Rating: 
Summary: Great fun
Review: Okay, so these days it's campy. That doesn't make it a bad film. On the contrary, it's an ambitious, interesting flick with (for that time) state-of-the-art special effects. Yeah, Exedor is rather goofy-looking with his high (but noble) forehead and his shock of white hair. And the BEMs (for some reason pronounced 'mew-tants') do have big clumsy lobster claws and their brains on the outside of their heads. But I found those things part of the charm of this movie. And. boy, they make good use of that 1950's fascination with almost-lurid color. It's what I probably remember most. Is it scary? Not for adults. For young children? Most definitely. But it's a harmless scary, the kind kids like. There's an innocence in this movie that doesn't really exist in films today.
Rating: 
Summary: Cornball!
Review: This movie is sort of corny and the effects are sub-par, but the story is not bad -- or,at least, it tugs at the right heartstrings. If you've never seen it and you like old Sci-Fi, check it out.
Rating: 
Summary: This is typical 1950's Low Budget Film making.
Review: It has everything you can find wrong in a film made in that era. Fake looking bug eyed monster, a flying saucer that clearly looks like a small plastic model, cast of actors who mostly remained unknown before and after this film because they can't act, and rather uneffective screenplay of scientists being taken to alien world to save it from being destroyed. This was only one of many B-movies like this made in the 1950's and I now understand why special effects master Ray Harryhausen left Hollywood to work in the British film industry instead. The only good science fiction films made in the 1950's were "Forbidden Planet" and "The Day The Earth Stood Still."
Rating:
Summary: A 1950's sci-fi classic with some truly fine visuals.
Review: I was entirely unaware of this film until I saw it on the television at my local used record store. Faith Domergue is beautiful and the final scenes of the movie are breathtaking. At the conclusion of this film, a Tomorrowland-looking planet is being bombed out of existence while the two stars flee the planet. While this was obviously done with matte paintings, it looks fabulous and I would guess that this film must have influenced many sci-fi films and tv shows that followed it.
Rating:
Summary: 2.5 years in the making 86 minutes in the telling
Review: This is great entertainment. It goes great with popcorn. It keeps cooking from the time the jet plane is saved from crashing on burn out, to the mysterious metal-paged catalog. Right up to the end. And notice that the cat could tell that they were being scanned. This was probably the original CAT scan.Russell Johnson has this thing for islands. First there is this island Earth then there is Gilligan's Island and my favorite island with him on it is in Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957) ASIN: B00001W0FB where he gets his tubes ate.
Rating:
Summary: sci-fi theater
Review: For a good laugh I recommend the Mystery Science-fiction theater 3000 version of this movie. Other than that I would never watch the original version. Yeah I know, it's so "mtv generation".
Rating:
Summary: Landmark Universal Sci fi.
Review: " This Island Earth " should be seen in letterbox. I have seen it on the big screen. Its remarkable. Since the plot has been beaten to death , I would like to mention the fact that the film was produced by William Alland( the reporter in Citizen Kane) Douglas Spencer plays the role of the big alien ruler. Faith Domergue looks great but is wooden as ever when it comes to acting.. The Metaluna effects are terrific on the big screen. There are big holes in the plot but why carp ..this is one of the best sci fi films of the 50,s and even the old lobby cards are worth a lot of money.
Rating: 
Summary: Unmercifully underated
Review: I can't believe some of the reviews this has gotten. First people complain about the story, saying it's too generic. Well I hope they find watching modernday chick flicks and teen sex romps after teen sex romps more varied. The general idea of a alien abduction and a planet under attack have been used before, but the interaction between characters sets it apart. The social commentary on imperialism during the early Cold War era is slightly subtle, but anyone watching with an open mind is sure to catch it. The problem is stupid people who believe any movie made before 1997 must be bad pass judgement upon it before they've even watched it.
Second, I see someone complaining about the effects. They're incredible! They would stand up to many current movies. The makeup job on the injured insect slave is incredible, and the scenes of the ship entering the atmospheres could not look more realistic.
The bottom line is movies like this fall into the shadow of todays billion dollar budgeted, 90% computer animated, brainless, meaningless explosion packed films that a retarded kindergartner could write, and thus go unappreciated for their true creativity.
Rating:
Summary: Outdated, but excellent for its time!
Review: This film starts out very poorly, (I didn't know nuclear scientists were that young...). Anyway, it transforms into a movie with an interesting plot, but really bad carry-through, acting, and script, but what do you expect from a sci-fi flick from 1955? However, the visuals (striking for it's time although laughable by today's standards) are what really save the movie. The downside to the film is the fact that it's just old. The visuals, lines (such as: "We come from Metalunia." -Exeter. In response Rex quips: "That's not in our solar system." How would he know? The names would certainly not be the same...) and the overall feel to the film make me want to bust up laughing (which I'll admit I do everytime I see it, especially after I saw MST3K: The Movie). But really though, this film is just a great old Saturday sci-fi flick that you must remember was an excellent breakthrough in 1955!
Rating: 
Summary: If you feel compeled to watch this, watch the MST3K version!
Review: Certainly not a good sci fi movie. If it must be ranked, it must be compared to the other movies riffed by Mst3K, and therefore it is one of the better ones. Then again, that means comparing it to such movies as "Prince of Space". Watch the "Mystery Science Theater 3000 The Movie" version, and you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll love the movie. Not only are the effects cheesey, but the story is predictable and dull. The "science" facts are stupid, and the characters seem to condesend to their audience. Again, see the hilarious MST3K version, and get the best of both worlds. Then you can stand watch the entire movie.
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