I Watch Films: Beyond The Time Barrier

 

Beyond The Time Barrier (1960)

In 1960 Major Allison flies the X-80 rocket plane into space, coming back to land to find the airfield deserted. He heads for a weird looking city, is captured and made unconscious. Waking up in The Citadel, an underground city no one will speak to him. Eventually he is taken to The Supreme, who with his second-in-command The Captain do speak and explain some of what’s happened.

The surface is dangerous and nearly everyone is a deaf-mute, also sterile. Possibly not sterile is The Supreme’s granddaughter Trirene, who is a telepath. She confirms Allison is not a spy, though The Captain remains suspicious and sends him down to where the mutants are under The Citadel. They blame the people above for everything including a cosmic plague.

He's then taken to the ‘scapes, two male scientists and Markova, a female Russian officer, who tell him it’s 2024 (!). Markova thinks bad thoughts so Trirene runs away.  Somewhere in the upper atmosphere is a time warp, and they came through it too – Captain Markova from Russia in 1973 and the two scientists from off-world colonies in 1994. Nuclear fallout damaged the atmosphere, and cosmic rays broke through causing the cosmic plague in 1971. Everyone has been effected – those on the surface worse than those in The Citadel. They warn him that the Citadel intends that he breed with Trirene, the last chance. When he leaves, the Captain warns him not to trust the ‘scapes.

Allison then falls in love with Trirene, eventually though deciding that he must try the ‘scapes plan to return to his time and warn everyone about the coming cosmic plague. Having convinced Trirene to help, Markova lets free the mutants to cover their escape – only to attempt to hijack the X-80 to return to her own time. Violence spreads out of control, overwhelming everyone.

Obviously the answer to how well does all this predict 2024 is: not very well. What did it say about the concerns of 1960? That nuclear fallout would have unpredictable, horrible side effects of course. That you can’t trust people, everyone’s out for yourself. And that violence begets violence, and even doing the right thing will cost you everything. Quite a bleak film, even if we take a mutant-haunted ruins of future Earth as read.

Watch This: Grimly entertaining time travel film with a handful of unexpected bits
Don’t Watch This: Awful sets, poor story, uninspired acting