Product Details

• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Format: NTSC

Customer Reviews

"On the Beach" on firm ground...
Perhaps not many of you have noticed that this movie is a "land-based" version of a previous film, starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner, called "On the Beach" (1959).
There too we have a post-nuclear theme, in which all life on Earth has been wiped off the face of the planet, only to leave a few "desperados" alive, both on board of a U.S. submarine and on the shores, somewhere near Australia (the last bastion of life... but for how long?).
There too, we have a signal emitted from somewhere, in the northern hemisphere...

Yet, despite all similarities, this movie is a kind of updated version, with fine actors at the helm (although not of the caliber of said actors above) and a very interesting story development.

The difference is that this is less a drama-oriented movie and more an action-adventure-thriller oriented working of the subject.

If one remembers the period in which this movie was made (late seventies), baring in mind that this was a time of overblown "super-spectacular" apocalyptic, "end-of-the-world"-like flics, such as "Earthquake", "The Towering Inferno" and "The Swarm" (probably the last and worst of such movies), one can say that this one differs considerably in both quality and story-development.

I personally like this little "what if" effort. No big special effects, except for some stock footage of nuclear explosions, some pyrotechnics and varied color flavors in the sky (supposed to represent the variations in the Earth's atmosphere).

Sometimes, for a movie to be good, you simply don't need millions, just simply a solid story and fine acting. This is certainly a film that makes you think and entertains at the same time.

My only regret is that no one has yet thought of tranferring it on DVD and offer it to us in a more decent and widescreen version. The Pan and Scan one loses out on many "strange" environments recreated for this movie. Actually, I wouldn't even call it Pan and Scan, since in many scenes, one just watches nose to nose conversations.

My only hope is that someone at 20th Century-Fox, or at Anchor Bay reads this and may come to the decision to restore it in its original format and deliver a more accurate and complete vision of apocalyptic terror on screen...

Anchor Bay
Good news for fans of this movie, Anchor Bay are working their magic for a future release. I'm looking forward to seeing this uncut and best of all in WIDESCREEN, as I've only ever seen the shocking pan and scan that gets shown on television once in a blue moon. Hooray for Anchor Bay !

Dated, but a great doomer flick!
TEOTWAWKI has come, and Jan-Michael Vincent and crew go looking for other survivors, salvaging what's left. This is a case of the movie being MUCH better than the book, although Roger Zelazny's novel is still a classic. The killer cockroach scene is still a gross-out even with dated special effects. Enjoy!