The Shape of Things to Come (1979)

Some time in the future, man has set up colonies on the Moon, when Earth becomes uninhabitable. A madman decides to destroy the Moon colonies with his robots and automated ships, and only three people and their robot dog can stop him.

Director:

George McCowan

Writers:

H.G. Wells (novel), Martin Lager (screenplay)

Stars:

Jack Palance, Carol Lynley, Barry Morse

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Palance	...	Omus
Carol Lynley	...	Niki
Barry Morse	...	Dr. John Caball
John Ireland	...	Senator Smedley
Nicholas Campbell	...	Jason Caball
Anne-Marie Martin	...	Kim Smedley (as Eddie Benton)
Greg Swanson	...	Sparks (voice)
Mark Parr	...	Sparks
William Hutt	...	Lomax (voice)
Ardon Bess	...	Merrick
Lynda Mason Green	...	Lunar Technician (as Lynn Green)
Albert Humphries	...	Robot Technician
Bill Lake	...	Spacesuited Man
Michael Klingbell	...	Robot
Jonathan Hartman	...	Robot

Storyline

Earth's a devastated wasteland, and what's left of humanity has colonised the Moon in domed cities. Humanity's survival depends on an anti-radiation drug only available on planet Delta 3, which has been taken over by Omus, a brilliant but mad mechanic who places no value on human life. Omus wants to come to the Moon to rule, and intends to attack it by ramming robot-controlled spaceships into the domes. Dr. John Caball, his son Jason, Jason's friend, Kim, and a robot named Sparks embark on Caball's space battlecruiser on an unauthorized mission to Delta 3; to stop Omus.

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Plot Keywords:

computer | resistance | robot | planet | spaceship | 

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Taglines:

Beyond the earth... Beyond the moon... Beyond your wildest imagination!

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Genres:

Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

H.G. Wells' The Shape of Things to Come

Filming Locations:

Ontario Place, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD3,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

SOTTC Film Productions Ltd., CFI Investments

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Koo Stark was announced for this film but left the project.

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Goofs

When they have landed on Delta 3 and met Nikki. Robots are attacking them, we can see Jason (left of screen) taking a spear from a Nikki's men. A few seconds later, we can see Jason taking the spear again.

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Quotes

Dr. John Caball: You spoke to us of a new technology, of peace, not war.
Omus: Don't you understand? Once you accept me as ruler, there will be no acts of aggression, only peace. Under my rule, the people will want for nothing.
Dr. John Caball: Except, freedom! Well, the Moon Colony will never accept a dictator. That's one thing we've learned at least from the history of the planet Earth.
Omus: You insult me, Doctor.
Omus: You are the one who inspired me, taught me to place science above all else.
Dr. John Caball: But not above humanity! If I didn't teach you ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

[Prologue] The time is the tomorrow after tomorrow. Earth has been polluted and devastated by the great robot wars and is all but deserted. Man has moved onto the moon, colonised its surface and erected vast cities in what was once wasteland. Ranging further out into deep space he has embarked on an even greater era of adventure and discovery. But the survival of mankind is dependent on a continuing supply of the miracle drug RADIC-Q-2.....And RADIC-Q-2 is produced only on the distant planet DELTA THREE.

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Connections

Referenced in Pop Culture Beast's Halloween Horror Picks: The Killer Shrews (2014)

User Reviews

Things that Came and Went...Space:1979

Makes a great double feature of bad films paired with Space Mutiny(1988)or Starship Invasions(1977). I remember there being some hype for this film in Starlog and other genre mags of the time, and that Barry Morse was headlining it(along with Jack Palance and Carol Lynley) and that Sylvia Anderson(Space:1999, UFO) was producing it and involved in aspects of the design. Well, Anderson walked early on, signing herself off it, but not after signing on Barry Morse from her Space:1999 haunts, to star in this. The film was to be made in Canada and, to feature some "top line" visual effects and miniatures by Brick Price.It's ghastly from the get-go. A disco-inspired theme song opening the show(this was 1979) and we go to a moon base which just happens to be a futuristic(then)office building outside of Toronto and we're told in that casual, expository way, that the "earth-like" conditions outside the windows, complete with clouds and trees, are all inside a dome with a "sunsphere" providing a familiar view for the people inside. How convenient. Barry Morse puts on an American accent for this, not his familiar grandfatherly British accent. Jack Palance plays "Omus" an evil kind of guy(he played the same kind of "evil guy" in an episode of Buck Rogers about the same time) who has these walking-garbage can robots who look totally ridiculous and awkward. He also laughs, for no apparent reason only that he's amazed himself, which isn't hard. All of the costumes of the young people look like they just roller boogied to the moon. The same corridor is used again and again for "chase" scenes-they just change directions. The miniatures are pretty bad-fighters that have model parts of the "K-7 Space Station" on the front end. The FX work is largely some glitzy animation that's passable at first, but just gets more annoying. Landing on another planet, it looks just like some empty lot or tract of land in Canada. Supposedly this was to be a much more ambitious production, with Mike Trim having done some production drawings and miniatures made in England-that all went when Sylvia Anderson walked off it. In fact, that's what Morse was led to believe when he signed on. (I read where he said he was taken aback at the cheapness of everything, but honored his professional commitment and did his job and finished it, as he agreed to do.) Harry Allan Towers (no slouch at cheap films)came in and the quality was replaced by the thrift of just getting the film done. I admit I was pretty shocked it was so low-budget. I'd accepted that it was a Canadian film, for the time, and figured it would be lower end, but this took the cake.