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Released by: Blue Underground
Released on: 2/11/2002
Director: George McCowan
Cast: Anne-Marie Martin, Barry Morse, Carol Lynley, Jack Palance, John Ireland, Nicholas Campbell
Year: 1979
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The Movie:
Loosely based on a story by H. G. Wells, The Shape of Things To Come (by the director of 'Frogs' and the classic Canadian television series 'The Littlest Hobo') makes it's home video debut courtesy of Blue Underground.
The Shape of Things To Come is the story of the distant future, where mankind has now populated the Moon in giant domed cities after evacuating the Earth after 'The Robot Wars.' There are also some serious radiation issues going on, and the only way that they
can be treated is with a special drug, Ridic-2-Q, that is only available on a distant planet called Delta Three.
Everything seems to be going hunky dorey until Omus (played Oscar winner Jack Palance) attacks the moon base of New Washington and takes over Delta Three, thus gaining control of the Universe's supply of Ridic-2-Q.
It's up to a team of renegade scientists led by Dr. Caball (Barry Morse, from "Space: 1999") and assisted by his son Jason, a foxy female scientist named Kim, and a rebuilt robot that has a tendency to quote poetry named Sparks to hijack a prototype spaceship
and take off to stop Omus and his army of evil robots, and restore Nikki (Carol Lynley of Vigilante) to power on Delta Three to make the world right again and keep
the supply of Ridic-2-Q flowing.
Sounds kinda corny, right? Well it is. Unbelievably so. This movie was shot on location in parts of Ontario and Quebec for $3.2 Million Canadian dollars, but it looks like it cost a lot less. Growing up in the area it was filmed in, I can honestly say that it looks like it was filmed in my neighbors' backyard in certain spots. The terrain, which is supposed to at times be the moon, or the scorched Earth, or Delta Three, really just looks like the woodlot beside the old townhouse I lived in as a kid. Needless to say, it doesn't stop there. The evil robot army that Palance's character has designed to take over the planet and rule the solar system are really a bunch of guys running around in cardboard/plastic suits with rubber tubing for arms and a few blinking lights for show.
Before Edwin sent it to me for review, he warned me that it was basically a cross between the 70s Buck Rogers TV series and the old 1978 Toei space film, Message From Space (starring Vic Morrow and Sonny Chiba) and that's a pretty fair description. It also borrows from Dune and Space: 1999 in a few spots as well, but somehow manages to be far, far worse than any of these combined on both a storytelling level and a special effects level.
That being said, it's hard not to appreciate the fact that this film actually exists. Someone out there had to have thought that putting Jack Palance in a purple cape and shipping him off to Northern Ontario to act alongside some guys in robot suits was a good idea. Someone decided that having Palance appear as a hologram, spinning around while changing colors overtop of some trees to simulate his character using powerful technology to send a threatening message to our heroes was a good idea. And someone thought a small teleporting robot that quotes Shakespearian sonnets for comic relief was also a good idea. Well, as it stands, none of these are good ides. Not at all.
But if you're into bad movies, (and a lot of people are, myself included), then The Shape of Things To Come may just end up as one of the guilty pleasures in your DVD collection. They really don't get a lot worse than this. If ever the adage 'so bad it's good' has applied to a film, this is it, and I haven't laughed so hard at such an unintentionally funny film in a long time.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The anamorphic 1.66.1 transfer shows grain and spotting throughout the presentation, but colors and black levels are accurate and well balanced throughout and the picture is pretty sharp. Problems visible on this presentation are obviously inherent in the source material and not the fault of the actual transfer. All in all, it looks pretty decent.
The Dolby Digital Mono track is sufficient. It's not great, as there is some background hiss in a few spots and at times dialogue is a bit muffled, but for the most part you can hear everything just fine. Viewers also have the option of watching the film in French. The quality of this track is similar to the English track.
You get a stills gallery and the French and English trailers for the film.
The Final Word:
For bad movie fans, this is a sure thing, but for anyone who wants even a modicum of quality in their viewing choices, stay far, far away.