The Swarm
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Movie Reviews of The Swarm
Movie Review: "Houston on fire,will history blame me or the bees" richard widmark to anyone still listening
Summary: 4 Stars
that is just one of a stream of howling bad lines in this thanksgiving film(a real turkey get it). the novel it was based on was very good but in the hands of irwin allen it becomes of of the funniest comedies of all time. that wasn't what they ment to do,but the script is so silly that the stars, who try hard just can't keep this one from sinking under the bad lines and not so special effects. the cast is just picking up a paycheck on this one. you are now asking ,how i could give this four stars ,well it is very funny and just when you think it can't get any worse,bam,it goes even deeper down the tubes. but if you are the right frame of mind this is one funny movie.Movie Review: Epitomizes "so bad it's good"
Summary: 4 Stars
The Bottom Line:
Objectively The Swarm is a terrible film--it's nonsensical, with terrible special effects, acting, and writing--but it achieves such an impressive level of terribleness that it could be said to transcend bad and go right back into good; you're sure to enjoy yourself while howling at the ridiculousness of every aspect of the film (my personal favorite part is when Michael Caine explains that his lifelong fear has been a swarm of killer bees) so I have to recommend the film even though it's not a good movie by any means.
2/4
Movie Review: The Swarm
Summary: 4 Stars
This was really a picture of what if and I enjoyed ever bit of it.
I thought it was very well written and Richard Widmark and Micheal Caine gave such creditability to their parts. If you like sci-fi this was one that was somewhat imaginable. I gave it 3 stars.
Movie Review: Old-fashioned monster movie with all-star cast
Summary: 3 Stars
THE SWARM
(USA - 1978)
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)
Theatrical soundtrack: 4-track stereo
Contrary to popular opinion, THE SWARM (1978) is not the worst movie ever made. Anyone who says otherwise clearly hasn't seen the collected works of Jesus Franco or Andy Milligan. Or Woody Allen (only kidding!).
Having exhausted the possibilities of the one-disaster-in-a-single-film subgenre (THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, THE TOWERING INFERNO, FIRE!, FLOOD, etc.), producer-director Irwin Allen hired screenwriter Stirling Silliphant (IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT) to conceive a storyline in which several catastrophes occur within a broader narrative. Taking his cue from previous small-scale entries like THE DEADLY BEES (1966) and TERROR OUT OF THE SKY (1978), Silliphant concocted THE SWARM, an old-fashioned monster movie with an all-star cast, in which a huge mass of African killer bees rampage across America's south-west before descending on Houston, destroying everything in their path - including towns, trains, nuclear power plants, and the reputations of numerous high-profile actors.
Representing the last gasp of the disaster cycle inaugurated in 1969 by Ross Hunter's big-time adaptation of Arthur Hailey's AIRPORT and popularized by Allen with respectable entries like the aforementioned POSEIDON and TOWERING (the latter a bona fide masterpiece), THE SWARM encapsulates this director's basic commercial ethos: Big stars, big set-pieces, and big drama. But Silliphant's script is so hokey in places, it's difficult to believe the writer wasn't deliberately mocking the entire scenario: Michael Caine is so obviously miscast (as a 'brilliant' entomologist), and so clearly contemptuous of the material, his expression never changes throughout the entire film, though Richard Widmark (whose career enjoyed a brief renaissance during the 1970's) gives it everything he's got as a gruff military type who's eager to quell the threat by bombing everything in sight. Henry Fonda rises above the fray as a dedicated immunologist, and Slim Pickens is quietly dignified in a brief appearance as a bereaved father, while Olivia De Havilland forms the centerpiece of a gentle romantic subplot (she's courted by Fred MacMurray and Ben Johnson). Richard Chamberlain, Lee Grant, Jose Ferrer, Bradford Dillman and Patty Duke Astin are featured in supporting roles alongside leading lady Katharine Ross, who seems particularly embarrassed by her ridiculous dialogue (get a load of her hysterical reaction to the death of a sympathetic younger character - if you lean forward, you can almost smell the ham!).
Unfortunately, the home video version runs 155 minutes in length (expanded from the 116m theatrical print), which pads the narrative with pointless dialogue exchanges and routine soap opera melodramatics, turning a tightly constructed disaster thriller into an endless yak-fest. Whereas the theatrical print moved along at a fair old clip, this version slows everything down to a mild saunter, punctuated by a number of flamboyant visual fireworks. Allen stages the action sequences with a good deal of cinematic flair (despite poor photographic effects by industry veteran L.B. Abbott), but the movie's entertainment value is seriously compromised by needless padding.
Movie Review: "Bees! Bees! Millions Of Beeeeees!"...
Summary: 3 Stars
I grew up watching Irwin Allens TV shows, like LOST IN SPACE, TIME TUNNEL, VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, and LAND OF THE GIANTS. His disaster epics: POSEIDON ADVENTURE and TOWERING INFERNO kept me well adhesed to the back of my theatre seat! With all of this to his credit, Allen made THE SWARM. Well, it's a hilariously inept bomb of a movie, with a two and a half hour running time! I kept praying for it's end credits to roll, while simultaneously being unable to tear my eyes from the horror before me! Dear God above, what a mess! Still, it is fun to watch in places; and the cavalcade of washed-up stars is wonderful! Examples: Former superstar, Henry Fonda in a wheelchair, either looking constipated or grimacing hysterically. Fred MacMurray (Double Indemnity) acting like he's still on the set of MY THREE SONS. Olivia De Havilland (Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte), bouncing around in a doomed traincar. Michael Caine (Dressed To Kill, The Hand) and Richard Widmark (COMA) screaming and yelling at each other for most of the film. Richard Chamberlain (Mr. Shogun himself) and José Ferrer (The Sentinel, Blood Tide) doing their bee-covered disco-dance-of-death in the nuclear power plant holocaust scene. Katharine Ross (The Stepford Wives, The Legacy, Donnie Darko) managing to look both stunning and stunned throughout. Lee Grant (Visiting Hours) as a nosy TV reporter who leaves her cameramen outside in the killer swarm, while taking refuge in the newsvan. Patty Duke Astin (Valley Of The Dolls) as a pregnant woman in mourning for her dead husband, oblivious to her doctor's ham-fisted advances. Bradford Dillman (Bug, Piranha, Chosen Survivors) as major what's-his-name. Cameron Mitchell (The Demon, Toolbox Murders) as the general who yells at Gen. Widmark and Dr. Caine. Yes, THE SWARM is a classic of disastrous proportions! This thing cost a fortune to make too! It was the end of Irwin Allen's reign as king of the blockbusters! It stands as a testament to what happens when producer / directors are given millions of dollars to run wild. Watch in amazement and awe...