While trying to foil a jewelry heist, London bobby Tom Campbell stumbles into a police box, only to discover that it's a cleverly-disguised time machine operated by silver-haired scientist Doctor Who and his nieces Susan and Louise. The time machine whisks the group away to a distant future in which London has become a bombed-out battlefield between alien invaders and a shrinking human resistance.
Like the first Doctor Who movie the previous year, this installment retells a story from the original television program, with a few obvious changes to the cast. Also like the first film, its sole intent was to capitalize on the Dalekmania sweeping Britain at the time. However, these few similarities aside, this film is a radical departure from its predecessor, and not in a good way.
Where the first film had lavish and colorful sets, likeable characters, a more-or-less reasonable plot, and an almost child-like sense of adventure and innocence, this one was a grim march through a war-torn, apocalyptic ruin, with betrayals, executions and senseless deaths always just around the corner. The kindly Doctor and his young nieces seemed incredibly out of place in an environment of such brutality, like the cast of 'Sesame Street' suddenly appearing in 'Enemy At The Gates,' though even the Doctor seems to turn a jaded eye to the violence. (In one scene, for instance, the Doctor and David are walking through the forest when David suddenly turns and guns down two guards with his rifle. Then, without a single word, the two go back to studying their map and cheerily discussing the best way to proceed.) Occasional comic elements thrown in to try to offset these grim scenes fall quite flat -- particularly the one where Tom tries to blend in with the robomen.
Other problems included the odd lack of any explanation for the Daleks' very presence (Doctor Who and the gang had dealt them a sound defeat in theatres the previous summer) and the pseudoscientific jargon the writers used to explain the Daleks' motives and to describe the method of their ultimate defeat, which was just embarrassing, even by Doctor Who standards.
Despite all these obvious flaws, there was a handful of high points in the film. Peter Cushing's performance was smooth and enjoyable, even despite inadequacies in the script, and Tovey, Curzon, and Cribbins also did really well. It has to be said that the special effects were obviously better funded than in the previous release, with some of the early scenes (including the alien ship rumbling over London and the Dalek rising out of the Thames) coming off beautifully.
Even as a Doctor Who fan, I can't honestly say I enjoyed this movie, so if you're looking for a Who flick, I'd recommend 1965's 'Daleks' instead -- it's much better.
Like the first Doctor Who movie the previous year, this installment retells a story from the original television program, with a few obvious changes to the cast. Also like the first film, its sole intent was to capitalize on the Dalekmania sweeping Britain at the time. However, these few similarities aside, this film is a radical departure from its predecessor, and not in a good way.
Where the first film had lavish and colorful sets, likeable characters, a more-or-less reasonable plot, and an almost child-like sense of adventure and innocence, this one was a grim march through a war-torn, apocalyptic ruin, with betrayals, executions and senseless deaths always just around the corner. The kindly Doctor and his young nieces seemed incredibly out of place in an environment of such brutality, like the cast of 'Sesame Street' suddenly appearing in 'Enemy At The Gates,' though even the Doctor seems to turn a jaded eye to the violence. (In one scene, for instance, the Doctor and David are walking through the forest when David suddenly turns and guns down two guards with his rifle. Then, without a single word, the two go back to studying their map and cheerily discussing the best way to proceed.) Occasional comic elements thrown in to try to offset these grim scenes fall quite flat -- particularly the one where Tom tries to blend in with the robomen.
Other problems included the odd lack of any explanation for the Daleks' very presence (Doctor Who and the gang had dealt them a sound defeat in theatres the previous summer) and the pseudoscientific jargon the writers used to explain the Daleks' motives and to describe the method of their ultimate defeat, which was just embarrassing, even by Doctor Who standards.
Despite all these obvious flaws, there was a handful of high points in the film. Peter Cushing's performance was smooth and enjoyable, even despite inadequacies in the script, and Tovey, Curzon, and Cribbins also did really well. It has to be said that the special effects were obviously better funded than in the previous release, with some of the early scenes (including the alien ship rumbling over London and the Dalek rising out of the Thames) coming off beautifully.
Even as a Doctor Who fan, I can't honestly say I enjoyed this movie, so if you're looking for a Who flick, I'd recommend 1965's 'Daleks' instead -- it's much better.
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