IMDb RATING
4.6/10
3.3K
YOUR RATING
An active volcano threatens a south Pacific island resort and its guests as a power struggle ensues between the property's developer and a drilling foreman.An active volcano threatens a south Pacific island resort and its guests as a power struggle ensues between the property's developer and a drilling foreman.An active volcano threatens a south Pacific island resort and its guests as a power struggle ensues between the property's developer and a drilling foreman.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 2 nominations total
Valentina Cortese
- Rose Valdez
- (as Valentina Cortesa)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaToward the end of his life, Paul Newman confessed in interviews that this was the only film that he ever made entirely for the money. He called it "that volcano movie" and said that he and most of the cast knew right away it would be a flop from day one. Many people believe that part of his salary from this film was used as seed money for a salad dressing business he was setting up with A.E. Hotchner, with 100% of the profits, after taxes, going to educational and charitable organizations. As of 2022 Newman's Own, the company that Newman established in 1982, has raised over $550 million for charities all over the world, and continues to grow and prosper.
- GoofsAn oil rig drilling into the side of a volcano triggers the eruption. Oil fields are not found on or near active volcanoes; there is not enough time between eruptions for any petroleum products to form or be deposited.
- Alternate versionsThere are at least three versions of this film, the original 121 minutes vesion, a cut 104 minutes one, and a 141 minutes expanded video home version
- ConnectionsEdited into La classe américaine (1993)
Featured review
In the 1970s and into the very early 80s, disaster films were very popular and brought in a lot of money. The movies were HUGE and sensational...and the king of the genre was Irwin Allen. He produced such blockbusters as "The Towering Inferno" and "The Poseidon Adventure" and he was so successful that there were many copycat films by other producers, such as "Earthquake" and the "Airport" movies. But the problem with the genre was that they ran low on ideas and after a while the plots and disasters became stupider and more farfetched. This led to really bad films like "The Swarm" and "Concorde...Airport '79"...which effectively put the nails into the coffin of disaster epics. Still, there were hopes of reinvigorating the genre which led to some latter films like "When Time Ran Out...".
"When Time Ran Out..." was one of Irwin Allen's productions. But because the public had already seen many disaster films with star-studded casts, this one felt to many like an example of 'been there/done that' and it fizzled at the box office.
This story is set on a tropical island in the Pacific. A company is drilling for oil on this same island where there is also a resort full of rich vacationer. But the island is also volcanic and the hubris and greed of the drilling company result in a disaster being unleashed...one that could easily turn all these tourists and oil company techs into crispy critters!
Like the other Irwin Allen disaster epics, this one has a very impressive cast...with Paul Newman, Jacquelin Bisset and William Holden in the leads. And, as you expect, a ton of A and B-list actors are there to lend support...as well as to become human torches.
As for the plot, it's the usual formula and the story isn't good nor bad...it's just pretty typical. But what IS different is that the special effects look relatively cheap and are little like the great sets, explosions and the like of Allen's 1970s films. In particular, seeing folks falling off the bridge into the lava...well, it could have been done better with Barbie dolls! Additionally, there seem to be less explosions...possibly to save money.
So is it worth seeing? Possibly. I'd place this in the category of a time-passer and not much more. It's NOT horrible (and wow, are there some horrible disaster epics out there) but it's also incredibly familiar and offers little to make you want to see it.
"When Time Ran Out..." was one of Irwin Allen's productions. But because the public had already seen many disaster films with star-studded casts, this one felt to many like an example of 'been there/done that' and it fizzled at the box office.
This story is set on a tropical island in the Pacific. A company is drilling for oil on this same island where there is also a resort full of rich vacationer. But the island is also volcanic and the hubris and greed of the drilling company result in a disaster being unleashed...one that could easily turn all these tourists and oil company techs into crispy critters!
Like the other Irwin Allen disaster epics, this one has a very impressive cast...with Paul Newman, Jacquelin Bisset and William Holden in the leads. And, as you expect, a ton of A and B-list actors are there to lend support...as well as to become human torches.
As for the plot, it's the usual formula and the story isn't good nor bad...it's just pretty typical. But what IS different is that the special effects look relatively cheap and are little like the great sets, explosions and the like of Allen's 1970s films. In particular, seeing folks falling off the bridge into the lava...well, it could have been done better with Barbie dolls! Additionally, there seem to be less explosions...possibly to save money.
So is it worth seeing? Possibly. I'd place this in the category of a time-passer and not much more. It's NOT horrible (and wow, are there some horrible disaster epics out there) but it's also incredibly familiar and offers little to make you want to see it.
- planktonrules
- Dec 22, 2023
- Permalink
- How long is When Time Ran Out...?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Day the World Ended
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $20,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $3,763,988
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,400,994
- Mar 30, 1980
- Gross worldwide
- $3,763,988
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content