Beyond the Time Barrier
In 1960, a pilot testing an experimental rocket powered aircraft accidentally flies into the future and finds himself in a sealed city whose people suspect he is a spy from outside their walls, but who want to keep him to procreate with the ruler's daughter because the majority of the inhabitants are sterile.
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- Cast：
- Robert Clarke , Darlene Tompkins , Vladimir Sokoloff , Boyd 'Red' Morgan , Stephen Bekassy , Neil Fletcher
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Reviews
Pretty Good
Powerful
Don't listen to the negative reviews
A brilliant film that helped define a genre
As someone who once watched this kind of movie on TV in the late 60's and early 70's, believe me, this example of old Sci-Fi is the cream of the crop. It moves along at a brisk pace, the sets are original and futuristic, it has sex appeal, and a number of interesting subplots. In fact, as an example of its class. I would rate this 10 out of 10. I read another review here that criticized the view of the city of the future, because it looked like a "postcard". This person must have been born in 1990. In movies of this kind, it is RARE to get a glimpse of the city of the future! It also gave us a view of the destroyed city next door. Wow, what a treat! The budget for this film must have been ABOVE average. Where did I see this movie? On YouTube, where the title caught my eye.
I didn't expect much, but it's actually pretty good. 'Beyond the Time Barrier' tells us about a test pilot in 1960 who takes a rocket plane into space for a short flight - but when he returns to the airbase, it's deserted. A futuristic city is nearby, and he finds he is in the year 2024. He learns about the people of the future, what problems they have, and what caused the destruction of the old world as he knew it. He would like to return to his own time and prevent the catastrophe, but this is a difficult task...It's a movie made in 1960 and looks like it with dated design and effects. The story has a few weak points, especially time travel with a plane, simply flying a bit faster, is unconvincing. But there are a couple of good ideas (e.g. predicting the damage to the ozone layer instead of the usual nuclear war topic) and it's well directed, without any tedious or silly scenes to stretch the running time. Good sci-fi entertainment for its age.
The basic idea behind "Beyond the Time Barrier" isn't bad--it's just painfully obvious it was a super-low budget film. Too many set and script problems lingered that would have been worked out if the film makers had more than $45 to make the entire film. Despite this, the film does have two minor stars in it--Victor Sokoloff (a familiar face but a name you'll not readily recognize) and Robert Clark (who made a few sci-fi films and guest starred on TV shows like "Dragnet").The film is set in 1960. Clark is a Major in the Air Force and is flying a sub-orbital high altitude experimental flight. However, something odd happens and he's somehow transported 64 years into the future! And, unfortunately, the future completely sucks! It seems some plague killed most of the folks on Earth and left most of the rest as either mutants or total jerks! So, Clark has to somehow get back to his time to alert the folks on Earth. Can he do it? And, is there any way they'll believe him? And, will the complete and total jerks of the future even let him attempt this...after all, they ARE jerks! Overall, despite the crappy sets, I could recommend this to lovers of cheesy sci-fi. That's because the basic story isn't bad at all and it ended very well. On the other hand, be forewarned--it is cheap--REALLY cheap. The worst are the 'mutants' kept in prison. The ones near the top of the steps and those down inside the pit are OBVIOUSLY from different movies--and look NOTHING like each other!! The stairs ones are guys (no ladies?) wearing the absolute worst skin-head wigs I've ever seen! They are hilariously dumb. But, the folks living down in the pit look almost like extras from "Island of Lost Souls"--all covered in hair and looking a bit primordial!! Duh! So, if you can ignore the dumb parts, it's not bad...but still uneven.
If you considering this title, you are probably towards the end of your journey to see all that the 'fifties' sci-fi genre has to offer, and rightly so.BTTB is a Z Grade affair all the way. While the story concept and sets are intriguing enough, the lame acting, lack of action, and static camera work make this one almost unwatchable. Ulmer's high point for low budget was Detour. This is nowhere near Detour.For bottom of the barrel fifties sci-fi, I would definitely recommend War of the Satellites, Satellite in the Sky, Night the World Exploded, Phantom From Space or Mutiny in Outer Space long before I would recommend Beyond the Time barrier. It's not terribly bad, just terribly unengaging....