Synopsis

In an effort to further explore the galaxy, the United States is hours away from launching a manned mission to Venus. But when a Chinese plot to destroy the Earth is uncovered, the U.S. teams up with the Soviet Union to replace members of its all-male crew with women. Now, it’s up to the crew of Project Astra to keep the human race alive and thriving.

Official Review

In George Pal’s 1951 classic WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, scientists discover that a rogue planet is actually hurtling through space, on a collision course with Earth. Faced with imminent destruction, a group of suitable men and women are chosen to take a space voyage to an inhabitable world and start the human race anew. In 1972’s THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE, American agents discover that the Chinese government has built a bomb capable of destroying the entire planet on the eve of the first manned mission to Venus. Without telling them why, three of the seven men in the crew are replaced at the last minute by women, the President and Joint-Chiefs-of-Staff unwilling to take any chances in case the Earth is blown to bits during the two-year expedition. Though the pseudo-science depicted in WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE is ludicrous in hindsight, that film featured stunning visual effects, solid performances, and plenty of full-scale devastation. It was a first-rate, pioneering disaster film. THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE, by contrast, is just a disaster. …Read More