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When Worlds Collide | 
 enlarge | Director: Rudolph Maté
Actors: Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hansen, John Hoyt, Larry Keating
Studio: Paramount
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $4.54
You Save: $5.44 (55%)
New (44) Used (17) from $4.54
Rating:  90 reviews
Sales Rank: 3376
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 82 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5 x 0.3
MPN: D051064D
ISBN: 079217304X
UPC: 097360510645
EAN: 9780792173045
ASIN: B00005NG6A
Theatrical Release Date: August 1951
Release Date: September 25, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW sealed shipped daily. International Shipping via Air Mail.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Winner of the 1951 Academy Award for Best Special Effects, this science fiction extravaganza set a new standard for the realistic depiction of cinematic disasters. Of course, it's a quaint curiosity by today's technological standards, but as produced by visual effects pioneer George Pal, this story of Earth's collision with a runaway star is still a dazzling example of screen sci-fi from the '50s, when special effects were entering a new stage of advancement. Despite scientists' warnings about the star's destructive potential, government officials refuse to take action that could cause international panic, but a consortium of private industrialists prepare for the worst by building a gigantic spaceship--an ark for humanity to begin life anew on a distant planet. Who will be chosen to go, and who left behind? As earthquakes roar and massive tidal waves devastate entire cities, the huge rocket prepares for take-off from its miles-long launching ramp--ready to abandon the shattered Earth! Although it's more enjoyable now as a cinematic museum piece, When Worlds Collide remains a milestone of its kind, leading the way for many more screen disasters that followed this movie's still-worthy example. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 85 more reviews...
 Early George Pal August 26, 2008
L. Cabos (planet earth)
After DESTINATION MOON and just before WAR OF THE WORLDS, Pal's adaption of The Phillip Wylie/Edwin Balmer classic is, itself, a classic. Effects that were top of the line for the early 1950's but may seem abit lame to today's viewers. The grand daddy of all disaster movies, this is one film it would be interesting see it remade with CGI. Still an wonderfully entertaining film. Have to admit, except for John Hoyt as a ruthless cripped millionaire (his man servant is played by a guy whose name escapes me who ended up in either Petticoat Junction or Green Acres) and Barbara Rush I can't think of anything else I've seen the rest of the cast in.
Great Classic Movie At A Fantastic Price! July 26, 2008
CFH (Blue Ridge Summit, PA USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
"When Worlds Collide" is one of my very favorite Sci-Fi movies. It is based on a book by the same name, co-written by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer (which is a great book with and enjoyable sequel, "After Worlds Collide"). The movie is appropriate for all but the youngest viewers and rates highly on my family's "Lazy Saturday" movie list. The plot is fast moving, the acting is good, and the "classic" special effects are enjoyable (matte-paintings :-)
This is a bargain priced DVD for a fantastic movie! Highly recommended!
From Nuclear Paranoia to Kitsch Fun - I love it! July 19, 2008
Zen Nataraj
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This movie freaked me out when I was 5 (in mid 1970s). Now it is so kitsch I just can't stop laughing.
As background scenarios, it uses oil-painted canvas; the rocket has propane gas lighters as fire engines. Acting lines are poor (except for: "You are scientific crackpots! Nothing will happen!"); plus, lip-locked kisses, and the absurd amount of cigarettes they smoke.
Likewise, its sci-fi concepts are beyond illogical even for the genre criteria, such as flying a settler-rocket into a zooming Terran planet that crushes Earth, besides the life lottery in which the doctor's daughter and her boyfriend are absurdly left hors-concour. The overt references to the Bible are amusing, as well as the long show-off scene of a first-generation helicopter. More seriously, it must be noted the complete absence of African-Americans actors.
"When Worlds Collide" kicked off the wave of sci-fi (and horror) movies expressing anxieties over a Nuclear Holocaust during the emerging Cold War: the approaching planet is red, red, red!... As interestingly, the movie also anticipates the white exodus from the city towards suburbia.
All in all, an interesting movie, which I recommend for a hilarious time with some fun friends.
Great Movie by George Pal! June 25, 2008
Tony Harris (Los Angeles, CA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a great movie about the end of the world. No, not by global warming, but by a heavenly body colliding with Earth. A space arc is constructed, and everyone fights for a seat. The only negative, there does not seem to be any racial diversity on the all-white flight.
Sci Fi Meets Human Nature June 21, 2008
L. Clemens (Schaumburg, IL United States)
George Pal and Ray Harryhausen do it again. Good example of Human nature, although not as it would be in today's world. 50's style politeness and control make it a little unbelieveable, but still very good. Good wins, evil loses... etc. Enjoyable to watch, can be watched many times. Not so much special effects, more drama, but the Sci-Fi theme is always underlying. I liked it, but then I like all of the classic Sci-Fi Movies.
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