1h 18min | Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi | 1 January 1965 (USA)
In 1975, four astronauts, Dorothy, Doc, Charlie, and Steve, crash land on Mars when taking readings, with only four days of supplies. They must try to survive on the surface, which is barren except for some canals with huge maggots with fins. After embarking through a golden igneous cavern, braving a storm and finding an unmanned Earth vessel, they discover a golden road which leads them to the unchanging ruins of what was once a beautiful Martian city. The Martians are modeled on the Flatheads of Oz, and their collective consciousness, the "Wizard," forbids them to leave until they perform a very small task.
Director: David L. Hewitt
Writers: Armando Busick, David L. Hewitt, L. Frank Baum
Stars: John Carradine, Roger Gentry, Vic McGee
In 1975, four astronauts, Dorothy, Doc, Charlie, and Steve, crash land on Mars when taking readings, with only four days of supplies. They must try to survive on the surface, which is barren except for some canals with huge maggots with fins. After embarking through a golden igneous cavern, braving a storm and finding an unmanned Earth vessel, they discover a golden road which leads them to the unchanging ruins of what was once a beautiful Martian city. The Martians are modeled on the Flatheads of Oz, and their collective consciousness, the "Wizard," forbids them to leave until they perform a very small task.
Director: David L. Hewitt
Writers: Armando Busick, David L. Hewitt, L. Frank Baum
Stars: John Carradine, Roger Gentry, Vic McGee
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00:00The American Pronunciation Guide Presents
00:00:08The American Pronunciation Guide Presents
00:00:15The American Pronunciation Guide Presents
00:00:21gasping Harp
00:01:32Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
00:02:02I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
00:02:09I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
00:02:16I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
00:02:23I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
00:02:30to maintain transmission.
00:02:33We're standing by to switch over to camera transmitters at 0900.
00:02:39In two minutes and 14 seconds we will enter our tighter orbit.
00:02:44All systems are go.
00:02:46Standby for switchover.
00:02:50We receive you, Mars Probe 1.
00:02:53We are standing by to receive your transmission at 0900.
00:02:58On incidentally, gang, happy new year.
00:03:01Standing by.
00:03:03Oh, and happy new year.
00:03:05Toot toot.
00:03:07Toot, toot, toot, toot, toot, toot.
00:03:20Switchover complete.
00:03:28Stand by for camera systems check run.
00:03:34Camera scopes down.
00:03:48Wide angle, full scan camera systems all go.
00:03:52Functioning, three second sequence interval.
00:03:56Be sure to correlate your cameras, Dorothy.
00:03:58We don't want any overlap.
00:04:02Correlation complete and corrected.
00:04:05Narrow angle, partial scan systems all go.
00:04:07Functioning on two second intervals.
00:04:11Red flag.
00:04:12Give me a reading on reception, Charlie.
00:04:14I'm changing over to telephoto system.
00:04:17Stand by to switch over all recorder instrumentation.
00:04:32View screen reception 100.
00:04:39Standing by to activate image stabilizer circuit.
00:04:46Recorder input, computers, tapes all go.
00:04:51Switch on.
00:04:59Stand by.
00:05:00We are entering pre-orbital trajectory.
00:05:30Experiencing small pitch.
00:05:37Stabilizer retro is correcting.
00:05:47We're corrected.
00:05:48Activate the camera systems.
00:05:59Picking up some sort of pulsating light.
00:06:20Charlie, there's another one ahead.
00:06:29Wide angle reception is negative.
00:06:47Heavy static interference.
00:06:56Negative.
00:06:57I'm getting the same interference here.
00:07:03Collision alarm.
00:07:04Emergency procedure, quick.
00:07:07Scanner shows that we're approaching something of monstrous size.
00:07:13And fast.
00:07:14Turn up the scanner.
00:07:15Get a distance reading on it.
00:07:24It's up to maximum magnification now.
00:07:33Whatever it is, it keeps changing its size and range.
00:07:47We're getting...
00:07:47These meters are having convulsions.
00:07:49Nothing I do will correct it.
00:07:51Magnetic.
00:07:58We're on a direct course with whatever it is.
00:08:03And we're due to connect with it any second.
00:08:10We had to go to Mars.
00:08:12We couldn't go to the moon like everybody else.
00:08:19We've got to pull up.
00:08:20Activate all operable rocket systems.
00:08:30All dead.
00:08:32The rockets are inoperable except for the emergency unit.
00:08:42We're going down.
00:08:42Mayday, mayday.
00:08:44This is Mars probe one.
00:08:46Mayday.
00:08:48We may have a chance.
00:08:49Quick, Charlie.
00:08:50Jettison the main stage.
00:08:51Doc, you better track it in case we have to follow it down.
00:08:55Main stage jettisoned.
00:08:57Tracking it.
00:08:59She's going down fast.
00:09:03Mars.
00:09:07Desert region.
00:09:08It's no use, Steve.
00:09:11We're going down.
00:09:28Mayday, mayday.
00:09:30This is Mars probe one.
00:09:31Mayday.
00:09:33Our pressure suits, quick.
00:09:34The hull may rupture on impact.
00:09:38The gyros are gone.
00:09:39We're rolling over.
00:09:42Come on, move.
00:09:43I'm switching over to automatic guidance control.
00:10:09Mayday, mayday, mayday, mayday, mayday, mayday, mayday, mayday, mayday, mayday, mayday, mayday,
00:10:36There's a little power left in the batteries.
00:10:46I've got them all recharged now.
00:10:47The transmitter works.
00:10:49We could send a call for help.
00:10:51Remember, we blew transmission with echo one before we went into tighter orbit.
00:10:55True.
00:10:56We have no way of knowing if our last Mayday call was even received.
00:10:59It probably wasn't.
00:11:01That storm up there played havoc with our equipment.
00:11:04What's to stop us from trying a Mayday call now?
00:11:07Nothing, technically.
00:11:09We can give our exact position and wait until help comes.
00:11:12If it comes.
00:11:14What do you mean, if?
00:11:15If anyone hears it, that's what I mean.
00:11:18Like Steve said, we blew transmission up there and we've no way of knowing if a transmission is heard.
00:11:24There's another choice, though.
00:11:25What's that?
00:11:27After the batteries recharge, it's a one-shot deal.
00:11:31The radio.
00:11:32Or open the outside hatch and take our chances out there.
00:11:35And outside?
00:11:36You think we stand any chance at all?
00:11:39Personally, I think that's better than sitting here not knowing if help is coming.
00:11:42You don't even know what's out there.
00:11:44Wait a minute, you two.
00:11:46Charlie's got a good point there, so take it easy.
00:11:48Doc, what's your opinion?
00:11:50Yeah, Doc, how about it?
00:11:51Should we stay alive out there?
00:11:53Before making any rash decisions, I think we should evaluate where we are and what we're going to do.
00:11:58Well, one thing in our favor is our map and a fair idea of where the main stage crashed.
00:12:03We may be stranded, but we're still alive.
00:12:06There's enough fortified liquid in our nutrient reserve to last us two,
00:12:10maybe three weeks if we stretch it out.
00:12:13What about the oxygen?
00:12:15It's not so good.
00:12:16The cabin tanks crack like eggshells when we hit.
00:12:19We've got about a 90-hour supply in our suit tanks.
00:12:2290 hours?
00:12:23That's less than four days.
00:12:25Well, Doc, think we could make it?
00:12:32We're here, on the edge of the polar cap, near this main canal.
00:12:38Three weeks should be more than enough time if we go by raft to the desert region.
00:12:43And what do we do if we're out there, when our tanks hit zero?
00:12:46Listen, after spending nine months on this ship, I'd be willing to step outside and crack the intake valve on my helmet
00:12:54just to feel solid ground under my feet, regardless of the consequences.
00:12:58That's it.
00:12:59What?
00:13:00We'll crack the intake valves on our helmet.
00:13:03Oh, yeah.
00:13:04And drop dead.
00:13:05No, I'm serious.
00:13:07The Martian atmosphere contains oxygen.
00:13:09It's too thin to sustain life, but it's still oxygen, right?
00:13:12Basically, yes.
00:13:13All right.
00:13:15Say we keep our suit pressure below the level of atmospheric pressure on Mars.
00:13:18Then we crack the valve and allow the Martian atmosphere to seep into our suits.
00:13:22Supplementing it with oxygen from our own suit tanks.
00:13:25An oxygen booster.
00:13:26Exactly.
00:13:27Will it work?
00:13:28Sure it'll work.
00:13:29There's no reason why it shouldn't.
00:13:32Is there?
00:13:33It's settled, then.
00:13:34Looks like we're in for a little unofficial exploration.
00:13:40Never mind that official business.
00:13:41Let's get out of here before she explodes.
00:13:43Grab what you can.
00:13:44Hurry.
00:13:52Steve, what are we going to do now?
00:14:04We'll have to run for it.
00:14:06Close your faceplate.
00:14:09Activate your oxygen supply.
00:14:11To the north of our wreckage, we can see the endless ice fields of the Martian polar cap.
00:14:16South of us, lost somewhere in the vastness of this alien world.
00:14:20The main stage.
00:14:22And our only hope of survival.
00:14:41What do you think, Doc?
00:14:43Should we keep the bank?
00:14:44Well, even though we haven't seen any signs of life,
00:14:47I think we should stay away from the shore.
00:14:49At least during the night.
00:14:51Doc, how far is it to where the main stage came down?
00:14:55The canal should carry us to the hill.
00:14:58Then we'll have to make our way on foot to the desert area.
00:15:01It should be near there.
00:15:02How long will that take?
00:15:04Well, tonight, part of tomorrow on the canal.
00:15:07If we make good time, we should reach the hills by evening.
00:15:17This should keep us from drifting apart during the night.
00:15:21We'd better be going then.
00:15:22We don't know how much daylight we have left.
00:15:25How far would you guess it to be?
00:15:26That main stage can't be far away now.
00:15:29Roughly a four-day trip.
00:15:30We'll be cutting it close.
00:15:32Maybe too close.
00:15:34We've barely enough oxygen for four days.
00:15:38We shouldn't require as much oxygen now that we're not exerting ourselves.
00:15:43We can cut down the mixture while we are asleep.
00:15:46The current will keep us in midstream.
00:15:48Maybe one of us ought to keep awake.
00:15:49Might be better at that.
00:15:51I'll take the first watch.
00:15:53Think you can catch a little sleep?
00:15:55I don't much care for sleeping out here.
00:15:58I'll take over when you're tired.
00:16:00Just wake me up.
00:16:04The cold mists of the Martian night
00:16:07bring an end to our first day on this desolate world.
00:16:10Our oxygen supply is already a quarter gone.
00:16:14A short while before sunset,
00:16:16Charlie picked up a weak signal echoing over the curve of the Martian horizon.
00:16:20If this signal is from our main stage,
00:16:23and if Doc's map is correct,
00:16:25we may reach our destination in time.
00:16:29I cannot escape the feeling of being watched by some unseen intelligence.
00:16:33And that perhaps our final destination will not be of our own choosing.
00:17:03Hey!
00:17:34Easy, Charlie.
00:17:37Don't hit one of the rafts.
00:17:46Here, Dorothy.
00:17:47Get out in the middle again.
00:17:48I'll help Charlie.
00:17:50Charlie, try and fit them all while we get back to the deep of water.
00:18:04The mist thickens and shields us from the danger we have just escaped.
00:18:08But now,
00:18:10what new danger hides from us in the fog?
00:18:13For the water now swirls around us,
00:18:15and somewhere ahead,
00:18:17we can hear it beating against the walls of stone.
00:18:24Steve, watch out!
00:18:26Move up here.
00:18:27You'll balance the raft better.
00:18:29Hurry!
00:18:30The fog is so thick that visibility is almost impossible.
00:18:33It keeps building up on my visor.
00:18:35These rocks are as sharp as razors.
00:18:37We've had it if one of them punctures the raft.
00:18:39It's time we try out our oxygen booster.
00:18:45Seems to work okay.
00:19:04A cavern!
00:19:06We must have entered it through the fog.
00:19:09A subterranean canal.
00:19:11I sure hope it leads us in the right direction when we come to the surface again.
00:19:15I've never seen anything so beautiful.
00:19:23It's so quiet.
00:19:26Kind of eerie.
00:19:28Gives me the creeps.
00:19:34It doesn't look like we can get out of here, either.
00:19:37We'll just have to ride it out.
00:19:42We've been in here five hours now,
00:19:44and no sign of a way out.
00:19:46I'm not sure,
00:19:48but it seems to be getting lighter in here.
00:19:50I noticed that, too.
00:19:51It's so hot in here.
00:19:53It is lighter.
00:19:55I thought at first we were just getting accustomed to the darkness.
00:19:58We must be going deeper underground.
00:20:00That would explain the heat.
00:20:02Then why is it getting lighter?
00:20:03Luminescence.
00:20:04Mineral deposits in the cavern walls.
00:20:07After everything we've seen so far,
00:20:10I'm afraid of where we'll end up next.
00:20:20No wonder we felt hot.
00:20:22That steam!
00:20:24That sound.
00:20:27There's trouble ahead.
00:20:29Falls.
00:20:30There's something worse.
00:20:34I'm convinced there are falls ahead.
00:20:37There's another sound.
00:20:38Can't quite make it out.
00:20:41Doesn't sound the same.
00:20:43There's your other sound, Steve.
00:20:45What do we do now?
00:21:01We have to find some way out of this.
00:21:03The rafts won't hold up long in this.
00:21:05Feel the sides of the raft.
00:21:07We've got to get out of here before they explode.
00:21:09Come on, quick.
00:21:10Well, quick.
00:21:11We'll keep them from blowing up this way,
00:21:12but the seams will give pretty soon.
00:21:15Those falls are close, Steve.
00:21:20We've got to get to shore soon.
00:21:21No, Doc.
00:21:22I'm looking for...
00:21:24That's it.
00:21:25There.
00:21:26See?
00:21:28Come on, Charlie.
00:21:30Let's get these rafts over there.
00:21:31I'm with you.
00:21:32We're lucky the current's not too strong yet.
00:22:15Don't bother with that.
00:22:16Let them go.
00:22:18Yeah, I guess you're right.
00:22:19They wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway.
00:22:45So
00:23:15I wonder how far in this goes.
00:23:21I don't know.
00:23:22We'll soon find out.
00:23:45What are you looking at, Doc?
00:23:50This rock formation.
00:23:52There's something familiar about it.
00:23:54I can't place it.
00:23:55Oh, come on.
00:23:56Rock's rock.
00:23:57Let's get a move on.
00:24:15So
00:24:37we have wandered in these caves for what now seems to be days,
00:24:41always with a feeling that we are doubling back upon our own footsteps.
00:24:46And again, that strange feeling even here that some alien intelligence still watches us.
00:25:02Steve, you don't suppose this just doubles back the way we came, do you?
00:25:06I don't know.
00:25:08It sure sounds like it.
00:25:10Well, I hope not.
00:25:15That'd mean we're really stuck.
00:25:41No sense in doubling back.
00:25:43We know it's back there.
00:25:45We may as well.
00:25:46We didn't double back.
00:25:47Look up ahead.
00:25:49We made it.
00:25:50Let's go.
00:25:52It must be outside.
00:26:40Oh,
00:26:57I should have known we'd find this.
00:26:59How could any of us know what we'd find here?
00:27:01That rock formation that was puzzling me.
00:27:04It was volcanic.
00:27:05Any amateur rock hound would have recognized it.
00:27:08Isn't there any place on this planet that isn't a death trap?
00:27:12Where do we go from here?
00:27:14Looks like the path is the only way down.
00:27:17We can't go back.
00:27:20So down we go.
00:27:21Right from the frying pan into the fire.
00:27:37Watch your step.
00:27:49That step's hot.
00:27:53You'll be fried like a piece of bacon.
00:29:08We have no choice now but to press forward through this inferno,
00:29:13for it is impossible to return to the caves, for they lead nowhere.
00:29:17Here, at least, there may be some means of escape,
00:29:21for these trapped volcanic vapors must vent somewhere to the surface.
00:29:38Does that look like a cave to you?
00:29:50Sure looks like it.
00:29:52The only thing is, how far back does it go?
00:29:54Well, I'm going up there to find out.
00:29:56Stay here with the others.
00:29:57No, Steve, I'll go.
00:29:59This is my job.
00:30:00I am responsible.
00:30:28He made it clear in there.
00:30:29He's got to make it back out.
00:30:31Do you suppose something's happened?
00:30:56There he is.
00:30:57He's all right.
00:30:59He's waving at us to come.
00:31:00Let's go.
00:31:12Do you think you can get any kind of a bearing for us, Charlie?
00:31:15My map certainly didn't show anything like this.
00:31:18Which way now?
00:31:20That way, if we can get through this.
00:31:28The cave goes in quite a way.
00:31:30Telling how far, or if it's all like this.
00:31:34We all made it this far.
00:31:35Let's see if there's a way out of this inferno.
00:31:39I almost wish this weren't the right direction.
00:31:59We may as well go as far as we can.
00:32:02Nowhere else to stay on solid ground.
00:32:05Steve, what is it?
00:32:08It must lead outside.
00:32:28We better get out fast.
00:32:34The volcano might erupt.
00:32:35Let's move.
00:33:28On what we now believe to be the morning of the fourth day,
00:33:32we have emerged from the fiery depths of the Martian underworld.
00:33:36How long we have been wandering there, we can only guess.
00:33:40Is it that the eternal darkness of the caverns
00:33:42that endlessly doubled back upon themselves has destroyed our sense of time?
00:33:48Our watches are useless,
00:33:50for they have refused to run since we crashed on the surface of this planet.
00:33:55Their hands frozen as if time were forbidden upon this world.
00:34:00Of this we are certain.
00:34:03For every day of our journey,
00:34:05our original oxygen supply diminishes by a quarter.
00:34:10And now, with our map lost in the caves below,
00:34:14and only a faint distant signal to follow,
00:34:17the needle on our oxygen tanks marks the beginning of what
00:34:21could be our last day on Mars.
00:34:25It is quite obvious now that if we do not find our main stage before nightfall,
00:34:31it will be simply our last day.
00:34:55The arid Martian desert stretches around us like an endless ocean of sand.
00:35:01To the west, more than a day's journey away,
00:35:05we can see what appears to be a strange dome of light pulsating on the horizon.
00:35:12Could it be the work of some alien intelligence?
00:35:16Or a weird phenomena of this planet?
00:35:18Senseless to wonder now as our oxygen supply is drained
00:35:24and we are running on the last of our reserve.
00:35:28At noon, Charlie's directional finder became silent.
00:35:33The signal we've been following in the hopes of reaching our main stage died,
00:35:38and with it, perhaps our last chance of survival on this planet.
00:35:43Stronger than ever now is the fear of the unknown.
00:35:48The feeling of alien forces surrounding us.
00:35:55Crummy desert.
00:35:57Every dune looks exactly like the last.
00:35:59Like a crummy...
00:36:00Cut it!
00:36:01Cut the chat.
00:36:03You're wasting oxygen.
00:36:04What oxygen?
00:36:06He's right, Steve.
00:36:07It's almost gone.
00:36:09Fifteen minutes at the most.
00:36:12I had hoped that...
00:36:15Listen.
00:36:19Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.
00:36:23The signal.
00:36:25The main stage.
00:36:26Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.
00:36:28How's that for timing, huh?
00:36:29Thought there'd be no tomorrow.
00:36:32All right, let's not just stand around.
00:36:35Let's go home.
00:37:19No.
00:37:21What we had thought to be the main stage has turned out to be a time-corroded relic
00:37:26from an earlier chapter of the exploration of Mars.
00:37:29Just enough power left in its batteries to transmit a useless signal.
00:37:48Charlie, stop it.
00:38:02Now, Charlie.
00:38:03But it's so funny.
00:38:05So ironically funny, don't you see?
00:38:08The Mars Scout.
00:38:10We sent it here two years ago to see if man could live on Mars.
00:38:14An unmanned biological laboratory to tell us whether or not we could survive the elements.
00:38:25That's what's so funny.
00:38:28We have to travel millions of miles and find it just to prove we can't survive.
00:38:37Easy, Charlie.
00:38:38Stop it.
00:38:39And it can't even send a message back for us.
00:38:43Charlie, stop it.
00:38:45Now, Charlie.
00:38:53Not fair.
00:38:59It's living on while we...
00:39:02It's living on while we...
00:39:11He broke one of the fuel lines.
00:39:13There's still liquid oxygen in the tank.
00:39:32I've got to cap it off before it all escapes.
00:39:39I feel sort of silly about it.
00:39:47Well...
00:39:51Forget it.
00:39:53Looks like you might have saved the day, Charlie.
00:39:56That's for sure.
00:39:57If there's oxygen in any quantity.
00:40:02We're in luck.
00:40:06Almost a fourth of the original oxygen left.
00:40:09It's like a care package from home.
00:40:11A fourth?
00:40:12Why, that should be enough to last us all for four or five days at the least.
00:40:16The end doesn't seem so bad.
00:40:18At least when it's not right now.
00:40:20We've got to work fast.
00:40:22It'll be night soon.
00:40:23And if we don't want to freeze to death, we'd better get what oxygen we can and find cover for the night.
00:40:28That's a tall order.
00:40:30There's nothing but sand dunes for miles around.
00:40:33We can take shelter by the Mars scout.
00:40:35It'll give us some protection from the wind.
00:40:39That's it.
00:40:40Got her.
00:40:41We can fill the suit tanks from this.
00:40:57Beautiful, isn't it?
00:40:59In its own alien way, I guess it is.
00:41:05And so still and quiet.
00:41:10There's a breeze starting up.
00:41:12Feel it?
00:41:13Mm-hmm.
00:41:14It makes the sands look so dreamlike.
00:41:19It's another world, all right.
00:41:25I wonder what tomorrow will bring.
00:41:28Let's hope it's not...
00:41:34Looks like a storm, Roy.
00:41:36We'd better join the others and take cover.
00:41:50Looks like a big one coming up.
00:41:58What was that you said?
00:42:07Dreamlike?
00:42:08Perhaps I should have said nightmarish.
00:42:15The storm is building in intensity.
00:42:18With our limited air supply, I'd sure hate to get snowed in here.
00:42:28I hope the lightning doesn't get worse.
00:42:32It may hit the scout.
00:42:33Let's hope it blows itself out by morning.
00:42:36It's better.
00:42:57Darn sand, it gets into everything.
00:43:08The batteries are running down and the signal, it's so faint I can't make it out.
00:43:13Are you sure it's a signal?
00:43:15Not just static interference?
00:43:17No, it's a signal.
00:43:20But it keeps on fading.
00:43:27Hey, I think I found something.
00:43:57What is it, Steve?
00:44:01What did you find?
00:44:03I'm not sure what it is.
00:44:06The storm must have uncovered it during the night.
00:44:08And there's a lot more of it still covered by the sand.
00:44:11Wonder what it could be.
00:44:12Let's clear away some more.
00:44:14Sure can't tell now.
00:44:16Stones, they form a definite pattern.
00:44:21You're right.
00:44:22They're too symmetric to have been formed by nature.
00:44:25If not by nature, how?
00:44:28Some form of intelligence was at work here.
00:44:31You mean somebody built this?
00:44:33I'm positive.
00:44:36But who?
00:44:38I don't know.
00:44:39I don't know.
00:44:40I don't know.
00:44:40I don't know.
00:44:41I don't know.
00:44:41I don't know.
00:44:42I don't know.
00:44:42I don't know.
00:44:43I don't know.
00:44:43I don't know.
00:44:44I don't know.
00:44:44I don't know.
00:44:45I don't know.
00:44:47You mean there's life on this planet?
00:44:49Who can say?
00:44:51This is more in the nature of an archaeological discovery than life itself.
00:44:54How's that?
00:44:55These ruins are ancient.
00:44:57Perhaps buried beneath the sand for millions of years.
00:45:01Similar to Troy on our own planet.
00:45:03That's right.
00:45:04For all we know, we're standing atop what was a great civilization.
00:45:10There's more.
00:45:11Look up there.
00:45:15It looks like some ancient travel route.
00:45:29A golden road.
00:45:32Yeah, but what does it lead to?
00:45:33That's what I'd like to know.
00:45:37Do you see what I see?
00:45:42A pulsating light.
00:45:43That's what I saw through the camera just before.
00:45:46The last directional reading.
00:45:47Where was it from?
00:45:48It's coming from from within the city.
00:45:52A mysterious red dome surrounds the city.
00:45:56Its appearance as alien as the city itself.
00:46:01Our main thing.
00:46:04No doubt about it.
00:46:05Look at this reading.
00:46:06Yes, but is it ours?
00:46:08There's only one way to find out.
00:46:10We've come this far.
00:46:12Might as well go the rest of the way.
00:46:25Looks like a long hike.
00:46:27Well, I hope the long hike leads us to something.
00:46:41Watch out!
00:47:00We're on the right track.
00:47:01That's our signal, okay?
00:47:03I'm sure of it.
00:47:04Great.
00:47:05If we maintain a steady pace, we should be able to reach the plateau by early afternoon.
00:47:11Looks like we've come to the end of the road.
00:47:19In a way, it's beautiful.
00:47:26And from appearances, incredibly old.
00:47:29Do you suppose it could still be inhabited?
00:47:32I doubt it.
00:47:33It looks too deserted.
00:47:35Deserted?
00:47:36I'm not so sure.
00:47:38Something stopped the signal.
00:47:40Well, there's only one way to find out.
00:47:42I'm with you.
00:47:49It's musty, but breathable.
00:47:51Yes, and lucky for us, it's enough to sustain human life.
00:47:56From the looks of the cobwebs, nobody's been in here for a long, long time.
00:48:01Nobody but the spiders, or whatever passes for spiders around here.
00:49:10Looks like they were cremated alive, apparently.
00:49:35Whoever they were, they'd been there for a long time.
00:49:40You'd better be careful.
00:49:41You don't know what that alien thing is.
00:49:46Looks like they were trying to cut through the wall here.
00:49:57See, I was right.
00:50:11It's a cutting torch of some kind.
00:50:14I think I'll keep it.
00:50:19Might come in handy.
00:50:24All right, I'll leave it here.
00:50:27Come on, let's search this place and get it over with.
00:50:30This place gives me the shivers.
00:50:57There's a definite change in the architecture ever since we passed that first column.
00:51:03You mean all these columns?
00:51:05This must have been a real jazzy place in its time.
00:51:07Besides the change in the architecture, I've noticed these passageways all seem to lead
00:51:12in the same direction, no matter which ones we take.
00:51:15Almost as if they lead to some central area.
00:51:18Perhaps even that over here.
00:51:20What do you make of this?
00:51:21These aren't columns after all, some kind of crystal-like container.
00:51:25Strange, I wonder what purpose they serve.
00:51:27Whatever was in there must have been valuable.
00:51:31Looks like they used a blowtorch to get at it.
00:51:35Find anything, Steve?
00:51:37Nothing but this funny ribbon.
00:51:39I don't know what it is, but it looks like it could be a key.
00:51:43Let's look at it.
00:51:47Find anything, Steve?
00:51:49Nothing but this funny red dust.
00:51:53The intelligence that erected these containers meant for them to last an eternity.
00:51:57And their contents.
00:51:59You got my curiosity up, Doc.
00:52:01Let's see what we find in some of these others.
00:52:09Hey, there's something in here, all right.
00:52:11I can't tell for sure, give me a hand.
00:52:17I can't make it out, can you?
00:52:19Just our luck.
00:52:21Looks like it's covered up completely.
00:52:41Whatever it is, I'm glad it's dead.
00:52:48We passed thousands of these containers.
00:52:50There must be an entire civilization entombed here.
00:52:52Beings that were capable of developing an intelligence far beyond their own cranial capacity.
00:52:58Judging from the artificial encasement of the brain,
00:53:00they must have undergone thousands of years of mental evolution in one lifetime.
00:53:05Almost unbelievable.
00:53:07The race touches theirs.
00:53:11Hold it!
00:53:29Hold it!
00:53:30I don't think it sees it.
00:53:32It's looking right at me.
00:53:34I don't think it is, Charlie.
00:53:37I think somehow it senses our presence.
00:53:41Hold it!
00:54:11Hold it!
00:54:23That's us.
00:54:25It's us.
00:54:28It's us.
00:54:34It's us.
00:54:37It's us.
00:54:40It's us.
00:54:42It's us.
00:54:45It's us.
00:54:48It's us.
00:54:51It's us.
00:54:53It's us.
00:54:56Freeze!
00:54:59It's all right.
00:55:01As if they were trying to share my mind.
00:55:05Explore it.
00:55:07They mean us no harm.
00:55:09No harm?
00:55:10You saw what they do to intruders here.
00:55:12You don't understand.
00:55:15It's as if they were trying to communicate.
00:55:18To tell us something.
00:55:20Tell us what?
00:55:22I'm not sure I understand.
00:55:26Their thoughts are many.
00:55:28Vague.
00:55:30As though an image was half formed.
00:55:34Of a meeting place.
00:55:36Where many minds are gathering.
00:55:39They...
00:55:40They want us there.
00:55:42Now.
00:55:47But where?
00:55:52It must be in there.
00:55:59Help me out.
00:56:00I'm not going in there.
00:56:11We have no choice.
00:56:13We have no choice.
00:56:44.
00:56:54.
00:56:56.
00:56:58.
00:57:00.
00:57:02.
00:57:04.
00:57:06.
00:57:08.
00:57:10.
00:57:12I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I
00:57:42I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die,
00:57:48I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die,
00:57:54I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die,
00:58:00I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die,
00:58:06I see perplexity among you. As long as your minds are clouded with questions about our nature,
00:58:14we cannot determine your purpose upon our world.
00:58:20I am a composite being, a manifestation of the many minds that are the last inhabitants of this,
00:58:30the last city upon this world. We are the end of the evolution of a race so old,
00:58:38its age has no equivalent in your concepts of time. Be it enough for you to know,
00:58:46our race has witnessed, during the span of our evolution, the birth and death of sons and girls untold.
00:58:56But enough. Now we must seek the satisfaction of our own curiosity.
00:59:02From where do you come, and what is your purpose here?
00:59:08We are from the planet Earth.
00:59:10Earth? Earth, you say? The green world, sunward from ours?
00:59:18At one time we theorized it would evolve intelligent life, and so it has, but continue.
00:59:28What is it that you seek?
00:59:30We came here on a scientific expedition to map and study the surface of this planet.
00:59:36There have been others here before you.
00:59:40But we were the first manned space probe sent here.
00:59:44Do not flatter yourself, believing yours to be the only intelligent life in the universe.
00:59:50There are other worlds teeming with life, whose vessels have voyaged across the gulf of space.
00:59:58Those others of whom I spoke did not come here in search of our knowledge.
01:00:04Their motive was greed, their purpose plundered. They were dealt with as intruders.
01:00:12We had no intentions of landing on your planet. In fact, we weren't even equipped to land.
01:00:18Am I to believe disaster befell your mission?
01:00:23Then I must inquire into the nature of this disaster.
01:00:28And it is your vessel that you seek here within our city.
01:00:32But continue, how did you discover the way?
01:00:37We picked up a faint signal, and believing it to be our main stage, followed it.
01:00:42It led us to the Golden Road.
01:00:45What you seek is not here.
01:00:48The signal that you received was a warning.
01:00:52Had you been able to decipher its meaning, you would not have come here.
01:00:57However, the Golden Road that led you here is all that remains of a vast network
01:01:05that linked our vanished empire upon this world.
01:01:09Now our paths have become one, and you are destined to share our fate.
01:01:17For as long as we remain imprisoned upon this world, so shall you remain.
01:01:25You don't understand.
01:01:28All we need is to locate our main stage and send a message back for help.
01:01:33Now why should you want to stop us?
01:01:36It is you who do not understand.
01:01:40For we can neither hinder nor help you.
01:01:44We have been incapable of physical action.
01:01:48We can neither hinder nor help you.
01:01:51We have been incapable of physical action for ages.
01:01:57Our existence is confined within a dimension of time of our own creation.
01:02:04You are right in assuming we do not understand.
01:02:09You speak of an undecipherable warning.
01:02:13A warning from what?
01:02:15A fate of imprisonment?
01:02:17While you are incapable of physical action?
01:02:20Imprisoned by what?
01:02:23This dimension of time?
01:02:25During the span of our evolution, our race built an empire so great,
01:02:31its outermost reaches extended to the perimeter of the galaxy.
01:02:36Our fleets sailed the galactic seas and gathered the riches from many worlds,
01:02:43wondering we gathered the greatest of all treasures, knowledge.
01:02:50Ours was the greatest empire the galactic civilizations had ever witnessed.
01:02:56We were the masters of the stars.
01:03:01But as space is vast, time is long.
01:03:06Races grow old, civilizations wither, and empires crumble.
01:03:13The stars slip through our fingers.
01:03:17We have been the conquerors of a thousand worlds gathered here.
01:03:22Our empire followed, our glory gone.
01:03:27All that remained of our greatness were the mysteries we had gathered in our wanderings.
01:03:35There was an irony in our twilight.
01:03:38All too soon we would return to mindless dust, leaving these mysteries behind.
01:03:46Time was insensitive to our greatness.
01:03:50The end of our evolution drew near.
01:03:54Weary, we made one last effort.
01:03:57We inquired into the very nature of the fabric of time itself.
01:04:04From creation to now, tugged toward all the yesterdays,
01:04:09almost as strongly as the unborn tomorrows that stretch to all eternity.
01:04:16We struck a balance between these two great universal forces, the past and the future.
01:04:25It was then that we impaled time upon an axis.
01:04:30We, who had been the conquerors of a thousand worlds and followed,
01:04:34rose again to conquer death and pluck our city out of time.
01:04:41Within these walls, there was an eternal stillness.
01:04:47And in that stillness we pondered upon all the mysteries we had gathered from the vastness of the universe.
01:04:57And pondering we followed, we had committed a grievous error.
01:05:04That transgression upon time was contrary to the laws of the universe.
01:05:12For as there can be no life without birth,
01:05:17so life itself is meaningless without our death.
01:05:26Upon unraveling the last mystery of the universe, this we learned.
01:05:32That there exists a promise of something very strange and very great.
01:05:38A promise beckoning to us from beyond the rim of the universe.
01:05:44Thus our transgression kept us imprisoned upon this world,
01:05:50and kept us from our destiny.
01:05:54It's hard to believe that a race as great as yours cannot free itself from a prison of their own creation.
01:06:02If you stop time, why can't you start it again?
01:06:07Time can be set in motion again,
01:06:10free to continue toward the endless future and we toward our destiny.
01:06:18But it requires an act of physical strength of which we are incapable.
01:06:24Yours will be the task.
01:06:26But how?
01:06:28We have no knowledge of how you stop time.
01:06:31Therefore, how can we start it again?
01:06:36Our minds grow weary.
01:06:40I cannot hold this manifestation much longer.
01:06:45The process involved would not be understandable to a race as young as yours,
01:06:50were there time left to me to explain.
01:06:54Our city was plucked out of time.
01:06:57Yours is the task, to replace the sphere within the mechanism.
01:07:05Wait! Don't leave!
01:07:07This mechanism!
01:07:09Where is it? What is it?
01:07:12You will know it.
01:07:14For it is the symbol of time, universal to all races.
01:07:43That must be the sphere.
01:07:45But what mechanism is it part of?
01:07:47Who cares?
01:07:49Now look, let's not get sidetracked.
01:07:51We haven't got time to get involved with somebody else's problems.
01:07:54Well, maybe it is our problem.
01:07:56What do you mean? This has nothing to do with us.
01:07:58But it does not waste our time on riddles, too.
01:08:01Now, they've been here a long time,
01:08:03and so will we if we don't find that main stage.
01:08:06Look, the main stage is lost.
01:08:09Look, the main stage is lost.
01:08:12Let's face it.
01:08:14We've been chasing wild signals everywhere.
01:08:17Now let's give Doc the benefit of the doubt.
01:08:20I still don't understand how it's going to do us any good.
01:08:23Well, maybe not, but we won't know unless we try.
01:08:29This must be it.
01:08:31Now all we have to do is find the mechanism into which it fits.
01:08:40What the...
01:08:42Look, the sphere.
01:08:47A city plucked from time.
01:09:10That does it.
01:09:12I hope this is it. There's no place else to look.
01:09:15If it is, it'll solve a lot of mysteries.
01:09:18Just as long as we don't end up like they did.
01:09:40A symbol of time, universal to all races.
01:09:54Mechanism of time.
01:10:04It's still here.
01:10:08It's so close, and yet just beyond our reach.
01:10:17I can reach it.
01:10:22Steve, give me a hand.
01:10:37The city.
01:11:07The pendulum.
01:11:30The pendulum! Look out!
01:11:37The pendulum!
01:11:53Your task is done.
01:11:56Time has been set in motion again.
01:11:59Freed to continue toward the endless future.
01:12:04And we toward our destiny.
01:12:07Do not gaze upon time too long.
01:12:10But as you do, your own destiny awaits you at the end of the golden road.
01:12:18Farewell.
01:12:34Farewell.
01:12:58The past and present are coming together.
01:13:00You've got to get out while this dimension still exists.
01:14:00I'm here.
01:14:31I'm here.
01:14:45Forget the gun.
01:15:00Forget the gun.
01:15:30Mars Probe 1.
01:15:53Mars Probe 1.
01:15:55Mars Probe 1.
01:15:57This is Mars Echo 1.
01:15:59Over.
01:16:01Mars Probe 1.
01:16:03Will you please acknowledge.
01:16:05You are two minutes overdue with your transmission.
01:16:08Please acknowledge.
01:16:10Please acknowledge.
01:16:18Two minutes.
01:16:29Two minutes.
01:16:35Upon unravelling the last mystery of the universe.
01:16:39This we learn.
01:16:41As without birth.
01:16:44There can be no life.
01:16:47So without death.
01:16:49Life itself is meaningless.
01:16:52For without death.
01:16:55Life cannot begin again.