Them!

Rating:
Summary: Good Old Fashion Nuclear Horror
Review: I first saw this movie as a teen at a neighborhood theater. I fell in love with it. It is well acted, James Whitmore as the state trooper who investigates a strang murder case, and Jame Arness (of Matt Dillon fame) as the FBI agent who joins Whitmore. The villians are mutated giant ants, these are some big ants. They migrate from the New Mexico desert to a major city, and thus the films finale is set. Fes Parker (Disney's Daniel Boone) makes an appearance. In fact it is said that his appearance here landed him the Disney role. If you like vintage fifties Sci-Fi horror this is a must see.

Rating:
Summary: What a Great Movie!
Review: This is such a great science fiction movie. The photography is just great because many of the images hit you and just stay with you forever. For once I got to see this movie from start to end and it blew me away. It is a really good movie and one of the best of the genre. The acting, the script and the photography are all first rate. Once you start watching it, you can't stop. Don't stay away because of the title like I did for so many years.

Rating:
Summary: Classic SF fun
Review: The grand-daddy of Giant Atomic Mutation movies, this features a fun cast (James Whitmore, Fess Parker, and more), some nice (if crude) special effects, and some actual biology lessons. Oh, and a climactic battle in the LA sewers. Who could ask for anything more?

Any devotee of SF should check this one out.

Rating:
Summary: No picnic
Review: Just thinking about the film "Them!" gives me the willies. My father, who loved this film, recommended it to me in my "kid" years. It scared the hell out of me. From the ominously rumbling piano glissandos that are played over the Warner Brothers logo at the beginning to its fiery finale, "Them" is a taut, tense doomsday prophecy on the monstrous results of nuclear testing. "Them" is, of course, THE 50s classic about giant ants, the result of nuclear testing in the Arizona desert. Director Gordon Douglas handled the film as if it were a crime drama, as opposed to the hysterical, comic-book treatment that this genre is usually treated. Filmed in noirish black-and-white, with a strong cast, an extremely literate script (someone did their homework about ants and their behavior), an effectively chilling score by Bronislau Kaper, and a memorable sound effect for the giant ants, "Them!" is a memorable science fiction nightmare. I may also add that lovely Joan Weldon, who plays an entomologist, is very believeable-she doesn't look like a "Miss Florida Grapefruit" contest winner leaning her 38DDs over a microscope. Detractors of this film kvetch about how "fake" the giant ants look in this film-give me a break! If you can get past the fact that these are mechanical ants (in 1955, long before computer-generated special effects), enjoy the film-It won't hurt, honest! In closing, I recommend this film to anyone who wants to see a literate, spine-tingling sci-fi thriller with a good storyline and performances, as opposed to a loud, special-effects-packed cinematic theme-park ride. It really does make you think, "What IF this really happened?"

Rating:
Summary: More horror than science fiction
Review: I've always been a fan of those wonderfully bad 1950's science-ficiton films (like _The Brain from the Planet Arous_) but when I saw this movie I quickly realized I was watching something completely different. This verges on greatness. The premise is silly (gigantic mutant ants produced by radiation) but it's done is such a serious and realistic way you can't help but fall for it. And it is scary! Especially the classic scene at the end, when the soldiers are engaged in a firefight with the ants...in the dark. All you can hear are screams and gunfire, with with occasional flashes of light from the weapons. "Where's that ant?! Oh *&@! he's right on top of me!" That particular scene looked as if it went straight into _Alien._ It's a good scary film for children. And adults, too.

Rating:
Summary: James, James, Edmund, Fess and THEM!
Review: Whitmore! Arness! Gwenn! Parker! ...and before the TV Gunsmoke or Crockett series' skyrockets! What a cast! WHAT A PICTURE! This needs to be on DVD with living castmembers commentaries alongside . . . . Too bad this particular VHS version is no longer available as of this writing; it is my favorite copy of the film (and NO - it's not for sale!) . . . .And I wonder if the little desert girl grew up normally? What a performance was coaxed(?) out of her! This is the mother of all big bug flicks and a portent of what was to come in the Fifties. Verhoeven's "Starship Troopers" doesn't even come close! Remember, however: You DO have to pretend!

Rating:
Summary: We May Be Witness To A Biblical Prophecy.....
Review: With those chilling words, the viewer is witness to one of the greatest sci-fi films of all time. This film has it all, a wonderful script, great acting and above all, atmosphere. It's a film that once viewed, it will never be forgotten. With the help of the Atomic testing done in the years following World War II, the Arizona desert is the breeding ground of mutated ants and as the body count begins to rise, only the determination of a handful of scientists, police and FBI agents is all that stands between the human race and THEM!

Rating:
Summary: My 3 year old son loves it!
Review: I got this show because my 9 year old daughter loves Star Wars. I thought she'd enjoy some classic Science Fiction. Alas, she turned her nose up at black & white film. But my 3 1/2 year old son loves this show. He saw it 3 times during the 1st week end we got it. He calls it the "bug show" and enjoys seeing it again and again. Parts were a little scary for him -- he would hide behind a chair and peek over the arms. This is one of his all-time favorite shows. Of course, I like it too. That's why I wanted to share it with my children.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful & chilling tale of giant ants in New Mexico....
Review: Arguably, the original and the best of the "genetic mutation by A-Bomb" movies that surfaced during the 1950's..."Them" can still send a chill down the spine today !

Convincing acting, a creative script, solid dialogue and an eerie musical score contribute to a film that is still viewed today as an intelligent and well made science fiction thriller. The plot of course is fairly well known....destruction and death are occurring in the New Mexico desert and state troopers are amazed to find out that ants mutated by atomic testing have grown to mammoth proportions. James Whitmore & James Arness lead the charge to halt the spread of these beasts and Edmund Gwenn, as dithering entomology expert Dr. Medford, lends his scientific mind to stopping the horror.

Excellent use of both desert and city locations...especially throughout the Los Angelas storm water drains...make this an unnerving and spine tingling adventure. The special effects are a little dated...but it is nearly 50 years ago !!

If you love classic / cult sci-fi....then "THEM" belongs on your shelf !!

Rating:
Summary: Well Made, Quintessential Giant Ant Movie
Review: Gordon Douglas triumphs with his directorial work in "Them!", the quintessential giant monster-on-the loose movie. Extremely well paced and taughtly directed, "Them!" boasts an eerie, moody atmosphere that permeates the film. This movie has been so well made that it rises above its surprisingly unconvincing special effects and pulp science fiction roots and becomes a classic of the genre. Director Douglas has fashioned a stripped-down movie that sets a powerful mood without wasting a single frame of film. His characters are very believable and well developed.

The film opens in the eerie, lonely, wind swept Joshua-tree forests around Victorville, California, substituting for the New Mexico desert in the White Sands region. A police car comes across a lone little girl in the desert who, deep in shock, can only shout "Them!". Soon the police officers discover the wreckage of a lone trailer where the girl resided. What follows is more a detective story than anything else, with the menace of the giant ants being slowly revealed. Gordon Douglas handles the exposition of these ants so well that it is very easy to suspend disbelief. A certain sense of repulsive, uneasy wonder develops throughout the film and climaxes very effectively in the storm drains and sewers of Los Angeles, where the ants make their final stand.

The movie begins and ends with a theme of children being threatened, from the little girl who has one of the first encounters with the ants to the two little boys who are trapped in the storm drains with the ants at the end of the film. Normally, I find using threatened children as a plot device to be a cheap way to build audience sympathy, but here it is so well handled and tastefully done that I wasn't bothered by it.

Music and especially the sound effects are all equally well handled, becoming contributors to the highly effective whole that is "Them!". See this movie and see the craft of well made story telling at its best.

The video transfer is very competent and crisply done. The glorious black-and-white print used in the tranfer is clean with no obvious splices. The sound, though mono only, is clean and clear.