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In the far reaches of our galaxy lies a planet where Adam Wade (Shanks) and Jake Carpenter (Bridgett) are in search of an ancient colony that had settled a millennium back. Unfortunately, they crash land on the planet and are thrust into a world turned on its head. Women have taken absolute control of society and have turned men into slaves that worship a giant serpent. If that wasn’t unsettling enough, the men come to the horrible realization that the planet is on the brink of total destruction. Adam pairs up with the current queen Sumuru (Kamp), but in doing so makes high-priestess Taxan Levin his enemy. Taxan has fought hard for years to gain control after Sumuru was elected, and she will stop at nothing to get her vengeance.
This was (very loosely) based on a character created by pulp writer Sax Rohmer, best known as the creator of Fu Manchu. He is less remembered for his character Sumuru, which was first created by Rohmer for a BBC radio series just after the war. She then became a villainess in five books published during the fifties. Towers was also involved as a producer in two previous movie adaptations from the 60s. Shirley Eaton best known for her painted death in Goldfinger played Sumuru in The Million Eyes of Sumuru and The Girl From Rio. I’ve seen the first one, and it doesn’t qualify for inclusion here; but if you’re curious, here’s my review of it.
I add this as a matter of interest since it suggests that I have about one hundred words fewer to write about this. It is an exceptionally unremarkable movie from South Africa, which lies somewhere in between an ancient episode of Doctor Who (the last time I saw so many of the scenes seemingly taking place in a gravel pit) and The Perils of Gwendolyn. At least it is now, if only slightly, closer to the first novel than the previous movies; the book did have Sumuru plotting to create a ‘new world order,’ ruled by women. However, it is more the resultant unfortunate circumstance, centuries ago, than any kind of deliberate. And considering how fast society unravels after the arrival of Adam and Jake, I am not sure how it lasted nine hundred years.
This needed to go further on the concept of a gynocentric civilization, and putting the warrior priestess against the technocrat is an engaging concept. Nevertheless, the production simply lacks the ability to create anything that remotely resembles what is necessary, with not more than 20 male or female actors of either sex. There are far too many blunders, like how the women utter words from the same linguistics of the spacemen [look at how one spoke in English during the 12 century and now as a measurable indicator], and the “ancient” technology that is well preserved. Adam sometimes offers a witty observation on the absurdity of all this, and we do ultimately receive what we’ve wanted, the long anticipated clash between Taxan and Sumuru. This is a very small return, and you have to endure too much running around rocky terrain to obtain those small joys.
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