If it wasn't Mars blasting the earth's atmosphere with deadly rays it was an undersea or other hidden kingdom threatening doom with a disintegrator ray. Ah, the good old days when global warming wasn't a problem; just evil minions and their maniacal leaders who apparently had little else to do but make trouble for everyone on earth. Mystery Science Theater 3000 can mock this movie all they want, but it's still a wild ride with its mishmash of whatever costuming was available from the wardrobe department, and creative model work, and the volkites (tin can robots), all done on a shoestring budget. As for scientific gadgets, the Reflector plate is very interesting mostly because the concept was used again in Star Trek's Mirror Mirror episode with its Tantalus Field: a device that could see and hear anyone at any time, with a handy press-here-to-disintegrate button. There's also the Invisible Wall of Atom Rays that acts a lot like the Enterprise's shields. So make fun all you want: a fair amount of later science fiction staples came from this and other serials. This pressbook is huge at 13 x 20 inches and contains a lot of promotional material to get the kids into the theater.
ComicRack Reader version: Download Undersea Kingdom
You don't have to dive deep to see more pressbooks from Zombos' Closet.
Comments