Them!

Rating:
Summary: Eight foot long ants! BUWAHAHAHAH!
Review: THE classic of sci-fi movies. THEM. Two officers discover a ransacked camper and a destroyed general store and the TERROR begins. The money is still there, the guns were used and the sugar is gone! Add a dead man with enough formic acid to kill twenty men and you have a mystery! Well, the characters have a mystery, because WE know what's going to happen. James Whitemore is a Patrolman, James Arness is the FBI agent and Edmund Gwenn is the serious entomologist who is sometimes very funny.

And the final battle is held in the storm drains under the city of Los Angeles. THIS is the movie that SPAWNED all those radioactive monster movies.

Rating:
Summary: The killers are on the loose..... Stop Them !
Review: "Them" is the perfect example of a great Science-Fiction B-movie ! I saw this film for the first time when I was a kid and since I saw it again and again with always the same pleasure. The story starts like a crime movie. Several people are disappeared. What's going on ? Step by step we are introduced to the incredibly truth.... the terrible killers on the loose are giant ANTS ! There are plenty of thrilling moments, for instance the girl (the great little Sandy Descher) wandering in the desert with her eyes wide open full of terror ! The charming Joan Weldon is perfect in her part as Dr. Medfords daughter, also James Arness ("The Thing") and James Whitmore ("Asphalt jungle"). Don't forget Edmund Gwenn who gives here a great performance as Dr. Medford with some delicious notes of humor. The quality of the DVD is OK. Of course it would have been great to give us a "making of" for this kind of movie or a documentary about big Monsters on the screen ("Tarantula" ; "The deadly mantis"...). Well it will be for the next time !

Rating:
Summary: "Eeeee! Them! Them! Them!"
Review: So screams the young Ellinson girl (Sandy Descher), who had previously been discovered wandering alone, and in a state of shock, by state troopers along a lonely highway in the hot New Mexico desert in 1954. A few miles from where the unresponsive girl was found, troopers found a mutilated trailer, the girl's home; but there was no sign of her parents. Instead, the troopers found unusual footprints and a sticky white substance and hear strange sounds in the distance. To help solve this seemingly bizarre murder investigation, Police Sgt. Ben Peterson (James Whitmore, who played Carnes in "Oklahoma!" in 1955, Adm. Bull Halsey in "Tora! Tora! Tora!" in 1970, and continues to act in the 2003 TV series "Mister Sterling") and FBI agent Robert Graham (James Arness, who later became TV icon Marshall Matt Dillon in the long-running series "Gunsmoke") have plaster casts made from the footprints and sent them to FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., along with samples of the sticky white substance. Befuddled, the FBI forwarded the evidence to the Dept. of Agriculture, where two scientists are astounded by what was found. The two scientists, Dr. Harold Medford (Edmund Gwenn, whose film career began in 1916) and Dr. Patricia 'Pat' Medford (Joan Weldon), rushed to New Mexico to investigate the findings first hand. Upon their arrival, the doctors visit the Ellinson girl with Ben. Dr. Medford tells Ben that the sticky white substance contains large amounts of formic acid. When he holds a vial of formic acid in front of the Ellinson girl's nose, she awakens from her shock, screams, and yells, "Them! Them! Them!"

Unwilling to share their understanding of the footprints and the presence of formic acid (and to the dismay of Ben, who only wants to solve the Ellinson's disappearance), the two doctors insist on being taken to the Ellinson's trailer. There, they find more footprints. Pat wanders away from the trailer to search for more evidence, but suddenly, an enormous dark creature rises from behind a sand dune: a giant ant! Pat screams and runs, but Ben is nearby and shoots the ant which finally dies. Dr. Medford finally reveals his understanding: ants have mutated in the New Mexico desert because of nearby atomic bomb testing. The Ellinson's disappearance is solved, but the true terror is only beginning because some ants can fly!

"Them!" typifies the classic 1950's sci-fi/horror film with all of the essential elements:

(1) The kindly, eccentric and all-knowing scientist (Dr. Medford),
(2) Unforeseen consequences resulting from atomic testing and threaten the entire human race,
(3) Brave and unselfish heroes (Ben Peterson and Robert Graham) who help save the world,
(4) The woman ('Pat' Medford) who is romanced by one of the heroes (Robert) after meeting him because of the unforeseen consequences.

Filmed in black and white, the special effects used in "Them!" were remarkably good for the time. In addition, the acting (under the direction of Gordon Douglas) was superb, considering how many "B-movie" sci-fi/horror films were produced during the early years of the nuclear age. Other characters that made this film highly entertaining include mental patient Jensen (Olin Howlin, whose lengthy film career began in 1918), General Robert O'Brien (Onslow Stevens) and Mrs. Lodge (Mary Alan Hokanson).

If you enjoy watching sci-fi/horror films with giant bugs, you will probably enjoy "Them!". For superb acting, good special effects and an engaging story, I rate "Them!" with 5 out of 5 stars. So sit back, get a bowl of popcorn and be prepared to scream when you see "Them!" coming for you!

Rating:
Summary: Giant ants! You gotta love it!
Review: Another atomic mutation movie from the 50s that sits on my movie shelf. Extras are decent, some of the usual behind the scenes stuff. Great movie, video quality is top notch, though the sound quality is a bit lacking (mono only). Had they remixed the sound to stereo or Dolby 5.1, this would have been a five star DVD.

Rating:
Summary: A movie worth the ant-icipation.
Review: The formula is Big Bugs, Flame throwers and screaming women. What happened as an aftereffect of the first atomic bombs?

This is a movie about taller-ants.
Fess Parker almost gets cough with his pants down.
This is not a fly-by-night movie. It is an ant-by-night movie.
William Schallert "Colossus - The Forbid Project" ASIN: 6300987531, gets to be the Ambulance Attendant.
Leonard Nimoy is the Telex operator. If this keeps up, he may find himself on a starship, where he can deal with ant-imatter.
James Arness only wants to help Joan Weldon out of a plane and into the ant-ichamber.

I watched this several times with my wife. The ants make a noise similar to a loose fan belt. So every time we pass a car with a loose fan belt she says, "Get the other antenna."
This movie also makes a good background movie. Don't wait for this to go on clear-ants.

Rating:
Summary: Still a great movie
Review: The print used to make the DVD was not of the highest quality, which was a little disappointing. That's why I only gave it a 4. Otherwise, it's definetaly a 5! Even with the poor print quality, the movie retains it's charm. It's just a great flick and and it's a must for any serious collector of "B" movies. A breakthrough role for James Whitmore.

Rating:
Summary: still scary after all these years
Review: I first saw this movie on TV in the late 1950's when I was a young kid. There were a ton of "B" Science Fiction movies back then. Most of them were quite forgettable. Some, like "The Day the Earth Stood Still" were rather good on a cerebral level. Some, like "Plan Nine from Outer Space" were so bad they were funny. However, all suffered from the limitations of the special effects of the day. Of course, we didn't understand those limitations back then so we enjoyed the heck out of most of them. There were a few, however, that stood out. "Them!" is my personal favorite of the era. It had all of the ususal elements of the genre; radiation mutated monsters, elderly scientist with attractive secretary/daughter/understudy, no-nonsense government agent hero (who naturally falls for the attractive secretary/daughter/understudy), and a climatic battle where the good guys beat the mutants with the fate of the world in the balance. There are several things that make this movie stand out above the others of its' era. First of all, the acting is good and pretty much good all around. James Arness is good but my favorite was the role of James Whitmore. Secondly, there is a better sense of the dramtic in this movie. The opening scene grabs our attention. A trailer home out in the desert has been ransacked with no apparent motive. Why? There is the young girl who was found. She is obviously in a state of shock. Everyone who has seen this movie remember her screaming out the title name "Them!" when she hears the eerie noise of an unseen menace. Finally, there just seems to be a lot more action in this movie. Instead of just one major conflict, we get a series of man vs mutant battles. The final battle is terrific.

A TV station was showing a weekly science fiction movie and I watched a lot of old clunkers with my 9 year old son. The night they showed "Them!" I realized that this was one movie that has stood the test of time. All he's seen is the modern, computer enhanced, state of the art special effects. Even so, we both enjoyed "Them!".

Rating:
Summary: BRUCE SAYS
Review: Great movie Well acted and a great screenplay it was the first movie to show the just what the long term effects of the A-Bomb might be. The special effects hold up almost 50 years after the film was made and the story shows imagination and creativity that is years ahead of its time.
I saw this movie in 1959 at the ripe old age of 6 and could'nt sleep for two nights, but it did'nt stop me from watching it every time it came on TV. I really love this movie
and think you will too.

Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Giant Ant Movie
Review: Big, big ants, lost in the desert; James Arness; great production values. A 50s sci fi classic; buy.

Rating:
Summary: Remains one of the greatest Sci-fi monster flicks ever
Review: THEM! should feel old, quaint, and dated, but it doesn't at all. There is no question it has a 1950s feel, and the special effects are [weak] by today's standards. But whereas most of the films of the fifties featuring atomically altered monsters can only be watched with a grain of salt, one has to make no concessions to THEM! at all.

Although one might start with the cast for the source of the film's success, I think one ought to begin with the director, Gordon Douglas. He is not one of Hollywood's elite directors, but his decision to film the entire movie in a completely nonsensationalist style is what really makes the movie successful. The tone of the entire film is businesslike, and with no panic on the part of the principles. There is a seriousness that they are dealing with a horror of nature, but at every moment, everyone manages to keep their wits. This is emphasized by many keys scenes that are shot with no music or sound effects, which makes the sound effects, when they come, far more effective. As a result, even with a lesser cast, I think this film would have been quite successful. It is also marvelously photographed.

The cast is, nonetheless, quite excellent, and while it might have been good without James Whitmore, James Arness, and especially Edmund Gwenn, it definitely wouldn't have been as good. Each one of them plays their parts completely straight, and one of the reasons that we, the viewers, can take this story of giant ants so seriously is because these actors all do. Whitmore, who has long since settled into a career as a first rate character actor (still active--he appeared in Jim Carrey's THE MAJESTIC just last year), does a great job, though I must admit that I was confused as to why a local law enforcement officer would continue to be involved in affairs that clearly extend beyond his jurisdiction. The one irritating element, as in virtually every Sci-fi film, is the beautiful, inconceivably young female scientist. I love the idea of female scientists, but why must they all be 21, have a Ph.D., and be both brilliant and possess a great fashion sense?

After fifty years, THEM! manages to stand up very, very well, and remains not just one of the great Sci-fi films of the atomic age, but of all time.