It Came from Outer Space
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Movie Reviews of It Came from Outer Space
Movie Review: "You're not gonna tell those people ya saw Martians running around down there?"
Summary: 5 Stars
Bwana Devil (1952) may have ushered in the `golden era' of 3-dimensional films in the early 1950s, but two of the best features to utilize the process at the time, in my opinion, were Vincent Price's House of Wax (1953), which I actually got to see in most spectacular 3D some years ago at Chicago's Music Box Theater (if you love movies and are even in town, you really should make a point to visit the place), and this science fiction thriller classic It Came from Outer Space (1953), which I have yet to see in 3D, but would surely love the opportunity. Based on a treatment by Ray Bradbury, the film was directed by Jack Arnold (Creature from the Black Lagoon, Tarantula, The Incredible Shrinking Man) and starred Richard Carlson (The Amazing Mr. X, The Magnetic Monster, Creature from the Black Lagoon), Barbara Rush (When Worlds Collide, Captain Lightfoot), and Charles Drake (Winchester '73, Bonzo Goes to College). Also appearing is Joe Sawyer (Them!, The Killing), Russell `The Professor' Johnson (This Island Earth, Attack of the Crab Monsters, "Gilligan's Island"), and Kathleen Hughes (The Golden Blade, Cult of the Cobra), in a small, but noticeable, role.
As the movie, set in Sand Rock County, Arizona, begins we meet a handsome young couple named John Putnam (Carlson) and Ellen Fields (Rush). John's a junior astronomer and part time writer while Ellen is a schoolteacher. As they enjoy a quiet evening together out at John's remote, desert shanty (well, maybe not so quiet as Ellen keeps blabbing on about getting married), they witness a flaming object streaking across the sky, eventually smashing into the Earth out by the old Excelsior mine. Upon investigation they find a huge, honking crater. As John ventures in (you're a braver man than I, Gunga Din), he discovers the object wasn't just a meteor, but a space ship, one that contains cycloptic, squid-like alien life! As John tries to comprehend this amazing happenstance, an unfortunate rockslide dumps a couple hundred tons of Earth on the ship, effectively burying any proof John has of his fantastic story. Soon Sheriff Matt Warren (Drake), whose got the hots for Ellen, makes the scene, along with some other rubes, and John tries to relate what he saw, but of course no one believes him (even Ellen is unsure what to make of it), and eventually he becomes something of a laughingstock, especially after the newspapers pick up on the story...well, we'll see who laughs last when someone gets their face melted off by a trigger happy Martian sporting a Type 6 Megasonic Destructor Ray...turns out the plucky aliens didn't perish in the rockslide, but are out and about, forcefully co-opting local yokels and assuming their appearance so that they may move freely among us. Their purpose? Well, you'll just have to watch the film and find out for yourself...my money's on the seizure of our women for procreation purposes, as if science fiction films have taught me anything aliens have a real yen for Earth babes...
While It Came from Outer Space isn't my absolute favorite science fiction feature to come out of the 1950s (that's a toss up between 1951's The Day the Earth Stood Still and 1956's Forbidden Planet), it's definitely up there in the top five, and considered by many to be a staple of the genre with good reason, primarily because it's extremely entertaining, even despite the fact it lacks the original 3D presentation on this DVD (there's any number of scenes shot specifically for the process, some obvious, some not so much). While watching this film, I learned a number of things including the follow...
1. Despite mastering the delicate intricacies of space travel, aliens still have yet to work out the kinks on landing (while plowing into a planet with enough force to wake the dead is technically a landing, it's not one I'd want to engage in on a regular basis).
2. Venturing into a huge, smoldering crater recently formed by the impact of an object from space may not be the best idea.
3. Junior astronomers keep handguns in the glove compartments of their cars.
4. Helicopter pilots are a great source of smart alecky remarks.
5. Aliens are crafty (and ugly).
6. You can slug a sheriff in Sand Rock County and not get arrested (heck, you can even steal their gun and their car to boot).
7. Prospectors get cranky when they haven't eaten.
8. Living and working in desert climates often makes people weird.
9. Barbara Rush would scream at the drop of a hat.
10. More people are murdered at ninety-two degrees Fahrenheit than any other temperature.
11. Humans will often destroy what they cannot understand.
12. Aliens possess some wicked awesome weaponry, but their targeting skills are sub par.
13. Don't go blabbing about spaceships and aliens if'n you don't have the proof to back up your claims.
I think the two elements that work the best here are the writing and the direction. While Bradbury wasn't hired to write the final script, enough elements of his original treatment were preserved so that anyone familiar with his writing could easily feel his imprint on the material. Arnold's direction works extremely well moving the story along at a decent pace, along with generating enough suspense at times to keep viewers glued to the screen. There's no doubt the aliens look pretty hokey by today's standards, but I have little doubt their appearance on screen back in the day probably produced a few nightmares among some patrons. As far as the performances, I thought all did very well, especially Carlson as he seemed to pull off his role with relative ease, with Barbara Rush supplying the eye candy. Her role had considerably less meat to it than Carlson's, but then that was fairly common of female characters in the genre at the time. There were a couple of minor things that bothered me a little about this film, the first thing being the reluctance of the military or scientific community towards digging up whatever it was that crashed in the desert. Most were content with the idea it was just a meteor, but still, given its size and from whence it came, wouldn't that generate enough interest to warrant an excavation? The second is actress Kathleen Hughes aka Betty Von Gerkan (that one heck of a moniker). She had a bit part in the film, and yet she gets a photo credit at the end of the film, right along with Carlson, Rush, and Drake. Certainly she was an attractive woman, but since she was only on screen for all of about two minutes, I don't understand how she got the credit she did here unless she was either related to someone, dating someone, or the studio was trying to promote her in the hopes of moving her on to bigger and better things...ah well...regardless, this is a great feature, and required watching for anyone interested in classic science fiction features.
The picture, presented in fullscreen (1.33:1), looks relatively clean and sharp...there are some aging elements present throughout (white specking), but nothing to get worked up over. The Dolby Digital 3.0 audio comes through crisply, highlighting the extensive usage of Theremin to produce that electronic, far-out, `spacey' sound. As far as extras, there's an entertaining documentary titled The Universe According to Universal (31:42), an audio commentary track by film historian Tom Weaver, a photo gallery, a theatrical trailer, production notes, cast and crew biographies and filmographies, and subtitles in English, Spanish, and French.
Cookieman108
Movie Review: One of the Best Sci-Fi films of the 1950s.
Summary: 5 Stars
It Came From Outer Space(1953) is one of the best and most important Sci-Fi/Horror films of the 50s, introducing a different concept to the fold that would play a huge impact on the genre. Where The Thing(1951) was bent on World Domination and Klattau from The Day the Earth Stood Still(1951) was intent on saving our planet, the alien in this film simply wants to get the hell out of here! The alien has crashlanded on our planet and being he's rather gruesome, has to assume human guise to seek aid to repair his ship. So he takes over a couple of humans and gets to work. Unfortunately, us earthlings don't quite understand the invader's intentions and mess up the works. Than the alien leaves. The end.
Okay, the film is actually somewhat better than that. It's very well acted by a good cast including Richard Carlson in the first of his many leading man roles in 50s Creature Features. His girlfriend, Barbera Rush is a real doll, too. The dialouge is great, mostly written by Ray Bradbury, but acredited to Harry Essex, who according to Bradbury simply rewrote his script and gave it to the studio! The direction is able by Jack Arnold, the leader of 50s Sci-Fi directing his first major film in that genre.
The film was originally released in 3-D, but the DVD isn't which is something of a shame. However, unlike most bare bones Universal DVDs, this one actually features some excellent supplemental features to compensate.
There's a great documentary by David J. Skal on the film's production and impact and a excellent commentary by Film historian Tom Weaver. The print is digitally re-mastered and looks pretty good, too.
Even the price is decent enough to make for a good, moderately priced addition to your Sci-Fi library.
Movie Review: Universal continues DVD digital transfers of scifi classics!
Summary: 5 Stars
Universal Studios the black & white "Horror / Scifi" experts continue to provide us there classic films on DVD!!! These great early Scifi cult classics introduce us to the mind set of Hollywood and the world of the 1950's.This latest digital transfer DVD series is fantastic with the best quality picture & sound. The Scifi of the 1950's was more philosophical and less graphical in the violence.
In Summary: An amateur astronomer (Richard Carlson) & his fiancee (Barbara Rush) witness a meteorite impact in the the desert near his cottage. They investigate the crash site and he discovers an alien spaceship at the base of the newly made crater. How will man react to this UFO event? It turns out that this spacecraft landed here on earth to make repairs. (ET storyline of the 50's). Man over reacts and the aliens perform cameleon like forms to seek repair parts. This early scifi was a very good concept and the first alien look was a typical Hollywood extravaganza. NOTE: "It Came From Outer Space" was originally released in 3 - Dimensional format & it added immensely to the horror & suspense!! To bad Universal didn't give us the full original effect which made such a lasting impact on the 1950's America.
Many Extras to include: an original documentary On It Came From Outer Space, excellent feature commentary by film historian Tom Weaver, photo & poster gallery, trailer, production notes and cast biographies.
This movie is a delight and it brings those memories back of the Saturday Scifi / Horror matinees. Fun stuff. Enjoy.
Movie Review: Much superior to other sci-fi of the era
Summary: 5 Stars
I originally saw this movie "It Came from Outer Space" aka "Strangers from Outer Space" on a 14" black and whit TV as a child. And believe me I was seeing eyes all over the place for several nights.
John Putnam (Richard Carlson of "Creature from the Black Lagoon" fame) an amateur astronomer was watching the desert sky with his girl, Ellen Fields (Barbara Rush) a local school teacher, when a strange meteor came down near buy. John, first to reach it swore he saw a door shut. We see it and believe him. However no one else does. What will happen next? Watch and find out.
You can spot a Jack Arnold film by the pacing and initial dialog. This one gave me nightmares as a kid. However now when I watch this film now, I can enjoy the DOWN TO EARTH portrayal of misplaced aliens. You get the alien view from its innards. I was disappointed to find that this is not a 3-D film. I also have the children's book of this with still shots. Your next film to view is "OUT THERE" (1995) an HBO film staring Bill Campbell and Wendy Schaal. It shows real alien interaction with people and accordions.
There is always hope that a 3D version has survived and will surface in the form of a DVD.
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (Color Special Edition)
Movie Review: It Came, It Saw, It Left...
Summary: 5 Stars
Richard Carlson (Creature From The Black Lagoon) stars as an intense astronomer who witnessess a "meteor" crash in the desert near his home. Along with Barbara Rush, he investigates the crater left by the impact. In it he finds a hexagonal doorway, that belongs to a now buried spacecraft. In the craft is a being, best described as a giant, hairy, big-toe with an eyeball where the toenail should be. Carlson's character gets out as an avalanche almost crushes him with it's paper-mache boulders! No one believes him (duh) and he is soon regarded as a nut. Two telephone co. linemen (one played by Gilligan's proffessor Russell Johnson) are possessed by the alien presence, and become monotone-speaking zombies. It turns out that rather than an invasion, the extraterrestrials are simply lost. They're just trying to fix their ship before we locate it and destroy them! Can Richard Carlson save them from the angry mob, including a hot-headed sheriff? ICFOS is a classic 50s paranoia gem. Extra points for Barbara Rush in her ... evening-wear! And, check out that blonde in the sheriff's office (whose boyfriend comes up missing). I'd watch her in anything...