On the Beach (1959) Review

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(More customer reviews)The epigraph at the beginning of the book, "On the Beach" is part of a poem from T.S. Eliot: "this is how the world ends; not with a bang, but a whimper." I read the book first, then watched the movie, and would recommend both to everyone. The movie is a fair portrayal of the book, and the cast is outstanding. Fred Astaire is a real surprise in this, his first dramatic performance. Ava Gardner is beautiful and believable as the drunk, but in denail, Moira. My favorite characters are Tony Perkins and actress who plays his wife. The scene in which Perkins explains to his wife how to use the suicide tablets sent chills up and down my spine. Two things really stand out for me in this movie: The first being the use of "Waltzing Matilda." At times it's played with all the fanfare of a national anthem; at other times, it sounds funereal. The use of "Waltzing Matilda" reaches its climax during a scene in the movie when Moira takes Captain Towers trout fishing, mistakenly thinking they could get away to the mountains for some private time outdoors before the nuclear cloud arrives in Australia and pretty much eliminates humankind. Instead of peace and tranquility, they find drunken revelers...and throughout this revelery, they're singing "Waltzing Matilda." It's funny at first...then increasingly annoying...until one last tenor sings the final verse solo. I don't think I've ever seen a finer scene is a film. The impact of that verse, the way it's tenderly sung, and the shared look between Ava Gardner and Gregory Peck---I will never be able to listen to "Waltzing Matilda" again without tears in my eyes. The second thing is although the subject matter and the tone of the movie are serious, there are a few amusing moments, which for me, make the movie even more realistic. On the Beach is a classic...and anyone who loves film, and worries about the future of our children...should watch and ponder...could this really happen? The answer is a terrifying "yes".

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The war is over. Nobody won. Only the inhabitants of Australia and the men of the US submarine Sawfish have escaped the nuclear destruction and radiation. Captain Dwight Towers (Gregory Peck) takes the Sawfish on a mission to see if an approaching radiation cloud has weakened, but returns with grim news: the cloud is lethal. With the days and hours dwindling, each person confronts the grim situation in his or her own way. One (Fred Astaire) realizes a lifetime Grand Prix ambition,another (Ava Gardner) reaches out for a chance at love. The final chapter of human history is coming to a close...From acclaimed director Stanley Kramer (The Defiant Ones, Inheritthe Wind) and screenwriter John Paxton comes this spectacular movie landmarka film masterpiece with a message that will resonate as long as the world has the power to self-destruct at its own fingertips.

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When Worlds Collide (1951) Review

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(More customer reviews)Based upon the 1933 novel by Edwin Balmer (1883-1959) and Philip Wylie (1902-1971), "When Worlds Collide" was adapted to film in 1951 under the direction of Rudolph Maté (1898-1964) and with a budget of approximately $936,000. (By comparison in the same year, this was only slightly less than the budget used for "The Day the Earth Stood Still", but a small fraction of the $7,000,000 budget spent for "Quo Vadis"). The story begins at a remote observatory where the eminent astronomer, Dr. Emery Bronson (Hayden Rorke, 1910-1987) discovers that a rogue star with its orbiting planet (that he names Bellus and Zyra respectively) may be on a collision course with Earth. In absolute secrecy, Dr. Bronson sends his horrific data to his colleague Dr. Cole Hendron (Larry Keating, 1896-1963) in New York via the leather-jacketed, ace pilot & courier Dave Randall (Richard Derr, 1918-1992). With the assistance of his daughter Joyce Hendron (Barbara Rush), Dr. Hendron analyzes Dr. Bronson's data on the "Differential Analyzer" (an old-fashioned analog computer) and confirms the trajectories of Bellus and Zyra. Dr. Hendron confers with other scientists and world leaders to ask them to build rockets to ferry as many people, animals and plants as possible away from the doomed Earth and to a new home on Zyra. (The similarity to the Judeo-Christian myth of Noah's ark is obvious.) However, the findings fall on deaf ears, except for the aging, wheelchair-bound millionaire Sydney Stanton (John Hoyt, 1905-1991), who agrees to fund the building of a single rocket that can take just over 40 passengers as long as he has a seat. The film follows the construction of the rocket, the devastating effects that the gravity of Zyra and Bellus have upon Earth as they approach, and the impact that the impending doom has upon the social structure.
For a film that was made long before computer-generated special effects existed, the special effects used in "When Worlds Collide" are effective and entertaining. It's especially fun to see how people in the early 1950's envisioned the types of technology that could be used to travel into space years before any nation had created an actual space program or trained any astronauts. Though the science used in the film was flawed and film's meager budget prevented a more realistic vision of a Zyran landscape, neither seriously adversely affects the film-watching experience. Overall, I rate the 1951 "When Worlds Collide" with 4 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it to any sci-fi aficionado.

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Earth is threatened by a collision with a runaway star. Private industry builds a space ship to take colonists to a new planet to start a new civilization.Genre: Science FictionRating: GRelease Date: 28-MAR-2006Media Type: DVD

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