The Doomsday Machine (1972 film)
Encyclopedia
Doomsday Machine, also known as Escape from Planet Earth (video title) is a American
science fiction film
iniitally filmed in 1967 but completed without the original cast or sets in 1972.
capable of destroying the Earth and it will be activated in 72 hours. Soon after, Astra – a two year return mission to Venus – has its time of launch speeded up and half of the male flight crew are replaced by women shortly before take-off, including one Russian. Shortly before blastoff military alerts are put into effect.
After leaving Earth, the seven crew members of Astra deduce that they have been put together to restart the human race should the Chinese activate their device. Shortly after this, the device goes off and Earth is destroyed.
As Astra continues to Venus, the crew realizes that a safe landing on Venus is impossible unless the crew is reduced to three. One of the crew members tries to rape another, at which point she accidentally gets them both blown out of an airlock.
Two more crew-members – an American astronaut and the female Russian – are lost as they head out to repair a fault with the spaceship using a crowbar and what looks like a bazooka. However, they notice another spacecraft conveniently nearby and jump to it. The second craft proves to be a lost Soviet ship that disappeared piloted by a close friend of the Russian crew member. Though its pilot is dead, the astronauts successfully power up the Soviet ship. Before the two ships can rendezvous, contact with Astra is lost.
A disembodied voice cuts in, claiming to be the collective consciousness of the Venusian population. The voice informs the survivors in the Russian ship that Astra no longer exists, and that no humans will be allowed to reach Venus. It gives a cryptic message about a life beyond the universe, before the movie abruptly concludes.
Sloppy production standards have made the film a favorite for buffs of bad cinema. Excessive use of stock footage
is painfully obvious, including real (but badly degraded) NASA
rocket footage, special effects shots from David L. Hewitt's (who also worked on the film) The Wizard of Mars
(1965), Gorath
(1962) and other disparate sources, leading to numerous continuity errors. Among persistent errors is the external appearance of the Astra, which inexplicably changes throughout the film. The painfully protracted last segment of the story – with an American and Russian astronaut boarding a derelict Soviet spacecraft – was obviously shot after the unfinished principal photography without either one of the characters' original actors. They stay in their spacesuits, which are noticeably different from those seen in the immediately preceding scenes and whose helmets have mysteriously become opaque, concealing their faces; their voices are completely different from that heard in the rest of the film, the Russian no longer even having an accent.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
science fiction film
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
iniitally filmed in 1967 but completed without the original cast or sets in 1972.
Plot
A spy (Essie Lin Chia) discovers that the Chinese government have created a doomsday deviceDoomsday device
A doomsday device is a hypothetical construction — usually a weapon, or collection of weapons — which could destroy all life on a planet, particularly the Earth, or destroy the planet itself, bringing "doomsday", a term used for the end of planet Earth...
capable of destroying the Earth and it will be activated in 72 hours. Soon after, Astra – a two year return mission to Venus – has its time of launch speeded up and half of the male flight crew are replaced by women shortly before take-off, including one Russian. Shortly before blastoff military alerts are put into effect.
After leaving Earth, the seven crew members of Astra deduce that they have been put together to restart the human race should the Chinese activate their device. Shortly after this, the device goes off and Earth is destroyed.
As Astra continues to Venus, the crew realizes that a safe landing on Venus is impossible unless the crew is reduced to three. One of the crew members tries to rape another, at which point she accidentally gets them both blown out of an airlock.
Two more crew-members – an American astronaut and the female Russian – are lost as they head out to repair a fault with the spaceship using a crowbar and what looks like a bazooka. However, they notice another spacecraft conveniently nearby and jump to it. The second craft proves to be a lost Soviet ship that disappeared piloted by a close friend of the Russian crew member. Though its pilot is dead, the astronauts successfully power up the Soviet ship. Before the two ships can rendezvous, contact with Astra is lost.
A disembodied voice cuts in, claiming to be the collective consciousness of the Venusian population. The voice informs the survivors in the Russian ship that Astra no longer exists, and that no humans will be allowed to reach Venus. It gives a cryptic message about a life beyond the universe, before the movie abruptly concludes.
Production
Production of Doomsday Machine began in 1967 under Herbert J. Leder's direction under the titles Armageddon 1975 and Doomesday Plus Seven. Production stopped on the fiulm before it was completed but the rights to the film were purchased and completed in 1972;without the original cast or sets.Sloppy production standards have made the film a favorite for buffs of bad cinema. Excessive use of stock footage
Stock footage
Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that may or may not be custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is sometimes less expensive than shooting new...
is painfully obvious, including real (but badly degraded) NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
rocket footage, special effects shots from David L. Hewitt's (who also worked on the film) The Wizard of Mars
The Wizard of Mars
The Wizard of Mars is a 1965 low budget science fiction film takeoff of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz co-written and directed by stage magician David L. Hewitt. The title character is portrayed by John Carradine, who gives a lengthy monologue as a projection near the end of the film...
(1965), Gorath
Gorath
Gorath, released in Japan as , is a Japanese science fiction tokusatsu film produced by Toho in 1962. The story for Gorath was by Jojiro Okami.-Synopsis:...
(1962) and other disparate sources, leading to numerous continuity errors. Among persistent errors is the external appearance of the Astra, which inexplicably changes throughout the film. The painfully protracted last segment of the story – with an American and Russian astronaut boarding a derelict Soviet spacecraft – was obviously shot after the unfinished principal photography without either one of the characters' original actors. They stay in their spacesuits, which are noticeably different from those seen in the immediately preceding scenes and whose helmets have mysteriously become opaque, concealing their faces; their voices are completely different from that heard in the rest of the film, the Russian no longer even having an accent.
External links
- http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/doomsday-machine/