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The Angry Red Planet

The Angry Red Planet

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Curiously overrated, but still fun
Review: Hey, I'm all about some nifty 50's and 60's cheesy sci-fi flicks. Heck, I LOVE 'EM! But I have to say I think ANGRY RED PLANET is a bit overrated. I never saw "Cinemagic" displayed on the Big Screen, but it's fairly headache-inducing on my 27-inch t.v.

The plot has one decent gimmick, the framing device of using flashbacks (used to better effect in IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE) to tell the story. But really, the acting is atrocious, even for a B-grade sci-fi/monster flick.

On the plus side, the "batratspidercrab" thing is one of the more memorable beasties, strings and all. And the sets, though obviously painted backgrounds, are imaginative and just plain weird.

Picture and sound quality are what we've come to expect from MGM's Midnite Movies line: superb. So if this kind of film is your thing, you could do worse than ANGRY RED PLANET. But. . .you could also do a lot better.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A happy DVD buyer!
Review: I agree, this is one of the best "schlock" sci-fi films ever! I'd never seen it prior to this DVD release. Full of laugh-out-loud moments combined with some dreadful acting and laughable special effects (just wait till you see the "city" on Mars or that bat creature that looks like its walking on its wings. This is a fully engaging 83 minutes.

As for the technical aspects of this disc, bravo to MGM for releasing this in the dual layer format. Because of this, the clarity and richness of color is wonderful. Unfortunately, the print's source defects are hard to miss (a blessing and curse of DVD). There are several bad splices and some lines, but overall its pleasing colors as have been kept intact. The video artifacts are kept to a minimum, although some "shimmering" is noticeable. This is a must-have for all lovers of schlock, sci-fi or not.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: As a kid, this was cool...
Review: I love bad sci-fi, and I saw this as a kid originally when it came out. It was really cool. My reminiscences are not entirely incorrect. Gerald Mohr has two looks...bored and bored/horny. How could he be less bored/horny than to deal with Nora Hayden (gorgeous woman!) who stops before she says anything profound...it's a bad-acting tour de force. I love it. Jack Kruschen ws nominated for Best Supporting Actor this year...but NOT for this film (The Apartment). And poor old Les Tremayne tried his best to lend dignity to this absolutely horribly written piece of garbage. Talk about cheap effects; the red screen was certainly a cop=out, but the bad special effects are still noticeable and stupid and fun. Still, the absolutely horrible performances of Mohr and Hayden are reason enough to see this film. Hearty laughs will ensue, and a good time will be had by all. (Bring beer or an appropriate beverage of choice). You will not appreciate this film if you are sober, or over 11 years of age. I love it because, though I'm getting older, I'll never grow up... I love it, because I'm somewhat stuck in the 60's...my favorite time.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Awfully funny, or maybe just awful and funny
Review: I saw this movie when I was about five years old and it scared the bejesus out of me. That bat-rat-spider...thing...whatever (and do you know I felt sorry for it when it got zapped?) The humongous pile of Jello with the eyeball, the guy in the bunk with the fungus-covered arm...these things I remember just as clear as can be. When I watched this movie years later, I was surprised at how bad it was. So I would recommend it if you want to scare the heck of out some very young kids. For adults, if you haven't ever seen it, and like Grade-Z 1950's science fiction movies, then you should give it a look.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A good B movie
Review: If you like the B movies of the 50's this one is a fun watch. Its pretty well acted the the special FX are pretty good for the time. I didnt quite like the "Cinemagic" used to make the Red Planet red but im sure it was pretty cool for its time. Dont pick this one apart (cause it will come apart quite easily) just sit back and enjoy some cool cheese of the 50's. My review is for the DVD version.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Perfect Popcorn Fodder!
Review: In spite of it's multitude of shortcomings, (for example, in the acting department, Colonel O'Bannion's demeanor in the first half of the film seemed more like that of a gigolo than a spaceship commander), I found "The Angry Red Planet" to be a delightfully entertaining film. Very original and creative in certain respects: the CineMagic red filtering gave the Martian landscape and atmosphere an eerie, glowing quality; the Venus (I mean Martian!) flytrap was just passable, but the giant bat-rat- spider-crab creature was cool; the giant ameoba with the rotating eyeball is an incredible, hilarious sight - intended or not, it's got to be one of the most comically imaginative creatures ever conceived! I would place "The Angry Red Planet" in the 3rd tier of the 180+ sci-fi films made during that era - better than dozens of dull, boring, unimaginative low budgies confined to the fourth and bottom rung, but well below the second tier ("When Worlds Collide"; "This Island Earth", etc.) and the "cream of the crop" top level, ("Forbidden Planet"; "War of the Worlds", etc.). Perfect popcorn fodder for both the die-hard 50's sci-fi fan and general family entertainment.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: DVD delivers beautiful print of legendary SF schlock classic
Review: Is Angry Red Planet the greatest schlock SF movie ever made? If not, it's definitely in the running. For starters, it's in semi-gorgeous Eastman color by Pathe, and shot by the legendary Stanley Cortez (Magnificent Ambersons, Flesh and Fantasy). It's got a memorable combination-electronic/militaristic percussion score by Paul Dunlap, and "Cinemagic" effects credited to Norman (late-era Stooges cohort) Maurer. (Cinemagic is really just a combination of solarizing and tinting to cheaply combine live action with painted scenery and pencil drawings.) But the really great thing about Angry Red Planet is how everything about it perfectly emulates the look and feel of a 1950s SF comic or pulp novel, translated to the movie screen. The wild monsters (woman-eating plant, giant blob-creature, cool Basil Wolverton-look alien, colossal rat-bat-spider [immortalized on the cover of Misfits Walk Among Us]) and overall art direction and special effects are consistently imaginative and colorful, if not totally convincing. Plus, bad movie fans can relish the ripe dialogue and acting (particularly the sexist comments and leering manner of creepy 'leading man' Gerald Mohr); lots of deadpan, meaningless jargon/technobabble; and the bizarre "Iris sneaking a dab of perfume" montage (one of my favorite non sequitur moments in movie history).
The DVD includes no real extras other than the trailer (I don't count subtitles and chapter stops) but who cares! As with most of their other Midnite Movies DVD releases, MGM Home Video gives us a terrific print of both the movie and trailer. Other than some sporadic very light speckling/spotting the print looks gorgeous: bright, sharp, and detailed, with excellent contrast and great color (well, as great as Eastman color ever gets, anyway). Even the stock footage looks better than ever. You'll never see a finer print of this movie until someone digitally restores the negative; it makes my VHS copies look sick. Expect a small stampede as fans of this film rush to grab it at the bargain price.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: yeah! classic golden age stuff
Review: It's a great classic.
cheesey,colorful,corny and yet ...classy.
a must-see.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Angry Pink Planet
Review: Let's face it, this is quite possibly the goofiest, dorkiest, silliest slab of limburger ever to ooze forth from the septic bowels of hollywood! That's why I love it so much! Thank God for "Cinemagic"! This modern marvel separates the film into its distinct pieces. There are the normal colors on earth and in the spaceship (MR1), this let's you know that you are in the BOREDOM ZONE, and allows you to go to the bathroom, bake a pizza, or do some long overdue engine work on the car. Then, there's the headache-inducing pink of Mars. This tells you that the good stuff is about to happen. What good stuff? Well, first we've got the gigantic, rubber, woman-eating plant that grabs the beautiful female astronaut, but is too slow in the old devouring department! Next, the infamous BAT-RAT-SPIDER-CRAB (one of the coolest cheese-puppets ever constructed) that crushes Les Tremayne between two boulders and loses it's eyesight to the sonic freezer gun named "Cleopatra". Finally, The titanic, gooey jello-mold with the Marty Feldman peepers that thankfully puts an end to Jack Kruschen! Remember, think pink! The rest is naptime. Peace...

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: you have to be terribly bored to want to buy this
Review: Many things don't make sense in this movie. E.g.:
there is gravity in space ship in space
"the air is so thin on mars to conduct sound", said one of the crew, yet they brought along a "sonic gun" as a principle weapon
one guy kept waving a pistol in the face of his fellow crew mates, but never aimed or fired it at the creatures
people who were infected were not quarantined
all the crew went outside together and no one is left to man the spaceship
the captain(? guy who waves the pistol around) said "let's stay close to each other" but yet a minute earlier they were shooting the breeze while a female crew were left alone to collect samples from moving plants

I guess it's ok to watch if you don't try to make sense of it.


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