Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D., 1966.
Directed by Gordon Flemyng.
Starring Peter Cushing, Bernard Cribbens, Jill Curzon and Roberta Tovey.
SYNOPSIS:
The Earth of 2150 AD is a desolate and hostile ruin of a planet, crumbling at the edge of civilisation, slowly disappearing into the darkness of space. For the future of planet earth now belongs to The Daleks, a destructive arm of alien invaders who have turned the human race into cowering slaves.
As with Dr. Who and the Daleks, B&R (my two youngest daughters) were brought in to give me the perspective of a 21st Century child on these two films. They were coerced with strawberry milkshake, pizza and chips (can I claim this back on expenses?).
To me, Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. was always the better of the two movies and again, while not to be taken a part of the actual Who mythology, if it wanted to fit in then it could. The story doesn’t attempt to re-write any Who history and could easily fit in.
We follow the Doctor and his crew in a post-apocalyptic UK where the Daleks have destroyed most of London (except for a Sugar Puffs poster). The Doctor is captured by the Daleks and Robomen, and Louise and Susan are whisked away by the Resistance (considering this is set just under 150 years from now the Resistance seem to be the entire patrons of the “Elephant and Castle” and quite possibly were). Once again the companions are there to keep the story flowing or for comic relief. Soon they all meet up for the Daleks’ end game and bring the evil doers their just desserts.
Like Dr. Who and the Daleks, the story here is quite thin but moves at a better pace than the first attempt and doesn’t just drag you from dull scene to a very dull scene. This is an enjoyable film even in 2013, although it’s not all great and some scenes move along at a snail’s pace or suffer from poor editing. My daughters found some scenes funny, but for the wrong reasons e.g. a Roboman’s helmet (in the Smarties eating scene) is obviously on wrong and looks rather odd, and when Dortmun (the Resistance leader) for no rhyme or reason decides to wheel off after a Dalek who failed to notice him. As for their views:
B – I loved it! The music was brilliant and I like the old Doctor too.
R – I really liked it and the Doctor is really good.
Turning to the quality of the Blu-ray, I can’t really see any difference from the images in my memory and the quality on the screen. The visuals look great, the sound is excellent and I can’t fault this disc at all. Good job well done I’d say.
Most fans will get the box-set of both Dr. Who and the Daleks and Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D., but if you’re low on hard cash I’d stump for this movie. Though if you’re a fan you’ll probably already know that.
Flickering Myth Rating: Film ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★ ★
Villordsutch is married with kids and pets. He looks like a tubby Viking and enjoys science fiction. Follow him on Twitter.
Originally published May 27, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
