Just caught ten mins of a flick new to me, The Shape of Things to Come, released in 1979.
On the unreachable coat-tails of Darth Vader et al, it reminded me of a sort of Space 1999 with some Battlestar Galactica thrown in for good measure. The appearance of Barry Morse only added to the illusion.
It was good to see floppy robot arms again though a la the Zeroids and old Jack Parlance being his menacing self, but alas, during the break I changed and found Mary Poppins and there I stayed. I'm a sucker for a Sixties musical!
Have you seen The Shape of Things to Come? Do you like Mary Poppins?
I bet there are loads of Poppins collectables but few for Shapes of Things. Or?
Supercallifragilisticexpiallidocious!
The original 1936 B&W is the one to see, almost as well known as metropolis, and carrying parables for Nazism and WWI/II
ReplyDeleteH
Yes, that's a good 'un Hugh. Brilliant effects.
DeleteSadly, this is a naff movie.
ReplyDeleteIt's story bears no relation to H.G. Wells' novel or the 1937 version, but is a second rate Star Wars knock off with dreadful 'ham' performances from pretty well the whole cast, and poor 70s TV quality effects.
It was a real disappointment.
One of many Star Wars knockoffs Mish but is it the worst?
DeleteI did like the Starstreak ship
ReplyDeleteYes, the Starstreak reminded me of something.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite HG Wells story is the Cone. A tale of jealous revenge of the worst kind.
ReplyDeleteNot a great movie. The cast seem to be just doing it just for the money. At least Jack Palance is honestly over-hamming his role and looks like he just wants to get away. No idea why the great Barry Morse accepted this part. It's a micro budget Star Wars ripoff. Looks like cast off sets and costumes from the Buck Rogers TV show. I do like the two spaceships though. The freighter has Monogram Cylon Raider kit parts in the engines and the Starstreak is made from an AMT K7 Space station (as the command module on the front) , an F15 fighter as the main fuselage and Mig21 fuselages as the engine nacelles!
ReplyDeleteInsightful Yorkie, you know your kits!
DeleteThe Starsteak is a kit bashed rip off of the Enterprise which, although it looks OK, is far too small a model for the big screen, except as a background ship.
ReplyDeleteIn the cinema, it just looked cheap, even in mid distance shots.
I assume they made it to make some fast money. I wonder if they did?
DeleteThe 1979 Harry Allan Towers movie is a notoriously bad rendition of the H.G. Wells story, but one which I would like to see someday. Yes, a quick cash-in on the SF craze launched after Star Wars. Producer Towers was a bigger than life character, apparently always one step ahead of the law, and creator of some of the most bizarre exploitation flicks of the era - my favorite being the amazing 99 Women!
ReplyDeleteGreat info Anonymous. Thanks. Never heard of Towers but I have now!
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