When Worlds Collide (1951)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Christopher H

  
  A surprisingly intelligent disaster movie and a nice sci-fi gem from the 1950's. Despite the film's low budget, the special effects are quite spectacular and well done (with the exception of the end). The film's ensemble cast is also well rounded and each give… More
  A surprisingly intelligent disaster movie and a nice sci-fi gem from the 1950's. Despite the film's low budget, the special effects are quite spectacular and well done (with the exception of the end). The film's ensemble cast is also well rounded and each give respectable performances, with one of the standouts being Larry Keating. The scientific logic may be a little ridiculous, but the movie does a good job in presenting it in a believable manner and getting the audience to be empathetic towards the human character's efforts to save humanity from extinction. The main human character's enemy is time, and tension builds as doomsday draws nearer and nearer. Definitively one of the better sci-fi movies from the 1950's that still mostly holds up today.

• AJ V

  
  I know that this movie is not usually regarded as one of the classic or best sci-fi movies of the 50s, even the early 50s, but I think it's highly underrated. Give it a chance and see what you think. The special effects are really very spectacular, especially when you read… More
  I know that this movie is not usually regarded as one of the classic or best sci-fi movies of the 50s, even the early 50s, but I think it's highly underrated. Give it a chance and see what you think. The special effects are really very spectacular, especially when you read about how they made the movie. The story has been seen in other movies, of course, but this movie gives you a new look at the end of Earth. This is one of my favourite sci-fi movies.

• Randy T

  
  This is not your typical low-budget 50's sci-fi thriller. The effects here, with the possible exception of the final scene, are stunning. This is global Armageddon with style! Nostalgic, but still technologically impressive.

• Luke B

  
  50's was a great time for Sci-Fi. With the moon landings approaching but not quite here, it was the perfect time for imagination and science to collide. Today though and a lot of the effects and ideas look very dated. However, buried beneath the surface of these films are… More
  50's was a great time for Sci-Fi. With the moon landings approaching but not quite here, it was the perfect time for imagination and science to collide. Today though and a lot of the effects and ideas look very dated. However, buried beneath the surface of these films are excellent ideas. Here we see the worlds reaction to a collision with another planet. Although this will wipe out all life, a handful of people can chance a spaceship to the new planet. When it's being dramatic it works. Who should survive? Why? How will others react? All this is explored over the course of the film. We also have a number of excellent characters. None of them simple. This would be a fantastic film for Roland Emmerich to take on, especially with todays effects. Maybe then we could see the planet pass by rather than just a shaky room.

• Daniel H

  
  One of the earliest and most amazing (for the time, of course) usages of special effects to "Destroy the World", such as tsunamis and volcanic floods. The message is hopeful of a better future, but the plot is all about the war between humanities better and worse natures in… More
  One of the earliest and most amazing (for the time, of course) usages of special effects to "Destroy the World", such as tsunamis and volcanic floods. The message is hopeful of a better future, but the plot is all about the war between humanities better and worse natures in the rush to evacuate planet earth. Unlike modern-day reinterpretations of the theme, the focus is on the people, not the disasters.

• xGary X

  
  50s sci-fi that won awards for it's effects back in the day, but is now no more than a quaint museum piece. The forerunner to all the modern global disaster movies like Deep Impact and The Day After Tomorrow (unfortunately...)

• RJ M

  
  Before Bruce Willis saved the world from a giant meteor, producer George Pal gave us this 1951 classic that upped the ante from a comet to an entire planet on a collision course with earth. Unlike the modern take on this scenario, in this movie there is no way to stop it from… More
  Before Bruce Willis saved the world from a giant meteor, producer George Pal gave us this 1951 classic that upped the ante from a comet to an entire planet on a collision course with earth. Unlike the modern take on this scenario, in this movie there is no way to stop it from happening. The world IS going to end, and all humanity can do is come up with a plan to make sure at least SOME of them survive. How to do it? Build a spaceship that will carry them to a new planet, of course! A sign of the times is how the film is steeped in religious overtones. A morality tale with a sci-fi backdrop. For its time, the movie contains some pretty spectacular visual effects, for which it won an Academy Award. Not an action movie, but one of the granddaddy of disaster movies.

• alan j

  
  A classic for its time...despite the simplified plot, the cornball science and outdated effects, Derr (looking like a young Bill Maher) and Rush create kinetic screen chemistry. Along with an uplifting story, this is a sci-fi flick every fan of the genre should view. There is a… More
  A classic for its time...despite the simplified plot, the cornball science and outdated effects, Derr (looking like a young Bill Maher) and Rush create kinetic screen chemistry. Along with an uplifting story, this is a sci-fi flick every fan of the genre should view. There is a remake of the film slated for 2010...

Read all 8 featured audience ratings