Fase IV: Destrucción

Phase IV is an incredible full length feature film by Saul Bass who is most acclaimed as a graphic designer who's work can be seen as the opening credits from The Seven Year Itch, Vertigo, West Side Story to Alien, Broadcast News and Casino. Phase IV is a much overlooked film that is very much in the style of The Andromeda Strain. What it perhaps lacks in story, it gains in the photography of the millions of ants - the film's additional cast.

Michael Murphy and Nigel Davenport play two scientists studying the recent peculiar behavior of ants after a strange outer space phenomenon has occurred. They rescue a young woman(played by Lynne Frederick) who has survived an ant attack that destroyed her family and farm. Seems the(normal) sized ants have evolved into a collective intelligence, and are studying them as well, in the next step of mutual evolution...

Weird(to say the least)film is nonetheless quite original and intelligent; seems to be partially inspired by "2001: A Space Odyssey", and though not a masterpiece, still contains some quite striking visual imagination and ambition(courtesy of director Saul Bass) and a mind-bending ending that gives much to ponder. A thought-provoking Sci-Fi film that deserves to be better known.

When one hears of a sci-fi film about the massing of hyper-intelligent ants one immediately constructs a mental imagine of something akin to Them! (1954) with its ridiculous, though iconic, monster ants barely functioning well enough to move. However, Phase IV is an entirely different movie…and ant for that matter. Phase IV is nothing short of a sci-fi film for the "thinking man". While being fully aware of the genre's motifs its cinematic approach is that of the art-house – a 70s psychedelic sci-fi trip shrouded in hordes of ants directed by the famous Academy Award winning graphic designer, Saul Bass. For all this, its status in film history is nothing but a tragedy. It's the only feature film directed by Bass and it's almost completely forgotten and certainly isn't readily available for viewing.

The story is fairly simple: some undefined cosmic event occurs and augments ant evolution. This particular desert colony ascends to an intelligent collective consciousness making the ants capable of communication and great terror. The colony, per its aggressive expansion, drives out the local human population. A scientific lab is established with our main scientist protagonists. The proceedings eventually lead to a division between the two scientists and some inevitable chaos.

The brilliance of this film is the visual component. The cinematography by Dick Bush (not kidding) is in line with the best of the 70s. Furthermore, there are also a lot of interestingly beautiful shots of the colony and ant behavior. Straight away at the start of the film we are presented some truly striking images of the ant intelligence movement for several minutes – no dialog, no humans, just cinematic language.

In short one could say, If you're the type of person annoyed by a Space Odyssey or even Blade Runner, then you're the type of person that shouldn't watch Phase IV. However, if you're a total film buff and/or sci-fi nerd I highly recommend you seek out this hard to find, underrated, masterpiece – you will not regret it.

Review from Beguiled: http://brianbeguiled.blogspot.com/

This is one of the strangest, suspenseful movies I've ever seen. It must have been at lest 15 years since I last saw it, and I'm still looking around for it to appear on DVD, so that must mean something! What this movie lacks in action, it makes up for in suspense, and suspense you get! I'm baffled by the fact that this movie appears to be so little-known. The beauty of these kinds of movies, is that they are not so much plot-driven as well 'atmosphere-driven' (by lack of a better word), so you can watch several times without getting bored. The Thing is another movie with the same quality. Basically: highly recommended!

Though there are plenty of movies with ants as the antagonist I'll have to be honest with the exception of Them (1954) I've never really been able to take them seriously as a viable threat. I mean seriously, ants?

Phase IV managed to change my mind on that and made ants a legitimately terrifying credible enemy.

It tells the story of a pair of scientists who set up a lab in the middle of the desert where ants seem to have taken over. Right beside a failed desert development they underestimate the intelligence of their diminutive foes.

The first thing that struck me was how good it all looked, the movie is years ahead of its time in both cinematography and practical effects. The ant sequences are truly remarkable and not rushed as you tend to expect them to be for the mid 70's. They take their time, intricately crafting the ants world, telling their silent story and solidifying their credibility as threats to mankind.

I went in expecting some hammy mess, what I got was an elusive diamond in the rough and I'm very very impressed.

Well acted, visually stunning and paced perfectly Phase IV is a great sci-fi piece that didn't deserve to go under the radar the way it did.

Fantastic stuff.

The Good:

Well ahead of its time

Looks great

Ant footage is very impressive

Strong cast

The Bad:

The nagging concern of possible animal cruelty

Silly ant noises