I watched this right after George Pal's previous movie, _Destination Moon_. One of the things I liked about _Destination Moon_ is that it doesn't have a tacked-on love story. _When Worlds Collide_ does. I also enjoyed how much _Destination Moon_ focussed on getting the science, as known back then, correct. _When Worlds Collide_ takes a lot more liberties with realism and plausibility. Despite that, I felt like it had aged somewhat better than its forerunner.

Much of that is thanks to the actors. The characters are less stereotyped than in _Destination Moon_, allowing for some great performances by the cast. Richard Derr is particularly excellent in this, with Barbara Rush and Larry Keating also doing a great job. There are also some fantastic extras, such as the paper boy (Gene Collins). My favourite, though, is easily John Hoyt. His character was written to be hated, but there's also something respectable about such honesty, about not mincing words and not trying to hide or making excuses for one's most selfish motivations. Hoyt nails this balance. Even, or especially, in the scenes where his character is at his most unlikeable, he's simply fascinating to watch and listen to. The intrigue is maintained by his background and history not being mentioned. The movie doesn't reveal a lot of background on any of its characters, but instead of them ending up flat and boring, it just makes the story feel more low-key and believable. That's some great writing.

Some of the special effects are also still pretty nice to look at. The miniature shots are the least convincing, but I can still appreciate the love of detail that went into them. The natural disasters montage has quite a few shots that still look good today. Having seen the original trailer, they must also have been a major selling point back when the film was released.

As I hinted at in the beginning, I'm not big on the romance subplot. It fits Derr's character, but otherwise doesn't really add to the story, and is so rushed that it's really not believable. Hansen's character [spoiler]isn't built well enough to make his selflessness feel believable[/spoiler]. But this hurriedness also has its advantages. At 82 minutes of runtime, the film doesn't outstay its welcome. It's nicely paced without any sections that drag on for too long. I have a feeling that the short runtime might in part be due to how expensive the trick shots were to produce, but in the end, the movie is better for it.

Which brings me to my surprise about the direction of the plot, and the ending in particular. For the longest time, I was sure that the events couldn't lead up to [spoiler]the most obvious ending, that there had to be some kind of Deus Ex Machina moment in waiting, or some other big revelation would make for a less desolate ending. But _When Worlds Collide_ sticks to its major plot point all the way through. Billions of people die, human civilisation on Earth, and all other living things on it, are most likely wiped out (although we don't get to actually see confirmation of this). It's just the roughly 40 people and limited livestock brought on the rocket that survive. I liked the courage of the script to go through with this depressing ending, even though the relief at the end, of the new planet being habitable, arable, and featuring an Earth-like atmosphere, is the most glaringly implausible element of the entire story. But it also highlights the other severly illogical element: how the survivors were selected. Some personal friends of the people who financed or built the spaceship, the rest of them drawn by lot from its construction team? At least the movie hints at those people bringing the necessary scientific, technical, and agricultural skills to survive in a foreign world and get a new civilisation on its way, but I think that a mission seriously believing to be carrying the last survivors of humanity, in the hopes of rebuilding a healthy population, would focus on some other, more rational aspects. Genetic diversity, resilience against disease, general health, life expectancy, and fertility, that sort of thing. Also, maybe make sure beforehand that the people boarding the ship actually _want_ to diligently procreate together.[/spoiler]

Despite that, I really enjoyed watching this movie. While some of the special effects – which are important, considering this is effectively a disaster movie – aren't as convincing as they must have been in the fifties, some others hold up remarkably well. More importantly, its great acting, and the fact that it doesn't dawdle, keeps it surprisingly watchable more than 70 years later.