"Major William Allison" (Robert Clarke) is a test pilot for the United States Air Force who has been assigned to fly an experimental jet into space at speeds never before attempted by mankind. Unfortunately, his mission accidentally takes him 64 years into the future to a time when a plague has decimated most of the population and created hostile mobs of mutants who seek to wreck havoc on the few less infected people living underground. Yet while these people don't quite suffer from the full ravages of the plague the disease has rendered all of them deaf, mute and completely sterile. All but one that is and the arrival of Major Allison gives them hope that perhaps he and a beautiful woman named "Trirene" (Darlene Tompkins) can offer them a chance of repopulating the human species. But there is another opportunity presented with Major Allison's arrival which another group has formulated and it conflicts with the plans of the establishment. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a decent science fiction film for the most part. Admittedly, being produced in 1960 it lacks the special effects of movies made during the present time and the film lacked depth and substance to a certain degree as well. But in any case I kind of enjoyed it and so I rate this movie as about average and recommend it to fans of this particular time and genre.

In 1960, a military test pilot (Robert Clarke) is caught in a time warp that propels him to year 2024 where he finds a plague has sterilized the world's population.A budding star, Darlene Tompkins, appears as the future's princess. The following year she appeared in "Blue Hawaii" with Elvis Presley. Unfortunately, her pursuit of acting was interrupted by the start of a family.Much of the film is cheesy, and many of the sets are very simple, but it is worth noting that the makeup was created by Jack Pierce. Tompkins recalled that Pierce on set was "very, very serious, and so glad that he was working... He really loved it, he gave me the impression that this was the most important thing that there was, that this was so phenomenally important to him." Tompkins also recalled that, at least with her, Robert Clarke acted as director and Edgar Ulmer kept very much to himself. With many of her scenes involving a romance with Clarke, perhaps this direction should not be surprising.What makes the plot interesting is that there is a Cold War theme, but oddly the plot specifies that the (upcoming) moon landing would end it. This is one of the few films that actually seems optimistic. Of course, this optimism is somewhat negated by the impending plague.Sadly, the Netflix version is really choppy, as though they only had every other frame. Can we get a crisp, new version, perhaps with a Tom Weaver commentary?

This movie is, in fact, available on DVD through Movies Unlimited (moviesunlimited.com). However, don't expect a DVD-quality print of this movie; it looks just like it did when you watched it on those late night sci-fi showcases in the 60s (which, to me, is part of its appeal). Not listed on the DVD case is the trailer for the movie, which is tacked on at the very end. I was glad to add be able to add this to my movie collection. I gave the movie 4 out of 10 stars based on it's "cheese factor". Sometimes the cheapest movies are the most endearing, and this one is a prime example. Silly dialog, homemade sets and costumes, and laughable special effects. This is not a movie to watch in prime time. This is a movie to plug in either late at night when nothing else is on and everyone else is fast asleep and you're feeling a little groggy yourself, or early afternoon when you're home from work with a bad cold and drowsy from all the medicine. Then you won't take it so seriously. Enjoy.

If you considering this title, you are probably towards the end of your journey to see all that the 'fifties' sci-fi genre has to offer, and rightly so.BTTB is a Z Grade affair all the way. While the story concept and sets are intriguing enough, the lame acting, lack of action, and static camera work make this one almost unwatchable. Ulmer's high point for low budget was Detour. This is nowhere near Detour.For bottom of the barrel fifties sci-fi, I would definitely recommend War of the Satellites, Satellite in the Sky, Night the World Exploded, Phantom From Space or Mutiny in Outer Space long before I would recommend Beyond the Time barrier. It's not terribly bad, just terribly unengaging....