ALL SCI-FI

Pow · Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2022 9:55 pm Post subject:

"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.

Bud Brewster · Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 1:34 pm Post subject:

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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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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Pow · Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 2:28 pm Post subject:

Didn't include Kronos's demise because I couldn't recall how it was done by those clever Earth scientists, Bud.

Bud Brewster · Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 3:03 pm Post subject:

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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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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Pow · Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 2:21 pm Post subject:

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?

Bud Brewster · Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 2:56 pm Post subject:

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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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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Gord Green · Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 9:26 pm Post subject:

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 · Solar Explorer Joined: 06 Sep 2015 Posts: 67

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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Pow · Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 8:37 am Post subject:

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.

Bud Brewster · Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 12:43 pm Post subject:

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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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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Pow · Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 3:51 pm Post subject:

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.

Bud Brewster · Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 3:11 pm Post subject:

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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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tmlindsey · Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2023 11:30 am Post subject:

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. Laughing

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