Please help me identify this scifi movie!

June 11, 2009 3:58 PM

Please help me identify this scifi movie from my childhood?

Please help me identify this scifi movie from the 50's, 60's or 70's. (I'm guessing the film is late 60's early 70's.) I saw it a few times on TV when I was really young (mid 70's) but I've not seen it on TV since.

I can only remember the end of the film....basically, the world (or spacecraft?) the folks in the movie are on is in some kind of very grave danger (explosion? alien attack? I can't remember!) and there are only 2 small groups of humans left at the end. One group decides to take their chances and escape through a "space-portal/doorway-type-thing", even though it is a HUGE risk and they don't know what is on the other side of the portal. The group that escapes through the portal is dropped into a peaceful, serene world with hyper-colored landscape - yay, they live! It is assumed the other group died when they opted to stay behind. The end.

I was maybe 6 years old when I last saw this movie, so some details could be inaccurately remembered. But I am certain about the portal/doorway escape.

Thanks!

posted by jbenben to Society & Culture (14 answers total)

When Worlds Collide?
posted by katillathehun at 4:23 PM on June 11, 2009

No portal in that.
posted by Artw at 4:26 PM on June 11, 2009

Sounds a little like the 1989 movie Millennium (People from the future kidnap airline crash victims before they die to re-populate the future) the ending (Spoiler alert?) things go badly for various reasons and a group of the future people and kidnapped past people go though a portal further into the future which is all shiny and nice.
posted by Captain_Science at 5:10 PM on June 11, 2009

At 1979, it's probably too late to be your movie, but I was reminded of the ending to Disney's The Black Hole.
posted by GeekAnimator at 5:17 PM on June 11, 2009

Sounds a bit like The Time Travelers.
posted by cerebus19 at 5:29 PM on June 11, 2009

I was going to say Millenium as well.
posted by gudrun at 5:31 PM on June 11, 2009

I thought of The Black Hole as well.
posted by Bookhouse at 5:38 PM on June 11, 2009

Response by poster: Good guesses so far... but we haven't found it yet!

"When World's Collide" is a really good guess. The 1951 version, especially, would be a perfect candidate....except in the movie I am looking for, the survivors pass through a portal-type-machine the scientists were racing againts time to construct to save everyone and that is how they get to their new home/planet. They definitely don't get there via rocket.

Thanks so much. This has been bothering me FOREVER. I'm hopeful someone out there knows the answer...
posted by jbenben at 5:44 PM on June 11, 2009

Response by poster: If it helps, I am fairly certain the movie is from the 60's or very early 70's. Thanks!
posted by jbenben at 5:45 PM on June 11, 2009

Response by poster: cerebus19 - ummmm - just read the synopsis and watched the original movie trailer for The Time Travelers. Maybe. But I remember the survivors marveling at the hyper-colors of this lush world they found through the portal... ring a bell?

I'll update once I watch a few more clips...
posted by jbenben at 6:00 PM on June 11, 2009

Response by poster: Nope. It wasn't The Time Travelers:(
posted by jbenben at 6:38 PM on June 11, 2009

Do you remember where you saw this? Are you American? English? Something else?
posted by Electrius at 9:15 PM on June 11, 2009

Here's a clip for the final scene of The Time Travelers. Not to beat that into the ground, and I apologize if you saw this clip already, but your scenario virtually describes it to a tee (although I guess the colors are as lush as it could've been for an aged copy of a 1964 film).

There was another movie of the same name from '76, but it doesn't seem to be a remake or anything.

I've only seen parts of the '64 version before, but darn, I kinda wanna see the whole thing now...
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 10:16 PM on June 11, 2009

Is it possible it was an episode of something? Some episodes of the original Star Trek series are similar in theme, and you might be confusing an episode with a movie.
posted by GJSchaller at 6:41 AM on June 12, 2009