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This Island EarthRating:
Release Date: 17 October, 2000 Retail Price: $14.99 Sorry, this product is not currently available. Cast: Complete Cast (9 total) |
This Island Earth Reviews
Pleasing 50's sci-fi fare still fun to watch
There's always going to be a certain "cheese" factor with science fiction films from another era. Certainly there are exceptions to the rule ("The Day the Earth Stood Still" among them and "Forbidden Planet" among them)but most gain their cheese factor from the space opera elements. "This Island Earth" is no exception. The 1954 the visual effects are quite impressive although the film would soon be outclassed by "Forbidden Planet" from MGM released two years later. For those interested a plot summary is at the end of the review here. I'm going to focus on how the film looks and sounds first. Should you get this? Absolutely if you are a fan of 50's sci-fi films. "This Island Earth" may not be quite as good as some other classics from the era but it holds its own given with most given the era it was produced in.
The colors look quite nice in this print. The Image disc appeared a bit blurry at times with colors bleeding. That doesn't occur here. "This Island Earth" was shot using the Technicolor three strip process (except for the visual effects). While the film looks quite good here although it isn't presented correctly. Director Joseph M. Newman shot the film in a 1.37 (also called the Academy ratio also called "Full Screen" or at least pretty close to it) but the film was meant to be shown in roughly a 2.1 ratio (depending upon the theater)so some of the images look a bit awkward as they were never meant to be seen this way. Still this is a huge improvement over the previous release. If you have a widescreen TV just watch it widescreen most as it will crop the image. Although it won't be the way it was meant to be seen it'll be closer than the full screen presentation here.
The sound extremely good even if it is presented in mono (I suspect if it was exhibited in stereo that the original tracks are long gone). Universal could have gone to a little extra expense and created a artifical stereo track.
We get only the original theatrical trailer which is disappointing considering the detail that Paramount went to in upgrading their terrific "War of the Worlds" disc and Warner is doing with "Forbidden Planet". Surely Universal could done what Paramount did with their commentary track which featured two of the surviving cast members on one track and director Joe Dante along with film historian Bob Burns?
An offer is extended to Dr. Cal Meachum is a nuclear physicist recruited by Exeter an alien from another world (and he has the big forehead to prove it)to work at a remote lab to come up with a way to sythesizer uranium for atomic power. There's a Cold War subtext to the film where Meachum, Ruth (another nuclear scientist) and others are working for mysterious bosses with their own agenda that certainly doesn't include helping the United States. The scientists led by Meachum decide to rebel and escape the lab as they become increasingly suspicious of their strange large headed benefactors. As Cal and Ruth try and escape in a plane they are kidnapped by Exeter and whisked away to his planet Metaluna to help come up with a last minute defense against the planet they have been fighting. Metalun has been bombarded and scarred by the attacks of their foes (who use ships hauling meterorites to attack the planet).
The last third of the film is the most interesting part as we are whisked away to the alien planet. When they arrive on Metaluna they are threatened with brain washing by the Monitor so their ideas can be used to help save the planet. They also see the giant brained insect like creatures that do the menial labor on Metaluna (in scenes directed by 50's sci-fi auteur Jack Arnold). Metaluna is doomed and so the Monitor orders a last minute evacuation to Earth where the aliens will live with humans ("We'll be your superiors of course" indicating that its little more than an invasion). Exetor's conscience gets the better of him and he saves the pair from being brainwashed and saves them flying them home safely to Earth just as Metaluna is being destroyed.
An also ran in 1950s sci-fi stakes
I'll write a proper review when I get my DVD, but for now I'll refer to my videotape copy.
There are lots of '50s sci-fi clichés in this one. The shot of the Mall leading up to the Capitol building is so "old" in sci-fi films that if you compare the one in This Island Earth (1955) to that in Independence Day (1996), you'll noticed that the trees newly planted in 1955 are fully grown in 1996!
Also the line by nuclear scientist, Dr. Ruth Adams (Faith Domergue) "We call [the house cat]"Neutron" because he's so 'positive,' never fails to distract me. If the cat was so positive then why wasn't it call Proton?
If Adams had been in charge of the Manhattan Project instead of Oppenheimer, no doubt they'd still all be at Los Alamos waiting for the bomb to go off.
All of the acting is wooded especially Exeter (Jeff Morrow) and Rex Reason (Dr. Cal Meacham), but to be fair some writers on sci-fi movies have said that this was prevent the personalities of the actors distracting the audience from the storyline.
If you want to check this principle out, look for Terri Garr guesting on the original Star Trek, her character brought life and involvement to a show with an acting standard that was even more cardboard than the sets.
But the biggest hoot of all was a coincidental reference to pre-civil rights America; Exeter may have been an alien from Metaluna, but he still had a black maid!
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