ksm51746

Return to the black and white, sci-fi monster, "B" movies of the 1950's and 1960's in a way that will keep you laughing at the things that gave you the willies when you were a kid. Remember "Robot Monster", "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers", "First Man Into Space", "Zombies of Mora Tau", "The Day the Earth Stood Still", "Terror from the Year 5000", "Teenagers from Space", "Donovan's Brain", "Night of the Living Dead", etc.? A little bit of all of them are in this movie. Perhaps not directly, but their influence is there just the same. This is an extremely creative and wonderfully funny movie. Amazingly, it was written in only five days, and was filmed in just ten and a half days, on a budget of less than $100,000. (According to the star and director.) The cast were all friends and included some, who had no serious prior acting experience. I would not call this a hammed-up, campy, spoof. The movie stays very true to the style of the sci-fi monster, "B" movies of the past that it mimics, and does so in a way that also brings out the humor that was always there.

I just finished watching all 11 DVDs that came in "The World at War" box set. Indeed, what they covered was very accurate, and I learned things that I was unaware of before, but I was somewhat disappointed by what they didn't cover, or didn't cover well. Yes, military strategies, battles, and events were included, but too often very briefly. Instead, the series focused on the death, destruction, and suffering caused by war. I didn't time it, but I would guess that the Battle of Midway might have been given three minutes, while bombed out cities, burning villages, refugees, and dead bodies took up hours of what the series showed you and commented on. The sinking of the Bismark and many other significant military events were never mentioned. Audie Murphy never made it either. Admittedly, some battles were well covered, but too many only received footnote mention, as the episodes rushed on to show the carnage that resulted from them.

It almost seemed that the series was using military action merely as a vehicle to set the scene and lead into the horror and inhumanity of war, which was the main theme. My guess is that the producers, directors, and writers for this series were very much against war, who used their World War II documentary more to make a statement, than to tell as complete a history of the war as they could in the 26 hours the episodes ran.

As an anti-war film it is a masterpiece, but for those interested in the details of how World War II was fought, it leaves a lot to be desired.

The movie was a major disappointment for several reasons. The pseudo science it was based on was ludicrous, and the thinly veiled political propaganda that ran throughout this film made it painful to watch. The story line was pitifully trite, and the cast of stock characters only made the film more banal. Great special effects and multiple crisis situations were not enough to save this movie from what it was... a pathetic waste of time.

When I watch a movie, I don't want to know where it's going after the first five minutes. I don't want to be able to predict characters' lines or actions before they happen. I want a movie that keeps me thinking, and continuously surprises me as it unfolds. The only thing I thought about while watching this movie was, "When is it going to end?" The only thing that surprised me was that people actually paid money to go see it at the theater. (I got my DVD copy of it in a bargain discount 2-pack with the cartoon, "Ice Age". Hmm, maybe that says something about the movie.)

One of the movie's many inaccuracies that I can address with some authority was the scene where three RAF helicopters crashed on their way to rescue the British Royal Family at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Okay, I'll buy the bit that their fuel lines froze up, killing their engines. However, that would not have stopped the choppers' rotors from spinning. Helicopter pilots sent to rescue the Queen of England and her family would have to have been some of the best in the RAF. It is extremely hard to believe that these pilots and co-pilots would not have known how to autorotate their whirlybirds to a safe landing after their engines died. (I have over 1,000 hours of flight time at the controls of four different helicopters in years gone by, and have done countless autorotations. This is not a difficult thing to do. Even student pilots have no problem performing this basic maneuver.) However, this terribly flawed movie shows all three helicopters spiraling out of control until they impact the ground.

I guess I no longer have to warn people about wasting their money to go see it at the theater. It's long gone. However, if you're looking to add it to your DVD collection, wait until you find it in a bargain discount 2-pack for under $10.00. Don't load it into your DVD player until late at night, when you're having trouble getting to sleep.