The Swarm
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Movie Reviews of The Swarm
Movie Review: Campy, bad disaster movie that is surprisingly fun
Summary: 3 Stars
"The Swarm" is merely another in the long line of 1970's disaster flicks that the Hollywood machine churned out with almost reckless abandon. The difference here is that, instead of burning building or shaking ground, the disaster is a swarm of 'Africanized' killer bees that attack southern Texas with extreme ferocity. While there is no doubt that killer bees do exist and are quite vicious when they attack, this particular swarm seems capable of doing things that not even the USSR could have imagined accomplishing. These bees cause helicopters to crash, force passenger trains off the track, and... get this... cause a nuclear power plant to explode (!). These are some pretty impressive bees. For all the outlandishly ridiculous plot developments, "The Swarm" is still a fun movie to watch. It's especially fun to watch actors of higher pedigree try to contend with this material. On the one hand, there is Richard Chamberlain, an actor wants badly to be a better actor than the material he performs lets him be. On the other hand, there is Oscar-winner, Michael Caine, who shows a propensity for choosing awful roles at the same rate as he chooses award-winning roles (how else can you explain a man who wins Academy Awards in such compelling films as "Hannah and her Sisters" and "The Cider House Rules", while also starring in such monumental turkeys as "Jaws: The Revenge" and "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure"). It's fun watching the two of them recite the dialogue of this movie and seeing them not smirk at what they're saying. "The Swarm" is a bad, bad movie, but it has that extra bit of flair that allows it to be so bad it's good.Movie Review: Classic Slice of 1970's Cheese
Summary: 3 Stars
Chock full of A-List stars in the twilight of their career, "The Swarm" manages to rise above it's hokey premise to deliver a fun little disaster film.
"The Swarm" pretty much lays out the entire story within the first 10 minutes of the film, a swarm of killer African Bees is invading Texas killing everything in their path. And while the premise is goofy fun, what makes "The Swarm" so enjoyable is the stellar cast.
Michael Caine stars as renegade entomologist who has been tracking the bees. There is intense...and then there is Michael Caine intense. You have to love when Caine and Richard Widmark as an Air Force General begin chewing up scenery as to how to destroy the swarm. Henry Fonda drops in as one of Caine's hand picked scientists to help destory the bees, Slim Pickens has a quick cameo as a grieving father, Ben Johnson and Fred MacMurray (in his final role)fighting over the love of the local school marm played by Olivia de Havilland it cheese greatness at it's best. I think Ben Johnson is about the only cowboy who could wear a magenta suit and get away with it? Patty Duke, Richard Chamberlain, Jose Ferrer...I'm telling you this flick is filled with more stars than an entire season of "The Love Boat"!!
In all honesty "The Swarm" is over-long, kind of dull and talky at times, but for some reason I still really enjoyed it. Go into the movie with tongue planted firmly in cheek and enjoy the epic goofiness.
Movie Review: Over-the-Top Entertainment
Summary: 3 Stars
First off, let me say that Darsh's review has several of his "facts" wrong. It's the Air Force...not the Army. Secondly, Richard Chamberlain and Fred McMurray both DIED (Chamberlain at the nuclear powerplant, McMurray on the train).
Yes, there were MANY technical flaws in the film. All the Irwin Allen disaster flicks (especially Towering Inferno) have gaffs in them. From day-to-night in the same scene, the plants on the outside of the upper floors of a high-rise building, among others, are absurd indeed.
And, yes the cast of All-Stars & B-list actors did deserve a better script from Stirling Siliphant, the great writer of televsion shows such as the calssic Route 66, and Irwin Allen's first two disaster epics.
However, I actually DID like Michael Caine's & Richard Widmark's performances. They made great "friendly adversaries"...the civilian scientist & the "warhawk" Air Force general.
Overall, it was fairly entertaining, even with all the negatives.
NOBODY will ever call this a classic, ala Poseidon Adventure or Towering Inferno, but it does have its moments.
Movie Review: A Classic of Schlock!
Summary: 3 Stars
The Swarm, loosely based on a novel by Arthur Herzog, was a major critical and commercial failure when released in 1978! Producer/director Iwrin Allen was very disillusioned by the film's lack of success. The film only made $10 million dollars in box office revenue; that didn't cover the film's $21 million dollar budget! To this day, critics dislike the film. In its defense, one can see its influence on The X Files and cheesy movies made for the Sci Fi Channel. Aside from its flaws(plot holes, hammy acting, dubious scientific data, Michael Caine's over the top acting, etc.), the film has a so bad, it's good quality. The epic, sweeping, thumping music score by the late, great Jerry Goldsmith is hard to criticize. To paraphrase someone else, The Swarm is a yummy chunk of honey roasted cheesy entertainment and it's only recommended for brave souls!Movie Review: So absolutely horrible its entertaining
Summary: 2 Stars
"The Swarm" (1978) was a box-office disaster when it was originally released. And no wonder, what with its bottom-of-the-barrel special effects, absolutely horrible, illogical script by Stirling Silliphant and direction by Irwin Allen that shows none of the professionalism or pacing of his best films--namely, "The Poseidon Adventure" and "The Towering Inferno." What's more, in its original, 115-minute form, it appears to have been edited by a meat cleaver and jumps from one calamity to another with such abruptness that after a while everything becomes laughable. Yet, I actually have a certain fondness for the thing, especially in its expanded, 156-minute DVD version, which is actually an improvement, basically since it is better paced and the characters and situations prove more tolerable. Yes, it is still a horrible film, but also oddly entertaining, much like watching William Hung on "American Idol." You know it stinks but you're fascinated anyway.
The film plays on '70's paranoia in its depiction of an invasion of the desert southwest by a huge swarm of bees. The cast is large and full of disaster movie veterans and legendary big-screen hasbeens, most of whom show up just long enough to be killed by the bees. Actually, the film is best-known for featuring Michael Caine, in one of two consecutive screen megabombs (the other being "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure") which would have killed any other career; fortunately, he survived the debacles and went on to win two Oscars and become one of our greatest screen actors. His main support comes from Katharine Ross and Richard Widmark, whose careers unfortunately did not recover. The rest of the cast shall remain nameless, since the surviving players are probably still embarassed by their performances, which usually end with their characters attacked by bees, flailing their arms and screaming in slow motion before falling to the ground. At least those are the lucky ones. Others are blown up in train crashes or nuclear power plants, which are illogically overpowered by the bees, which resemble those little chocolate sprinkles you put on ice cream.
The plot? Are you kidding? The United States is invaded by killer bees from Africa. People die. Whole towns are lost. Houston is evacuated. The entire cast dies, except Caine and Ross, who evidently are immune to the bees since they manage to escape Houston by simply putting a towel over their heads while everyone else dies. All of this directed with incredible incompetence by Irwin Allen, who managed to make "The Towering Inferno" look like "Titanic" in comparison.
There's no use discussing the cast since everyone is simply picking up a paycheck. Michael Caine once said he made the film so he could build a house and he ended up with a lousy film and a beautiful house. Judging by the jokes he's endured for this atrocity, the "Poseidon" sequel, and especially, "Jaws the Revenge," he earned the house. Luckily for the viewer, the ineptitude is actually entertaining at times, and funnier than most of today's so-called comedies, so who can begrudge him?
Incidentally, this film was scored by the great, incomparable composer Jerry Goldsmith, who passed away last week. Tellingly, "The Swarm" was not mentioned when the highlights of his career were discussed. I wonder why?
In all, "The Swarm" is horrible. So horrible, in fact, it is entertaining. Now, as for "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure"---
** (out of *****), simply because it's so damned funny. And if you care? Panavision widescreen, with no other features. My opinion? Raquel Welch did a commentary track to "Myra Breckinridge" which was eons better than the film. What about it, Mike? Ready to buy a new house?