The Shape of Things to Come dvd movie.|
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List Price: $14.95 Our Price: $12.99 You Save: $1.96 Features • Anamorphic • Color • Dolby • DVD-Video • Widescreen • NTSC In Theaters : August, 1979 DVD Release : 30 March, 2004 |
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The Shape of Things to Come description H.G. Wells' The Shape of Things to Come is so deliriously bad that it begs inclusion in any collection of 1970s kitsch. It's a disco-flavored variant of TV's Buck Rogers in the 25th Century--just another no-budget rider on the coattails of Star Wars. Only a fool would perceive even a slight connection to Wells's classic novel, to which this misleadingly titled cheese-fest is ostensibly a sequel. Their careers in sorry decline, Jack Palance, Carol Lynley, Barry Morse (late of TV's Space: 1999), and John Ireland look embarrassed as they wrestle with a wearisome post-apocalyptic plot that pitches Morse, a pair of Ken-and-Barbie heroes, and their quirky robot (of course) against megalomaniac emperor Palance, who controls a drug needed for survival of moon-based colonists. Prior to directing this laughable mess, George McCowan had helmed episodes of several prominent TV action series of the '70s, but here he devolves into moribund hackwork. This is a ham sandwich sans bread, from a time when stale sci-fi was spreading like mold on George Lucas's leftovers. --Jeff Shannon |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | Worst movie I've seen this month, and that's saying something. |
| The Shape of Things to Come (George McCowan, 1979)
I'm not terribly sure how many variations on the word "bad" I can use in one review, but this review will, most likely, see them all. The Shape of Things to Come is a movie so heart-wrenchingly, eye-bleedingly, mind-shatteringly awful that it demands my best effort. It's the only pleasure I'm going to get out of having sacrificed that ninety minutes of my life. So, the setup: there's been a nuclear war on Earth, and most of the surviving humans are holed up on the moon, in New Washington. The humans are treating the Earth, and the survivors left on it, with a mineral that can only be harvested from one planet. As the movie opens, a ship from that planet is on its way to the moon, refuses to be stopped, and crashes into the big dome that covers the moon base. Obviously, something's wrong up on that planet, and we find out what pretty quickly: the evil Omus (Jack Palance) has ousted everyone from the planet's control center and taken over with his army of (really quite stupid) robots. The erstwhile governor of the planet, Nikki (Carol Lynley), and her band of survivors are trying to find a way to get back and and overthrow Omus. Meanwhile, a small band of folks from New Washington, led by Dr. Caball (Barry Morse), head out to the planet to see what they can accomplish, as well. It's H. G. Wells, so you know the script won't be horrible, but it's not an adaptation that really shines in any way. This is not helped by the terrible, terrible acting. But this pales beside the (very) special effects, which take the definition of "anachronism" to a whole new level. It was pretty cool to see those Honeywell green-screens and children's-toy keypads, though; one wonders whether payment for product placement actually existed as far back as the seventies. The costumes are dreadful; when Nicholas Campbell grunts "get this robe off him!" at one point in the movie, you almost wonder whether he was expressing (entirely understandable) deep-seated resentment at the costume department. A flock of kids on Earth during one brief scene that never goes anywhere have shockingly cheap dye jobs. Etc. And, well, I'm back to the script, because there are at least two instances (there may have been more; I'm sure I blocked some out) where major pieces of foreshadowing occurred that just disappeared, never to be seen again. The trip to Earth is one; Sparks the Robot's erratic behavior about halfway through the movie is the other. Great setup (with, of course, the requisite bad acting). No follow-through. Disappointing. But then, that's an excellent word to sum this movie up--disappointing in every respect. I only watched it because it came as part of a set with Contamination (reviewed here a few weeks ago); that Contamination was by far the better of the two movies may, in fact, be the choicest epithet I can hurl at this puddle of pond scum. It may be fun to watch if you're painfully, deliriously drunk. Otherwise, avoid at all costs. (zero) |
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