Just Imagine

It was first futuristic film I have seen and was so impressed, as a ten year old boy that I have always wanted to se it again. Reading your description I was surprised to see that Maureen O'Sullivan my all-time favourite was in it > I met her daughter, Mia Farrow and Andre Previn when Soon Yi was 6 months old!

I finally got to see the film that haunted me since childhood. For years I saw stills from what I was told was a lost film and was amazed at the huge scale of the sets that rivaled what Fritz Lang had done with Metropolis. They were amazing and awe inspiring.

I wish I could say the same about the whole movie.

Made in the early days of sound this movie is terribly dated. The music seems to be only used during the musical numbers and the jokes seem to be a step above okay vaudeville. Its not bad, its just not good, or good consistently.

The plot has a world where everyone is a number some fifty years in the future (ie. 1980). In connected plot lines a man from 1930 is brought back to life and his antics form a ind of comic relief. Meanwhile a young man, unable to win the hand of his lady love ends up going to Mars. Its all a bit madcap and silly.

The amazing thing is how much of this has been stolen from over the years with films like Queen of Outer Space and Sleeper seeming to have pulled off bits of plot for their own.

Is it worth seeing? Yes. The sets are amazing, even today. The problem is that the rest is hit or miss and the film now is little more than a curio and entry in film history.

It has a pretty bad reputation, but Just Imagine is such a unique film that it's essential viewing for those who can overlook the bad songs and the unfunny antics of El Brendel. The art direction is, of course, inspired, the dance sequences wonderful (especially on Mars), and the joke about Henry Ford is truly hilarious. Despite it's creakiness, there's no more lovable film than Just Imagine.

Having read some earlier user comments and Maltin review, I wasn't expecting Citizen Kane; rather, that this was one of those "so bad it's good" films. I would comment rather: "so bad it's incredible". It makes Reefer Madness and its like appear as cinematic art. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, since I was sure that matters could not get worse. The futuristic earth scenes from 1980 (!) were not bad despite a trite story, since the sets must have seemed impressive at the time, and are about as good as those in the British film Things to Come. El Brendel was not as poor a performer elsewhere as he was here, given the poor material he had to work with. His hat sequence, probably perfected over years in vaudeville, is the most entertaining moment in the film. Who thought up the Mars sequence? A number of silent filmmakers had already done the alien or primitive world with much more sophistication, and not unbalanced between comedy (Brendel) and adventure (the heroes). To do justice to the cast: they were attractive performers doing their best.

I want Fox to do what they can to make a good restoration to the print of this film, clean up the sound, and release it on DVD so I can buy it and watch it whenever I want to.

This movie is incredibly bad, but it is just oh-so entertaining to watch.

It was shown on TV Ontario as part of a 'guilty pleasures' theme in 1980. It is the kind of movie you're not supposed to like but I liked it anyway. I would like to see it again. I would like to be able to show it to people who haven't seen it yet.

I mentioned to another person that I would like to see this out on DVD. He said, "If that happens then only you and I will have copies of it." I think how well a DVD of this would sell would depend to a very large extent on how it was promoted.