The Shape of Things to Come (1979)

★ 4.0 1h 38m IMDb

Sci-Fi Adventure

Planet Earth is a devastated wasteland, and what's left of humanity has colonized the Moon in domed cities. Humanity's continued survival depends on an anti-radiation drug only available on planet Delta Three, 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 Three to stop Omus.

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Cast

Jack Palance as Omus Died 2006 · Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania, USA Jack Palance (born Volodymyr Palahniuk; February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American actor. Known for playing tough guys and villains, he was nominated for three Academy Awards, all for Best...

Carol Lynley as Nikki Died 2019 · New York City, New York, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Carol Lynley (born Carole Ann Jones; February 13, 1942 – September 3, 2019) was an American actress and child model. Lynley began her career as a child model un...

Barry Morse as Dr. John Caball Died 2008 · London, England, UK Herbert Morse (10 June 1918 – 2 February 2008), known professionally as Barry Morse, was a British born actor of stage, screen, and radio, best known for his roles in the television series The Fugitiv...

John Ireland as Senator Smedley Died 1992 · Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada John Benjamin Ireland was a Canadian-American actor and film director. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in All the King's Men (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor...

Nicholas Campbell as Jason Caball Age 74 · Toronto, Ontario, Canada Nicholas Campbell (born 24 March 1952), sometimes credited as Nick Campbell, is a Canadian actor and filmmaker, who has won three Gemini Awards for acting. The movies Naked Lunch, Prozac Nation and th...

Director George McCowan

Cast Jack Palance, Carol Lynley, Barry Morse, John Ireland, Nicholas Campbell, Anne-Marie Martin, Greg Swanson, Mark Parr, William Hutt, Ardon Bess

Tourma 1/10 Oct 02, 2023

**A slow, dull movie.**

A movie that feels like a Star Trek script that was thrown out for being too dull. There is just too little going on for too long.

The movie touts that it is based off of the H.G. Wells' story of the same name, though aside from some character names and the title, there is no other correlation.

The sets are cheap. The costumes are unremarkable. The robots are blatant knock off of the Lost in Space Robot and R2-D2, but without the pizzazz. The plot is plodding. Jack Palanace acts like he lost a bet and had to be there.

I'll give the movie that the two female leads, Carol Lynley and Anne-Marie Martin are attractive and the best actors that I've never heard of. Looking them up, they've been in far better movies. Watch those instead.

Also, the explosion _is_ cool.

If you still want to watch it, Rifftrax improves it greatly. Though as they frequently put it, "so bad it's still bad." It apparently has also been done by by the MST3K crew for season 13. I'd suggest picking which group of comedians you prefer and watch that, because watching a second time likely won't be worth it.

Wuchak 4/10 Nov 23, 2025

**_Practically any episode of Buck Rogers is a superior choice_**

Shot in the fall of 1978, this is a cheesy Star Wars knockoff that merely uses the HG Wells name as a selling point since the story has nothing to do with his 1933 novel. Meanwhile the robots in the story are variations on the Robot from Lost in Space.

I mention Buck Rogers because the sets, costumes and FX are comparable to that contemporaneous TV series. Also, Jack Palance, who stars as the villain here, also played the antagonist in one of the better episodes of that series, the two-part “Planet of the Slave Girls.”

Meanwhile Anne-Marie Martin plays the female protagonist (oddly credited as Eddie Benton), and she also appeared in one of the better episodes of that show, “Twiki Is Missing.” Unfortunately, whereas the Costume Designer for Buck Rogers was a genius who knew how to dress women to emphasize them in all their glory (not tawkin’ about sleaziness), the costumer for this flick fumbled the ball with both Anne-Marie and the lovely Carol Lynley. Don’t get me wrong, their costumes are a’right, but that’s about it.

For a quality low-budget Star Wars ripoff, check out Roger Corman’s entertaining “Battle Beyond the Stars,” which came out the year after this one. That said, this flick can be enjoyed to some degree if you’re able to roll with its all-around cheesiness, similar to a lousy Star Trek episode.

It runs 1h 38m and was shot in the studio in the Toronto area with location sequences done in Montréal.

GRADE: C-