WORLD WITHOUT END

PLOT SUMMARY

Four astronauts are completing an orbital survey of Mars, preparatory to a future landing. Their work done, they boost out of orbit and are coasting toward home. Suddenly the ship undergoes incredible acceleration. They are thrown about the cabin. They remain unconscious as the ship enters atmosphere and plunges into the snow of a glacier.

They recover and find themselves uninjured. They have no idea where they are, except that it's not Mars: the antmosphere is too dense. It checks out as breathable, so they venture out to look over the ship. It's not greatly damaged, but the verdict is they will need some help to repair it. "Good thing we landed on snow," one observes.1 They gear up and head downslope to see what's what.

Soon they are set upon by large, hairy, one-eyed bipeds. They drive these off with their revolvers — not without getting some bruises. Several more skirmishes occur; then they find a cave which ends in a white screen. As they examine it, a door closes behind them and the white screen rises into the roof. A long hallway is revealed. Speaking English, a voice asks them to leave their gear, place any weapons they might have on the table, and proceed forward. A guide appears to take them to the council chambers.

They soon observe a puzzling discrepancy: the men they meet seem pale and . . . withered; the women are lithe and vigorous, apparently in their prime. The women, for their part, notice the vigor of the new arrivals with appreciation. In one scene, Rod Taylor shows off his manly chest, and Nancy Gates frankly admires it. They also notice that no children live in the underground city. Plainly these people need something from them; a quid pro quo suggests itself.

The members of the Council explain that this is Earth 550 years after their mission launched, that a great atomic war took place in the interim. They also explain that they have no wish to return to the surface, livable though it might now be. That would mean fighting with the mutants, and they are a peaceful people, wanting no part of weapons or fighting. Nor will they help the visitors — except to offer them places underground.

But Council member Mories soon throws a monkey wrench into the works. He has a thing for Garnet (Nancy Gates) and becomes ragingly resentful of Herb Elliot (Taylor.) He hides a pair of their revolvers in the visitors' suite and kills an old man who discovers him. But Deena, a woman rescued from the mutants as a child, also sees what Mories did. Soon his duplicity is discovered. He flees to the outside and is massacred by mutants.

The Council members have a change of heart. Deena has told them the mutants don't kill all the normal children, but keep some as servants. A plan emerges. With better weapons, it should be possible to reclaim parts of the surface, fight off the mutants, and rescue those children — thus assuring a future for humanity. Working to plans the crew provide, the city-dwellers build these, and the time travelers go forth to try their luck.

Capsule review: There's nothing very wrong with this film; it's just a competent but unexceptional effort.