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The Shape of Things to Come (1979)

 
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 31, 2016 6:31 pm    Post subject: The Shape of Things to Come (1979) Reply with quote



I've hesitated to post about this movie....because I'm in it!

Also because it's such a crappy movie!

In the summer of '79 I along with my wife and son went to Ontario Place located on the Toronto waterfront. If you're not familiar with it, it was a futuristic area of geo-domes and hamster trails for big folks .

The day we were there they were filming "pick-up shots" for this film and recruited visitors for some mob scenes. So.....If you actually watch this movie you'll see my wife, son and myself running through corridors on the moon base trying to escape from Evil Jack Palance and his horde of trashcan robots!

This is what Wikipedia says about this film:



H. G. Wells' The Shape of Things to Come is a 1979 Canadian science fiction film. Although credited to H. G. Wells, the film takes only its title and some character names from The Shape of Things to Come, Wells' speculative novel from 1933.

The film's plot has no relationship to the events of the book. The book predicts events such as a Second World War and the collapse of social order until a world state is formed, whereas the film involves a high-tech future involving robots and spaceships.[original research?] The film was an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of such recent successes as Star Wars, and TV series such as Space: 1999 and Battlestar Galactica, although the film had only a fraction of the production budget of any of these.



Sometime in the future, Earth is recovering from "The Robot Wars" that devastated the planet seven years earlier. Most of humanity now lives on the Moon within a domed city called New Washington, but their survival depends on an anti-radiation drug called Raddic-Q2 which is manufactured on the distant planet Delta 3.

As scheduled, Delta 3 sends a massive cargo ship with a supply of the drug, but the ship crashes into New Washington's dome and causes widespread destruction.

The colony leader, Senator Smedley (John Ireland), and science advisor Dr. John Caball (Barry Morse), try to contact Nikki (Carol Lynley), the leader of Delta 3, but instead hear from Omus (Jack Palance), the "Robot Master," Caball's former apprentice, and the newly self-proclaimed Emperor of that world. Omus states that the crash was a deliberate attack and he demands the people of New Washington recognize his authority as their leader, or else he will send more ships with an invasion force of robots under his control.

Smedley refuses to give into Omus' threats and Caball suggests launching the Starstreak against him — an advanced starship designed for both space exploration and defense of the Moon colony, but Smedley goes against the plan since the ship has yet to be fully tested.

Caball boards the ship anyway, and prepares it for launch, during which he accidentally exposes himself to a dose of deadly radiation while in the reactor room.

With no time to obtain any of the radiation drugs, Caball calls his son Jason (Nicholas Campbell) to help him pilot the ship.

Tagging along are Smeldey's daughter Kim (Eddie Benton), and "Sparks," a teleporting pilot robot that Kim had salvaged from the wreck of the cargo ship and repaired.

When they arrive, Caball convinces them of the urgency to stop Omus at all costs. They agree to help steal the Starstreak and set course to Delta 3.

Shortly after launch, a malfunction forces the Starstreak to stop at Earth, and the crew separate from the ship to land the forward saucer section on the planet.

While Caball conducts repairs, Jason and Kim explore the area hoping to locate an old friend of Caball's named Charley who mans a nearby refueling depot. They are unaware however, of small figures that stalk them in the woods.



Jason eventually finds Charley dead and then notices that Kim has disappeared. He and Sparks eventually find her with a group of harmless children who are survivors of the Robot Wars, but with more pressing matters to attend to, Jason decides to leave the kids behind with some food supplies, but promises to come back for them once their mission is complete.

Meanwhile, on Delta 3, Nikki has formed a resistance force and tries to take back the Citadel — a massive tower controlled by Omus and his robot minions. Her infiltration attempt fails and Nikki can only pray that help arrives soon. Elsewhere, the Starstreak has left Earth and achieved light speed, but enters a gravity vortex that threatens to destroy the ship.

The crew eventually manages to escape the storm with Delta 3 conveniently appearing before them. Upon landing, the crew finds Nikki and her people, but soon a group of Omus' robots surround them.

The party is then greeted by a hologram of Omus and Caball demands to meet face-to-face. Omus agrees and has Caball brought before him while Jason and the others plan to sneak inside the Citadel.

Omus shows off his latest achievements to his old mentor, and how he was able to turn the mining robots into shock troopers that easily took control of the planet. Caball remains unimpressed and tries to talk Omus into giving up his plan to control humanity. Omus refuses to listen and then dons a transparent helmet where he shows Caball another creation — a spinning disco ball-like device that drives Caball mad with pain and eventually kills him.

Once the others finally reach Omus' chambers, Jason finds his father murdered, but Kim reveals that Caball had severe radiation sickness and was about to die soon anyway. A furious Jason then confronts Omus, but Omus' robots take him prisoner. Thanks to Sparks, all the robots suddenly turn on their master and run out of control, allowing Jason and the others to flee the control room. Jason hears from Sparks who has teleported to one Omus' cargo ships and taken over the main computer system.

The robot frenzy however, overloads critical systems and explosions begin to rip through the Citadel. Sparks escapes in the cargo ship, while the others make it back to the Starstreak and lift off. They leave Omus sitting in his control room while everything explodes around him. The destruction of the Citadel eventually causes the whole planet to explode.

The last scene shows the two ships returning to Earth, with the cargo ship hauling a supply of Raddic-Q2.

TCM review :

Where to begin? Supposedly based on a story by H.G. Wells, The Shape of Things to Come opens with a narrator informing us that "This is Washington. New Washington. A thriving colony on the surface of the moon..." But it looks like a rented sound stage populated by extras with bad hair dressed in vintage K-Mart disco wear.

And it just gets better. The story is set in a time after the great "Robot Wars" when mankind is dependent on a drug, Ridic-2-Q, that protects against radiation poisoning, a constant concern. But when the evil Omus (Jack Palance in a purple cape) takes control of Delta Three where Ridic-2-Q is produced, he uses extortion and acts of violence to blackmail mankind into accepting him as the emperor of the universe.

Of course, he didn't count on any serious opposition from Dr. Caball (Barry Morse of The Fugitive and Space: 1999 TV fame) and his renegade band of rebels.

Shot on location in parts of Quebec and Ontario, The Shape of Things to Come is a rock-bottom, no-frills production that looks like it was filmed in a shopping mall.

Imagine a threadbare version of Logan's Run (1976) and you've got the picture. What action there is usually involves scads of extras racing up and down antiseptic corridors or frantically pacing back and forth in control rooms where they shout out technical gibberish and stare intently at small computer monitors.

Oh yes, we forgot to mention the kamikaze robots who are controlled by Omus. They're big, clunky affairs that are much closer in design to Robby the Robot in Forbidden Planet (1956) than the Star Wars cyborgs. Occasionally they'll blow up something or engage in very slow hand-to-hand combat with a jump-suited extra. On the side of the good is "Sparks," an annoying, Shakespeare-quoting piece of metal that is a sad imitation of R2D2.

But the best special effect in The Shape of Things to Come is Mr. Palance who cuts quite a figure in his purple cape and unflattering space-age attire. Not only does he get most of the best lines but he has a great freak-out scene toward the end where he's surrounded by his faithful robot bodyguards.

He even gets to appear as a spinning hologram that changes color in one scene. Hollywood veterans like John Ireland and Carol Lynley aren't as lucky and aren't required to do much more than look extremely distressed....and who wouldn't in those clothes?

If you'd like to see this masterpiece, it's available here"

http://viooz.ac/movies/32719-the-shape-of-things-to-come-1979.html
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Custer
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 6:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

TCM wrote:
...a rented sound stage populated by extras with bad hair...
Very Happy

My antivirus doesn't trust the page linked to, sadly. I don't see the movie on YouTube, though somebody there is promising to stream it tomorrow...

Anyway, I think we can trust Bud to revise the movie poster to add a certain name as its star... Wink
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 3:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Gordo, you sly dog, you're hiding your light under a bushel! (A definite fire hazard, but never mind that.)

The poster I found seems to rank your involvement in the movie on a higher level than you realized! Apparently there are, indeed, "no small parts" — even when they're just extras running with a crowd!

How else can we explain THIS! Shocked




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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 3:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
Gordo, you sly dog, you're hiding you'rer light under a bushel!

Bud, I think that's a new achievement in inventive spelling!
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 4:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

My goodness, Wayne, you seem to have misquoted me! Time for new glasses?
Very Happy


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
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Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Dec 19, 2017 11:55 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 5:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I especially appreciated all the reviews that said we extras looked like escapees from a 70's disco with K-mart clothes and bad hair!

Actually that's true because the costumes looked like disco-punk rejects ! Most of the extras used their own clothes anyway. As far as "bad hair"....Well at least I had some in those days!

By the way, we never saw any of the principle actors and except for a few flash-bangs the practical effects were minimal!

At least my scene is featured in the trailer! Here on Youtube :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqhLxb0af8I

Still, it was an interesting experience and a fun memory! Even if my "on screen" time can be counted in seconds !
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 6:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote



By the way, Ontario Place is essentially a 70's idea of a futuristic city. We've been there a number of times and it was always a fun time.



Last edited by Gord Green on Wed Aug 09, 2017 3:11 pm; edited 1 time in total
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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 9:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
My goodness, Wayne, you seem to have misquoted me! Time for new glasses?

What did you think I was using?


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Pow
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 04, 2017 4:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Always thought that movies or tv productions should shoot on location at World's Fairs or Expos if they could.

The incredible looking architecture at these places make for terrific,epic-like quality & greatly enhance such productions.

The episode of the original Battlestar Galactica, "Greetings From Earth,'' had scenes where Starbuck explores a futuristic abandoned city. I have no idea where they shot it but clearly it wasn't on the backlot of some studio.

It had some amazing looking buildings,plus,interior scenes of these buildings that were not studio sets.

I always found BG a dopey sf tv show with some wonderful visual & special FX. The scenes of this empty city of the future gave the episode a movie like quality.

When Disney did their TV Movie/Pilot "Earth* Star Voyager, ''they filmed part of it at an Expo in Vancouver, Canada. Again, this contributed to giving this tv production an epic, movie quality to it.
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Custer
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 8:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

And one part of Rogue One was filmed on London's Docklands Light Railway...


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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu May 05, 2022 1:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

__________________________________

One of the perks of living in the 21st Century is the fact that architecture is beginning to resemble what we've seen in science fiction movie from the past.

Which means science fiction movies of the present can use some of the architecture to stand in for architecture of the future! Very Happy

Wait a minute . . . if the building's now look the way we thought they'd look in the future, then this isn't the present!

This IS the future! Shocked

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
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Pow
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PostPosted: Thu May 05, 2022 2:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wonderful cast, bloody awful film.

I think Mystery Science Theater 3000 took this one on for one of their comical shows.

I recall watching an episode of Sliders titled "El Sid," March 29, 1996. Synopsis: Along with a psycho and his girlfriend who have hitched a ride, the Sliders find themselves on a Earth where San Francisco has been turned into a maximum security prison.

I bring this up because I know the first few seasons of Sliders were shot in Canada. And I believe that Ontario Place was where they filmed this particular episode.

I was impressed at the look of the location and felt it really enhanced this episode. Professor Arturo even comments upon the geodesic dome as they walk pass it.
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