planet being flung out of its orbit theme

Civilization on a planet is threatened because the planet is, for one reason or another, leaving its natural orbit.

5 total · 1 choice · 2 major · 2 minor

StoryLevelMotivation
tz1959e3x10 choice It seemed that the Earth's orbit had been perturbed, causing the planet to spiral slowly into the sun, rendering it deadly hot for everyone. Although it was ultimately revealed, in a surprise twist, that the Earth was actually spiraling away from the sun, and the planet was becoming lethally cold.
movie: The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961) major Not only was the Earth knocked off its normal axis of rotation, but it later became apparent that it was spiraling into the sun.
movie: The Magnetic Monster (1953) major The electromagnetic creature was going to knock Earth out from its orbit unless Jeffrey Stewart and his colleagues could destroy it.
movie: Stranger from Venus (1954) minor The Stranger explained how the asteroid belt used to be the home of two or three planets that had been destroyed when one of the planets there moved out of its orbit owing to the detonation of nuclear bombs there.
movie: The Strange World of Planet X (1958) minor Mr. Smith was an alien emissary who came to Earth to explain that Dr. Laird's experiments with magnetic fields would lead to the Earth's orbit becoming unstable.