Doomsday Machine (1972)

Spies discover that the Red Chinese have built a "doomsday machine" capable of destroying the surface of the Earth, and that they plan to use it within a matter of days. Meanwhile, Project ... See full summary »

Directors:

Harry Hope, Lee Sholem

Writer:

Stuart J. Byrne (original story and screenplay)

Stars:

Bobby Van, Ruta Lee, Mala Powers

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bobby Van	...	Danny
Ruta Lee	...	Dr. Marion Turner
Mala Powers	...	Maj. Georgianna Bronski
James Craig	...	Dr. Haines
Grant Williams	...	Maj. Kurt Mason
Henry Wilcoxon	...	Dr. Christopher Perry
Chia Essie Lin	...	Girl Spy (as Essie Lin Chia)
Casey Kasem	...	Mission Control Officer
Lorri Scott	...	Lt. Katie Carlson
Denny Miller	...	Col. Don Price (as Scott Miller)
Mike Farrell	...	1st Reporter
John Cestare
Raymond Mayo
Frank Gambina
Mark Bailey	...	Major / Astronaut

Storyline

Spies discover that the Red Chinese have built a "doomsday machine" capable of destroying the surface of the Earth, and that they plan to use it within a matter of days. Meanwhile, Project Astra, a manned U.S. space mission to Venus, is in its final hours before launch when it is taken over by the military and nearly half of its all-male crew is replaced by women. The reason for this becomes apparent when, shortly after Astra leaves orbit, the Earth is completely destroyed in a global cataclysm! Is the human race doomed? What dangers and wonders await the crew of the Astra on their journey to Venus?

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Plot Keywords:

astronaut | space travel | end of the world | woman wearing a towel | bleeding eyes | 

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Taglines:

See! The Earth Destroyed In A Nuclear Holocaust!

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Genres:

Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Escape from Planet Earth

Filming Locations:

Van Nuys Airport, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

First Leisure

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Final film of director Lee Sholem.

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Goofs

When Katie accidentally hits the button to open the outer airlock door, the differential pressure should have sucked both her and Captain Mason out the hatch, instead of letting them float inside while their bodies suffered no greater injury than passenger nosebleed on a first-generation airliner. To say nothing of the fact that no airlock system, even during Project Apollo, would be that easy to open by accident.

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Quotes

Danny: We're picking up a bomb of static. Must be due to the Van Allen Belt.

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Connections

References Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

User Reviews

An Unknown Cast In A Nothing Movie

About six minutes goes by before a single word is spoken in this. From that point on you often find yourself wondering why they started the dialogue - or even the movie for that matter. Basically, this is a bunch of unknown actors (although Mike Farrell in his pre-MASH days pops up as a reporter who speaks 2 or 3 lines) fighting their way through a weak script and ending up with a movie that's - well - pretty bad. Basically, China has invented some sort of weapon that can destroy the earth, and a mission to Venus is sent off early (with three women replacing three crew members) in order to avoid the destruction. The new crew's mission? To procreate and make sure humanity survives the destruction. There were a handful of moments that created uncertainty, and a real question of who was going to end up surviving once it was discovered that only 3 of the 7 in the crew could actually get to Venus. But then a bad movie turns dreadful with an ending that - to me at least - made absolutely no sense whatsoever. This really isn't worth wasting your time with. Really. It isn't!