.

The strong points are, I guess, a matter of personal taste. The story is simple, but still interesting. In a post-holocaust world, a small society of civilized people live underground, safe from the violent mutants who live on the surface. The characters interact well, and when they take on the mutants in the climax, my friends and I were cheering as if we were watching the Super Bowl.

Maybe it'll affect you the same way. Give it a chance.