Things to Come (1936)
H.G. Wells really was a bloody genius, and a prophet in the vein of Jules Verne. His book, The Shape of Things to Come, presents a sort of "history of the future," and predicts with uncanny accuracy some of the terrible aspects of warfare that would come to pass only a few short years later.In Things to Come, the movie starts out in a fictional city called Everytown, but its safe to say that it serves as an allegory for any modern city. In this version of the future, war is imminent, and eventually Everytown is bombed into oblivion in an offensive that can only be described as a prediction of the 1940 "Blitz" of London.
Over the next several decades, mankind fights and destroys itself, knocking us back into the stone age practically. Plague kills what the war hasn't, and eventually, one hundred years later, man has rebuilt itself bigger and better than before.
Man has built itself a giant "gun" in which they intend to shoot a pair of explorers to the moon. In this future, though, the same traits which led them to destruction in their past, nearly destroy this ultimate act of progress and human exploration.
Now, you'll have to either laugh at or admire (or both) the designs of "the future" in the picture. They are a vintage 30's futurist, "Flash Gordon" style type of thing. From the flying aircraft carriers, to the airplane with the canopy built into the flight suit, to the giant spaceship flinging gun.... But hey, he couldn't have gotten everything right, could he!
Raymond Massey plays a dual role in the film, both in the "past" at the Everytown bombing and beyond, and in the future as the grandson of that man, responsible for righting the wrongs of his ancestors....
Things to Come gets a little dull at times, and honestly the acting is, well, lets just say its not all that, but if you can get past it and absorb the message and the incredible design and effects for its time.... it really is quite a piece of work, and shouldn't be missed!
Technorati Tags: war movie review, things to come, shape of t hings to come, h.g. wells, raymond massey, 1936, futurism
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