The Shape of Things to Come

1979 "Beyond the earth... Beyond the moon... Beyond your wildest imagination!"
3.2| 1h38m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 01 August 1979 Released
Producted By: CFI Investments
Country: Canada
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Planet Earth is a devastated wasteland, and what's left of humanity has colonized the Moon in domed cities. Humanity's continued survival depends on an anti-radiation drug only available on planet Delta Three, which has been taken over by Omus, a brilliant but mad mechanic who places no value on human life. Omus wants to come to the Moon to rule and intends to attack it by ramming robot-controlled spaceships into the domes. Dr. John Caball, his son Jason, Jason's friend, Kim, and a robot named Sparks embark on Caball's space battlecruiser on an unauthorized mission to Delta Three to stop Omus.

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Director

George McCowan

Production Companies

CFI Investments

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The Shape of Things to Come Audience Reviews

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
Actuakers One of my all time favorites.
Acensbart Excellent but underrated film
Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Viljami Louhio The most obvious shortcoming is the silly "Hyperspeed dance"-scene, where the crew twirls around the ship like in a ballet. At the same time there is this failed visual effect where ship is hovering with bubble that I always have failed to realize what it stands for. But don't get me wrong, you will be just as happy as the crew when you have survived the scene.Other minor nuances are the children of earth and the "Robot teleporting" which is randomly seeded throughout the movie. While the robots are quite low-tech visual effects I still find them quite interesting part of the movie. The Sparks has few good observations and doesn't nag stupidly like many of the other machines from the same era of movies. Also I still find the robots of Delta Three very intimidating with their heavy-duty crushing arms with electrocuting fingers.The main cast performs well mostly but I think the villain Omus (Jack Palance) really has all the characteristics to carry such an important role with dignity. Although that dignity will suffer a dent in a hilarious effect fumble at the end of the movie.I would recommend this movie to everyone who doesn't have high prejudice or expectations for visual effects from this era (and can disregard the "hyperspace-ballet")
Lee Eisenberg I had never known that H.G. Wells wrote a novel called "The Shape of Things to Come" until I saw the 1979 movie. Having seen the movie, I did a little research and found that the movie had practically nothing in common with the novel. It sounds as though the novel had a plot similar to "Nineteen Eighty-Four", and the 1936 version of the movie followed the novel more closely.Looking at the movie on its own, it's pretty fun if totally silly. Jack Palance seems to be having a lot of fun as the man threatening to attack the moon colony. The robots - both good ones and bad ones - are the movie's particularly corny aspect. The whole thing comes across as a big excuse to be goofy, and so you'll probably enjoy the movie a lot more if you just accept it as ridiculous entertainment.
rolfmp This should be in the top 100 worst movies of all time. Like many cult classics it improves with age as its unintentional hilarity increases with time. I saw Shape of Things to Come on opening night without the benefit of any advance reviews. At the time I felt that my hard earned part-time summer job savings had never been so wasted. However, now I split a gut in Plan 9 fashion with the added benefit of fast forward. Only if bad SciFi amuses you should you give this a try. The special effects are stunningly bad at times. Palance and Lynley mail in their performances (and for Lynley, think worse than Poseidon Adventure - yikes!). I don't know if this was ever on Mystery Science Theater 3000; but that would be the perfect venue for viewing this space junk.
pvd007 This film was released in Swiss theatres in 1979. It is probably the worst film I have ever seen in a movie theatre. Terrible story, bad acting, even worse special effects. I have voted on 1718 films in the IMDb and I have given TSoTtC a 2 out of 10 (there are worse films that have been released to video only, like OCTAMAN for example for which I voted with a straight 1 out of 10)