Rating: 
Summary: Good, fun low budgeter Sci-Fi
Review: 3.5 stars -
Far superior to most other Sci-Fi of it time. This low budget color film has many of the makings of what could have been classic B Sci-Fi movie.
Yes there is some questionable acting and many predictable elements in the story. and 4D is unintentionally campy at times but the camp revolves more around the love triangle and buisness relationships of the characters rather then the Sci-Fi. The 4D effects, by todays standards, are rather obvious but not bad for the time and always fun. But the reality is that the D4 effects are rather few and far between. Most of the effects are implied - Actually very clever of the film makers to make you blieve you have scene a special effect where none happened. For example - often the 4D Man is already in a room rather then actually seen entering it and his 4D ability is telegraphed by music rather then anything actaully happening. But all in all the story is good. The presentation is compelling and colorful. There is a very cool Jazz soundtrack and a good opening credits montage. But the best thing about the film is Robert Lancing. If Lancing's performance here is any indication - Lancing might now be considered one of the better actors of his time had he starred in A-films. In 4D man Lancing overcomes every banal line, every amature actor and every low budget road block to deliver a strong, cool and believeble performance. The film moves very fast to a good twist ending. A side note - had the film makers had 4DMan's girl actually really adore him as she is forced to do what she does at the end - 4D might have been a minor B classic. I love Image for presenting good prints of films like this. This is probably the best print we are going to get - That said the film deserves a better DVD presentation and would have been helped immensally by crisper, cleaner and more colorful picture quality and sweetened sound track. I recommend this film (especially for the price)to those who enjoy films like X The Man With XRAY Eyes, The Incredible Shrinking Man and The Fly. That said I feel 4D Man is still a notche below the fore-mentioned films. But I still might have given the film 4 stars had it a better DVD presentation.
Rating:
Summary: 1D Movie.
Review: A slow, tepid, hackneyed movie, but I can recommend it because of the lead actor. He turns in- and I am not exaggerating- the finest performance to be seen in any sci-fi film prior to the 60's. One of the finest *after* then, too.
P.S. The effects are okay, and plentiful, but seem less effective in bright color than they might have been in b&w. Also, the oft-criticized music IS annoying at times, amusing at others, but of the movie's era, so why carp?
Rating: 
Summary: Big Bang Radiation Blues
Review: Atomic Age-era Cain and Abel parable about two brothers conducting nuclear physics experiments. They both love the same lab assistant (played by Lee Meriwether, looking like Jennifer Connelly when she does 50s drag).
One brother gets the girl, the other conducts the experiments on himself and becomes a walking anti-matter, radioactive timebomb. He walks into bank vaults with fistloads of cash in his pockets, mauls nitclub b-girls killing them with his radioactive touch, all to the big beat of a sleazy screeching 50s big band. The technicolor is rich and over-saturated (the way I like it).
No extras on this DVD, but the transfer is cool, bar some excess surface noise on the print.
This would make a good copmpanion-piece to "X! The Man With The X-Ray Eyes".
Have a martini and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Big Bang Radiation Blues
Review: Atomic Age-era Cain and Abel parable about two brothers conducting nuclear physics experiments. They both love the same lab assistant (played by Lee Meriwether, looking like Jennifer Connelly when she does 50s drag).
One brother gets the girl, the other conducts the experiments on himself and becomes a walking anti-matter, radioactive timebomb. He walks into bank vaults with fistloads of cash in his pockets, mauls nitclub b-girls killing them with his radioactive touch, all to the big beat of a sleazy screeching 50s big band. The technicolor is rich and over-saturated (the way I like it).
No extras on this DVD, but the transfer is cool, bar some excess surface noise on the print.
This would make a good copmpanion-piece to "X! The Man With The X-Ray Eyes".
Have a martini and enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: A-category B-movie
Review: Except for the ridiculous opening sequence, you wouldn't believe that this is from the makers of "The Blob". "4D Man" is a fine example of serious science fiction, no matter if you find the main idea of a man walking through walls to be taken seriously or not. The conflict of two brothers longing for the same woman is not reduced to the usual melodramatic interludes (or battle good vs. evil) but is actually the driving force behind the action. The direction is tense, the acting credible (Robert Lansing steals the show, of course) and the Jazz soundtrack almost "avantgarde" - pointing right to the genre's "New Wave" of the 60's. "4D Man" may not have the class of the "A's" like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" or "The incredible shrinking Man", but it is executed with enough care and wit that it deserves to be ranked as a minor classic. If you liked "The Man with X-ray Eyes" or the original "The Fly", give this one a try!
PS. Bless "Image" for the terrific picture and sound quality of their transfer - especially on a market where there are so many rip-offs around.
Rating:
Summary: THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, DARKLY
Review: I am so pleased to finally see this wonderful Sci-Fi film being released after so many years. Years ago it had been announced as a release on LaserDisc, but was subsequently cancelled. It was also available for sale on VHS briefly; later it was only available as a rental, but now...it's going to be on DVD! This is the story of a man's experiments in getting two solid objects to exist in the same space. As his experiments progress, he is changed by the process in ways he did not anticipate. His life and his relationship with his fiancee change dramatically. This film had some interesting special effects for its time, and Robert Lansing, as the scientist who conducts the experiments, does a marvelous job with the material. Lee Merriwether (Catwoman of the Batman TV series fame) also stars as the scientist's fiancee. This has been one of my favorite Sci-Fi films over the years (maybe because of its rare appearances on TV and video). Worth the purchase for Sci-Fi fans!
Rating:
Summary: 4D Man- interesting and thoughtprovoking late 50's sci fi
Review: I have always enjoyed this film- I think I saw it for the first time when I was in 5th grade. With a little fine tuning and more money to work with, this film could have been truely great. The
basic plot concerning the ability to walk through objects and be indestructible strikes a chord with most viewers as a desireable
power, but when the bad/tragic side effects are revealed, one feels bad for the misguided scientist. The dvd edition is great for color/clarity, but I was disappointed that there was no extra material. I had hoped for years that there were outtakes or
deleted scenes that might make it into a special edition. I'm not
sure about the music on the soundtrack. Sometimes, depending on the mood you're in, it seems very original and strong. At other
times, very out of place. I agree with a few of the other reviews that a different composer might have added a whole new feeling to the film. The effects, for its' time are good. By present standards they are not. However, with a super 1st rate
performance from Robert Lansing, good character development and
clever "power of suggestion" scenes this is a very good low
budget film. Mr. Lansing is able to develop a character that you like, are afraid of and feel sorry for. This is something only the best actors can do- very hard to achieve. The supporting cast is fine, no problems there. I have thought MANY
times that if only the makers had added extra visuals such as SHOWING Scott Nelson robbing the bank, other attacks on hapless
victims and his point of view while in 4D, the film could have been a real classic. On the other hand, the implied action is not bad and rather disturbing. The best example of this is when
the 4D man apparently is intent on killing a young girl to acquire more life force when the scene changes to a new one. His
slow descent into madness is truely pitiful; you can see he is fighting it, but to no avail. Also, there is a good scene that shows he does not have full control of this new found power- a
foreboding of things to come. Lastly, I met Lee Meriwether who
told me that yes, Valley Forge Productions WAS planning to do a sequel, but that money had been a problem. This means that it is possible that perhaps a rudimentary script/screenplay may have been done. It would be VERY interesting to see how the storyline would have/ could have developed from there. If this film were done today with modern effects, it would be fantastic! Hopefully
someone out there is considering this. In summary, 4D MAN, while
somewhat dated and having a few lapses in logic, is a great sci fi film that makes this dvd well worth many viewings. I look forward to " Return of the 4D Man" and actually have ideas about some scenes that could be filmed.
Rating:
Summary: Nice Update To An Old Sci-Fi Classic
Review: I have to confess, I don't know why I like this film. It has a horrific soundtrack and some poor continuity, but it also has a certain amount of nostalgia associated with old sci-fi films of the 50s. Some cheesy set pieces mixed in with some good effects for the time. As if I'm supposed to believe this guy can enter the 4th dimension with something that looks like the guts of an old refrigerator, at best. Or, when Tony "willed" a pencil through a solid piece of metal? Not too sure about that. I do think this would work well on a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode. Don't get me wrong, I do like this film. I'm a big fan of old science fiction films, but I don't take it all too seriously. If you like B Sci-Fi, then you'll love this film.What I do like about the film are the actors Robert Lansing and Lee Merriwether. There was a good attempt at characterization development, but Tony does seem to be a bit of a dofus. Other special effects are well designed. The aging effects when Scott touches a victim are excellent for its time. Finally, the DVD version is far and above an improvement to the old VHS version I had from years ago. It gets a nice polishing. I couldn't believe how colorful the film was after so many years of blurred tape I had been watching.
Rating:
Summary: Think hard and two objects CAN occupy the same space...
Review: I remember Robert Lansing as General Frank Savage on the first season of "Twelve O'Clock High" and who is probably best remembered in the realm of science fiction for being Gary Seven on an episode of the original "Star Trek." His performance in "4D Man" is what saves this 1959 Universal International release from being quite laughable. The idea for the story came from producer Jack H. Harris, who had made his mark the year before with "The Blob." The story is one of those where for every interesting idea they come up with at least one stupid way of trying to make it work. Let me explain.
Tony Nelson (James Congdon) is trying to take a wooden dowel and put it through a piece of metal. He has a device that he believes will help him do this, but his attempt fails so miserably that he burns down the entire laboratory along with all of his notes. So he decides to go visit his brother, Dr. Scott Nelson (Lansing), who is working on an impenetrable metal. He succeeds only to see the magnate who runs the company (Edgar Stehli) claim credit and names the metal "cargonite" after himself. Scott thinks he has his lovely assistant Linda Davis (Lee Meriwether) to comfort him, but that is before she sees Tony. It seems that the brothers had a falling out over the last time Tony took a woman away from Scott, but things will be much worse this time, especially since Scott keeps getting bad headaches (never a good sign).
Tony scoffs at the idea of Scott's indestructible and impenetrable metal alloy and show's his brother a pencil stuck in a slab of metal. Tony explains that not only did this happen four years earlier by accident, but that he basically used the power of his mind rather than his neat device to do this. He warns that they do not know what the side effects of all this could be, but of course in due time Scott will try the experiment himself and this is where the movie gets more interesting, even if it never does get really good. After a pretty decent scene in which Scott discovers his brother was telling the truth, the movie makes the great leap forward when Scott no longer needs the machine to be able to put his hand through walls and other interesting things.
Lansing does a good job of exploring what Scott can do with his new powers. Since Scott can take an envelop out of a mail box and an apple out of grocery store, what is to stop him from picking up a nice piece of jewelry for Linda or in making a midnight withdrawal from the local bank? The irony of "4D Man" is that Scott gets the power to become intangible just as his life is falling apart. Lansing's performance and the film's simple but effective special effects by Bart Sloane make the second half of the film work. Scott discovers that this new power has accelerated his aging process and that passing his hands through another human being is not as benign as walking through a wall.
The other aspect of this move that stands out is the score by Ralph Carmichael, mainly because the jazzy music sounds like it should be in a fifties movie about juvenile delinquents more than a science fiction film. But you get used to it when it keeps popping up at key moments in the film. While the science is silly, the scientists are not and even if the love triangle here is stereotypical (and the decision by Linda to drop Scott for Tony is motivated by nothing more than having been written that way in the script), you have no trouble believing that Scott is less than happy with his sibling and the woman they both love.
Again, if not for Lansing this would be a cheesy but colorful little fifties science fiction film. Meriwether looks good, as a former Miss America should, but besides Lansing the best performance in the film is turned in my a young Patty Duke, which should surprised neither those who saw her in "The Miracle Worker" (done three years later) nor those weaned on 1950s science fiction films. "4D Man" was released in the U.K. as "The Evil Force" and was reissued in the U.S. in 1965 as "Master of Terror," both of which make the original title look good.
Rating:
Summary: Passable for its time, but showing its age
Review: I saw this in the theater as a kid, and remembered it as being pretty good ... even a bit scary in places. Upon seeing it again, however, I was a bit disappointed. The storyline is pretty trite and the special effects are rudimentary. Still, it's a cut above the average for a late-1950s sci-fi movie, and Lansing does a pretty decent job in the lead role ... even if he appears to have an immense head in one scene. (Weird camera angle?)
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