Red Planet Mars
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Movie Reviews of Red Planet Mars
Movie Review: The most hated 50s Sci Fic ever made
Summary: 5 Stars
RED PLANET MARS (1952) Directed by Harry Horner. Script by John Balderston based on his play RED PLANET. Art direction by Charles D. Hall.
Starring Peter Graves, Andrea King, Herbert Berghoff, Marvin Miller, Henry Kulky, House Peters and Morris Ankrum.
When a husband and wife team of scientists manage to make contact with the civilization on the planet Mars, what the Martians transmit back throws the entire economic system of the free world into chaos---much to the gleeful amusement of the Communists who prepare to conquer the planet with ease. However the next series of messages are even more unexpected and
Meanwhile in the background lurks a former Nazi scientist now satanist who has a deadly secret of his
The single 50s Sci Fic film absolutely guaranteed to send horror/Sci Fic fanboys into paroxisms of hysteria and rage..Usually suppressed, the DVD release begins and ends with the words CHEEZY MOVIE just to make sure everyone gets the message. Never has a film caused such desperation and yet all it is is a film version of a 1930s play written by famous Universal horror scribe John Balderston and, as such, does what the genre is supposed to------examine concepts and ideas in a speculative fashion.
Though considered a 50s Sci Fic film, the picture is really more in line with similar films of the period such as THE MIRACLE OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA or THE ROBE. Modern genre fanboys really should not watch the film. It really is not for them. It is far too sophisticated and cerebral and very very unconventional. Except for CONTACT--which functions as the side B to this movie, there really is no other film quite like it.
It is well directed and nicely acted by a cast of familiar Sci Fic faces. The lighting and sets are very well done---the film really reminds more of a movie of an earlier decade than a 50s style Sci fic movie. The VHS release is probably the one to go with as the DVD version seems to have been purposely treated shabbily by the producers.
The film is also that rare thing--a sci fic film that actually predicts something that would happen in the future---though not for another few decades yet---so it should be credited for that as well. A truly thought provoking and highly uplifting film that should interest and entertain most viewers---though ironically enough not the audience it was originally made for who have become far too bigoted and limited intellectually to appreciate it today. AVATAR is now more their speed.
Highly recommended.
Movie Review: Great idea/storyline, cheesy acting
Summary: 5 Stars
I first saw this movie when I was in elementary school. Unfortunately I missed about the last 1/4 of it because my mom insisted I go to bed despite my begging and pleading to stay up a little longer to see how it ended. So I never got to see the rest of it until a few days ago when I watched the movie again. It was well worth watching the 2nd time.
Some movies seem great when you are a kid and then stupid when you are an adult (or vice versa). I always liked science fiction and found it fascinating the first time but didn't understand the political or religious implications that were so obvious the 2nd time around. I thought this was a very clever plot - an interesting premise, and one that offered a lot of food for thought. It seems to me that the reviews that slam the movie are people who are violently opposed to religion in any shape or form. So Jesus is mentioned in this movie; Christianity is a large part of it - so what??? That's the plot and it is what it is. The movie offers a point of view, as do most movies, but that isn't any reason to slam it. Those who do act as though the producers of the movie have no right to have a point of view.
The only detracting thing I can say is some of the acting is laughingly overdone but then this does look pretty low budget. As another reviewer stated, it is unfortunate that the movie was distributed by a company called Cheezy Flicks, because aside from the acting, it is definitely not cheezy. It offers a lot to think about and has a lot more intelligence in its plot than most of the fluff being made in the present day.
Movie Review: Certainly Not "Cheezy"
Summary: 5 Stars
It's unforunate that this masterpiece was released on DVD by a company called "Cheezy Flicks Entertainment", because the film is not cheesey. Well, it features the melodrama of any science fiction film from the era, but aside from that, the storyline is brillaint.
The film opens with a narrator explaining that these events occur in the future, but it is clearly the 1950's. Therefore, the "future" must not be an advancement of time, but an alternate reality; perhaps a possibility that the United States minds may have had, but overlooked.
Although this motion picture is decades old it leaves the modern-day viewer feeling much like it must have made filmgoers a generation ago feel; that the movie is an expression of a dream unrealized, a hope yet to be fulfilled, but one that will certainly someday occur.
In this movie good is good and evil is evil and the characters must decide on which side they stand.
Movie Review: COLD WAR CHILDHOOD REVISITED
Summary: 5 Stars
Just by chance,I caught most of"RedPlanet Mars" oncable.it was a scary experience, mostly because the portrayalof unreasoniing panic by the societies shown seemed very much the way i elieve people would act. I recall vividly howit was to be a childin the 1950's, when any car backfire or any trash-burning made people think it had happened; the Soviets were attacking,and World War 3 was beginning.
"RedPlanet Mars" accidentally or intentionally anti-Soviet propaganda, and it is effective cinema in that respect. As II watched this film,I was thinking how youngpeter Graves was in thismovie -and at about the same time his brother, James arness, was playing the alien monster in "The Thing."
Great movie, and the dvd is crisp and clear.This is a must for any Science fiction film collection.
Movie Review: Great Modern Counter-Culture Film
Summary: 5 Stars
Young Peter Graves is at least as good in the starring role as in the TV series, Mission: Impossible. So, that should tell you something about the movie. Well done. Actually - it's a movie and a well done movie is often better than a TV series. Since I among many others enjoyed the TV series (which is unrelated to the story in this movie) ... I'm saying the movie is well done.
Pictures of the rather young Stalin are on the walls in offices in the Moscow; so the movie directly confronts the greatest threat to peace and freedom of the era. But capitalism takes a beating too; all for recognition of what we have known all along as preserved in the great religions of the world. A very interesting and thought provoking film.