H.G. Wells' The Shape of Things to Come [DVD]

Amazon.com H.G. Wells' The Shape of Things to Come is so deliriously bad that it begs inclusion in any collection of 1970s kitsch. It's a disco-flavored variant of TV's Buck Rogers in the 25th Century--just another no-budget rider on the coattails of Star Wars. Only a fool would perceive even a slight connection to Wells's classic novel, to which this misleadingly titled cheese-fest is ostensibly a sequel. Their careers in sorry decline, Jack Palance, Carol Lynley, Barry Morse (late of TV's Space: 1999), and John Ireland look embarrassed as they wrestle with a wearisome post-apocalyptic plot that pitches Morse, a pair of Ken-and-Barbie heroes, and their quirky robot (of course) against megalomaniac emperor Palance, who controls a drug needed for survival of moon-based colonists. Prior to directing this laughable mess, George McCowan had helmed episodes of several prominent TV action series of the '70s, but here he devolves into moribund hackwork. This is a ham sandwich sans bread, from a time when stale sci-fi was spreading like mold on George Lucas's leftovers. --Jeff Shannon Product Description The time is the tomorrow after tomorrow, and mankind has now populated the Moon where vast domed cities have been built on what was once a wasteland. But when power-mad Emperor Omus (Oscar winner Jack Palance of "City Slickers") attacks the lunar colony of New Washington, a team of scientists led by Dr. John Caball ("Space: 1999's" Barry Morse) launches a dangerous mission to destroy the dictator and his robot army. Can three daring space jockeys and one renegade robot save their universe from the dark forces of intergalactic evil? Carol Lynley (Vigilante), Nicholas Campbell (The Dead Zone) and John Ireland (Spartacus) co-star in this epic science-fiction adventure directed by George McCowan (Frogs) and inspired by H.G. Wells' visionary novel that takes you beyond the frontiers of space, where man's future is limited only by his imagination!