Search - When Worlds Collide on DVD

MPAA Rating: G Content Advisory: Suitable for Children Movie Release: 1951 DVD Release: 09/25/2001 Format: DVD Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 22 mins Studio: Paramount Members Wishing: 1 Genres: Science Fiction, Sci-Fi Disaster Film See Also: When Worlds Collide [Circuit City Exclusive] [Checkpoint]

First published in 1932, Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer's speculative novel When Worlds Collide was immediately purchased by Paramount as a possible project for director Cecil B. DeMille. But because none of Paramount's scriptwriters were able to come up with an adequate screen treatment, the property lay on the shelf until 1950, when producer George Pal was casting about for a follow-up to his successful sci-fier Destination Moon. Though the film was top-heavy with special effects, Pal was able to bring When Worlds Collide in for under a million dollars, thanks to an inexpensive cast and a heavy reliance upon stock footage. The story is set in motion when Dr. Cole Henderson (Larry Keating) announces that a extraterrestrial planet is on a collision course with the Earth. No one believes Henderson's story, save for crippled financier Stanton (John Hoyt), who finances the construction of a gigantic spaceship, built for the purpose of transporting selected survivors from the doomed Earth to another Earthlike planet. As it becomes obvious that Henderson's predictions will come true, a worldwide lottery is held to select those people who will be rescued from oblivion by Stanton's spaceship. In the climactic scenes, the worlds do indeed collide, with appropriately spectacular results. But will the spaceship, overloaded with humanity, be able to take off and seek out a Brave New World? Amidst the thrills, a romantic triangle emerges, involving Richard Derr, Barbara Rush and Peter Hanson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Richard Derr - Dave Randall
Barbara Rush - Joyce Hendron
Peter Hanson - Dr. Tony Drake
John Hoyt - Sydney Stanton
Larry Keating - Dr. Cole Hendron

One of the more interesting of major studio sci-fi films from the 1950s, When Worlds Collide has held up beautifully over the 50 years since its release. Not only does its plot, involving elements of greed, lust, sacrifice, and generosity, resonate particularly well, but the effects have aged nicely -- they weren't too ambitious, and given the beauty of the print, they look almost completely realistic today within the framework of the film. The movie, a staple of televised sci-fi throughout the 1960s and 1970s, evidently was beautifully preserved by Paramount, because the color on the film-to-video transfer of this DVD, coupled with the extraordinary resolution, make viewing this disc an experience bordering on the breathtaking. The fleshtones, the textures of the clothes, the metal surfaces, even the silky black sky surrounding the observatory in the opening scene, are a delight to the eye, and the special effects look even better: Parts of this movie, such as the scenes involving Larry Keating and Barbara Rush 25 minutes in, Larry Keating, Stephen Chase, and John Hoyt 28 minutes in, the initial planetary upheavals 42 minutes in, and the final shot of Richard Derr and Barbara Rush, look almost like 3-D, and very good 3-D at that. The chaptering is a relatively unambitious 11 markers, which break down the movie effectively, if not in the most inspired manner. The only bonus is the original trailer, accessible through a simple menu, but the movie itself is such a treat, that the disc speaks for itself as a pleasure for sci-fi fans and pop culture buffs. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide