Un monde sans fin

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.

Yes this movie is a little corny, but most of the sci-fi/horror movies of that time were corny, but still fun to watch. And this movie still has a good underlining story. The astronauts find themselves in another world from the one they left, their families and homes are gone and mutants attack them. Then they find another race like their own. And after fighting the mutants and the others they work together to start to rebuild the Earth. Corny but good.

This is the perhaps the best script from a writer's point of view of any of the 1950s low-budget "B" sci-fi films. Galactic fiction being beyond the capacities of Hollywood writers' imaginations, the best they could do is "futuristics", stories of apocalyptic, invaded, poisoned or plagued Earth. Larger budgets made possible color features such as "War of the Worlds"; and "When Worlds Collide"; others with less backing made "Kronos", "Earth Versus the Flying Saucers" and this gem of the genre. Here four astronauts who return from a mission to Mars are caught in the usual 'time warp'; and so they return to find a devastated Earth of the future--atomic war being the destructive force. The astronauts are led by dependable leading man Hugh Marlowe; the others are young Rod Taylor, Christopher Dark and announcer--voiced nice guy Nelson Leigh. They become involved with The Council, led by Everett Glass and run afoul of fine actor Booth Colman as a man jealous of their potency as political leaders and their genetic potential to please the local female population. Others in the cast include fine character actors Paul Brinegar and Herb Vigran. Borrowing a page from Edgar Rice Burroughs' Opar tales, author and director of the film, Edward Bernds, has introduced beast men, impotent males and gorgeous women who seem seem almost to belong to a different race. The three lovelies are played by capable leading lady Nancy Gates, Lisa Montell and Shawn Smith. What sets this film apart is fine music by Leigh Harline, intelligent sets, enjoyably-revealing costumes for the ladies and its dialogue and interestingly-developed characters. The four astronauts learn about the new society of wrecked Earth, its problems and hopes, as we do, adding to the impact of the story. Dark has a good part as he mourns his lost family; the older Leigh enjoys his status as a sought-after-male and scientist, Taylor is stalwart and promising but battles his Australian accent. Marlowe makes everyone else look better as usual by his intelligence and ability to handle adventure-level dialogue. The action climax sets the four up to be the leaders of a new and perhaps better world, with the beast men at bay and affairs of the heart settled admirably-- and Dark in charge of the children who are the hope of a rebuilt Earth... I cannot recommend this exercise in clever low-budget sci-fi film-making too highly. This is an exciting and interesting narrative.

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.

Today was the first time I have seen this movie. Although I adore the SCI-FI genre, I really don't dribble or quibble over Special Effects like smaller-minded viewers. I much rather watch a SCI-FI movie that has a good story and fairly good acting.

Folks so quickly forget what pre-2001 A Space Odyssey and pre-Star Wars SCI-FI movies were like and become jaded in their views. Suddenly all perspective is gone. Goodness, these were simple times in the mid-50's, have some compassion. We have come far even in comparison to 50 years ago.

WORLD WITHOUT END offers a story taking off from the classic Time Machine and anticipating the post-apocalyptic nightmare of Planet of the Apes. It presents yet another version of what could be the future. The sets and complete production values are all fine and well realized.

But what is important here is the story and the hope that mankind can survive through any adversity because he has and will always have the will to live and carry on. Warts and all.

I would recommend this to any real fan of storytelling.