Beyond the Time Barrier (1960)

Pretty Good

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This film had a small budget; but it produced a fine atmosphere of futuristic gloom; especially with the black and white photography. The B actors all did a fine job, but the real star is the script and storyline; which I would classify as an A effort. A test pilot goes into the future by accident and arrives in the year 2024 (not too far from now lol), but in 1960, people were far more optimistic about space travel. They thought we would have colonies on the moon and Mars. Nope. We have chosen to wisely spend our money on national defense, instead. I really liked the twist ending which I will not reveal. Well worth watching.

I thought it did pretty well for the time period. I know that this would have been a drive-in movie night when it came out for our family. Both parents were SF fans.I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the citadel and wooded area. I knew then that this would be a campy ride back to the early 60's.Fun parts - Triangle doorways and walls, too short elevator doors, cut scenes from a different movie, violins, good stunt work, and a surprisingly interesting ending.Good 1960 tropes but pretty accurate scientific details except the time travel part.I'll put this on the list for our family movie marathon.I can't imagine that I've given a spoiler alert with this review but just checking the box anyway. These tropes were in almost every SciFi movie in the 50's and 60's.

There's a lot to hate about this movie -- the cheap FX (e.g. the Flash Gordon models once the "X-80" reaches space); the scientific flaws; the inexplicable plot holes at some points...Also the futuristic sets seem to borrow heavily from preceding sci-fi hits -- "Forbidden Planet" especially, with all the triangular doors and passageways.Still, I like this movie because it touches on so many themes or tropes that still exist in most science fiction movies (and books too, for that matter). It mixes and matches some of the best ideas from the Twilight Zone series... in fact, it's like watching an extended episode of TZ!Examples of ideas:Destruction of atmosphere (ozone?) -- in this case by nuclear testsDiscovery of hyperluminal/"faster than light" technology, leading to:Colonization of Mars and Venus (briefly mentioned)Future history (after 1960) which includes Russian and German scientistsMutation from radiation (in this movie, cosmic rays)... leading to loss of hearing (the "deaf-mutes") and sterility... deformities are suggested but not seenSurveillance by a Supreme authority (cameras watching everything)Telepathy (apparently only the girl "Trirene" has it?)Time travel (obviously!) -- but no mention of the Grandfather Paradox if the protagonist goes backwards in time in order to change the futureUnderground "citadel" for protection from "cosmic plague" as well as from the:Zombie-like savage mutants on the surface, or kept below in a dungeonAnd probably many other concepts as well... many of these ideas are part of every modern Hollywood sci-fi movie.P.S. The scene where Trirene swims (naked?) in a pool is obviously borrowed from "Forbidden Planet"...

There is plenty to grin about in this hopelessly moronic 50s sci-fi cheapie. The dialog is refreshingly naive and idiotic, the acting silly, but the Award For Most Unintentional Comedic Aspect Of The Movie goes to the fight scenes. Every time there is a fist-fight or a shuffle or someone gets arrested, it's time to laugh out loud; the action choreography is the worst i.e. funniest I've ever seen, on par with the fight scenes at the end of "Bride of the Monster": it's slapstick pure! Particularly the fight between one of the two scientists and the hero is worth watching several times. The sets are okay, especially considering the budget, so it's a pity the movie is b&w. The attempts to inject some scientific credibility into the basic premise aren't as lousy as in some other cheap movies of the time; a good example is the scene in which the two 20th century scientists explain to Major Allison (the male hero's name!) how the speed of his aircraft combines with the speed of the galaxy to break the "time barrier". Adding to the overall camp is the silly performance of Allison's deaf-mute, always-smiling (but sometimes slap-happy) love-interest, and the obviously fake (wrinkled) bald heads of the mutants. The old geezer, who plays the ruler of the citadel, provides amusement, too; he doesn't appear often, but whenever he opens his mouth something ridiculously stupid manages to come out of it. A scene worth noting is when the brunette betrays Allison and points a gun at him, only to be suddenly shot by one of the scientists; very funny. Moreover, after that the other scientist kills the one who killed the brunette, and all silly hell breaks loose. There is also the scene where the deaf-mute girl shows some rather daft-looking photos of her family to Allison.