I
kind of fell sorry for today’s youth. Sure they have hundreds of channels
of things to watch, but most of it is garbage. When I was a kid, there
were only a handful of broadcast stations, most of which showed a lot
of great old movies during the course of the day. Being inundated with
music videos, sitcoms and trash television, today’s youth are ignoring
on a lot of wonderful entertainment. This of course, brings us to WHEN
WORLDS COLLIDE ($30); another classic movie that I watched over and
over again throughout my childhood that has finally been released on DVD
by the folks at Paramount Home Entertainment.
By
today’s science fiction standards, the situations in WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE
do seem hokey, and many would argue that the major plot points are based
on very bad science. In addition, the special effects look fairly cheesy,
although this George Pal production did win an Oscar for its effects back
in 1951. But then again, one has to take into account that WHEN WORLDS
COLLIDE was made in a very innocent age, when movies were a fairly
disposable medium designed to entertain the masses for a very brief period
of time. However, if it weren’t for WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE and other
classic sci-fi movies of the fifties, it’s doubtful that modern day extravaganzas
such as ARMAGEDDON and DEEP IMPACT would exist.
The
plot of WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE concerns a devastating celestial discovery
made in an observatory in South Africa. Hoping to confirm their findings,
a pilot named David Randall (Richard Derr) is used a courier to deliver
the pictures of two rapidly moving planetary bodies to American scientists
for further study. Unfortunately, Dr. Cole Hendron (Larry Keating) confirms
both the data, and the worst fears of the scientists in South Africa-
a rogue star and orbiting planet are on a collision course with the Earth.
After failing to convince the United Nations of their findings, Dr. Hendron,
along with his daughter Joyce (Barbara Rush) and other like-minded scientists
utilize private funding from various industrialists to begin constructing
rocket ships that will carry a handful of human survivors to the planet
orbiting the rogue star. However, to get all the money needed for this
Noah’s Ark project, Dr. Hendron is forced to deal with a bitter, crippled
multi-millionaire named Sydney Stanton (John Hoyt), who is only interested
in saving his own hide from the upcoming Armageddon. The cast of WHEN
WORLDS COLLIDE also features Peter Hanson, Judith Ames, Alden 'Stephen'
Chase, Frank Cady and Hayden Rorke.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has made WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE available on DVD
in its proper 1.37:1 full screen aspect ratio. Although the film element
does show some signs that WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE is half a century
old, the transfer is really rather nice. In general, the image is pretty
sharp and offers a respectable level of detail. There is some film grain
present in the picture, but it is never bothersome. Also, there are some
blue flashes that occur at various times, but this is a minor problem
related to film elements created in the old IB Technicolor process. Colors
themselves are pretty well saturated and give a good indication of what
a Technicolor print might have looked like. Flesh tones have the pallor
that only a Hollywood makeup man could supply. Throughout the course of
the film, there are noticeable color variations that occur every time
there is an optical transition. Additionally, the image becomes at bit
softer and grainier during these optical fades and transitions. Blacks
are suitably deep and the picture has fairly smooth contrast. Digital
compression artifacts are well concealed on the cleanly authored DVD.
The
Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack is in good shape for its age. There
are no problems with either excessive background hiss or distortion. Dialogue
is cleanly rendered and one is always able to understand the actors’ voices
(those that are speaking English, anyway). There are the expected frequency
limitations in this older soundtrack that keep the sound effects and music
from having any true depth, but neither is reproduced in a harsh or tinny
manner. A French monaural soundtrack is also encoded onto the DVD, as
are English subtitles. The basic interactive menus provide access to the
standard scene selection and set up features, as well as a theatrical
trailer.
WHEN
WORLDS COLLIDE is a very enjoyable science fiction film from the 1950s
that will appeal to film buffs and genre fans alike. Paramount’s presentation
is a very good rendering of this half-century-old sci-fi classic, making
this DVD worth checking out. Perhaps having it on DVD will interest a
new generation of fans in WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE. Additionally, I
look forward to more classic sci-fi offerings from the Paramount library;
perhaps we will soon get to see I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE
on DVD.
I
kind of fell sorry for today’s youth. Sure they have hundreds of channels
of things to watch, but most of it is garbage. When I was a kid, there
were only a handful of broadcast stations, most of which showed a lot
of great old movies during the course of the day. Being inundated with
music videos, sitcoms and trash television, today’s youth are ignoring
on a lot of wonderful entertainment. This of course, brings us to WHEN
WORLDS COLLIDE ($30); another classic movie that I watched over and
over again throughout my childhood that has finally been released on DVD
by the folks at Paramount Home Entertainment.
By
today’s science fiction standards, the situations in WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE
do seem hokey, and many would argue that the major plot points are based
on very bad science. In addition, the special effects look fairly cheesy,
although this George Pal production did win an Oscar for its effects back
in 1951. But then again, one has to take into account that WHEN WORLDS
COLLIDE was made in a very innocent age, when movies were a fairly
disposable medium designed to entertain the masses for a very brief period
of time. However, if it weren’t for WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE and other
classic sci-fi movies of the fifties, it’s doubtful that modern day extravaganzas
such as ARMAGEDDON and DEEP IMPACT would exist.
The
plot of WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE concerns a devastating celestial discovery
made in an observatory in South Africa. Hoping to confirm their findings,
a pilot named David Randall (Richard Derr) is used a courier to deliver
the pictures of two rapidly moving planetary bodies to American scientists
for further study. Unfortunately, Dr. Cole Hendron (Larry Keating) confirms
both the data, and the worst fears of the scientists in South Africa-
a rogue star and orbiting planet are on a collision course with the Earth.
After failing to convince the United Nations of their findings, Dr. Hendron,
along with his daughter Joyce (Barbara Rush) and other like-minded scientists
utilize private funding from various industrialists to begin constructing
rocket ships that will carry a handful of human survivors to the planet
orbiting the rogue star. However, to get all the money needed for this
Noah’s Ark project, Dr. Hendron is forced to deal with a bitter, crippled
multi-millionaire named Sydney Stanton (John Hoyt), who is only interested
in saving his own hide from the upcoming Armageddon. The cast of WHEN
WORLDS COLLIDE also features Peter Hanson, Judith Ames, Alden 'Stephen'
Chase, Frank Cady and Hayden Rorke.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has made WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE available on DVD
in its proper 1.37:1 full screen aspect ratio. Although the film element
does show some signs that WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE is half a century
old, the transfer is really rather nice. In general, the image is pretty
sharp and offers a respectable level of detail. There is some film grain
present in the picture, but it is never bothersome. Also, there are some
blue flashes that occur at various times, but this is a minor problem
related to film elements created in the old IB Technicolor process. Colors
themselves are pretty well saturated and give a good indication of what
a Technicolor print might have looked like. Flesh tones have the pallor
that only a Hollywood makeup man could supply. Throughout the course of
the film, there are noticeable color variations that occur every time
there is an optical transition. Additionally, the image becomes at bit
softer and grainier during these optical fades and transitions. Blacks
are suitably deep and the picture has fairly smooth contrast. Digital
compression artifacts are well concealed on the cleanly authored DVD.
The
Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack is in good shape for its age. There
are no problems with either excessive background hiss or distortion. Dialogue
is cleanly rendered and one is always able to understand the actors’ voices
(those that are speaking English, anyway). There are the expected frequency
limitations in this older soundtrack that keep the sound effects and music
from having any true depth, but neither is reproduced in a harsh or tinny
manner. A French monaural soundtrack is also encoded onto the DVD, as
are English subtitles. The basic interactive menus provide access to the
standard scene selection and set up features, as well as a theatrical
trailer.
WHEN
WORLDS COLLIDE is a very enjoyable science fiction film from the 1950s
that will appeal to film buffs and genre fans alike. Paramount’s presentation
is a very good rendering of this half-century-old sci-fi classic, making
this DVD worth checking out. Perhaps having it on DVD will interest a
new generation of fans in WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE. Additionally, I
look forward to more classic sci-fi offerings from the Paramount library;
perhaps we will soon get to see I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE
on DVD.