When Time Ran Out... (1980) Movie Review
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- čas přidán 21. 06. 2024
- Here are my thoughts on this somewhat infamous volcanic eruption thriller, which was producer Irwin Allen's last big disaster movie. The review is pretty much spoiler-free, though you can scrutinize images to draw conclusions about who lives and who dies if you want to. Hope you enjoy the video!
Related reviews:
The Poseidon Adventure: • The Poseidon Adventure...
The Towering Inferno: • The Towering Inferno (...
the Airport series: • Airport Film Series Re...
Special thanks to everyone who helps support the channel at ko-fi.com/weiselberry! - Zábava
I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned the similarities between this film and the early 1960s film The Devil At 4 O’Clock starring Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra, about a group of people on a South Pacific island trying to reach a boat and safety before the big volcano erupts. They encounter all manner of hair-raising situations including a climactic bridge crossing scene. Same basic plot. The earlier film’s no classic but I prefer it to Irwin Allen’s version. The score by George Duning is good and the special effects hold up surprisingly well for the early sixties. JW you might want to check it out. Take care & keep up the good work!
Interesting! I don't think I've heard of that one. It does sound suspiciously similar...
There's even a character who risks his life to steady the bridge while others cross! And none of it ends well for anyone. The climax of _When Time Ran Out_ has none of the genuine tragedy of _Devil at 4 O'Clock,_ replacing it with Burgess Meredith's circus act and a batch of who-cares fatalities in that pathetic forced-perspective indoor set. It's a testament to the actors' skill that the movie has what little impact it does (I still felt sorry for Meredith and Cortese's characters, despite being Manny-and-Belle knockoffs).
Thanks Miss Weiselberry, even if the film doesn't rate a good review at least we learn about something best avoided. I remember disaster movies being considered a bit passé by 1980, also the quality decline from Poseidon Adventure was very noticeable to anyone paying attention. A bit like the Star Wars franchise and superhero movies being in a recent downward spiral of quality, causing a corresponding drop in popularity. As Mark Twain once said that “History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme."
The early part of this review reminded me of our current discussion about audiences having superhero fatigue. Audiences don't get tired of genres. They get tired of bad movies. If creators stops being creative that's not the fault of the style of movie they're making.
The 70's disaster movies got bigger and more outrageous as they went, proving once again that sometimes less is more.
Nothing to do with Irwin Allen or disaster movies, but it's nice to have discovered someone who shares my odd combination of interests in golden age hollywood, cheesy monster movies and 19th century English novels! You're the only person I've heard make the Robot Monster-Wizard of Oz connection other than myself. The one thing I think you missed was Ro-man's bubble machine was a reference to the kid's toy ray gun shooting bubbles in his "awake" life. Love your honest but good natured, and funny takes.
I watched this movie as a kid. I'm now 52.
Part of the draw of disasters movies were the star-studded lineups. When actors realized that they could command larger salaries the budgets of the movies were consumed by salaries.
It’s safe to say that the Disaster genre really reached its peak with The Towering Inferno. After that I think a few stars lined up to sink Disaster movies. 1) the films after that were a noticeable step down in quality, 2) as things began to decline in the US, people wanted more escapist entertainment, and 3) once Star Wars hit the scene, (1977) it was such a cultural phenomenon that studios scrambled for similar films to try and ride that wave, and audiences had shifted like you said to more sci-fi or comedy material.
It’s like the books ‘by’ Andrews who did the children attic stuff. She’s been dead for decades yet they still come out with her books.
When time Ran Out is definitely a disaster film but in all the wrong ways, your review is spot on, look forward to your next one.
"When Time Ran Out? More like when the budget ran out." 🤣🤣🤣
So funny, the instant I saw the title of this review I immediately thought "Hmmm, I wonder if it's because she just read 'Eruption' ". I read it last week. It's definitely a page-turner, but all the characters are impossible to keep track of and the ending is kind of let down. It's okay but nowhere near Crichton's usual high standards so you're right to give it a pass. And I absolutely agree with you about his 'grieving widow' exploiting as many of his unpublished drafts as she can. She did that with "Micro" and "Pirates Latitude", too (though I actually kind of liked "Pirates Latitude", except for the ending). Anyway, your movie review was spot-on and great fun to watch. I've seen "When Time Ran Out" several times myself so I kept laughing and nodding my head in agreement throughout the review. Great job! 🙂
This movie does not look good at all, but at the same time I do actually want to see it. Though some of the comments you made about the film’s problems were actually very funny. “When the budget ran out” hit the nail on the door. Thanks again for another review, J!
Those who are not about to watch salute you. Thank you for your endurance !
I remember watching Allen's "Fire!" and "Flood!" on a double feature on (I think) NBC TV back in the late 70s. I remember liking both of them. Disaster movies can get a bit repetitive, though, so I kind of get why they faded from popularity. There's only so many narrative possibilities in the genre. "When Time Ran Out" was, as you say, incredibly dull. There was just nothing to focus on, and no real tension, for me at least. Glad your mom liked it though!
There is a fascinating article, The Return of the Mogul, in the March 18, 1994 issue of The New Yorker, which features movie producer John Calley confronting Allen. Immediately after the blockbuster success of The Towering Inferno, Warner Brothers believed that Allen was the golden goose and signed him up for three movies. Those movies would turn out to be The Swarm, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, and When Time Ran Out. Calley was personally very dubious of Allen and saw him as an out-of-control ego, his success with Inferno mainly being a fluke. Allen was dead set on adapting a thriller novel, The Walter Syndrome, into a movie. Was it problematic? What would you call a script in which a rogue cop and a maniacal killer are the same person -- oh, and everything has to be told in first person, from the killer/cop's point of view? But Allen was prepared to die on that hill. Calley came out to visit what Allen called his "environment," a three-story house of redwood and glass with a gilt door. Allen handed Calley a copy of The Walter Syndrome, leatherbound and embossed with gold letters. Sizing up the spooky eerie situation, Calley said "Irwin, I wouldn't presume to talk story with you because of who you are -- because you are Irwin Allen." Then Calley chose a question: "Would Cecil B. De Mille have made The Walter Syndrome?" That was the key. Allen now considered himself to be a maker on epics on a par with De Mille and Calley had made his point. Allen dumped the leatherbound script in a wastebasket and no one heard of The Walter Syndrome ever again. Yes, in his heyday, Allen was a great if rather cartoonish (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants) entertainer, but as time ran out, so to speak, he was no longer especially reliable. I have only one compliment to play Irwin Allen. He made a TV movie called City Beneath the Sea, which used to be available on CZcams but seems to have dried up, which I perversely love. I consider it to be Allen's magnum opus, a mix of gonzo "everything but the kitchen sink" melodrama and Apollo-era techno-optimism. It is a hoot and a half, complete with Robert Wagner as a villain with a mustache, and I miss it. I salute your dedication, Rome, and owl be seeing you.
Thank you for sharing this video. I can't add much to what you said in your review. But yeah I remember hearing this movie helped start Newman's Own. Which somehow always makes this movie tolerable to me
Least something good came out of this movie right?
Thankfully, Dante's Peak(1997) managed to do volcano disaster film much better, and set a standard for disater films. And honestly I do find Volcano(1997) a guilty pleasure 😅
Have you ever seen Crack in the World? Great Sci-fi flick from 1965.
@@kenknowlton3085 I haven't but I should look into that. Thanks for the recommendation!
@irwinisidro I hope that you are able to find it. After years of searching, it showed up on Amazon in Blu-ray.
Another that I highly recommend, especially if you like the 60s Hammer studios films, is 'Quatermass and the Pit' (1967) (in the US, it was released as Five Million Years to Earth)
@@kenknowlton3085 I have loved CRACK IN THE WORLD since 1965, and is a shining example on how to do these movies RIGHT. It was even made on a low budget. Stars film Icon Dana Andrews.
Thanks Weiselberry. At first I was wondering how I missed this movie, but now I know why. Didn't mis much. But the way, I loved the quip about James Patterson's "ghost writers!"
If you have not see from 1976, The Big Bus. I think it would be your last disaster film ever watched.
Excellent recommendation! Love The Big Bus, pure goofiness.
The Swam is worse and longer. Thanks for the review.
It's a little more bonkers, though, which helps.
@@JeromeWeiselberry True.
OK, I missed and forgot about this movie. Now I know why! Thank you for your review. I won't have to waste my time on it. Thank you, Jerome!
I've never knew of this movie. Added to my disaster movie watch list.
Very sincere review--wonderful.
Side note: I like the length of your hair and how you wear it in this video; very cute.
Very interesting post. I haven’t thought of this film in ages. I think it came and went without a whimper. Not even that great cast could save it. It’s a shame all that talent wasn’t given better material to work with. I think you hit the nail on the head , the disaster film genre had pretty much ran it’s course.
I think the strongest disaster movies are the ones with the most relatable disasters. Everyone can relate to being in a tall building, and most can relate to being on a plane or ship, so a disaster in one of those is a very primal, understandable fear. When you get to things like a volcano erupting, that's a more rarefied worry, so if that's your disaster you have to make it a good movie. The 90's volcano movies 'Dante's Peak' and 'Volcano' did that pretty well (DP being a good movie, V being entertaining but silly).
I think when movie genres can be parodied easily, it becomes much harder to make them as nobody takes them seriously. 'Big Bus' first, but in '80 'Airplane' - after that you couldn't make a serious disaster movie for many many years.
Many thanks for saving me 106 minutes on my life clock . My time will run out soon enough , without wasting it on films such as the one that you have just described .
Cheers !
Ok, I have never seen this movie, and it sounds pretty dire so unless it's on TV and my remote has disappeared, I won't be watching it. However, I did just watch Towering Inferno for the first time, and that was extremely impressive! I briefly forgot about O.J.Simpson's checkered past while he was showing so much common sense (and saved a kitty kat), and was genuinely moved when several characters met sad and unexpected ends. I may not have seen the movie in 1974 when it was released, but I was 15 then and always watched the Oscars and I remember that Fred Astaire was the heavy favorite to win for best supporting actor. I'll bet everyone told him to clear a spot on his mantle, he was definitely getting the award. We all know Fred lost to a newcomer named Robert Deniro, and he smiled and applauded graciously, but I will never forget that when the camera caught Fred later in the evening, that dear man was wearing sunglasses. Could his disappointment have brought him to tears? I guess we'll never know. But his place in cinema history and in our hearts is permanent and unassailable.
Compare WHEN TIME RAN OUT to CRACK IN THE WORLD, that I saw in a theatre in Berwyn, PA when I was a wee laddie in 1965. It scared the bejesus out of me, and the SPFX are incredible for 1965, and the music is excellent, acting and direction are all outstanding. The basso-profundo rumbling of the soundtrack when the moving-magma-generated earthquakes are occurring sound realistic, and are very frightening. I know CRACK IN THE WORLD is on DVD and Blue Ray.
Irwin Allen made some entertaining Sci-Fi series in the 1960s to 1970. When STAR WARS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS both came out in 1977 to interstellar success, Allen should have jumped on that bandwagon too, since it was familiar territory for him. Instead, he failed to emulate the style, wit, and success of those sci fi blockbusters, and just continued to beat a dead horse. A classic example of people making bad decisions, and then failing to learn from their mistakes. I felt bad for Irwin Allen by the late 1970s.
Thank you Jerome for this upload. Looking forward to this review
“ When the Budget Ran Out” lol. Your review for this film is great and funny :D
I had seen this film previously and had a fairly positive memory of it because of the bridge sequence, in reality it’s the only part of the film i could recollect along with the impressive cast so i decided to watch it again this week in anticipation of your review and within the first couple of minutes the memory of the film being pretty bad came back to me lol, I was watching the extended version and said Nah if i remember correctly this film was a tough watch so I’ll put on the shorter version instead, it is a tad boring and your description of the shots involving the helicopter, plane and trucks made me laugh lol, when they cut to the plane flying over after two or three times I paused it to see if it was a miniature or model because they seemed really happy with this plane to keep cutting to it, the helicopter interior was also awkwardly filmed, I didn’t know Paul Newmans character was supposed to be flying it until he started hitting switches after it had landed.
The character Spangler played by James Franciscus was so crazy and his motivations were hard to understand, anytime he said something or did something I’d have to ask why? He reminded me a little of the OceanGate guy especially after the accident with his rickety volcano elevator, it’s safe don’t worry, it’s got an escape hatch at the bottom and we have a manual lever that’ll get us up in about five hours if there’s an emergency, that poor guy that fell through must’ve badly burnt his legs as the temperature of the outer hull must’ve been extremely high. It is common for these films to have characters like Spangler but I felt he was one of the worst I’ve seen because his decisions had no logic behind them, it almost seemed like he wanted people to die, he knew for certain that the volcano would erupt but attempted to hide it and the way he cruelly treated his wife was vulgar, her character reminded me a little of the girl eaten by the pterodactyls and mosasaurus in Jurassic World, that character was added for the sole purpose of seeing her die horribly and it felt Spanglers wife was there just to see her suffer, I was expecting Spangler to perish in a terrible manner and he actually got off pretty easy. Where did the mountain sized tsunami come from? and why did it only effect one small area on the island? lol.
The film does hit all the same notes as other disaster films of its kind but hits them really tediously and with bad dialogue. Foot long centipedes with a soda of your choice only at Subway lol. I was waiting for the foot long volcano centipedes too :( foot long centipedes are real!!! :0 I don’t believe they live in Hawaii or volcanoes, Amazon I think but eww! When our main group we’re trying to convince people to go with them the centipede information would’ve been helpful, those people didn’t seem bothered by giant balls of flying lava maybe knowing giant centipedes were on the way would’ve given them a push, when Spangler heard about them from his wife I was surprised he didn’t start packing then and there lol, I thought the bridge sequence was the best part of the film and the balance rescue with Burgess Meredith was fun, if he’d used a stiff foot long centipede to balance with instead of a long stick it would’ve been more exciting but can’t have everything, he found that stick really fast and it was perfect, I’m sure it would’ve taken me three weeks to find the right one, I liked his character and the characters played by Ernest Borgnine and Red Buttons, don’t make names like that anymore, interestingly Paul Newman was hitting a few red buttons on the helicopter lol. Paul Newmans character: “ just hang on and put your feet on the sled as we travel really really high over a volcano” me : “ hahaha oh wait, you’re serious?” They were at a horse ranch surly there was some spare rope laying around to tie both guys around their arms and waists to secure them through the doors. Paul Newman was solid as always, his presence and naturalistic acting style did add a certain verisimilitude although the story around him was bonkers and William Holden was solid enough, it is still strange to see these iconic stars like Holden be forced to take those type of roles at that point in their careers, Joseph Cotten in Airport 77 also, they should’ve been playing Presidents and the like.
Great review! loved the details about the production, the thought of Steve McQueen in this is funny and hearing how this film led to Newmans Own makes the film worth it. I agree with everything you said about the release of the Crichton book Eruption too, it feels a little distasteful. I should also add RIP to Donald Sutherland, I immediately thought of your Forsaken review when I heard the news, it’s sad to lose these legendary stars and even sadder when it seems there’s no actors with their level of talent and uniqueness coming up behind them.
~ Thank you Ms Weiselberry ~
Whew, I'm glad you changed your mind and went for the shorter version instead. No need to spend extra time on a movie you already know you don't really like!
I agree, Spangler was ridiculously over-the-top. He takes a more villainous turn for no other reason than that the script demands it, and you're right that his end isn't satisfying considering how much of a jerk he became. Maybe if they'd had more money they would have made more out of that sequence. As is, it's pretty lame. And yeah, haha, the tidal wave was surprisingly well-contained if what we saw is any indication.
These disaster movies are famous for including well-known actors who were past their prime, and that makes me feel kind of sad. It's nice to see them, but they're often required to do stuff that looks exhausting for them. You know the scene in the cave near the end? I believe Burgess Meredith ends up sitting next to William Holden, and though they have no dialogue, when the camera's not rolling I imagine them looking at each other, all dirty and gross and wilted, and saying, "Ugh, we're too old for this."
Yes, I was sad to hear about Donald Sutherland too. Another one gone. It's a pity not many people know about Forsaken. I thought it was a good story, and both he and Kiefer were excellent in it.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the movie!
When Time Ran Out was set in Hawaii. It blew. You should also check out/review Earthquake and the Swarm
It was partially filmed in Hawaii, and initially I thought it was set there, but it's not. I've seen both Earthquake and The Swarm. Can't say I'm a big fan of either...
I actually saw this in a movie theater way back when it was released in Germany.
It already felt outdated at the time and I can't remember much about it. Your review brought back memories of the bridge sequence.
Now I feel like I should watch it again, but you're probably right: It was boring back then and it would be for nostalgia's sake only.
Still, I'm a sucker for disaster movies...
I never head of it! It must have flopped hard. They should have added dinosaurs. Reminds me of 1978's "Avalanche". Dante's Peak is the ultimate volcano movie.
I think I saw some of this movie on TV once but never got round to seeing it properly since I had suspicions it might be a bit boring. So I'm pretty confident your review is a fair assessment. Unless that extra 30 minutes is full of wall-to-wall foot-long centipede action...
Haha, that really could have turned things around!
Apparently after the initial release tanked the studio recut and re-released the film trying to market it as a comedy. Which is absurd but you've got to admire their tenacity. Nowadays they'd just dump it on streaming.
Thanks again for another great video,- I never heard of this movie but it might be worth a watch, you shed light on some forgotten or just not well known stuff. Hope you get better
Thank you for this Irwin Allen review. ☺️ When I first saw the title, at first I mistook it for _The Day Time Ended_ which is part of the bridge between 1) the Ray Harryhausen era and 2) Phil Tippett’s effects for _Star Wars_ . Harryhausen was mentor to Jim Danforth, Dave Allen, and Randall Cook. Those three collaborated on _The Day Time Ended_ and they worked with Phil Tippett on _Crater Lake Monster_ . Tippett would go on to do the stop-motion for _Star Wars_ and _Robocop_ and Randall Cook made the Terror Dogs for _Ghostbusters_ . A new Dave Allen movie, _Primevals_ , recently came out and took 30 years to make. Both Irwin Allen and this similarly-titled stop-motion movie have so much history. 😊
Wow. Don't remember this at all. Thanks.
I haven't seen this one, dunno if I will, since I 'm not really a fan of disaster movies.
I'm with you as far as postmortem participation in books and films, especially the ghostly appearances of dead actors.
Have a blessed Sunday.
Dante's Peak is one of the best volcano/disaster films of all time. OTOH, Volcano is just godawful, I'm sorry. It is a more modern equivalent of When Time Ran Out.
Yeah, Volcano leans a little more into guilty pleasure territory for me, though as a kid it was super exciting stuff. Dante's Peak has aged surprisingly well, I think. Great music, too.
Right on, brother! Volcano, the movie where we never see a volcano. And no dog to cheer for.
I'm considering your review on this one to be a public service, a warning to avoid. I'd much rather invest 20 minutes with Jerome Weiselberry than with this turkey. LOL, so thank you JW for enduring this for all of us!
And besides all the mentions about what destroyed the disaster movie genre, I think one of them had to be the TV mini series trend. You had the bloated star studded cast just like the disaster movies, but with a huge, sprawling story line spread out over several nights in your own home, as a must watch event before the days of cable TV. I think that satisfied the big cast appeal that these movies once had. And thinking about it, Irwin Allen should've probably cut his losses and instead of taking on an expensive movie, just used the When Time Ran Out script for one of those Escape From Gilligan's Island episodes! Mr. Howell would be financing the Professor's bamboo oil drilling rig with the other castaways taking sides, but they trigger a volcano and have a harrowing escape leaving for another nearby secluded island. Seems like it would've worked and under budget too! :D
There was also the Disaster Satire take offs, that coexisted with the Disaster movies. Airplane being the most remembered and the best of that subgenre. I vaguely remember seeing a not very funny film called Big Bus. However, maybe if I rewatched it it wouldn't seem so bad.
Saw that movie a few years ago. Obvious low budget, Saturday morning special F/X. Thought "Why would Newman do this?".
Gorgeous thumbnail!
It does look cheap, but it did have a decent sized budget
A disaster for the Master of Disaster.
Great to see you in my feed again. I would love to spend time talking to you. I’m a huge movie buff as well as many other interests. 👍
The scenes on the bridge get to me all the time.
As a kid I thought I had seen all of the 70's/80's disaster but I never heard of this one. The common thing will all of these movies were they were a platform for actors who were definitely declining in their careers.
PS: I saw Meteor in a theater with amazing surround sound. For the time, it was great. SFX was great.
Jerome, you have much more patience and tolerance than I do. If a film doesn't capture my interest within the first 20 minutes, *click* I'm gone. The cinematic landscape is littered with films I never finished watching.
20 minutes seem like a fair amount of time to give
Excellent review - thanks!
On the tail end of disaster craze. Mostly depended on star status. Newman's status was waning by then.
Great review 😊
I remember watching this movie in the theater. It bored me to death.
Nice review J, thanks. I see what you mean about the similarities to the earlier films. But I think in my case, the nostagia factor overcomes its flaws and I found the movie enjoyable. I watched it back in the day and also two years ago. I guess it's like expecting a spicy Mexican dish and then getting basic meat and potatoes; both good but in different ways. The beach picnic scene you mentioned was my favorite - it was like watching the two actors on lunch break and felt very natural to me. To each his own! Thanks again, have a nice week.
"When Money Ran Out" is a good one. Leonard Maltin suggested "When Ideas Ran Out" and "The Blubbering Inferno." 😆
Quality review as always. I don’t think I’ve seen it but I do quite like the title 😊
Great, entertaining review! I’ve subscribed to your channel. Have you ever covered “The Hurricane,” directed by John Ford? Old-school disaster. Terrific film.
If Dan Akroyd directed this film it woulda been a hit.
I watched this so many times on Showtime.
Oh man..I always get a laugh or two thinking about this film. Paul Newman had a very bad drinking problem in the 1970s, he sometimes came off a bit fallen off the wagon looking in The Towering Inferno, but this film, looks like he's had a couple too many before rolling cameras. His eyes look tired and wandering, he is extremely wooden, comes off half asleep and doesn't care about his job.
Because he read the script. I remember him on CBS's 60 minutes in the early 1990s saying he wished he had not done this film; he was not proud of it.
thanks for this neat review!
Nice review
Irwin Allen was a talented man, but tended to run successful things into the ground. Almost like "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" was the original and "Land of the Giants" was the 4th generation copy . . . .
I’m shocked at how badly Beyond The Poseidon Adventure and The Swarm performed at the box office, mainly because I actually paid (with my own money!) to see both. Chalk it up to the foolishness of youth because they were so bad it caused me to end of my flirtation with disaster movies, of which I’d seen quite a few up to that point. As a result I missed out seeing the one you’ve just reviewed. Also, because Michael Caine was in both I decided he deserved part of the blame (that youth thing again, I guess) and swore off any movie he might be in for the next six or seven years, after which I smartened up just in time to watch him deliver some of his
finest work (along with the occasional clunker, of course; we are talking about Caine after all).
Yeah, you could make a Caine triple feature by throwing Jaws: The Revenge in there. He certainly made some questionable decisions... but he didn't regret the paycheck! While my mom saw a lot of disaster movies in the theater, it was mostly in the first half of the decade. She saw The Poseidon Adventure multiple times and got the full Sensurround Earthquake experience, but she missed the stinkers until they showed up later on tv. That might also explain why her love of the genre never fell off, haha.
Haven't seen the film, but given my slight disdain for disaster films, i might skip it. Thanks for jumping on this particular grenade, JW. It is always a good day when a new video from you shows up.
You're welcome, haha. If you already dislike disaster movies, you definitely wouldn't enjoy this.
I watched the 1:44 version. There was the preamble to the cock fight but no actual cock fight scene. There was lots of awkward pauses and etc as you mentioned and it was definitely a case of phoning in the performances. I'll add one more implausibility: the bridge over the lava flow should not be there. The radiant heat would simply evaporate it and anyone on it. Still, it was worth it for Jaqueline Bissett :-))
Ah, so the scuttlebutt was false! Well, I'm glad to hear they didn't waste much time on that, and hats off to you for getting through the longer version. I'm glad you felt it was worth it in the end. :)
Movies like The Towering Inferno were not just disaster movies. They were casted with all sorts of old time stars that people hadn't seen in decades
Dante's Peak was about a volcano.
Good movie. Good characters. But the grandmother's passing was too hard to take.
If you haven't seen it, you might get a kick out of the SCTV Towering Inferno parody (made during the brief window when John Candy and Martin Short were both in the cast together). It's on CZcams in two parts.
Wow, never seen this. Now I never will, even if it's got Paul Newman! THE TOWERING INFERNO is the best of the Irwin Allen disaster flicks, IMHO.
As for why the disaster flicks tapered off, as a guy who was a tween/teen from 1972-80 and went to see every last one of 'em until THE SWARM, I remember thinking that the disasters were getting more and more ridiculous. An ocean liner sinking or a skyscraper burning is something that could really happen. A giant swarm of killer bees, a meteor, a volcano....I just couldn't relate.
Wikipedia says that when Larry King asked Paul Newman near the end of his career if there was ever a movie he ever regretted making, Newman said, "That volcano movie." My son & I recently watched Newman's two Lew Harper detective movies, HARPER (1966) and THE DROWNING POOL (1975). Might make a good twofer for you & your mom. Everybody loves Paul Newman! (don't they?)
Oil? Lava? Island? Where do I sign up?
The Siberian and Deccan Traps/flood basalts were massive volcanic events that are thought to have brought about mass extinctions in earth's past.
Maybe you should have a look at Goldstone and Silliphant's "Rollercoaster" from 1977. More of a suspense thriller than a disaster movie, in Sensurround it's very impressive. My abiding memory of is, after seeing the Sensurround presentation with my dad, he was so rattled that he swore he'd never go see a movie with me ever again. It was 15 years before he relented.
I'm 99% sure that I've seen Rollercoaster. The 1% is because I can't actually recall more than a couple frames. It would have been quite a while ago.
I do plan on reading Eruption. I'm waiting for a sale though, they're not getting $20 out of me. I'm trying to go in with no expectations to give it a fair shot.
Great channel❤
I love Allen's work. Sad this one wasn't that good, but The Swarm was also not very good so he might have been in decline. I did like Beyond the Poseidon Adventure though.
felaket filmleri çağını bitiren film. felaket filmleri dışında yine 70'lerde bolca olan devasa korkutucu hayvanlar jaws 1-2-3-4 ve sömürüleri the tentacles, the last shark, piranha, piranha 2, king kong, orca ,the empire of ants, the food of gods hepsi seyirciyi yordu.
maybe the big bugs are in the Doug McClure movies
Will watch it’s on CZcams right now for free. Another couple of made for tv disaster movies are disaster on the coastliner 1979 and Condominium 1980. Condominium was a mini series that was made into a movie later on. The Day After 1983 probably would be the last disaster movie until the late 90s with deep impact 1998.
Love your channel 😁 have you reviewed Meteor?
No, I've seen it, but I haven't reviewed it. Thanks!
Is there ANY chance that the foot long bugs are in the longer versions of the movie? I agree with your review, this is hack work all around.
Maybe I nodded off but I don't recall seeing them...
WTRO was bad, but I really enjoyed "Poseidon Adv. 2" which had a great cast and some lively acting with Shirley Jones, Karl Malden, Telly Savalas, and others. The budget was similar to "Airport Concorde 79". If you watch the free streaming services it's incredible how many low-low budget sci-fi movies you can choose from, and some of the are okay. I liked "Atomic Twister" with Sharon Lawrence, "2010 Moby Dick" with an over the top Barry Bostwick, and "Titanic 666" that had such a low budget it was filmed on the Queen Mary with some bad miniature work. I guess ultimately the actors have to make it work.
Didn’t know this existed - sounds like that’s not a bad thing.
Watching all these films, have you ever experienced a Mandella Effect? I'm not a believer in the M.E. but I enjoy stories about it. I find it fun.
I was just talking the other day about a movie where I thought for sure one thing had happened, and then I rewatched it and found out I'd remembered it wrong. But even though this conversation happened no more than five nights ago, I can't remember what the movie was...
@@JeromeWeiselberry My memory is so bad, the Mandella Effect could hit me in the face and I probably wouldn't even notice. Thanx for the reviews.
This film reminds me of 'Crack in the World (1965).' Have you seen it?
Yes, I saw it quite a few years ago.
@JeromeWeiselberry It is a prized title in my collection. It was very hard to find; out of circulation for a long time. You are awake very late!
Couldn't agree more about the Crichton book. If you fancy another disaster movie made a tthe tail end of the genre (and one that probbaly helped kill it off) check out The Swarm -great cast, good director, astonishingly awful movie.
I've seen The Swarm, and I agree with your assessment. The cast is sadly wasted. But I'm pretty sure my mom likes that one too, haha.
This is a "I watched When Time Ran Out... so you don't have to" review.
I didn't struggle to finish this film.There were a few good scenes.Paul Newman did not look comfortable.You had the
trainer of Rocky and the Karate Kid.Ernest Borgnine and William Holden were probably wishing they were back in
The Wild Bunch.
There is a constant quest to find what the public wants?When gold is struck.You run with that formula.
You run it into the ground.Then you start digging.Until audiences stop showing up and the finance faucet turns off.
There will be those who fondly remember the good ones.And they might say "What about a disaster movie with an
alien invasion?"The cycle is regenerated.
Your mother likes disaster movies.My mother likes disaster movies.Do they see it as training for the big one?
Will we be turning to them for answers when things go bad?
Telling the dvd box to "Stay" made me laugh and smile.
Thank you.
Ha, more disaster movies should have included an alien or two!
@@JeromeWeiselberry Yes and the
aliens think that some of the latter
disaster movies lack humanity.
Thank you.
Irwin Allen's movies became trite and formulaic, and he failed to make them EXCITING, like ANYTHING from Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, James Cameron, etc. Same thing happened to his TV shows. Take LOST IN SPACE, which I loved. The first season in Black and White was exciting and even scary, but when it went to color in season 2, it became an embarrassment to its fans. Irwin could have taken a lesson from the aforementioned younger filmmakers, but he refused, and walked off the cliff. He was dead by 1991, and I am a fan of his TV series I grew up with.
I think the disaster genre was a lot like the MCU. You were into it, or you were not. I noticed that in most of those movies (Meteor, for example) the FX declined as time went by. I think they rushed them into the theater too quickly, but there were other problems.
I've seen the original Poseidon... and Airplane and Airplane II. I was never big into the disaster movies as a kid. Though Veronica Hamill from Hill Street Blues? I may check this out. I think the only disaster movie I enjoyed was Flight of the Phoenix... though is Lifeboat considered one?
I think of Lifeboat and The Flight of the Phoenix (two movies I love) as belonging more to the survival/adventure genre.
The same can be said for titanic I'm just waiting for the ship to sink
Have you ever watched Kratotia East of Java ?
It my favorite Volcano disaster movie
No, my mom's seen Krakatoa, East of Java and mentioned it to me many times, but I haven't seen it yet myself.
@@JeromeWeiselberry I recommend it .
@@JeromeWeiselberry I saw KRAKATOA in 1969. It holds up well. Same spanish production crew that mad the incredible CRACK IN THE WORLD (1965) which I reccommend seeing with a home theater system, flat screen, and an example of how to do a memorable disaster flick.
Another bad Irwin Allen movie with a volcano is THE LOST WORLD starring Michael Rennie, Claude Rains, David Hedison and Jill St. John---this is probably the most inaccurate dinosaur movie ever made.
Also, if you're interested, Barnes & Noble's 50% off Criterion Sale is on----the bluray GODZILLA: THE SHOWA-ERA FILMS 1954-1975 is $112.99, the bluray original GODZILLA is $19.99 and the bluray original THE WAR OF THE WORLDS is $19.99.
I thought the original title was "When Ideas Ran Out".
As bad as _When Time Ran Out_ is, it's a masterpiece compared to _The Swarm._ Irwin Allen was far too mired in '60s television standards to direct a theatrical blockbuster in the '70s and the screenplay is absolutely preposterous. Only three characters from the all-star cast (General Slater, Dr. Hubbard and Dr. Krim) are actually sourced from the novel and are very different than their counterparts. And because the book wasn't blow-stuff-up enough, the movie steals the ending from Bert I. Gordon's crummy old giant-grasshopper monster movie _Beginning of the End,_ only with more fire and explosions. I can't recommend _The Swarm_ enough; it's _jawdroppingly, hilariously_ bad.
I've seen The Swarm, and, yeah, it's pretty awful! I had no idea it was based on a book, but I'm not surprised to hear it was essentially an adaptation "in name only." It does assemble an appealing cast, but if I remember correctly, that's about all it has going for it.
@@JeromeWeiselberry In the final three disasters Allen dumped an amazing amount of his source material. I don't know why he even bothered citing the book he "adapted" for _When Time Ran Out_ when he and his screenwriters simply went with _"The Poseidon Adventure,_ but on a volcanic island." Allen even commissioned Paul Gallico, author of _The Poseidon Adventure,_ to write a novel-sequel to his movie (Gallico sunk the ship in the original book) and _still_ tossed about 70% of it.
Before the movie Arthur Herzog's _The Swarm_ was a respected novel, one Allen had no business trying to adapt; it does involve a team of ill-fated scientists taking over an abandoned military facility to find solutions to a killer-bee invasion, but it takes place over the course of _years_ and across the continental U.S. and the catastrophes are primarily economic--there are no train wrecks or meltdowns or burning Houston to the ground, and the ultimate solution is genetically-induced "colony collapse"--the bees just _keep_ swarming until they die.
Fascinated by how a good novel became such a bad movie, I bought a couple of different early drafts of the screenplay off eBay. Scenes that were ultimately dropped included a stop-motion-animated fight between queens, a much longer meltdown scene, a completely different outcome for the senior-citizen love triangle, and Michael Caine's character dropping _through_ the swarm in scuba gear to activate the sirens that lead the bees into the sea. Madness.
@@ScreamingScallop Wow. I wonder if those scenes could have improved the movie by embracing sheer and complete insanity, or if they would have just (somehow!) made it worse.
I'm like your mom, as I liked it too. I'm less fussy with movies but I never watched a movie done by a potatoe before.
I remember your reviews on The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno, I agree, way better movies. I also remember your reviews on the Dollar Trilogy. Oh when oh when will you take a look at Once Upon A Time In The West, one of the best westerns ever made. Would love to hear your take on that one.
Thank you.
Am I the first to comment? Really? Doesn't matter, Jerome is no. 1 no matter what!
So close! Three people were quicker on the draw. :D Thanks!
Like…dare I say…some of the Star Wars spin-offs….. maybe marvel s as well…. A successful movie can create “ rules” to follow that become so constricting that there is no room for creativity….
Whatever you do, do NOT watch 'The Swarm'. It is possibly the most inept major movie ever made. And it isn't the fun kind of awful movie.
Haha, I've already seen it. I don't know, I don't think it was worse than this one. At least it's got some likable classic actors in the cast.
Yea, that movie was a disaster. I enjoyed it. but the the special effects cracked me up.