User reviews

I loved this movie as a kid and an adult.

I thought it was well done and for the negative reviewers who said it was confusing, I understood it as a child. Are you dense or something?

Good acting, subtle death scenes, great action, albeit slow, but worth viewing. A nice build up and to the reviewer who said he knew who the bad guy was: Duh!

I'm so tired of you losers not taking into account when a movie was made. What movie about telekinesis compared to this then. Um, none. Enjoy a movie for when it was made and take in the effects as well. So many people say laughable effects in old movies. I hate this. They worked with what they had and did good with them.

I loved it in '68 and still love it!

George Pal's/Byron Haskin's version of "The Power" (based on the good novel by Frank Robinson, not the baseball player) is actually pretty entertaining and thrilling despite the relatively poor production values - quite a bit of 1960s cheesiness - but still the cast of stalwarts gives it all and it is probably the best George Pal film after 1960's "The Time Machine." Acting kudos go to Michael Rennie, Aldo Ray (!!!) and even, who would have thought it, star George Hamilton. This is one of those films whose concept far exceeds its execution but I still feel somewhat generous as I remembered it fondly from my youth and seeing it about 30 years later found out that it held up pretty well.

And a great score by Miklos Rozsa too.

Although the setting is scientific, and I've seen this described as science-fiction, "The Power" is arguably a very early rationalisation/update of the superhero genre. In this case the person with the superpowers is a supervillain, the power is telekinesis, and no lycra longjohns are entered into, as the makers try to keep it as downhome and believably creepy as possible, except when 'the power' is being exhibited.

Basically the official scientific committee for Somethingorother is kind of audited by government agent Michael Rennie to see what they're up to. One of them, played as a crackpot movie scientist by old pro Arthur O'Connell, is convinced that research suggests that someone has Ee-vill telekinetic powers. Despite Artie being a crackpot, what do you know, it turns out that he's right on the money, and furthermore, they determine it's someone right there in the room. Soon folks who were in that room start dying in numbers, and in imaginative and unpleasant ways. (There's a scene in a centrifuge that appears to have been knocked off for one of the Roger Moore James Bond movies later on - "Moonraker" from painful memory.)

The key to it all seems to be a shadowy figure who was once known as Adam Hart. George Hamilton sets out to find who Adam Hart was, and who or what he became. We end up with a major case of the creeps, because it's one of those paranoid whodunnit deals where the audience isn't allowed to trust anyone (kind of reminiscent of the Kurt Russell version of "The Thing" in that way) not even Hamilton, or his girlfriend Suzanne Pleshette.

Director Byron Haskin and the actors don't give us any cosy characters to like. Everyone's cold, aloof, frenzied, crazy, or pathologically self-interested. This aspect is a bit reminiscent of Freddie Francis's better English horror films of the 60s, although "The Power" has a more measured, restrained creepiness than his films.

In that sense, George Hamilton's limitations as a kissy-face type leading guy are used to the film's advantage. I've always found George Pal's stuff a little creepy even when it was ostensibly fun happy stuff for kids, and his Puppetooning here fits right in.

Only disappointment is a fairly conventional resolution by comparison to what's come before. Other than that, "The Power" is memorable, and a bit of a one-off.

This interesting sci fi film stars George Hamilton and Suzanne Pleshette, and features some former stars/near stars who had seen better days: Yvonne DeCarlo, Richard Carlson, Aldo Ray, and Gary Merrill (in a real stepdown from All About Eve). Among the older stars, Michael Rennie has a larger supporting role. The cast, a good budget, and an intriguing script make for an entertaining film about the attempt of one megamind to ferret out who's a threat to him among a group of scientists. One of them has telekinesis, and after the murder of the whistle-blower, played by Arthur O'Connell, Hamilton tries to find O'Connell's old friend, whose name was written on a piece of paper, suspecting him of somehow being involved.

This is a neat drama, all the more interesting in seeing the young stars, Hamilton and Pleshette, play against the older Hollywood types.

The plot idea for "The Power" is pretty interesting. However, despite this I found the film itself was only okay and could have been better.

The film begins at some odd government facility where they are testing the limits of pain and human endurance. One of the professors is very concerned, as he's convinced SOMEONE among them has super-human mental powers. Soon, this professor dies...and soon other members of this organization start dying off as well....the result of the monster's strange powers. He can apparently make folks think or do almost anything. Can Professor Tanner (George Hamilton) manage to determine WHO it is before he, too, dies mysteriously?

The problem with the film is that the idea is good but the film seems to ramble and ramble...and I had some difficulty even caring about the movie. Additionally, when the ending occurred, one of the characters then proceded to use exposition to explain what had just happened...which is sloppy writing. Overall, a time-passer....not much more.

Colorful supernatural thriller from producer George Pal has George Hamilton playing a scientist who discovers someone on his team has telekinetic powers and is killing off members one by one. Police investigating the first murder believe Hamilton lied about his background and is now a suspect after no one can find any evidence of his academic records. Hamilton must then figure out and stop whoever it is is using their powers to ruin his him and who is killing off his colleagues. "The Power" features some cool 1960s psychedelic special effects, a nice score by golden age composer Miklós Rózsa, a solid mystery, and a cool psychic showdown finale. Not a classic, but pretty entertaining stuff and a bit more serious than most of producer Pal's usual output. Suzanne Pleshette also appears in the film as a fellow scientist helping Hamilton.

I loved the concept but the story moved so slowly I almost fell asleep during parts of it. They could have sliced 30 minutes off of it and made it a tighter story. I am surprised that no one else mentioned the slow pace.

I haven't seen this film since it came out in 1968! I remember liking it, and I remembered very distinctly, for some reason, the scene where the team attempts to move a piece of paper with just their minds. Curious how I would remember that.

Watching it again in 2023 I was prepared to be hugely disappointed, but in fact, I really liked it.

The premise is a group of scientists are involved in research on human's capacity to withstand pain and discomfort, in order to better understand what traits in what kind of people to look for when considering people for dangerous jobs such as space travel. In essence, what makes some people able to endure, and some not able to at all?

This is intriguing, but events take a wild turn when it is discovered that one of the scientists--and no one knows who it is, nor do we-- has an incredible "power" to be able to control others and their actions, and even kill them telepathically. The plot shifts to a whodunit, and whoisdoingit.

The film moves right along, with a splendid cast including George Hamilton, Suzanne Pleshette, Michael Rennie, plus Richard Carlson, Earl Holliman, Arthur O'Connell, even Gary Merrill!

There is plenty of suspense, and although directed by Byron Haskin, this is a George Pal production. There is a bit of his animation and effects in the film, some charming, some a bit off the mark, but all fun.

One other point. The folks behind the art direction and set design appear to be folks that were told to "pull all the stops out", and they did. I LOVE the look of this film. The big globe outside the science building. The mid century modern motifs running throughout. The snazzy Chrysler cars. And the use of color, with some scenes having saturation beyond belief. The canary yellow of Hamilton's car, the blood red emergency lights of the centrifuge, desert blue skies, and the party scene with yellow, bright green, purple elements. The totally 60s pastels of Yvonne De Carlos' mobile home. Even the office interiors had bright colored binders, furniture, and interesting architectural tidbits.

Don't take it too seriously and have some real 1960s fun.

The positive reviews for this film at this site have me baffled. Really baffled. We see here a cast full of familiar character actors and people who were leads in some good movies. None of them comes off well here. They give Hamilton and Pleshette top billing and then list the rest alphabetically, giving you the impression that there will be an ensemble cast delivering something of significance. Unfortunately, that can be and is a danger sign. When you get middling actors at the top and an ensemble of supporters who could, when at their best, steal their scenes, it often means that the supporters are instead lowered to the level of the leads or worse.

George Hamilton in particular just delivers lines and in no way gives us a character we can care about. Suzanne Pleshette is likewise flatted out and must have suffered under that hairspray and make-up (albeit that was typical of 64-66 when this was likely filmed). Earl Holliman attempts to be psycho-philosophical and it goes nowhere. (The shame is that scene could have built up the context and plot well if handled better.) Michael Rennie's character is only discovering and using his capabilities at that age??? And then we have poor Miiko Taka, wasted again trying to make something of a bit part way below her ability. I think you are getting the idea.

And what is this "power" anyway? Well, we do figure it out sort-of but it is not actually developed as a concept. Instead we get vague hints and a lot of strangeness just happens. So we get no characters, acting talent wasted badly, and conceptual development that falls flat. What special effects that there are, don't add up to much. So, be prepared to be disappointed.

This film was beautifully directed by camera whiz Byron Haskin, and it has a fine literate script, one of the best supporting casts ever assembled for a sci-fi movie and very good production values. The question is why the critics did not appreciate it. I believe the answer is simple: they also disliked "Star Trek" TOS, and "The Voyage Home," "Dimension V", and all other sci-fi. They ignore the genre despite or because of the fact it is a medium of ideas--and their conventional view is that movies can 't deal with explicit definitions-- because their sort trying to make idea movies have failed so miserably most of the time. The plot line in this movie is very simple to state; a man discovers he has extra sensory perception and telekinetic powers; then he finds he is being stalked by a man with the same power, probably much greater, who must eliminate him to avoid having his existence exposed, his nefarious plans stopped. The logical and well-scripted scenario from Frank M. Robinson's' famous novel was done by John Gay; and Miklos Rzsa supplied wonderfully eerie music. In the cast supporting an OK but too-young George Hamilton and Suzanne Pleshette are such talents as the great Michael Rennie, Yvonne de Carlo, Aldo Ray, Vaughn Taylor, Nehemiah Persoff, Richard Carlson, Earl Holliman, Miiko Taka, Celia Lovsky, Ken Murray, Lawrence Montaigne, Barbara Nichols and Arthur O'Connell. Primary Credit for this fine and serious production must go to producer George Pal; the only mystery to this sci-fi mystery is why moviegoers, arguably less bewildered than most critics about what is an entertaining script have believed the critics and not their own eyes; I saw the film when it was first released, admired it as a writer then, and still do. I do not believe I am wrong in any way about its professional or cinematic merits. The moment when O'Connell tries to escape the bad guy and finds his office door is part of a solid wall, turned into a death trap by his opponent, is shattering; and the climactic duel of the film and its surprise outcome cannot be forgotten, as I can testify. Kudos to all concerned; if Keith Andes had played the lead in this instead of Hamilton, it might have received the attention that all concerned, especially Pal and Haskin and Rozsa so richly deserve.

This story was first televised live during the summer of 1956 on one of the high quality drama series that flourished during the 1950's. Perhaps it was The United States Steel Hour. I was an eleven year old kid at the time and was fascinated with the basic plot. I have searched for information about the original teleplay, but have been unsuccessful. Does anyone out there have any info on the TV broadcast of this story?

Several years later, I read Frank M. Robinson's novel, from which the two movies were made and enjoyed the 1968 film version. It had a terrific musical score, featuring a zither-like instrument played with felt hammers. George Hamilton did a fine job in the lead role.

A panel of brilliant professors studying human endurance for the space program discover one of their colleagues harbors transcendental powers and is out to kill each one of them (causing heart attacks by the force of his mind). A good example of the major studio B-picture: most of the budget has gone into the 'idea', presented here with sleek visuals and designs, yet with a middle-drawer cast left to sort out the screenplay, which is distinctly without much power. George Pal produced, with amusing shock effects and editing tricks, but the potentially intriguing plot gets muddled up in dead-end scenes and red herrings. Suzanne Pleshette (as the one female on the panel) looks lovely, yet her character keeps popping up without explanation--and her confusing final scene leaves behind nothing but disenchantment. George Hamilton is the film's star, which should tell you how much thought went into the casting. ** from ****

Hamilton leads a better than average cast in this very average sci-fi outing produced by veteran George Pal. Signs of the times abound in this 60s feature that, at times, seems like a Bond flick(especially the party scene). Pal's career was in a slump in the mid to late 60s and this was to be his big screen return. The good cast and fine production values cannot save this tired and often confusing tale of telepathy.

I'm kind of mystified by people's amazement at how this movie was not taken seriously or received critically well when it came out in 1968. Think about the movies especially science fiction movies that came out in 1968. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes, The Shakiest Gun in the West, Head, Etc. On television you had Star Trek the Original Series in its third season (not really the best, TBH).

That's some stiff competition that a star-studded cast like the one in this movie simply could not overcome. Just compare the special effects rendered for 2001 alone with this movie. They're not even in the same century, by comparison. Nor is the story.

The reason why the movie off and gets confused being made for television is because it looks like it was made for television.

--psychokinesis, of which TK is a manifestation. Very well, I quibble...

I can't quite call this film a guilty pleasure. I review only because it made an impression on me when first broadcast Stateside in prime time, making me feel obliged nearly 40 years later to view it uncut and without commercial interruption when the opportunity arose.

It has not aged well at all. It has a Sixties look that tries only a little to not look Sixties, given it opens with the title-card reminder that it happens "Tomorrow." It plods...and plods...until the action, which at times...plods. And when it stays perfectly still to lend itself to exposition it can't quite decide if it wants to be a character study as the characters ponder the core Imponderable: What to do when a superman-in-hiding wants YOU.

That's not a fair statement about George Pal and Byron Haskin, who were not known for their subtlety and full well knew how to exploit the magic medium. I can't even blame the casting or acting. I can only blame the attempt to adapt a nearly unfilmable novel. If you want to imagine what Pal and the rest likely wanted to do, read the novel, though be sure it's the original edition (ca. 1956) and not the author's later revision.

And though I agree with other users that this film predated many other (and some worse) treatments of "The Power" (Terrestrial Edition) put to not-so-nice use, it is not the first cinematic treatment. Treat yourself to The Man Who Could Work Miracles and both the Village AND Children of the Damned. Throw in Forbidden Planet for contrast...

So why did I feel obliged after all these years to view it again? One of Miklos Rozsa's finest musical scores, guaranteed to make you reach for sweet paprika and a recording of Kodaly's Hary Janos Suite. Arthur O'Connell making a funny face. Nehemiah Persoff's chain-smoking and novel use of a dishwasher. Earl Holliman trying just a little too hard to overcome the dialogue. George Hamilton trying not hard enough to look harried but succeeding only when he makes a puss. Suzanne Pleshette and Yvonne De Carlo...well, given the chance the ladies could act too.

And all-too-brief homages to Pal's Oscar-winning Puppetoonery with the truly inspired artistry of Wah Ming Chang and William Tuttle in one of the very few films that make you want less exposition and more magic.

One by one members of a special project team are being murdered by means of telekinesis - the ability to move things with the power of the mind alone . Research team discovers one of their members is an evil super-genius with poerful abilities who starts killing the others. The race is to find out which of the remaining team members is the true murderer and how to stop a hostile organization . Biologist Jim Tanner (George Hamilton) is part of a select government research team that includes beautiful geneticist Margery Lansing (Suzanne Pleshette) , among others . Anthropologist Henry Hallson (Arthur O'Connell) discovers what he believes is evidence of a person among them with psychic abilities including telekinesis. There are various suspect people . Who's the killer ? You feel it until you can't feel anything at all! Drives men to madness and murder! When it reaches out for you. You'll never stop screaming! One Man Has It...No Man or Woman Can Resist It. You feel it...and then you can feel nothing else!

Interesting film with plenty of thrills , shocking scenes , suspense , intrigue , plot twists and being slightly entertaining , well-paced with some slow-moving scenes and receives a rather plodding treatment , at times . It contains action enough with formidable special effects and nice make-up . It's all in fun , and entertaining enough. Resulting to be a dazzling , hypnotic entertainment that poses a challenge to its viewers , it was deemed extremely graphic for its time with some eerie scenes at the end . Occasionally confusing but otherwise notable film , portraying a peculiar ring with psychical powers , a clear precedent to ¨David Cronenberg's Scanners¨. Hightlights of the picture are the creepy final confrontation among protagonists and the shocking scene in which a role's heart blows up . Main and support cast are pretty good . Secondary actors formed by a lot of Hollywood familar faces , such as : Richard Carlson , Yvonne De Carlo , Earl Holliman ,Gary Merril , Ken Murray, Barbara Nichols , Arthur O'Connell, Nehemiah Persoff , Aldo Ray, Vaughan Taylor , Miiko Taka and Michael Rennie.

It packs colorful and luminous cinematography in Panavision and Technicolor by cameraman Ellsworth Frederick . Thrilling musical score by Miklós Rózsa , this great composer creates a pounding and astounding score . This well-budgeted motion picture by George Pal was competently directed by Byron Haskin with originality enough , delivering a great sense of wonder and tension . Haskin was a good craftsman who worked in Warner Brothers Special Effects department . He returned to filmmaking , and was responsible for Walt Disney's first live-action film , the adventure cult-classic Treasure island (1950). In the mid-1950s Haskin began a rewarding association with producer George Pal, for whom he filmed what is probably his best-known film , the science fiction classic War of the worlds (1953) and a catastrophe movie , The naked jungle (1954). Haskin was expert on Sci-Fi genre , as he would collaborate with Pal on other films , such as Conquest of Space (1955) , Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) and The power (1968). He also directed some Western as Denver Rio Grande and Silver City . The Power (1968) rating : 6.5/10. The yarn will appeal to science fiction, fantasy and fancy imagination buffs , well catching .

I don't think the director knew what the film was about. I know the actors didn't. I sure the heck never figured it out.

This was awful. It was as if a studio said, "We have a few cars n Tracy players left so let's make a cheapo film and get out moneys worth.". That explains George Hamilton and Suzanne Pleashette getting stuck in this. The rest of the cast was dead broke.

There are a few fun scenes. The party scenes are comic relief. The plot and writing are just so lazy. There are some high drama action scenes that seem out of place and unwarranted.

Really, the only reason to watch is to see the auditorium at Culver City High School, one of the filming locations. Cool architecture.

This thriller from director Byron Haskin and producer George Pal is a fairly understated effort considering some of their other features were "The Naked Jungle" and "War of the Worlds." The terror here is implied and there are precious few special effect sequences. The story concerns super intelligence, telekinisis and the ability to kill with thoughts. As one reviewer stated earlier, it will remind you of "Scanners."

Miklos Rosza's eerie score is quite effective in enhancing the tension and paranoia through the use of a hammer dulcimer. This instrument actually appears onscreen twice during the film.

As with all of Pal's features the photography in "The Power" is outstanding although the film does suffer a bit when cropped for television. Try to catch it on TCM in letterbox.

There are a couple of clever animation sequences that will remind you of Pal's Puppetoon shorts from the '40s.

"The Power" is a taut psychological drama that commands your attention throughout.

Wow. I am so amazed at how bad of a film this is, I am NOT EVEN FINISHED with it, and I feel obligated to comment.

I held off for a significant portion of the movie before I finally gave up my attempt to determine whether this was intended to be an extremely deeply-seeded comedy. Despite the actions of a little toy woodpecker (it winks), I felt unconvinced. This brought me to the trusty old IMDb, where I have now learned that it was, indeed, an intended straight SciFi.

Wow.

George Hamilton is robotic. At one point, he literally "reacts" to a colleague's outburst a spit-second before the guy actually makes the outburst.

Suzanne Pleshette; is she even there? Actually, intimate scenes between her and Hamilton are tough to ignore, for their awkward lack of rapport, and the conspicuous decision to mic martini glasses and pump heels, to name a few items.

Poor Richard Carlson (I really like him normally). His entire performance is delivered in one of (or a combination of?) two ways: as if the actor himself is drunk, or as if he is narrating a promotional short for the world's fair.

A few scenes are stolen by a bizarrely appropriate, and extremely loud (hammer dulcimer? harpsichord? I don't know my instruments), musical score, a la "Hercules In New York." The heavy-handed direction is quite distracting, with its wannabe Hitchcock jump cuts, third wall removals, and arbitrary angles.

The real star of the film, though, is the script. Half of the male-delivered lines are (or could've been) interchangeable between a handful of characters. There's a tiredly trite scene between a Brooklyn-transplant waitress and Hamilton; you can probably can enact the scene on your own, right now. Think lines like "I keeant buhleev I left New Yohk fuh dis joeub." There, you've got the idea.

Watch for the piano driving scene with George Hamilton and a menacing mechanic. Also, check out the film's unintentional microcosm, in which a fighter plane sends arbitrary missiles into a grove of trees in the desert, where the improbable, the ridiculous, the random, and the just plain goofy, all converge. Once you hit that scene, stop the film--or just watch the scene repeatedly--you have already seen everything it has to offer.