This Island Earth (1955)

Dr. Cal Meacham: Sun lamp?

Dr. Ruth Adams: That's what it looks like. Only instead of a suntan, you get your brain cells rearranged.

The 50’s really gave Sci-fi a boost in popularity with flying saucers, aliens and other weird and wonderful technologies.  The funny thing is these 50’s sci-fi films generally take themselves seriously and oddly enough the imagination had to run wild to overlook some of the limitations of the technology of the day.  They had no CGI, green screens or other tech to fake spaceships or aliens so it was all done with hard work, miniatures and costumes (some worked well, some not so well).  On top of that, prior to the 1956 Forbidden Planet, sci-fi flicks were classed as “B” movies and therefore did not attract the budget for intricate levels of detail so sometimes they had quite simplistic and in some cases laughable effects to keep the costs down.  This Island Earth has a creature used in the latter part of the film that had some issues which caused a lot of embarrassment for the actors in the premiere.  The creature was supposed to have a full body costume but they couldn’t get the bottom half to work properly so due to studio deadlines they had to resort to using trousers which makes it look…umm…well kinda dodgy, real dodgy, but we can overlook that I think ☺

Electronic Engineer Dr. Cal Meacham (Rex Reason) is studying the industrial application of nuclear energy.  When some parts of an unknown source come his way he assembles them and this leads to him coming in contact with a being called Exeter (Jeff Morrow) who invites Cal to a research lab in Georgia.  Cal agrees to go and is met by Dr. Ruth Adams (Faith Domergue) who leads him to the facility.  As time progresses they realise something is wrong with the other scientists so they attempt to flee only to be taken captive by these aliens and flown to the planet Metaluna to help them whilst they are under attack from Zagon starships.

It’s an interesting story that is intelligently laid out and told in its brisk 86 minutes which doesn’t allow much time to develop the mystery behind these “aliens” that are already on earth apart from them seeking a certain mineral.  That aside it’s quite enjoyable though I thought It Came from Outer Space was better, however here we have the opportunity to see another world which adds to the interest of the film.  The effects are not too bad considering when it was made, though the creature looked a bit dodgy with the pants in some ways, however believe it or not that very same creature is what keeps this movie alive and is what people are reminded of when the movie is mentioned.

The DVD reviewed is an Australian release by Bounty Entertainment and can be purchased either through them or via ebay.  It’s a barebones release that has only the movie in about a 1.37:1 aspect ratio and standard Dolby 2 channel stereo sound.  There is a UK release available on DVD as well but is in a widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio again with no extras and finally there is also a Bluray available from Germany which is also in widescreen 1.85:1 and has a few extras that may be worth looking at if you are a big fan of the movie.  But overall the Aussie release is ideal as the image is quite good though with a few spots, dust and speckles but nothing nasty and on top of that it can be bought for a very reasonable price.

Overall the movie isn’t too bad, perhaps not a stand out movie but certainly not bad.  I didn’t know of the movie until I looked up a list of some of the best sci-fi movies from the 50’s but I’m glad I watched though I wouldn’t put it as one of my favourites.  The creature is kinda cool in a 50’s sorta way but what holds up the movie is also the fact that it’s a bit more intelligent than many others, and that’s a good thing.  If you’re a fan of 50’s sci-fi then grab yourself a copy, sit back and enjoy.  If you just want to watch the best sci-fi the 50’s had to offer, then this would probably be in the top 20 list.  If you’re keen for a Star Trek type movie with great effects… look elsewhere ;)

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