The Power (1968) User Reviews

A classic film

[tfun6 · 7/10 · 9 August 2007]

I loved this movie as a kid and an adult.

I thought it was well done and for the negative reviewers who said it was confusing, I understood it as a child. Are you dense or something?

Good acting, subtle death scenes, great action, albeit slow, but worth viewing. A nice build up and to the reviewer who said he knew who the bad guy was: Duh!

I'm so tired of you losers not taking into account when a movie was made. What movie about telekinesis compared to this then. Um, none. Enjoy a movie for when it was made and take in the effects as well. So many people say laughable effects in old movies. I hate this. They worked with what they had and did good with them.

I loved it in '68 and still love it!

Decent sci-fi on good premise but cops out at end as many do.

[ObscureAuteur · 7/10 · 14 January 2007]

This is a decent science fiction movie based on a solid story idea that stays on target. It is a well executed basic movie without big budget effects. To its credit it does not go off on silly tangents such as overdone love stories (perfunctory graphic sex was still rare in this era), connecting the power to aliens or the supernatural, over the top spectacle when the power is used (like the quickening in Highlander) or any other superfluous nonsense. A good clean science fiction story realized cleanly and effectively. Except ...

Spoiler warning.

My main quibble is that the writers did a Hollywood ending on the original story. The movie is quite faithful to the story until the very end. The power corrupted bad guy (who views ordinary humans as mere animals for him to use as he pleases) has spent the most of the movie trying to smoke out the other person who has the power but does not realize it. (In a scene early in the movie, one of the normal scientists, who fearfully knows that someone with the power is in the group, asks the entire group to attempt telekinesis on a spinner. He is counting on the hubris of the bad guy who will show off and thus help him convince the others that he is not delusional, that the power actually exists. The spinner moves, and vigorously, to the great surprise and alarm of the bad guy. He knows he is not doing it so someone else must have the power and is a thus a threat to him that must be eliminated.)

The bad guy succeeds, by a rather blunt process of elimination as he kills off most of the others, in narrowing the hunt down to our hero. The bad guy tries repeatedly to kill the hero and comes close but he just can't finish him off since he cannot overcome the latent power within. In a final showdown the hero, forced to the brink of oblivion by the bad guy in a battle of power and will, finally realizes that he also has the power. To the chagrin of the bad guy it is a greater gift than his own just as he had feared. The hero is then able to return from the brink and easily stop the bad guy's heart to end the struggle.

Here comes the big cop-out.

Movie Ending: The hero walks off with his girl friend full of good intentions to be sure his power is not used further since power corrupts etc. The world is now safe from the bad guy, all will be well.

Real Ending: The triumphant hero, his power now awakened, his ordinary humanity sheared away in the struggle, looks at the cringing animal by his side (formerly his cherished love interest) and thinks "it is going to be fun to be a god." This uncompromising ending takes the power theme to its inexorable conclusion that it is not a matter of morals or free will, a human being with such power will be corrupted. The power corrupts by its mere presence, it does not ask permission.

Fun George Pal murder mystery about telekinetics and conspiracy

[a_chinn · 7/10 · 29 October 2017]

Colorful supernatural thriller from producer George Pal has George Hamilton playing a scientist who discovers someone on his team has telekinetic powers and is killing off members one by one. Police investigating the first murder believe Hamilton lied about his background and is now a suspect after no one can find any evidence of his academic records. Hamilton must then figure out and stop whoever it is is using their powers to ruin his him and who is killing off his colleagues. "The Power" features some cool 1960s psychedelic special effects, a nice score by golden age composer Miklós Rózsa, a solid mystery, and a cool psychic showdown finale. Not a classic, but pretty entertaining stuff and a bit more serious than most of producer Pal's usual output. Suzanne Pleshette also appears in the film as a fellow scientist helping Hamilton.

Genuinely creepy whodunnit with supervillain/SF premise

[leaping 1 · 26 July 2001]

Although the setting is scientific, and I've seen this described as science-fiction, "The Power" is arguably a very early rationalisation/update of the superhero genre. In this case the person with the superpowers is a supervillain, the power is telekinesis, and no lycra longjohns are entered into, as the makers try to keep it as downhome and believably creepy as possible, except when 'the power' is being exhibited.

Basically the official scientific committee for Somethingorother is kind of audited by government agent Michael Rennie to see what they're up to. One of them, played as a crackpot movie scientist by old pro Arthur O'Connell, is convinced that research suggests that someone has Ee-vill telekinetic powers. Despite Artie being a crackpot, what do you know, it turns out that he's right on the money, and furthermore, they determine it's someone right there in the room. Soon folks who were in that room start dying in numbers, and in imaginative and unpleasant ways. (There's a scene in a centrifuge that appears to have been knocked off for one of the Roger Moore James Bond movies later on - "Moonraker" from painful memory.)

The key to it all seems to be a shadowy figure who was once known as Adam Hart. George Hamilton sets out to find who Adam Hart was, and who or what he became. We end up with a major case of the creeps, because it's one of those paranoid whodunnit deals where the audience isn't allowed to trust anyone (kind of reminiscent of the Kurt Russell version of "The Thing" in that way) not even Hamilton, or his girlfriend Suzanne Pleshette.

Director Byron Haskin and the actors don't give us any cosy characters to like. Everyone's cold, aloof, frenzied, crazy, or pathologically self-interested. This aspect is a bit reminiscent of Freddie Francis's better English horror films of the 60s, although "The Power" has a more measured, restrained creepiness than his films.

In that sense, George Hamilton's limitations as a kissy-face type leading guy are used to the film's advantage. I've always found George Pal's stuff a little creepy even when it was ostensibly fun happy stuff for kids, and his Puppetooning here fits right in.

Only disappointment is a fairly conventional resolution by comparison to what's come before. Other than that, "The Power" is memorable, and a bit of a one-off.

Not too bad, but could have been great

[AFernandez58 · 6/10 · 23 September 2007]

George Pal's/Byron Haskin's version of "The Power" (based on the good novel by Frank Robinson, not the baseball player) is actually pretty entertaining and thrilling despite the relatively poor production values - quite a bit of 1960s cheesiness - but still the cast of stalwarts gives it all and it is probably the best George Pal film after 1960's "The Time Machine." Acting kudos go to Michael Rennie, Aldo Ray (!!!) and even, who would have thought it, star George Hamilton. This is one of those films whose concept far exceeds its execution but I still feel somewhat generous as I remembered it fondly from my youth and seeing it about 30 years later found out that it held up pretty well.

And a great score by Miklos Rozsa too.

glossy '60s sci fi

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 26 July 2005]

This interesting sci fi film stars George Hamilton and Suzanne Pleshette, and features some former stars/near stars who had seen better days: Yvonne DeCarlo, Richard Carlson, Aldo Ray, and Gary Merrill (in a real stepdown from All About Eve). Among the older stars, Michael Rennie has a larger supporting role. The cast, a good budget, and an intriguing script make for an entertaining film about the attempt of one megamind to ferret out who's a threat to him among a group of scientists. One of them has telekinesis, and after the murder of the whistle-blower, played by Arthur O'Connell, Hamilton tries to find O'Connell's old friend, whose name was written on a piece of paper, suspecting him of somehow being involved.

This is a neat drama, all the more interesting in seeing the young stars, Hamilton and Pleshette, play against the older Hollywood types.

An interesting premise...but a lackluster film overall.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 22 May 2019]

The plot idea for "The Power" is pretty interesting. However, despite this I found the film itself was only okay and could have been better.

The film begins at some odd government facility where they are testing the limits of pain and human endurance. One of the professors is very concerned, as he's convinced SOMEONE among them has super-human mental powers. Soon, this professor dies...and soon other members of this organization start dying off as well....the result of the monster's strange powers. He can apparently make folks think or do almost anything. Can Professor Tanner (George Hamilton) manage to determine WHO it is before he, too, dies mysteriously?

The problem with the film is that the idea is good but the film seems to ramble and ramble...and I had some difficulty even caring about the movie. Additionally, when the ending occurred, one of the characters then proceded to use exposition to explain what had just happened...which is sloppy writing. Overall, a time-passer....not much more.

One Weird Flick

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 13 June 2004]

If you tuned in after it started you'd think it was a cheap TV movie because it stars George Hamilton, it was shot in LA, the direction is the work of a hack, and the photography is so glossy and flat.

But the truth is that this is one weird and unsettling movie. It's a story about Hamilton, an egghead in charge of some task force at one of those think tanks, who unknowingly possesses psychokinetic powers and is pursued by another such psychokinetic Ubermensch who wants to kill him and get him out of the way. That's Michael Rennie, gone gray since "The Day the Earth Stood Still," and more menacing though no less wooden.

You see, Hamilton has never discovered his superhuman powers. He reveals them only accidentally during a test that is being observed by Rennie. Rennie wants to take over the world or something and when he sees this group of eggheads -- a geneticist, a biologist, an anthropologist, a physicist, etc. -- sitting around a table concentrating on a piece of paper trying to move it, and the paper actually DOES begin spinning around, Rennie realizes that one member of this group is, like Rennie himself, an ESP Superman. Now Rennie doesn't know which one it is, so to make sure he doesn't miss the mark he tries to kill them all. Oh, and one of the eggheads is Susanne Pleshette, Hamilton's love interest.

That's the plot engine. What follows from it is a little confused but boils down to Hamilton's suspecting the others for various reasons until they are all but one knocked off. (I will leave you to guess whether Pleshette is the one survivor so that we can be handed a happy ending. No power on earth could get me to squeal.) Meanwhile Hamilton himself is pursued by Rennie and accomplices. A nice scene in the Mojave Desert. Hamilton is thrown out of a jeep in the middle of nowhere and winds up staggering to a nearby copse with nothing more than a slightly deeper tan than the Hamilton norm. Aldo Ray is the brutish jeep driver who abandons him. Come to think of it, the cast is loaded with familiar names and faces, some with hardly any screen time. The cast list is a bit misleading because no acting demands are made on any of them.

What makes it a weird movie is George Pal's haphazard use of special effects that now seem cheesy. Many of them are non sequiturs. They come out of noplace, unexpectedly, and chillingly. Okay, we know that Rennie is following Hamilton somewhere, spying on him from the shadows, although Hamilton doesn't know it, and we know that psychokinesis makes strange things happen. But what is the point of this scene? Hamilton is wandering dazed along a busy street at night and pauses to look down at the bird in one of those perpetual motion machines in the window of a toy store. The little plastic bird cocks its head, winks at Hamilton, and then spits a mouthful of water at him. WHAT? Rennie wants to kill him, not amuse him! There are similar unexpected events that induce a sense of disquiet in the viewer. Their unpredictable quality may be the result of George Pal's self indulgence but they work. If we knew they were coming they wouldn't have the same frisson.

Another thing. This movie is some kind of goulash or chicken paprikash. George Pal was Hungarian, wasn't he? And Rosza, the composer, was Hungarian too. And they really collaborated on this one. Rosza's score features a phantasmic gypsy theme played on a hammer dulcimer or something. It never really SOUNDS like a typical Rosza score, when he's not quoting from his earlier work or stealing from Borodin. You'd never know he was responsible for so many of the themes from films noir. Hungarians are the odd men out of Mitteleuropa. Their language is related to no other European language except, distantly, Finnish. And they have this thing about horses. Half their curses have to do with horses. And we get our word "ogre" from "Hungarian." I won't even get into werewolves and things.

I don't think Byron Haskin, the director, was a Hungarian. It might have helped if he had been because this is pretty loosely constructed and slapdash. Elementary lapses are apparent. For instance, the actors sometimes anticipate their cues. At the first committee meeting, Hamilton is giving a skeptical speech and stops in mid sentence to look at Arthur O'Connel, waiting for the interruption that is scripted. The writers too don't bother going out of their way to plug up plot holes, leaving implausibilities all over the floor. (How did Hamilton manage to reach the age of 30 without discovering he had psychokinetic powers?) Maybe the novel made more sense.

Yet I keep coming back to this one and I watch it when it's on, not very often. The score is like a magnet, and the general plot fascinates me. Perhaps by accident, it all adds up to something that's quietly scary.

Effects and production first-rate, script weak...

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 16 August 2009]

A panel of brilliant professors studying human endurance for the space program discover one of their colleagues harbors transcendental powers and is out to kill each one of them (causing heart attacks by the force of his mind). A good example of the major studio B-picture: most of the budget has gone into the 'idea', presented here with sleek visuals and designs, yet with a middle-drawer cast left to sort out the screenplay, which is distinctly without much power. George Pal produced, with amusing shock effects and editing tricks, but the potentially intriguing plot gets muddled up in dead-end scenes and red herrings. Suzanne Pleshette (as the one female on the panel) looks lovely, yet her character keeps popping up without explanation--and her confusing final scene leaves behind nothing but disenchantment. George Hamilton is the film's star, which should tell you how much thought went into the casting. ** from ****

Lost information on the 1956 TV version of this story.

[sfoxly · 6/10 · 25 July 2006]

This story was first televised live during the summer of 1956 on one of the high quality drama series that flourished during the 1950's. Perhaps it was The United States Steel Hour. I was an eleven year old kid at the time and was fascinated with the basic plot. I have searched for information about the original teleplay, but have been unsuccessful. Does anyone out there have any info on the TV broadcast of this story?

Several years later, I read Frank M. Robinson's novel, from which the two movies were made and enjoyed the 1968 film version. It had a terrific musical score, featuring a zither-like instrument played with felt hammers. George Hamilton did a fine job in the lead role.

severely disappointing...distant farewell for George Pal!

[a666333 · 3/10 · 10 May 2009]

The positive reviews for this film at this site have me baffled. Really baffled. We see here a cast full of familiar character actors and people who were leads in some good movies. None of them comes off well here. They give Hamilton and Pleshette top billing and then list the rest alphabetically, giving you the impression that there will be an ensemble cast delivering something of significance. Unfortunately, that can be and is a danger sign. When you get middling actors at the top and an ensemble of supporters who could, when at their best, steal their scenes, it often means that the supporters are instead lowered to the level of the leads or worse.

George Hamilton in particular just delivers lines and in no way gives us a character we can care about. Suzanne Pleshette is likewise flatted out and must have suffered under that hairspray and make-up (albeit that was typical of 64-66 when this was likely filmed). Earl Holliman attempts to be psycho-philosophical and it goes nowhere. (The shame is that scene could have built up the context and plot well if handled better.) Michael Rennie's character is only discovering and using his capabilities at that age??? And then we have poor Miiko Taka, wasted again trying to make something of a bit part way below her ability. I think you are getting the idea.

And what is this "power" anyway? Well, we do figure it out sort-of but it is not actually developed as a concept. Instead we get vague hints and a lot of strangeness just happens. So we get no characters, acting talent wasted badly, and conceptual development that falls flat. What special effects that there are, don't add up to much. So, be prepared to be disappointed.

The Most Underrated First-Rank Sci-Fi Film of All; Great Cast and Direction

[silverscreen888 · 8/10 · 26 June 2005]

This film was beautifully directed by camera whiz Byron Haskin, and it has a fine literate script, one of the best supporting casts ever assembled for a sci-fi movie and very good production values. The question is why the critics did not appreciate it. I believe the answer is simple: they also disliked "Star Trek" TOS, and "The Voyage Home," "Dimension V", and all other sci-fi. They ignore the genre despite or because of the fact it is a medium of ideas--and their conventional view is that movies can 't deal with explicit definitions-- because their sort trying to make idea movies have failed so miserably most of the time. The plot line in this movie is very simple to state; a man discovers he has extra sensory perception and telekinetic powers; then he finds he is being stalked by a man with the same power, probably much greater, who must eliminate him to avoid having his existence exposed, his nefarious plans stopped. The logical and well-scripted scenario from Frank M. Robinson's' famous novel was done by John Gay; and Miklos Rzsa supplied wonderfully eerie music. In the cast supporting an OK but too-young George Hamilton and Suzanne Pleshette are such talents as the great Michael Rennie, Yvonne de Carlo, Aldo Ray, Vaughn Taylor, Nehemiah Persoff, Richard Carlson, Earl Holliman, Miiko Taka, Celia Lovsky, Ken Murray, Lawrence Montaigne, Barbara Nichols and Arthur O'Connell. Primary Credit for this fine and serious production must go to producer George Pal; the only mystery to this sci-fi mystery is why moviegoers, arguably less bewildered than most critics about what is an entertaining script have believed the critics and not their own eyes; I saw the film when it was first released, admired it as a writer then, and still do. I do not believe I am wrong in any way about its professional or cinematic merits. The moment when O'Connell tries to escape the bad guy and finds his office door is part of a solid wall, turned into a death trap by his opponent, is shattering; and the climactic duel of the film and its surprise outcome cannot be forgotten, as I can testify. Kudos to all concerned; if Keith Andes had played the lead in this instead of Hamilton, it might have received the attention that all concerned, especially Pal and Haskin and Rozsa so richly deserve.

So-so sci-fi

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 3 May 2002]

POSSIBLE SPOILERS

THE POWER is a sci-fi mystery thriller that begins brightly, but quickly gets bogged down in a rather lengthy (and ordinary) man-on-the-run segment that seems to serve very little purpose other than to pad out the movie's running time.

George Hamilton is a little too pretty to be completely believable as the head of a high-powered scientific unit investigating pain thresholds and human endurance in space, but tries hard and certainly doesn't embarrass himself. One colleague in the unit (Arthur O'Connell, overacting wildly) discloses at a meeting that one of their number has an IQ that goes way off the scale, thereby possessing powers that make he or she capable of controlling peoples minds. Then, the members of the unit begin to be killed off…

At times the movie seems to be a precursor of David Cronenberg's SCANNERS (1981), even featuring a similar ‘duel of minds' at one point. Some of its plot twists and ideas also put me in mind of something Stephen King might write (something like FIRESTARTER, perhaps). In fact, Aldo Ray, in a small part, could have stepped right out of the pages of a King novel.

The plot does confuse at times, and there are some inconsistencies that niggle; for example, where did George Hamilton get the gun he used on Aldo Ray, and why didn't he pull it on him when he was being driven out to the desert to die? Other than that, THE POWER is a reasonable enough time-passer that will leave very little impression within a week after viewing.

Not Telekinesis, But--

[johcafra · 5/10 · 13 November 2009]

--psychokinesis, of which TK is a manifestation. Very well, I quibble...

I can't quite call this film a guilty pleasure. I review only because it made an impression on me when first broadcast Stateside in prime time, making me feel obliged nearly 40 years later to view it uncut and without commercial interruption when the opportunity arose.

It has not aged well at all. It has a Sixties look that tries only a little to not look Sixties, given it opens with the title-card reminder that it happens "Tomorrow." It plods...and plods...until the action, which at times...plods. And when it stays perfectly still to lend itself to exposition it can't quite decide if it wants to be a character study as the characters ponder the core Imponderable: What to do when a superman-in-hiding wants YOU.

That's not a fair statement about George Pal and Byron Haskin, who were not known for their subtlety and full well knew how to exploit the magic medium. I can't even blame the casting or acting. I can only blame the attempt to adapt a nearly unfilmable novel. If you want to imagine what Pal and the rest likely wanted to do, read the novel, though be sure it's the original edition (ca. 1956) and not the author's later revision.

And though I agree with other users that this film predated many other (and some worse) treatments of "The Power" (Terrestrial Edition) put to not-so-nice use, it is not the first cinematic treatment. Treat yourself to The Man Who Could Work Miracles and both the Village AND Children of the Damned. Throw in Forbidden Planet for contrast...

So why did I feel obliged after all these years to view it again? One of Miklos Rozsa's finest musical scores, guaranteed to make you reach for sweet paprika and a recording of Kodaly's Hary Janos Suite. Arthur O'Connell making a funny face. Nehemiah Persoff's chain-smoking and novel use of a dishwasher. Earl Holliman trying just a little too hard to overcome the dialogue. George Hamilton trying not hard enough to look harried but succeeding only when he makes a puss. Suzanne Pleshette and Yvonne De Carlo...well, given the chance the ladies could act too.

And all-too-brief homages to Pal's Oscar-winning Puppetoonery with the truly inspired artistry of Wah Ming Chang and William Tuttle in one of the very few films that make you want less exposition and more magic.

A good cast gives a needed boost to this predictable sci-fi fare.

[bux · 11 October 1999]

Hamilton leads a better than average cast in this very average sci-fi outing produced by veteran George Pal. Signs of the times abound in this 60s feature that, at times, seems like a Bond flick(especially the party scene). Pal's career was in a slump in the mid to late 60s and this was to be his big screen return. The good cast and fine production values cannot save this tired and often confusing tale of telepathy.

Big Ideas, Small Movie

[Bob-45 · 6/10 · 6 January 2005]

Producer George Pal is famous for producing handsomely mounted, but generally routine movies about fantastic subjects ("Destination Moon," "When Worlds Collide," "War of the Worlds," "Conquest of Space," "Robinson Crusoe on Mars," "Atlantis, the Lost Continent"). Pal succeeded best when his movies were both handsomely mounted and thematically fulfilling ("The Time Machine," "Seven Faces of Dr. Lao"). "The Power," as presented is neither handsomely mounted nor completely fulfilling thematically. The color has that sickly garish look of 70s TV. The sets look cheap, the effects amateurish. The cast is way too loaded with familiar character actors to be believable. Nonetheless, "The Power" is about really big ideas, that human could someday evolve so dramatically that they could alter reality, even change the past. These are not new ideas; Eastern religions, even Jewish Khaballah have related these ideas for thousands of years. Pal was not even the only one purveying them. Gene Roddenberry developed at least three episodes ("The Cage," "Charlie X," ""The Squire of Gothos") for his "Star Trek" series. Later, "Star Trek TNG" gave us a recurring character "Q," a superbeing. Unfortunately, I believe director Byron Haskin was not the visionary Pal was. The superbeings in "The Power" seem more involved in mind control than altering reality. Therefore, their tricks are less impressive than a mystic walking over hot cools or living without food and water for years at a time.

Nonetheless, Pal and Haskin have raised these issues and they have created an entertaining, relatively suspenseful movie. Only one effect is quite good, the horrific results of a man being exposed to super gravity forces. Probably the best scene involves one of the characters turning to leave his office and finding there is suddenly a high step to get out. He turns to pick up a chair and when he turns toward the exit, he finds there is none. Byron Haskin did a masterful job here. It's too bad he also chose to show the instrument being used to create the metaphysical elements of Miklos Rosza's magnificent score, clearly the best element of the movie.

This is my third viewing of the movie, and plot holes I thought were there the first two times suddenly were resolved. To explain involves spoilers, but here they are.

WARNING: SPOILERS

George Hamilton is the chairman of a scientific team investigating human endurance for the space program. Michael Rennie, the new government representative, attends Hamilton's meeting, which also includes, Susan Pleshette, Niemiah Piersoff, Richard Carlson, Arthur O'Connell and Earl Hollomon. O'Connell hysterically alerts the committee that one of them is a superbeing capable of almost unlimited power. That evening, after returning to his office, O'Connell is attacked and killed remotely by supernatural psychokinetic forces. Hamilton and Pleshette are together when they are called by O'Connell's wife, Yvonne DeCarlo. She asks Hamilton to go to O'Connell's office since he hasn't returned home. Hamilton and Pleshette drive through the facility security gate, where they are logged by the security guard. They find O'Connell in the facility centrifuge, his eyes popped out of his head from the high g forces. They also find a piece of paper in O'Connell's otherwise empty file folder on which is written a name "Adam Hart". The next day Hamilton is notified that he is a suspect. De Carlo doesn't remember calling him and Pleshette doesn't remember being with him before arriving at the facility. (Pleshette's "forgetfulness" is not clearly specified; a scene should have specified this clearly). When Hamilton is dismissed from the facility, he feels he must track down "Adam Hart," figuring Hart knew O'Connell and is somehow connected with the "superbeing" on the committee. One reviewer complained that O'Connell didn't recognize "Adam Hart," though it is made clear that Hart can affect people's memories. After a series of attacks, it becomes clear that no one on the committee is safe and that either "Adam Hart" or the committee superbeing is killing all the other members of the committee.

END OF SPOILERS

A simple explanation of a concept of Kaballah (at least as I understand it) is that G_d recreates reality every instant; therefore the reality that follows this instant could be entirely different than the previous one. A simple explanation of quantum theory is that ALL possibilities potentially exist and the reality is unconsciously chosen by the observer. In other words, without an observer, there is no reality, and an observer can travel in ANY direction to ANY possibility, based on his level of consciousness.

All things considered, I give "The Power" a "6".

The Competition Was Fierce

[wtburns-52456 · 6/10 · 28 October 2018]

I'm kind of mystified by people's amazement at how this movie was not taken seriously or received critically well when it came out in 1968. Think about the movies especially science fiction movies that came out in 1968. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes, The Shakiest Gun in the West, Head, Etc. On television you had Star Trek the Original Series in its third season (not really the best, TBH).

That's some stiff competition that a star-studded cast like the one in this movie simply could not overcome. Just compare the special effects rendered for 2001 alone with this movie. They're not even in the same century, by comparison. Nor is the story.

The reason why the movie off and gets confused being made for television is because it looks like it was made for television.

Jaw-Droppingly Stupid -- So Bad It's Good

[reader4 · 1/10 · 7 December 2009]

They say the devil's in the details. He must have shot this movie, because absolutely no attention was paid to detail in any way. I have noticed in other movies that George Pal is good at making scenes full of flashy, hi-tech gadgets, but not at making people act in believable ways. "The Power" dwarfs all his previous efforts in this direction.

This movie attempts to take itself seriously. But it is so poorly executed that it is impossible for the viewer to take it seriously. It's too bad MST3K is not still around. "The Power" would be a natural for it.

IMDb limits review size, so I can't fit all the incredibly stupid stuff in. I'll have to restrict myself to a few of the highlights. What amazes me is that it just keeps getting stupider and stupider as it goes along, just when you thought such a thing couldn't be possible.

== Spoilers == Tanner (George Hamilton) and Lansing (Suzanne Pleshette, who's about as much like a professor as last month's centerfold) are at the lab after hours. Suddenly the rocket-G-force simulator centrifuge starts up, which gets their attention. They try to turn it off, but the controls are jammed. Tanner throws the switch. (Switches are such big stars in this movie, they should be listed in the cast!) Suddenly the whole lab is lit in red light, for no reason, and none is ever given. Hallson (Arthur O'Connell) is dead in the centrifuge, and evidently has been for hours, although we all heard it turn on only minutes before.

Tanner is blamed for murdering Hallson and goes on the run. The first place he runs is into a fun house, which for no reason is a storefront on a busy downtown street. He has psychedelic experiences there, nearly gets killed when the merry-go-round goes out of control, but then leaves.

He gets ditched in the desert by a hick gas station attendant. Instead of following the jeep, which is obviously heading back to town, Tanner goes off in a completely different direction. It has been only half an hour, but he is already dying of thirst. He still has on his suit with jacket, tie and tightly buttoned collar.

He takes shelter in a grove of trees, which turns out to be an Air Force testing ground. The jets come and deliver enough ordnance to wipe Hanoi off the face of the map. The explosions don't even ruffle Tanner's hair. To get their attention, he sets the place on fire. Why the bombs have not ignited anything is not explained. Why the pilots would think fire in an area that's just been bombed back to the Stone Age unusual in any way is similarly ignored.

Tanner goes to the house of Mrs. Hallson (Yvonne de Carlo) who has seen him several times previously in the film. She opens the door and looks right at him, but asks, "Who are you?" As soon as he says his name, she seems to know who he is and lets him in.

Tanner, Lansing, and Melnicker (Nehemiah Persoff) have to hide out from the police. What more logical place than a kitchenwares convention? There are no rooms left in the hotel, so they go to a wild party in a stranger's room. "Why?" asks Lansing. "So we can keep together, keep awake." No explanation why they need to keep awake. Also no explanation why Melnicker dies while sitting alone on the sofa. Or why the party just happens to have a striptease record on the stereo, waiting for someone to drop the needle. Or why Melnicker's erstwhile dancing partner gets up after everyone has passed out, puts on the record and starts to strip.

An hour and twenty minutes into the film, Tanner tells Lansing, "We have to start somewhere." She and Nordlund (Michael Rennie) must be at a meeting by 2:00 PM. Tanner goes straight to the home of another co-worker, Van Zandt (Richard Carlson). It is suddenly night when he gets there.

A driverless car comes up and tries to run Tanner down. He tries to leave in his car, but is paralyzed. He decides to drive anyway, veering all over the road and narrowly missing other cars. He sees headlights following him in the mirror and is suddenly OK. He sideswipes a semi, which doesn't even dent the car, but somehow loosens the front wheel. He comes to a drawbridge where traffic is stopped, and drives through the barricade into the water. He and the car sink. He looks like he's going to drown, but then opens the convertible top, swims to the surface, where the car is still bubbling like a fishtank aerator (no sign of any bubbles a minute ago during the underwater shots) and swims away.

Detective Corlane (Gary Merrill) shows Tanner a note that they found in his apartment, asking him to meet Scotty (Earl Holliman) at the auditorium. Corlane says, "You will, but not alone." When they get there, Tanner says, "Scotty will never talk to me with all these cops here." Corlane: "You're not going in with the cops." Then he (a cop) goes in with Tanner!!! == End Spoilers ==

To make this review fit, I cut about half the dumb stuff I was going to point out, so you can imagine how much more stupidity awaits! This movie is not bad in the way most bad movies are bad. The acting is good by an all-star cast. The production values are fairly high. It doesn't drag. If you don't care at all about continuity or credibility, or expect things to make sense, or people to behave in logical ways, you will probably enjoy it. In fact, if your short-term memory has been eradicated, you will probably find it very entertaining.

People who still retain all their faculties will likely find it a hoot from start to finish.

A Great Cast Just Barely Puts It Over....

[ferbs54 · 7/10 · 17 January 2018]

Between the two of them, director Byron Haskin and producer/director George Pal had previously been responsible for such marvelous sci-fi/fantasy films as "From the Earth to the Moon," "Robinson Crusoe on Mars," "Destination Moon," "When Worlds Collide," "The War of the Worlds," "The Time Machine" and "The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao"; working as a team, they had put together the highly regarded "Conquest of Space" AND "The Naked Jungle." Thus, inevitably, expectations must have been high when these two formidable filmmakers teamed up once again in the late '60s for their final project together. That film, released in February '68, was "The Power," a sci-fi thriller that, if not quite on a par with any of those preceding films, at least had the benefit of a terrific cast to put over its central conceit. Loosely based on Frank M. Robinson's novel of 1956, the film can almost be seen as a warm-up of sorts for the superior "Scanners" outing of 13 years later.

In "The Power," we are given a tour of a government research center in San Marino, CA that is testing the limits of human endurance as part of the U.S. government's astronaut program. When federal overseer Nordlund (Michael Rennie) visits the installation, it is revealed by Dr. Henry Hallson (Arthur O'Connell) that he had recently given intelligence and aptitude tests to several key members of the research team, and that the tests had revealed that one of them is a supergenius, capable of telekinetic and other superhuman mental powers. Unfortunately, we are also asked to believe that Hallson does not know who the superbrain might be; apparently, these test results do not include the names of the people taking them! (Is it to be believed that these head scientists took their tests anonymously?!?!) Before long, though, that superbrain strikes, killing Dr. Hallson via long-distance strangulation AND by placing him in an out-of-control centrifuge. Dr. Jim Tanner (George Hamilton), one of the other scientists on the project, is immediately suspected of the crime by the police, as all his education and employment records at the installation have somehow gone missing. Thus, Tanner takes off, both to keep out of the authorities' clutches, and to discover just who the malicious mutant brain might be, as other members of the project are killed off, one by one, "Ten Little Indians" style.

As mentioned, if "The Power" has one saving grace going for it, it is its truly excellent cast of old pros, who all seem to be enjoying themselves here. Besides the others already mentioned, we have Suzanne Pleshette (who has rarely looked more beautiful), Richard Carlson, Earl Holliman and Nehemiah Persoff as other project scientists, and ergo fellow suspects; Gary Merrill as the chief cop on the case; Yvonne de Carlo as Hallson's widow; Aldo Ray as a murderous garage mechanic; Barbara Nichols as a floozy waitress; "Star Trek" alumni Lawrence Montaigne (as another cop) and Celia Lovsky (wasted in a nonspeaking role); stripper Beverly Hills, here playing a drunken stripper at a wild party; "Sayonara"'s Miiko Taka as the Carlson character's wife; and, uncredited, Forrest J. Ackerman as a hotel clerk. The film offers up any number of mildly exciting sequences, including Ray's attempt at killing Dr. Tanner on an Air Force gunnery range; the mentally incapacitated Tanner attempting to drive his car and then plunging into a river; and the mentally controlled Holliman character being compelled to engage in a shoot-out with the police. Still, the film could surely have used some more good scenes such as these. Director Haskin, who had so impressed me in any number of bizarre episodes of "The Outer Limits," also manages to insert several trippy, borderline psychedelic moments into his film, such as when Tanner witnesses eerie phenomena at an amusement park, and when he engages in a mental battle of wills with the culprit toward the film's end. Perhaps most memorable here, though, is the film's score by Miklos Rosza, composed on the Eastern European instrument known as a cimbalom, a sort of hammered-dulcimer contraption with a distinctly exotic tone. That is the good news. Unfortunately, "The Power" somehow feels more like a TV film than a theatrical presentation, its FX are never all that impressive, the central red herring that it presents to confuse Tanner (and the viewer) is ultimately a bit too successful for full clarity, and the picture's final denouement is--for this viewer anyway--an unsatisfying one. The film is certainly entertaining enough, but one senses that it could have been much more; that here was an opportunity somehow squandered. Though little discussed today, the film enjoys a positive word of mouth among certain circles, and I suppose that its current good reputation might in part be due to the patina of nostalgia that many have for it, from seeing it as a kid way back when. Today, the film manages to get the job done, but just barely. So thank goodness for Suzanne Pleshette's participation in it! For this viewer, at least, her exquisite presence always helps any entertainment go down more smoothly....

A comedy?

[johndietzel · 3/10 · 20 August 2005]

Wow. I am so amazed at how bad of a film this is, I am NOT EVEN FINISHED with it, and I feel obligated to comment.

I held off for a significant portion of the movie before I finally gave up my attempt to determine whether this was intended to be an extremely deeply-seeded comedy. Despite the actions of a little toy woodpecker (it winks), I felt unconvinced. This brought me to the trusty old IMDb, where I have now learned that it was, indeed, an intended straight SciFi.

Wow.

George Hamilton is robotic. At one point, he literally "reacts" to a colleague's outburst a spit-second before the guy actually makes the outburst.

Suzanne Pleshette; is she even there? Actually, intimate scenes between her and Hamilton are tough to ignore, for their awkward lack of rapport, and the conspicuous decision to mic martini glasses and pump heels, to name a few items.

Poor Richard Carlson (I really like him normally). His entire performance is delivered in one of (or a combination of?) two ways: as if the actor himself is drunk, or as if he is narrating a promotional short for the world's fair.

A few scenes are stolen by a bizarrely appropriate, and extremely loud (hammer dulcimer? harpsichord? I don't know my instruments), musical score, a la "Hercules In New York." The heavy-handed direction is quite distracting, with its wannabe Hitchcock jump cuts, third wall removals, and arbitrary angles.

The real star of the film, though, is the script. Half of the male-delivered lines are (or could've been) interchangeable between a handful of characters. There's a tiredly trite scene between a Brooklyn-transplant waitress and Hamilton; you can probably can enact the scene on your own, right now. Think lines like "I keeant buhleev I left New Yohk fuh dis joeub." There, you've got the idea.

Watch for the piano driving scene with George Hamilton and a menacing mechanic. Also, check out the film's unintentional microcosm, in which a fighter plane sends arbitrary missiles into a grove of trees in the desert, where the improbable, the ridiculous, the random, and the just plain goofy, all converge. Once you hit that scene, stop the film--or just watch the scene repeatedly--you have already seen everything it has to offer.

Twisted , nail-biting and underrated science-fiction movie with all-star-cast and good special effects

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 21 November 2022]

One by one members of a special project team are being murdered by means of telekinesis - the ability to move things with the power of the mind alone . Research team discovers one of their members is an evil super-genius with poerful abilities who starts killing the others. The race is to find out which of the remaining team members is the true murderer and how to stop a hostile organization . Biologist Jim Tanner (George Hamilton) is part of a select government research team that includes beautiful geneticist Margery Lansing (Suzanne Pleshette) , among others . Anthropologist Henry Hallson (Arthur O'Connell) discovers what he believes is evidence of a person among them with psychic abilities including telekinesis. There are various suspect people . Who's the killer ? You feel it until you can't feel anything at all! Drives men to madness and murder! When it reaches out for you. You'll never stop screaming! One Man Has It...No Man or Woman Can Resist It. You feel it...and then you can feel nothing else!

Interesting film with plenty of thrills , shocking scenes , suspense , intrigue , plot twists and being slightly entertaining , well-paced with some slow-moving scenes and receives a rather plodding treatment , at times . It contains action enough with formidable special effects and nice make-up . It's all in fun , and entertaining enough. Resulting to be a dazzling , hypnotic entertainment that poses a challenge to its viewers , it was deemed extremely graphic for its time with some eerie scenes at the end . Occasionally confusing but otherwise notable film , portraying a peculiar ring with psychical powers , a clear precedent to ¨David Cronenberg's Scanners¨. Hightlights of the picture are the creepy final confrontation among protagonists and the shocking scene in which a role's heart blows up . Main and support cast are pretty good . Secondary actors formed by a lot of Hollywood familar faces , such as : Richard Carlson , Yvonne De Carlo , Earl Holliman ,Gary Merril , Ken Murray, Barbara Nichols , Arthur O'Connell, Nehemiah Persoff , Aldo Ray, Vaughan Taylor , Miiko Taka and Michael Rennie.

It packs colorful and luminous cinematography in Panavision and Technicolor by cameraman Ellsworth Frederick . Thrilling musical score by Miklós Rózsa , this great composer creates a pounding and astounding score . This well-budgeted motion picture by George Pal was competently directed by Byron Haskin with originality enough , delivering a great sense of wonder and tension . Haskin was a good craftsman who worked in Warner Brothers Special Effects department . He returned to filmmaking , and was responsible for Walt Disney's first live-action film , the adventure cult-classic Treasure island (1950). In the mid-1950s Haskin began a rewarding association with producer George Pal, for whom he filmed what is probably his best-known film , the science fiction classic War of the worlds (1953) and a catastrophe movie , The naked jungle (1954). Haskin was expert on Sci-Fi genre , as he would collaborate with Pal on other films , such as Conquest of Space (1955) , Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) and The power (1968). He also directed some Western as Denver Rio Grande and Silver City . The Power (1968) rating : 6.5/10. The yarn will appeal to science fiction, fantasy and fancy imagination buffs , well catching .

ESP!

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 22 July 2023]

The last film of director Byron Haskin*, who also made War of the Worlds with this film's producer George Pal, The Power was written by John Gay and based on the book of the same name by Frank M. Robinson. Robinson was also the speechwriter for Harvey Milk and his designated successor, but he didn't take the office after the politician was killed. Another of his books - The Glass Inferno, which was co-written with Thomas N. Scortia - was combined with Richard Martin Stern's The Tower and filmed as The Towering Inferno.

The Committee on Human Endurance has been researching the ability to survive pain and physical stress for the space program. Dr. Henry Hallson (Arthur O'Connell) has been screening committee members - biologist Dr. Jim Tanner (George Hamilton), geneticist Dr. Margery Lansing (Suzanne Pleshette), physicist Dr. Carl Melnicker (Nehemiah Persoff), biologist Dr. Talbot Scott (Earl Holliman), Dr. Norman Van Zandt (Richard Carlson) and government liaison Arthur Nordlund (Michael Rennie) -to see who has the best survival ability.

He brings out a psi wheel and claims that someone on the committee has superhuman telekinesis, but the exercise doesn't prove who it is. He's soon killed by whoever has the power and his widow Sally Hallson (Yvonne De Carlo) tells Tanner that a note was left with the name Adam Hart. That was the name of her husband's childhood friend which no one else would know but him.

Tanner becomes the prime suspect when it looks like he lied about his background. He starts to hallucinate and then nearly dies as a result of a psychic attack. Whoever Adam Hart is, he wants him dead. He goes to the man's hometown and learns that Hart has been controlling people there for decades.

This had already been adapted in 1956 as an episode of an hour-long installment of Studio One.

*According to Haskin, the studio was so anxious to be finished with Pal that they ruined this film, casting it with the wrong actors, keeping the budget low and skipping out on many of the special effects.

It's all in the mind, you know.

[TSMChicago · 8/10 · 25 April 2003]

This thriller from director Byron Haskin and producer George Pal is a fairly understated effort considering some of their other features were "The Naked Jungle" and "War of the Worlds." The terror here is implied and there are precious few special effect sequences. The story concerns super intelligence, telekinisis and the ability to kill with thoughts. As one reviewer stated earlier, it will remind you of "Scanners."

Miklos Rosza's eerie score is quite effective in enhancing the tension and paranoia through the use of a hammer dulcimer. This instrument actually appears onscreen twice during the film.

As with all of Pal's features the photography in "The Power" is outstanding although the film does suffer a bit when cropped for television. Try to catch it on TCM in letterbox.

There are a couple of clever animation sequences that will remind you of Pal's Puppetoon shorts from the '40s.

"The Power" is a taut psychological drama that commands your attention throughout.

battle of brainwaves

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 16 May 2020]

Suzanne Pleshette and George Hamilton had both been in the biz for about ten years already. Hamilton and Pleshette are scientists Tanner and Lansing, studying physical limits to the body and brain at some research facility. Art O'Connell is Dr. Hallson, who realizes that someone on the team has an IQ off the charts, and has decided that this must mean they have telekinesis... although the two seem unrelated to me. Co-starts Aldo Ray and Yvonne DiCarlo. and footage of the astronaut G force testing room. fun scene at the "joshua tavern", where the server tries to talk him out of coffee, since she'll have to heat it up. and everywhere Tanner goes, suddenly everyone is trying to kill him for asking questions. it goes a little goofy when they can't find a hotel room, so they buddy up to people at an appliance convention. and when they start tracking down other scientists from that meeting, they seem to end up D-E-D dead. Gary Merrill is in here as Detective Corlane. he's not sure if he believes Tanner... (Merrill was so good in All about Eve) Directed by Byron Haskin. was nominted FOUR times for special effects, and won a special achievement award for camera technology. Written by Frank Robinson, who had three of his novels made into film. Pleshette had already made Birds in 1963. it's pretty good... a bit dated now, but these were probably pretty cool effects for the time. came out the same year as 2001, a space odyssey.

Unbelievably stupid

[bmalakwa · 3/10 · 20 February 2021]

This is one of those movies you have to watch to see how unbelievably stupid it is, it belongs in the same category as those cheap made for tv movies that are too long that were made to sell toothpaste and fill a time slot. I couldn't think of two other actors than George Hamilton and Suzanne Pleshette who deserve to star in this film.