MovieChat Forums > City Beneath the Sea (1971) Discussion > Irwin Allen Science, plot and special ef...

Irwin Allen Science, plot and special effects

posted 14 years ago by edwstraker
4 replies | jump to latest

Science: I know there is no point mentioning this, we all know Irwin Allen science is weak but in this film which I have fond memories of... Pacifica had to turn down the lights to increase the warhead megatonnage? I could go on.

Plot: I know there is no point mentioning this, we all know Irwin Allen plots are weak but in this film which I have fond memories of... the vault was supposed to be able to withstand a hit by a planetoid with a density 3 million times that of Earth but Stuart Whitman just walked in through a horizontal Jeffries tube and knocked out an air conditioning grating?

Special effects: There is a point mentioning this since Irwin Allen is known for good effects. The only effects that looked good were the FS stock footage from VTTBOTS. The CBTS and subs looked like a bad models. Irwin Allen liked to use stock footage which is often OK. However, here is was definitely a bad choice. Usually stock footage looks worse than new footage. Not the case here. The use of the VTTBOTS FS stock footage just emphasized how weak the new effects were.

Speaking of density. During the climactic fight the stacks of gold bars actually moved when a body hit them.

I'd have to say an inferior production relative to his TV series.

[–] mccarthystuart 14 years ago

Also, don't forget the veritable army of secretaries the main character had at the start of CBTS (boy, if that doesn't really date the film, I don't know what does)

Then there's those ridiculous-looking clothes most of the actors were forced to wear.

So this is how liberty dies-with thunderous applause?

[–] HyperPup 14 years ago

I know, I just wonder if he were still alive today what he would say about all the stuff we complain about in his films. I still have a soft spot for the "juvie" scifi elements of his filmmaking. Though not very practical it shows a child at heart mentality.

Thousands die every day for no reason at all, where's your bleeding heart for them?

[–] RussellDunn 10 years ago

Mark Twain once said,"Never let facts get in the way of a good story."
Apparently Irwin Allen took that to heart when he was making science fiction tv shows in the 60's and 70's. The man and his writers must have failed their science classes in school.
But pound for pound, I would prefer his science fiction over what we have today. Back then there was a sense of optimism to his stories. Yes there were problems and issues but there was also a promise that mankind, for all its faults, would continue to struggle and progress towards a brighter future. The science fiction of the last twenty years is more dismal and dystopian with anti-heroes instead of heroes. Sad to think a whole generation was raised on that.
But its not to late to change.

[–] tortie98 7 years ago

Nice post Russell!