They say the devil's in the details. He must have shot this movie, because absolutely no attention was paid to detail in any way. I have noticed in other movies that George Pal is good at making scenes full of flashy, hi-tech gadgets, but not at making people act in believable ways. "The Power" dwarfs all his previous efforts in this direction.
This movie attempts to take itself seriously. But it is so poorly executed that it is impossible for the viewer to take it seriously. It's too bad MST3K is not still around. "The Power" would be a natural for it.
IMDb limits review size, so I can't fit all the incredibly stupid stuff in. I'll have to restrict myself to a few of the highlights. What amazes me is that it just keeps getting stupider and stupider as it goes along, just when you thought such a thing couldn't be possible.
== Spoilers == Tanner (George Hamilton) and Lansing (Suzanne Pleshette, who's about as much like a professor as last month's centerfold) are at the lab after hours. Suddenly the rocket-G-force simulator centrifuge starts up, which gets their attention. They try to turn it off, but the controls are jammed. Tanner throws the switch. (Switches are such big stars in this movie, they should be listed in the cast!) Suddenly the whole lab is lit in red light, for no reason, and none is ever given. Hallson (Arthur O'Connell) is dead in the centrifuge, and evidently has been for hours, although we all heard it turn on only minutes before.
Tanner is blamed for murdering Hallson and goes on the run. The first place he runs is into a fun house, which for no reason is a storefront on a busy downtown street. He has psychedelic experiences there, nearly gets killed when the merry-go-round goes out of control, but then leaves.
He gets ditched in the desert by a hick gas station attendant. Instead of following the jeep, which is obviously heading back to town, Tanner goes off in a completely different direction. It has been only half an hour, but he is already dying of thirst. He still has on his suit with jacket, tie and tightly buttoned collar.
He takes shelter in a grove of trees, which turns out to be an Air Force testing ground. The jets come and deliver enough ordnance to wipe Hanoi off the face of the map. The explosions don't even ruffle Tanner's hair. To get their attention, he sets the place on fire. Why the bombs have not ignited anything is not explained. Why the pilots would think fire in an area that's just been bombed back to the Stone Age unusual in any way is similarly ignored.
Tanner goes to the house of Mrs. Hallson (Yvonne de Carlo) who has seen him several times previously in the film. She opens the door and looks right at him, but asks, "Who are you?" As soon as he says his name, she seems to know who he is and lets him in.
Tanner, Lansing, and Melnicker (Nehemiah Persoff) have to hide out from the police. What more logical place than a kitchenwares convention? There are no rooms left in the hotel, so they go to a wild party in a stranger's room. "Why?" asks Lansing. "So we can keep together, keep awake." No explanation why they need to keep awake. Also no explanation why Melnicker dies while sitting alone on the sofa. Or why the party just happens to have a striptease record on the stereo, waiting for someone to drop the needle. Or why Melnicker's erstwhile dancing partner gets up after everyone has passed out, puts on the record and starts to strip.
An hour and twenty minutes into the film, Tanner tells Lansing, "We have to start somewhere." She and Nordlund (Michael Rennie) must be at a meeting by 2:00 PM. Tanner goes straight to the home of another co-worker, Van Zandt (Richard Carlson). It is suddenly night when he gets there.
A driverless car comes up and tries to run Tanner down. He tries to leave in his car, but is paralyzed. He decides to drive anyway, veering all over the road and narrowly missing other cars. He sees headlights following him in the mirror and is suddenly OK. He sideswipes a semi, which doesn't even dent the car, but somehow loosens the front wheel. He comes to a drawbridge where traffic is stopped, and drives through the barricade into the water. He and the car sink. He looks like he's going to drown, but then opens the convertible top, swims to the surface, where the car is still bubbling like a fishtank aerator (no sign of any bubbles a minute ago during the underwater shots) and swims away.
Detective Corlane (Gary Merrill) shows Tanner a note that they found in his apartment, asking him to meet Scotty (Earl Holliman) at the auditorium. Corlane says, "You will, but not alone." When they get there, Tanner says, "Scotty will never talk to me with all these cops here." Corlane: "You're not going in with the cops." Then he (a cop) goes in with Tanner!!! == End Spoilers ==
To make this review fit, I cut about half the dumb stuff I was going to point out, so you can imagine how much more stupidity awaits! This movie is not bad in the way most bad movies are bad. The acting is good by an all-star cast. The production values are fairly high. It doesn't drag. If you don't care at all about continuity or credibility, or expect things to make sense, or people to behave in logical ways, you will probably enjoy it. In fact, if your short-term memory has been eradicated, you will probably find it very entertaining.
People who still retain all their faculties will likely find it a hoot from start to finish.
This movie attempts to take itself seriously. But it is so poorly executed that it is impossible for the viewer to take it seriously. It's too bad MST3K is not still around. "The Power" would be a natural for it.
IMDb limits review size, so I can't fit all the incredibly stupid stuff in. I'll have to restrict myself to a few of the highlights. What amazes me is that it just keeps getting stupider and stupider as it goes along, just when you thought such a thing couldn't be possible.
== Spoilers == Tanner (George Hamilton) and Lansing (Suzanne Pleshette, who's about as much like a professor as last month's centerfold) are at the lab after hours. Suddenly the rocket-G-force simulator centrifuge starts up, which gets their attention. They try to turn it off, but the controls are jammed. Tanner throws the switch. (Switches are such big stars in this movie, they should be listed in the cast!) Suddenly the whole lab is lit in red light, for no reason, and none is ever given. Hallson (Arthur O'Connell) is dead in the centrifuge, and evidently has been for hours, although we all heard it turn on only minutes before.
Tanner is blamed for murdering Hallson and goes on the run. The first place he runs is into a fun house, which for no reason is a storefront on a busy downtown street. He has psychedelic experiences there, nearly gets killed when the merry-go-round goes out of control, but then leaves.
He gets ditched in the desert by a hick gas station attendant. Instead of following the jeep, which is obviously heading back to town, Tanner goes off in a completely different direction. It has been only half an hour, but he is already dying of thirst. He still has on his suit with jacket, tie and tightly buttoned collar.
He takes shelter in a grove of trees, which turns out to be an Air Force testing ground. The jets come and deliver enough ordnance to wipe Hanoi off the face of the map. The explosions don't even ruffle Tanner's hair. To get their attention, he sets the place on fire. Why the bombs have not ignited anything is not explained. Why the pilots would think fire in an area that's just been bombed back to the Stone Age unusual in any way is similarly ignored.
Tanner goes to the house of Mrs. Hallson (Yvonne de Carlo) who has seen him several times previously in the film. She opens the door and looks right at him, but asks, "Who are you?" As soon as he says his name, she seems to know who he is and lets him in.
Tanner, Lansing, and Melnicker (Nehemiah Persoff) have to hide out from the police. What more logical place than a kitchenwares convention? There are no rooms left in the hotel, so they go to a wild party in a stranger's room. "Why?" asks Lansing. "So we can keep together, keep awake." No explanation why they need to keep awake. Also no explanation why Melnicker dies while sitting alone on the sofa. Or why the party just happens to have a striptease record on the stereo, waiting for someone to drop the needle. Or why Melnicker's erstwhile dancing partner gets up after everyone has passed out, puts on the record and starts to strip.
An hour and twenty minutes into the film, Tanner tells Lansing, "We have to start somewhere." She and Nordlund (Michael Rennie) must be at a meeting by 2:00 PM. Tanner goes straight to the home of another co-worker, Van Zandt (Richard Carlson). It is suddenly night when he gets there.
A driverless car comes up and tries to run Tanner down. He tries to leave in his car, but is paralyzed. He decides to drive anyway, veering all over the road and narrowly missing other cars. He sees headlights following him in the mirror and is suddenly OK. He sideswipes a semi, which doesn't even dent the car, but somehow loosens the front wheel. He comes to a drawbridge where traffic is stopped, and drives through the barricade into the water. He and the car sink. He looks like he's going to drown, but then opens the convertible top, swims to the surface, where the car is still bubbling like a fishtank aerator (no sign of any bubbles a minute ago during the underwater shots) and swims away.
Detective Corlane (Gary Merrill) shows Tanner a note that they found in his apartment, asking him to meet Scotty (Earl Holliman) at the auditorium. Corlane says, "You will, but not alone." When they get there, Tanner says, "Scotty will never talk to me with all these cops here." Corlane: "You're not going in with the cops." Then he (a cop) goes in with Tanner!!! == End Spoilers ==
To make this review fit, I cut about half the dumb stuff I was going to point out, so you can imagine how much more stupidity awaits! This movie is not bad in the way most bad movies are bad. The acting is good by an all-star cast. The production values are fairly high. It doesn't drag. If you don't care at all about continuity or credibility, or expect things to make sense, or people to behave in logical ways, you will probably enjoy it. In fact, if your short-term memory has been eradicated, you will probably find it very entertaining.
People who still retain all their faculties will likely find it a hoot from start to finish.