ALL SCI-FI

[Maurice]

Years later, Mantley got in some hot water with the WGA for crossing a picket line. At first he was to be expelled from the Guild and fined $25,000, but the fine was lowered to $3,883.48 and the expulsion set aside.

American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. et al. v. NLRB
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"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles

[Pow]

Upon recently viewing this marvelous movie on good old Youtube, I did have some questions regarding statements made by the "Alien."

When he addresses the group of humans that he has transported to his flying saucer (splendid design by Mr. Harryhausen), he says "The Universe in which my world exists is dying, soon our sun will be going nova and explode."

Shouldn't he have said "The Universe in which our worlds exist?" Or, "The galaxy in which my world exists?" He seems to be saying that his world exists in a different universe? "The universe is defined as comprising all of existence, all forms of energy & matter from sub-atomic particles to entire galaxies," according to Wikipedia. We know scientifically that there are multitudes of galaxies within the universe. Is the alien saying there is more than one universe? Is this some theory that has been put forth that I've not heard about before?

[Bud Brewster]

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You're right, Mike, he used the wrong term.

In fact, even "galaxy" would be wrong. A supernova would not destroy the whole galaxy, so he should have said, "The star system in which my world exists is dying. Soon our sun will be going nova and explode."

That's why I'm bothered by him saying either universe OR galaxy. If his civilization had starships fast enough to travel between galaxies, surely they could evacuate to some other uninhabitable planet and not feek the need to wipe out mankind so they can have Earth.

Add to this the fact that in the last scene we hear his answer to our invitation to share Earth.

"People of Earth, we accept your invitation. We come in gratitude and love. We bring you greetings from 30,000 intelligent worlds, to tell you they're waiting to greet you . . . among the stars."

So, there are 30,000 inhabited planets who all get along with each other — but none of them can help the alien's population?

That, I'm afraid, is a flaw in the story.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

The alien states that his world's sun will be going into nova, which naturally will obliterate his planet and that is why his civilization is seeking another planet as their new home.

At the conclusion of the movie we see the nations of the Earth put out the welcome mat for the alien and his race. The alien responds that they accept and give Earth "greetings from 30,000 worlds."

So are all of these worlds settled by this alien's race? Are they a collection of many different races, like Star Trek's Federation of Planets is? Can one nova exterminate 30,000 worlds? I realize that a sun going nova is astonishingly powerful, but are all 30,000 of these different planets precisely in the nova's path? How can Earth possibly accommodate the populations of 30,000 worlds? Do the aliens have some kind of technology that can address this issue?

[Bud Brewster]

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In the novel by John Mantley there's a whole chapter at the end which describes what happened in the decade after the 27 days expired and the alien refugees came to live on Earth. After sharing their technology with mankind, the aliens terraformed Mars and then left Earth to establish their own home on the Red Planet!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)