Black Friday 2004 Update!
4.99 at Circuit City . . . the (1983) Jason Robards classic



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We now return you to your regularly-scheduled thread:



WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (1951)
In this beloved Paramount George Pal (WAR OF THE WORLDS) produced sci-fi classic a dying star hurls through space on a collision course with Earth, with no way to stop it. The hope of the planet's citizens lies in the hands of pilot Dave Randall (Richard Derr) and astronomer Doc Hendron (Larry Keating), who will supervise the construction and flight of an interplanetary craft that will carry a handfull of humans to start the race anew on another planet. Academy Award nominations: 2, including Best (Color) Cinematography. Academy Awards: Best Special Effects.

EDIT . . .

Originally posted in Bargains, we are continuing what is developing into a fascinating thread here, in its rightful forum, Movie Talk. Join in!

PEACH

MSRP probably went down, other retailers will probably sell it cheap too eventually, but good if someone wants to buy it right now

I found it here at Amazon. MSRP is still $19.99 though

Out of stock now

Gee, that's like the 10th time that a DVD hasn't shown up on the dvdpricesearch.com website when it is available tsk.

Sorry 'bout that.

As for it being Out of Stock, meh. I placed my order on the 14th and got confirmation on the 17th (three days later) that it was shipping. I wouldn't let that deter you.

I can't wait to add this to my End of the World collection.

PEACH

Glad to see another person has an End of the World collection. Any favorites you could recommend Miss Peach?

For those of you that have already taken advantage of DVD Empire's Criterion sale, if your Criterion order has yet to ship due to a dvd being "on order" (like my order), you can call their customer service and have them include When Worlds Collide on that order. I don't mind waiting when the price is this attractive. Thanks Miss Peach !

I thought you could combine orders on DVDEmpires' site yourself? I've done it before.

you can do it online yourself.

Great price on an great film, too bad I paid full a few years ago ; )

However, I know there are rumors that this is up for re-release... the DVD came out in mono, whereas the film was originally releaseed in stereo (as was the Laserdisc). It DOES make a difference...

I'd love a stereo SE of this film. They did an outstanding SE of Pal's other best film, "The Time Machine".

Yeah, that's my new theme right now(keep thinking of new ones..damn!!), maybe there should be a whole new thread on this subject.

Oh I'm so pleased to see some friends who share my taste in Classic Sci-Fi!

Well Madness, my taste in EOTW film (and literature) is frankly broad, because there has barely been a movie made that I didn't consider provocative on some level.

But there is one production that reigns absolutely, incontrovertibly supreme in the annals of EOTW film imho, and it isn't yet out on DVD in Region 1. But that is fine by me because I will purchase the entire series, as a box set, once it is. It is the 1970's BBC television series SURVIVORS . . .



The best EOTW art (of any kind, film, theatre, literature, poetry) transcends the more gratuitous issues available to develop the drama (How shall we eat, What happens when someone becomes ill or injured, How shall we administer the Rule of Law, What if no one understands how to farm, basic engineering, rudimentary science, etc.) and grapples with the one question that informs the whole, at all times: Why? followed closely by And why me? Why was I chosen to remain, and not _______?

SURVIVORS is a series I first saw on one of our local PBS stations based out of Silicon Valley, KTEH. KTEH is famous for its devotion to Sci-Fi (particularly Dr. Who, and yes I am a huge Dr. Who fan, as well!).

When KTEH first aired SURVIVORS I stumbled into the middle of it and was immediately hooked. Not only is the cast utterly brilliant, the conflict, the tension, the political struggles form the backdrop of each character's individual struggle with the BIG QUESTION . . . but not all of the characters! Ah! Some of the best episodes are when our sturdy band of Survivors grapple with those who have so little soul they can only aspire to exploit the circumstances to their own selfish end. Both Nature and Man deal with these, at times in so gruesome a fashion the series takes on aspects of the Horror genre.

There were so many episodes of this BBC production during which I broke down and cried, I can't tell you. You don't just relate to these characters you grow to love them, every one of them, deeply. They are you, in a different universe perhaps. The questions they are asking are your questions; and as a result, this is one of the few productions where people identify with the actors and actresses in an extremely intimate way. The fanbase for SURVIVORS is understandably loyal, and growing.

I've been asked many times by different people What is your favorite film? I respond by saying — better to ask me what was the best piece of filmed drama I have ever seen in my life (yes! ever!): It is SURVIVORS.

The very minute the entire series comes out — I will not buy just one series, it's too painful to be left hanging — the minute the BBC packages the entire series in a Region 1 Boxset, I almost don't care what the cost is, I will buy it.

One last thing: This was a Terry Nation production. Anyone acquainted with his genius will not be disappointed, I promise. Stay tuned.

PEACH

But to more contemporaneously answer your question, here is my EOTW collection:

Coming in, and the one I'm most excited to see because I never before knew it existed . . .
7.19 w/20% DDD SALE!
THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE (COLOR) (Anchor Bay, 1961 British Sci-Fi Classic w/Leo McKern!)
The Day The Earth Caught Fire has now been completely remastered from the original vault materials, including the restoration of its stunning tinted sequences not seen since the movie's original theatrical release 40 years ago.


Also Coming in . . .
WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (see above)
WAR OF THE WORLDS

Currently Have . . .
INDEPENDENCE DAY (SE)
DEEP IMPACT (SE) I cried when I saw this in the theatre, an excellent, intellectually honest EOTW
THE CORE (cheesy, I know, but I still like it)
THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN (okay, this is a very loose interpretation of EOTW but

Hoping to obtain on a dirt-cheap sale, below $6.00 . . .
ARMAGEDDON (nothing against Bruce Willis)

PEACH

WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE is a blind buy for me, Gorgo. I saw that it is mono but that's okay. If it is as good as I expect it to be, like you I'll be looking forward to the stereo remaster . . . and don't mind the equivalent of a 99¢ rental if (as I expect) Blockbuster runs their $8.00 Trade In deal next year. Good news, even if it is a rumor!

PEACH

This is strange, they're all listed at $11.36 past number 47(Including WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE). What's the deal with that? Didn't go to $8.99 when I put them in my cart, either...still a good price for some of these, but that's weird.

Oh maaaaan. Empire must have read my thread and increased the price. Either that or they were getting slammed with orders for WWC. I hope at least some of you were able to get it at the 8.99 price . . .

PEACH

Thanks for the info on the Survivors Miss Peach. I had never heard of it & will now seek it out (it's available from Amazon.UK for about $60 US though it's Region 2). It sounds very interesting! As for the other titles, I've ordered Earth Caught Fire. Sounds interesting too. Titles from my EOTW collection - The Day After (TV movie), Jeremiah (current TV series - it grows on you), Day After Tomorrow (not really EOTW), On the Beach and of course Dawn & Day of the Dead.

Okay, my thought viz the above titles —

Yes, THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE is the one I am indeed most anxious to see. I am a huge, huge Anglophile (British literature certainly, but first and foremost drama). So imagine my thrill when I stumbled upon this title — remastered! — and with one of my favorite actors, Leo McKern of A Man for All Seasons (Cromwell), Rumpole of the Bailey, The Prisoner (1968, "Number Two" and "The Former Number Two"), and Sir Laurence Olivier's 1984 King Lear (the best Gloucester I've seen on film). This one will be a treat. I can't wait.

I planning on renting DAY AFTER TOMORROW and will assess it for possible purchase after I've seen it. Somewhat mixed reviews, eh?

You know Madness, I've never been into the Zombie craze; so DAWN/DAY would either bore me or (more likely) have me laughing. I just . . . I don't know. Zombies. I remember reading a Dragonlance novel (Firesea?) with Zombies and thinking Oh puhleeeze! Their bodies are rotting as the story progresses — their friggin' limbs are dropping off for crissake — and I'm supposed to be worried? But Madness, that's just me. No offense to the Zombie crowd; it is an immensely popular genre but it has the reverse effect on me.

THE DAY AFTER: Man, that movie will kind of ruin your life, eh? God what a depressing film. I'd have to get up the courage to see it again, I must confess. The image of Jason Robards haunts me. An extremely intellectually honest EOTW film — perhaps the definitive one? — but . . . here is where my taste really narrows. As a Christian (a non-church-going Christian I should qualify) I guess I have to have hope at the end of my EOTW film. This, more than anything, is why SURVIVORS is so deeply meaningful to me. It isn't that the series thrusts issues of God upon you — any treatment of the spiritual questions it raises is handled so discreetly and tenderly that I defy even the most ardent Atheist to find anywhere in the entire series where his beliefs aren't also explored, with crushing honesty — no, it's that I have to have an ending like

Spoiler:

DEEP IMPACT.

But let me thank you so much for turning me onto ON THE BEACH! I had never heard of this film Madness, and what a great cast! Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astair and Tony Perkins! And directed by Stanley Kramer! This will definitely be a blind buy for me. Thank you so much for sharing it!

PEACH

You're very welcome Peach. It's diffucult to find good EOTW films.

On The Day After, I would like to think most folks like to have hope at the end of EOTW films - as with most things in life. Human nature perhaps? And a depressing film is good once in while to remind us when necessary that things could be worse, right? I'd have to say that's pretty good for a Made For TV movie.

As for Day After Tomorrow, it's worth renting, but I bought it for the really neat lenticular cover (& Best Buy bonus disc).

As an Anglophile, I think you might find Shaun of the Dead interesting. It contains lots of dry British humor & parodies the zombie movies while giving praise at the same time (if you can imagine that). And laughing is a good thing. I don't think the zombie movies (at least not the ones done by Romero) are supposed to be taken too seriously - though some say Dawn of the Dead was a social commentary, which I can believe.

Other titles I forgot to mention: 28 Days Later (British zombies), The Stand (made for TV movie based on the Stephen King book), the Costner flops Waterworld & The Postman (these should have you thinking Oh puhleeeze!) & Planet of the Apes in all its incarnations.

One of my favorite books: Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle

[img]http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/1401/5h/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/1250000/1256879.gif[img]

Well, I guess I don't know my HTML/VB code as well as I thought.

thought I would add a few more titles well worth watching...

1. Miracle Mile - with Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham - under appreciated gem of a movie.

2. Last Night - An interesting take on the Last Night before the world ends.

3. The Quiet Earth - can get it through Amazon UK..Region 0 I believe.

4. On the Beach - This is the 2000 version of the older movie , TV mini Series with Armand Assante, Rachel Ward and Blair Brown. Ebay has it at a good price.

5. Omega Man - Charlton Heston

Also wanted to add that Dawn of the Dead '04 is well worth watching ,can't see how one could find it amusing .zombies or not..the first 15 minutes is just plain end of the world as we know it chaos...in the end you care about the charcters as well.

side note....on 28 Days later they are technically not zombies..just infected with the rage..they arn't dead.

The Day the Earth Caught Fire is a terrific film. You may also try Day of the Triffids, which is a so so film based on a terrific book.

Madness, just put a forward slash in front of that naughty end(left) [IMG] tag, thusly . . . ~ . g i f [ / I M G ] and your graphic will show up in living color. I love adding graphics to my threads No! We never would have guessed! LOL and I guess that's in part due to all the graphics work I do in my biz.

My goodness this thread is developing!

Pilot, how about we change the title to read . . . END-OF-THE-WORLD Films/Made-For-TV: Post favorites (and disappointments) and move it to the movie forum (?). Empire killed the deal that originally inspired it, and I love the way the thread is developing. What do you think?

I'll edit my lead post accordingly if in your esteemed opinion it's time to berth this in Movie Talk.

PEACH

Well lookie what I just found: UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD

PEACH

Wow, nice cover:


And I thought I'd clip this 'zon/UK review to add to it, very thoughtful:

I was so pleased to see that this film has come out on dvd. I have an original vhs copy which is just about worn out now. No Hollywood smaltz, no style over substance, no extended hype, no international superstars, just good old fashioned science fiction with a brain.

A very gentle film which relies on plot and character rather than giant explosions and fight scenes, Quiet Earth is from the old school of film making. No digital special effects but solid acting throughout make this one of the best "sleeper" films ever.

If you love "true" sci-fi, you must get this dvd. Just look at the price, you can't go wrong.

PEACH