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Summary: This Island Earth DVD: ...
Review: This is one of those classic 50's Sci Fi movies that you are just itching to add to your collection. The Time Machine, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet, and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers have all been ported over to DVD format. What is taking so long for this marvelous film to reappear in the mass-market of Sci Fi movies?
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Summary: The planet Metaluna needs help from Earth scientists...
Review: The best part of Franklin Coen and Edward G. O'Callaghan's screenplay for "This Island Earth" comes from Raymond F. Jone's story "The Alien Machine." Dr. Cal Meacham (Rex Reason) and his colleagues are given a catalog offering such fun items as an Iterociter incorporating planetary generator. Unable to resist the challenge, the eggheads order some parts and go at it. The alien machine turns out to be a communication device that allows the scientists to communicate with the inhabitants of the planet Metaluna and their leader, Exeter (Jeff Morrow), who need help saving their dying planet (it was a test!). Of course, you are wondering why they would come to us, but stroking the egos of the Earth scientists is but another part of the equation. "This Island Earth" has a good set up but the payoff is nothing special, especially when the film's "monster" shows up. Visually the film does seem to do its best to incorporate elements from every science fiction magazine pulp cover for the preceding two decades, but that is actually one of the endearing aspects of the film. The acting is rather wooden, with Morrow, Reason, Faith Domergue and the rest of the cast trying to think deep thoughts worthy of interstellar communication. Most people get excited when they recognize Russell Johnson ("Gilligan's Island") as the manly Steve Carlson, but I like seeing Douglas Spencer (from "The Thing From Another World!") as the Monitor of Metaluna. A disappointing film, yes, but it has some interesting elements and if you are a student of science fiction films then you need to check this one out at least once.
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Summary: Very good for its time - if produced today would be 2 stars
Review: I saw the movie when it was first released and it was part of a double feature Saturday matinee and I was about 11 or 12 years old. Went into the movie cold turkey thinking it was a detective story or something because I was there to see the other movie which was a western. The begining sequence totally captivated me with the electronic triangle device and then the robot airplane. As the story developed I thought it was an awesome movie at the time and its special effects were the best we had ever seen (well War of the Worlds was better). Even as a kid I thought that the triangle device shooting rays at the escaping jeep was strange because it kept getting new views of the jeep without a camera, hmm, they used a lot more poetic licence back then. I think that no serious sci-fi collection is complete without this movie. Good special effects movies for that era: War Of The Worlds, This Island Earth, Invaders from Mars (scared the liver out of me), When Worlds Collide (acting surupy), Day The Earth Stood Still (great foreboding music), Forbidden Planet (awesome effects and music way ahead of its time).
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Summary: Is there such a thing as a "C" grade movie?
Review: If there is, then no doubt this movie would be far down the alphabet, somewhere around the letter "37". This timeless classic begins with some idiotic guy flying around in his government-bought plane (thank God I pay taxes!)...he's flying what appears to be aimlessly, until he reaches a destination, after Marc Summers, of "Double Dare" fame, slimes him...at least that's the only explanation MY FEEBLE MIND can give for why the damn thing turns green. Anyways, the green apparently is some magic lubricant that puts WD-40 to shame because it allows the plane not only to have a healthy, natural sheen but to land safely. Sadly, this is about where the movie stops making sense. From here, a book made out of "metal" (really flimsy paper) arrives, along with mysterious parts to build this fancy thing called the "interocetor", which looks vaguely like a box wrapped around that purple teletubby that was in all that trouble a while back. Anyways, the interocetor reveals this guy who looks like Bob Barker crossed with an oompa-loompa, who wants him to join them in some scientific benefit/world domination plot. I'm not sure. So, they go to this place in Georgia (a good reason for me never to go back there, mind you), and it's full of fruitballs and psychos who look like something out of "GI Joe", only without the muscles or cool tattoos or catch-phrases. So then, the plane guy and this mysterious chick somehow escape this prison...er...community, and then they get abducted by the Bob Barkers and the prison gets blown up. From there, no they don't get probed, because these aren't cool aliens, they go to their home planet, which is hopefully far enough away from me that I don't have to worry about seeing anyone from there. The rest of this epic I leave for you to watch, but realize that it only gets strangely worse. The acting is much as can be expected from an 1850's travelling circus...though I don't think that such a thing existed in 1850, which makes that statement all the more accurate. IF you want to torture yourself, and have no household chemicals around, then please at least buy the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 Movie, which features this...at least you have breaks from the non-stop action with that version...and a few laughs too.
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Summary: Classico scifi kitchen realm
Review: This is still one of my favorites. MST 3000 did a spoof on this film that is much worse than the original. This film belongs in your video library if you love 50's scifi with original ideas. The characters are vivid and lovable and the acting is decent as is the direction. It's a fun movie that I come back to over and over and never really get tired of. They say the special effects made the production of this movie drag on for two years, but of course by today's standards you'll wonder why. A classic... go ahead and get it.
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Summary: REX REASON'S VOICE IS THE REAL STAR OF THIS ISLAND EARTH!!
Review: REX REASON'S VOICE IS THE REAL STAR OF THIS MOVIE!!! I'll never forget the scene in THIS ISLAND EARTH where Rex Reason as Dr. Cal Meacham gets out of a plane to face reporters--a tall, strong LEADING MAN OF ACTION, Rex Reason had something no other leading man had--A TREMENDOUS VOICE!!! The story doesn't make any sense--why would people who can travel across space need scientists from Earth?--but Reason, beautiful Faith Domergue as his fellow scientist, and Jeff Morrow as the alien Exeter help to carry the movie, along with some good special effects and a few action scenes. But REX REASON'S VOICE IS THE REAL STAR OF THIS ISLAND EARTH!!! Chari Krishnan RESEARCHKING
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Summary: Plot holes you could drive a truck thorugh
Review: A 50's Sci-Fi classic full of unintended humor. Scientists from another planet deperately need uranium, but instead of taking over some mines in the southwest they recruit earth scientists (to help them do what?) Several weeks are then wasted while they labor on making a triangular TV. When they finally do go to the planet they arrive without a gram of uranium and are accosted by an alien with severe arthritis.
And who can forget the cat who's so positive we named him "neutron."
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Summary: ONE OF THE GREATS
Review: It has to be at least close to 40 years since I first saw this movie and 40 years later it still ranks as one of the top scifi movies for me. It has everything you could want in a movie, adventure, action, mystery, intelligence, the guy, the girl, the aliens and the monsters. Excellenty done and crafted, you're always sorry the aliens couldn't live peacefully on earth! Wonderful piece of scifi.
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Summary: Thoughts from the Island
Review: This, along with "It Came From Outer Space" is classic sci-fi at its best. You have aliens, mu-tants, a space ship and a distant planet. The acting is superb and the FX are quite good considering the era in which it was made. I was very dissapointed to have missed the DVD but upon having read,[. . .], about the quality of the transfer im very happy i own the VHS and will hope for a higher quality DVD to be offered in the future.(Near future i hope). If you havnt seen it your missing out.
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Summary: Probably good for its time.
Review: This may have been a breakthrough way back then but I found the movie kind of boring. Sort of like a cheap B-moive. If you want a good 50s space flick, see Forbidden Planet.
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