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Kronos (1957)
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Pow
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 03, 2022 9:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"The Doomsday Machine," concept from the Star Trek episode of the same name is similar to Kronos.

Both machines are constructs of an unknown alien race.

Each machine is of a gigantic size.

Both are self-sustaining; Kronos requires electricity & other forms of energy; the Doomsday Machine needs planets---and probably asteroids if it gets desperate---to consume.

Neither machine is inhabited by the aliens who created it. Although, the Doomsday creators could be long dead in theory.

Humans cannot communicate with either mechanism.

We learn little, or nothing, about the beings which created these massive machines of destruction, or the planets they lived on.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 1:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Great analysis, Pow!

There's one more similarity — and I know darn well you left it out of your post on purpose so that someone could add it in a reply! Very Happy

Both Kronos and the Doomsday Machine were defeated from inside by overloading them with energy.

Kronos was defeated when the energy stored within it was turn back on itself, and the Doomsday Machine was destroyed by the stored power of the USS Constellation when it was flown into the machine's "mouth"! Cool

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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 2:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Didn't include Kronos's demise because I couldn't recall how it was done by those clever Earth scientists, Bud.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 3:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Well, to be honest, it was some sort of technobabble about "reversing the polarity" of the two antennae-like projections on top.






You can watch the scene at the 1:09:30 mark in the video below — the historic moment when Exeter and George Jetson (together for the first time! Cool) figure out how to turn Kronos' energy on itself.

____________ Kronos (1957) - complete movie


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Pow
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 2:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

When you all watched Kronos last Saturday, did the dialogue ever address as to why our intrepid scientists were able to safely land and take off in their helicopter on Kronos?

Did Kronos not interpret them as any kind of threat assuming the gigantic alien machine was even aware of 'em?
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 2:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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No, they didn't mention it, but something very cool happened while they were up there and Kronos suddenly "activated"!

Go to the YouTube version and watch that scene, then tell us what you think is happening.

I've never quite figured it out myself. Confused

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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 9:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

IT may have detected the chopper, but didn't feel threatened. When Kronos did activate it seemed more like it was "shrugging" off an annoying bug!
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Phantom
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 10:51 pm    Post subject: Aliens, Start Your Engines! Reply with quote

Just wondering if the vibrations or electrical circuits in the helicopter accidentally matched the signals the Aliens would have sent to wake Kronos?

It would have started the invasion earlier than planned, but once it began, the Aliens simply let it play out.

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 8:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I see what you mean, Bud, I watched Kronos on good ole' Youtube last night.

When our trio is standing on top of the big K, they are temporarily frozen by a cool looking force field by the alien machine. He releases them after a few seconds.

Wonder if Kronos was performing a biological scan of the humans as well as causing them to be paralyzed? Kronos could have also been demonstrating his incredible power over we puny humans, telling us we were no threat whatsoever to it.

Kronos also might not be so merciful to any other humans who attempt to land on him in the future.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 12:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Gentlemen, your excellent comments are EXACTLY what All Sci-Fi needs!

Please keep up the good work. Very Happy

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 3:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kronos questions.

The alien entity (or is it a highly sophisticated A.I.?) appears as a glowing orb of light and takes possession of the poor truck driver.

The truck driver then goes to the restricted government laboratory base, slugs the guard, and enters the facility. Once inside, the alien entity transfers itself from the truck driver to Dr. Hubbel Eliot, head of the lab.

Couldn't the alien simply take over Hubbel's body in the first place without going to the trouble of involving the truck driver?

Vera Hunter (Barbara Lawrence) asks Dr. Arnold Culver (George O'Hanlon) why he calls the lab's supercomputer, Susie? As she does this, she is standing right beside the sign on the wall that clearly says: Synchro Unifying Sinometric Integrating Equitensor.

How long have ya been working there, Vera?

Why exactly was Dr. Eliot taken over by the extraterrestrial being?

To spy on the humans who would attempt to stop the spaceship? To sabotage S.U.S.I.E., which he does do.

I'm asking because once Earth fired their atomic missiles at the spaceship, it didn't affect it one iota. So why was the entity concerned at all because Earth was incapable of harming the vessel with our most powerful weapons?

The ship roars into the Pacific Ocean and then multiple enormous explosions erupt from beneath the surface.

How come? What was the purpose of the titanic explosions?
Kronos is then seen towering above the water at dawn.

If the massive explosions played a part in constructing Kronos, how so? Was Kronos inside the ship already built?
It was stated that the aliens could transform energy into matter. Could these huge explosions somehow be converted into matter such as Kronos?

The newscaster reports that the "asteroid" has crashed into the ocean and the threat to our planet is all over.

He never mentions the ginormous explosions at all!

Kronos is shown with ring-like beams emanating from it. Wonder what they do, nothing about them is explained? Or why Kronos only projects these circles sometimes, but not others?

The military sure seems to take its sweet time going into action.

We're informed that Los Santos, where Kronos becomes active, is an isolated area. Yet as Kronos is marching across the countryside, we see hundreds and hundreds of inhabitants fleeing for their lives. Just how isolated is this place?

Hubbel/Alien seems to be in telepathic contact with Kronos. Is he giving the machine its orders? If Kronos is to soak up all of the Earth's electrical and atomic energy and drain us completely dry, does such a machine really need to be directed in any way? Set it on automatic.

I suppose if Kronos was to encounter some kind of problem, then the alien being would need to give it new directives.

The way that Hubbel went in and out of being controlled by the alien, and then not being controlled, indicates a very faulty operational plan by the aliens. You either take full control of another being, or you don't. If you don't have full control of someone then your entire takeover plan is at risk.

If this alien civilization exhausted their own world's energy resources, how come they do not find ways to tap into a sun for their energy requirements? Such a highly advanced planet should be able to figure out a way to do this easily.

It'd make more sense than trying to attack other worlds and risk everything...which is exactly what happened with Earth.

In spite of all my questions and comments, I did enjoy the film and thought the production values were quite nice considering it was a 1957 movie that got it's budget severely slashed.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 3:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Wow, Mike! You've composed an impressive set of "talking points" that will keep this thread hummin' for days! Mr. Green

Some of them focus on the weaker elements of Kronos — but that of course presents us with a challenge. Can we justify what we see in the film by presenting logical explanations. Very Happy

Rather than just say things like, "The filmmakers did that because it made the story more suspenseful", I'm doing what you did — Thinking Like A Writer so that we can support the premise, rather than just poke holes in it.

So, here's what I came up with, inspired by your keen observations.

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Pow wrote:
The alien entity (or is it a highly sophisticated A.I.?) appears as a glowing orb of light and takes possession of the poor truck driver.

Couldn't the alien simply take over Hubbel's body in the first place without going to the trouble of involving the truck driver?

My oh my, this one is rich with possibilities! Very Happy

Was the glowing orb actually a non-corporeal alien, or was it just a kind of "drone" that flew around by remote control until a human was selected to be possessed for the purpose of gathering data and transmitting it back to the aliens?






Perhaps the truck driver was selected because the aliens could use him to learn a few basic facts about humans while they refined their control over him. Then the truck driver basically "smuggles" the glowing orb onto the base and puts it in range of Dr. Eliot so it can transfer itself to his body.

Pow wrote:
Vera Hunter (Barbara Lawrence) asks Dr. Arnold Culver (George O'Hanlon) why he calls the lab's supercomputer. How long have ya been working there, Vera?

Okay, all I can think of here is that brilliant scientist like to be "the smartest one in the room", and when Dr. Leslie Gaskell and Vera were alone, that was always guaranteed . . . Laughing





Pow wrote:
Why exactly was Dr. Eliot taken over by the extraterrestrial being?

That’s a great question! Mike, I will gladly watch this movie with you again, simply because I think the terrible ordeal which the aliens inflicted on Dr. Hubbell Eliot provides the best drama in this story!

Allow me to explain. Very Happy

This poor man constantly struggles to break free from the alien mind control — and he succeeds a few times. During his lucid moments he desperately tries to warn people about the alien threat, but they simply thing he's raving.






However, during one of the scenes when he is under alien control we see him studying a folder which is labeled Nuclear and Thermonuclear Sources. He carefully selects the name of power plant locarted in Mexico, then he mentally transmits the name of the facility to Kronos.

“Navoris Electro . . . Navorlis Electro . . . “

This activates Kronos for the first time (great scene), and it goes pounding off across the land! So, the aliens compelled their mind-controlled slave to research the power plants which Krono needed, and then transmit the data to the aliens.






Pow wrote:
The ship roars into the Pacific Ocean and then multiple enormous explosions erupt from beneath the surface.

Actually, there’s just one big eruption when the mothership slams into the ocean, after which we see a wave of turbulent water rushing towards us from the impact

Pow wrote:
Kronos is shown with ring-like beams emanating from it. Wonder what they do, nothing about them is explained, or why Kronos only projects these circles sometimes, but not others,

I was surprised to discover that it did that fairly often —but not always, as you said.

At the Navorlis Electro plant we get several great FX during the energy absorption, starting at the 50:00 mark. There are the radiating “ring-like beams”, as well as several bolts of lightning from Kronos, and one amazing shot of the robot positioned right on top of plant with a brilliant white beam between the four legs!










Notice on the third image the top cube is slightly rotated clockwise relative to the bottom cube — something I don't think we see any other time in the movie!

At the 53:00 mark, when the first fighter attack takes place (four poor old WWII aircraft Smile), we see the ring-like beams again when Kronos destroys the planes.

The Ring Beams appear again around the 55:00 mark when Krono travels along the rim of cliff and emits them, causing a avalance. Shortly thereafter, there’s a long shot of a plain with mountains in the distance and fleeing peolle in the forground. Krono again emits the beams, but it seems to have no effect.[






Pow wrote:
The military sure seems to take its sweet time going into action.

Well, the Mexican Air Force sends the four WWII fighters out to combat Kronos in the scene at the 54:00 mark, but they were destroyed. Big Surprise . . . Rolling Eyes

One of the planes crashes into Kronos! Apparently he wasn't the Mexican Air Force's Top Gun. The other planes blow up because of the Ring Beams.


Pow wrote:
Hubbel/Alien seems to be in telepathic contact with Kronos. Is he giving the machine its orders?

Not orders, just data on the Naviro Electrica power plant, Kronos’ first target.

But during the fighter attack he is shown "concentrating" again, a repeat of the shot when he sent the data about the power plant. However, I don't think he was supposed to be giving orders to Kronos.


Pow wrote:
The way that Hubbel went in and out of being controlled by the alien, and then not being controlled, indicates a very faulty operational plan by the aliens. You either take full control of another being, or you don't. If you don't have full control of someone then your entire takeover plan is at risk.

Dramatically, the poor scientist’s struggle with the alien mind control is an interesting and suspenseful story element. It makes him an involuntary villain part of the time, and a character we sympathize with at other times. Very Happy

Pow wrote:
If this alien civilization exhausted their own world's energy resources, how come they do not find ways to tap into a sun for their energy requirements? Such a highly advanced planet should be able to figure out a way to do this easily.

That, of course, is an excellent question. We can only speculate . . . which is what we do best around here! Very Happy

At the 41:00 mark there’s an important scene with Morris Ankrum (Dr. Hubbel’s attending physician) recording his notes concerning his patient’s “delusions”. He says that Dr. Eliot claims the aliens “subsist on pure electrical or atomic energy. Finding their planet depleted, they are scourging the universe, looking for fresh supplies.”






The definition of subsist is “to maintain or support oneself, especially at a minimal level.” Does that mean the aliens are non-corporeal and "eat" energy? (Well, heck, what ELSE would energy beings eat?) Confused

In a scene at the 45:15 mark we again see Ankrum recording notes. He states that Dr. Hubbell Eliot believes the aliens plan to send more of the “accumulators” to Earth until we’re sucked dry.

Dr. Eliot comes in while Ankrum is recording the notes, and (under the alien’s control at this point), he murders Ankrum by pushing him against the protective chain link fence around several high-voltage switches.






There are two things seriously wrong with that scene. How could Ankrum be electrocuted by the “protective fence" around the control panel, and why was Dr. Hubbell Eliot NOT electrocuted too whenhe pressed Ankrum against it? Rolling Eyes

Anyway, Mike, I gained a new respect for Kronos, thanks to you inspirational post! Cool

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tmlindsey
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 15, 2023 11:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've always liked this film and the Kronos design.

Imagine if this were to happen today, with everyone addicted to electronic devices. If Kronos was draining energy from everything, I can imagine the chaos that would ensue when people "lost their connection" and couldn't function on any level. I can see whole groups of oblivious ding-bats standing around trying to get their smart phone to work and they get squashed by Kronos as it stamps along. Which might not be a bad thing, come to think of it.
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