The survivors and their futuristic companions return to the lab, only to make a strange discovery. Their past selves are still in the lab, yet to pass through the portal, but they appear frozen. The travelers then realize that they are experiencing time at an accelerated rate; the rest of the world, including their past selves, is moving in extremely slow motion. Their only option is to travel to the date the portal had briefly been set to before being more firmly set to A.D. 2071. That previous date is over 100,000 years in the future, but the screen is, as before, dark; what lies ahead is unknown. They quickly cross the room, casting the shadows which had been seen before.
When the last one goes through, the screen flashes on briefly and shows the travelers walking in a clearing with trees and grass; the surface of the Earth habitable again. They begin to build a future there. The film then shows their past selves moving at normal speed again, repeating their actions at an ever accelerating rate to a resounding musical score; the sequence of events of the entire movie rapidly cycles, repeating with ever briefer and fewer clips, leaving the viewer in a time-loop until it abruptly ends (without further explanation) with a shot of the Andromeda Galaxy.
So, the MST3K cut leaves out the implications that everything’s stuck in a time loop, which ties back to the beginning of the movie.
The MST version does show the first paragraph of that, doesn’t it? Or am I just remembering having read that Wiki article at some point over a year ago? Because I thought your last sentence was already clearly demonstrated by what I’d seen.
How does Katherine know that the few people she saw being somehow pulled up out of the bubble were being killed? They were freaking out, sure, and maybe they were in fact killed afterwards, but…? If the analogy is that they’re interesting bugs under glass, aren’t the two most usual things to do when you take one out are 1. just handle it for a bit, then put it back, or 2. let it go…?
Aside from that, the thing that really made me go “HUH?” was how Mark finally managing to get under the edge of the bubble underground meant that the top of it apparently opened up. Did the aliens or whatever go “darn, we’re licked, may as well let 'em out”?
I don’t think those two events were meant to be connected. The aliens (or whatever) left the bubble and everyone would starve to death but Mark found a way out.
We’ll never really know. I’m not convinced the writers knew. But the way I read it, Mike destroyed the “food” supply when he ripped open the chair. He then dug his way under the dome. Those two things are what broke the hold on the zombies’ minds. They were no longer being controlled by the chair, and then they were offered a way out. It’s when they all started following Mike out that the dome was lifted.
It seems to me like Katherine thinks that whatever will happen to the baby is a fate worse than death, and not actual death, or why else would she ask Mark to kill the baby?
Anyway, I thought the same as you with regard to the aliens letting everyone go only after Mark dug under the bubble. The bubble is definitely gone at the end, the rain makes that clear, so it does not seem to be the case that Mark needs to lead them out.
While we’re on the subject: things were looking pretty bleak- sure- but it was awfully early in the tunneling process to jump right to, “OK. Infanticide time!”
She said something like “at least he won’t suffer as much if you do it”. So she seems to be picturing torture or a really horrible death of some kind and is asking Mark to make it quick and as painless as possible, or something, I think.
What a stinkburger that was! It’s like Robot Monster and The Day Time Ended had an ugly baby. A really ugly baby, with all of its parents’ bad traits rolled together. It’s like someone took the opening few minutes of one of the weird Avengers episodes, but forgot it needs Emma and Steed to come along to make something happen! The guys in this film make Mike from Manos seem really on the ball. I’m still not sure what I just watched.
But we had a secret weapon. Oh, yes. We had Joel himself and some top notch riffing to get through it, and it was glorious! A movie this bad could easily have turned into a real slog of an episode, but the team’s at the top of its game and this was a real triumph. The riffs were strong from the start, and “this whole movie is like a cutting room floor” feels like it could be the new “you know, every frame of this movie looks like someone’s last known photograph.”
And the henchbots! And the return to the escape plan and setup for the Xmas spectacular! Pearl seemed to be channeling Frank at the end, there, with how easy it was to manipulate her. Pearl and Synthia interactions are always fun, but Synthia’s reaction to Doctor Kabahl was a really strong way to end the episode.
After all the buildup I was a bit scared going into this one, but it’s all fine now. We’re not in the Bubble anymore.
I like that Alien From LA at least used the trope as a character development marker. She starts out shy, mousy, withdrawn, scared, immature, and full of self-doubt. This is reflected in her outward appearance, with frumpy clothes, disheveled hair, dorky glasses, and shrill voice. It’s implied that it comes as a reaction to her father’s career. He neglected her, choosing instead to go off on adventures, and that left her as we see her at the beginning of the movie.
His disappearance motivates her to chase after him, leading her on a grand adventure. She’s forced to grow up, come out of her shell, face her fears, etc. Over the course of that, her glasses break, she gets better clothes, her hair gets steam cleaned, etc. Step by step, she gradually gains self-confidence. So that at the end of the movie, she’s able to stand tall, look her best, talk in a natural voice, and finally see that she’s too good for the guy who dumped her.
It’s still the same trope, and it’s still tying a woman’s worth to the male gaze. But it is a more clever use of it to visually mark her gradual character development.
