MovieChat Forums > Wonder Woman (1975) Discussion > Judgment From Outer Space

Judgment From Outer Space

posted 10 years ago by richard.fuller1
7 replies | jump to latest

This story is BEYOND ridiculous. The aliens are charging the humans of waging war and death against each other, but if we don't stop, they will KILL us???

What do they think THAT is???

Andros is saying nuclear weaponry is regarded as a 'children's toy' on his home planet, but it is still a weapon for us??

That would be the same as if we regarded wooden blocks as a threat if children played with them.

And if these aliens are so observant of the war-like ways of Earthlings, why do they seem completely unaware of the holocaust or Japanese atrocities?

No wonder this show lost its appeal to those who tuned in for Lynda Carter's attire. What pre-teen or teen-aged boy wanted to see Tim O'Conner in a disco suit puckering up and whistling and spouting 'don't fight.'

[–] danavenell 10 years ago

They think life is precious in the universe - so because mankind is warlike and thus a danger, they will destroy all life on earth (earthquakes, tidal waves, painful stuff if they will destroy every last person that way) . Rather than just killing man and letting another species evolve? Or maybe sticking around and helping mankind develop peacefully. None of their thinking makes sense throughout the two-parter. Hey do come back in 50 years space guy, we have it all figured out by 1992 don't worry.

The whole thing is a direct rip-off of The Day the Earth Stood Still anyway.

[–] crockett_john 9 years ago

If ire member correctly, when they're talking to the aliens, Diana Prince (the only woman present) walks away, then Wonder Woman returns and no one notices.

None of this episode makes sense. Destroying a race of people because they're too violent to one another makes no sense.

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I'm just expressing my opinion.

You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.

[–] engle_james 9 years ago

Two thoughts regarding this 2 parter:

1) It must have been popular and well-received, because they did a sequel in season 2.

2) I found the story fascinating, and it was interesting the way Andros was looking at the whole picture of WW II, not just the American part of it. And I loved the argument between Diana Prince and Steve Trevor about the role Andros should play. Etta is utilized more in the first part, and I love Scott Colomby as the German double agent.

Also, Lynda Carter's acting seems to improve here; one of my favorite scenes is when she's trying to help Andros escape from the Nazis in part 2, and she pulls him into a room, shuts the door, and smiles at him reassuringly even though she's clearly worried his fellow aliens will destroy the Earth.

"Destroying a race of people because they're too violent to one another makes no sense." True- but their concern was Earth would continue to cultivate nuclear weapons and then perhaps destroy other planets in the future, namely their own. Makes sense to me they'd want to nip the problem in the bud.

[–] dpcole7 9 years ago

A number of kids throwing lots of wooden blocks would probably be seen as an aggressive threat at some point...

There is an irony that one has to use force to terrify everyone else to stop using force. However, in human history, fear has been shown to be an occasionally useful weapon. Except for the time Hiroshima and Nagasaki were targeted, but they didn't believe a threat existed and were too busy wanting to commit suicide for their precious dictatorship.

The problem, therefore, is offense vs defense, and Andros was attempting to use defense as an ultimate offense. It's amazing Wonder Woman believed him, but most people would probably have discounted Andros as a charlatan...

But it's a TV show. Sometimes one has to roll with the absurdity. Otherwise "Space 1999" and "Friends" would not have lasted more than six episodes. Or people would have walked out of "The Force Awakens" after 20 minutes of realizing it's otherwise a pretty lame rehash of previous Star Wars movies but with a couple interesting characters that are surprisingly male, complete with a cameo by Sophia Petrillo with a handy light saber....

[–] richard.fuller1 9 years ago

Interesting you mentioned Lost In Space. I thought at first that was what your response was in regard to.

Lost In Space is also an interesting reference, since it's first five or six episodes are amazing for that time period and then how the show transpired.

The same could be said for Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman. When she fought Christine Belford or Stella Stevens, the show held up, but when that changed, forget it.

[–] dianaAthemiscyra 8 years ago

Would have been nice if Diana would have been able to take Andros to Paradise Island to converse with Queen Hippolyta and The Amazons about there view of Humanity's situation. And possibly come up with a plan to help Humanity learn, and become, peaceful.

[–] YGoodwriter 8 years ago

I felt the plot was inspired by "The Day the Earth Stood Still". Klattu had the same ultimatum.