Journey to the Center of Time (1967)

A group of scientists are meddling with the space time continuum and at the same time running up quite considerable bills for industrialist "Stanton" (Scott Brady). They seem to be able to revisit the previous 24 hours OK - but despite two years of efforts, they cannot improve on that! "Doc. Gordon" (Abraham Sofaer) and his team are given an ultimatum - succeed or no more cash. Now, they must use their groundbreaking laser and pushing everything to it's safety limit manage to go forward 5000 years where they find the inhabitants of Earth facing their own looming Armageddon. Can they get back to their lab and avert this existential disaster? It has a slight, maybe Cold War, moral message to it - if mankind remains as warlike in the future, then the planet is toast; but otherwise the story takes far too long to get going and then, when it does, it utilises some of the most basic set design and special effects I think I've ever seen to complement some seriously wooden acting. At times the production looks like it was made with just one camera and after each line of the (truly banal) dialogue, that was moved to continue with the other person in the conversation - which reduces the pace to that of a rocket stuck in treacle! Although it did at times remind me of the infinitely better "This Island Earth" (1955), it is pretty dreadful tosh that made 80 minutes feel like a really long time!