O Dia em Que a Terra se Incendiou

Good old-fashioned, black & white Science Fiction/disaster-movie classic that effectively emerges two giant contemporary fears at once, namely the Cold War and the rapidly evolving nuclear science. Whereas most other 60's Sci-Fi movies used the versatile side-effects of nuclear testings for grotesque apocalypse stories, involving mutated animals or even people, the premise of "The Day the Earth Caught Fire" is much more realistic and genuinely disturbing. A duo of Daily Express reporters discover, with the help of a weather girl, that the earth has been tilted off its axis because both the Russians and the Americans ignited their H-bombs simultaneously. The unusually high temperatures in Londen, as well as other inexplicable weather phenomenons, indicate that our planet is moving towards the sun very fast. Despite an obvious lack budget, director Val Guest (creator of other genre milestones such as "The Quatermass Experiment" and "The Abominable Snowman") did everything possible to make this film look like a captivating and paranoid drama. The images of a dying Londen, enshrouded in fog and heat, are truly atmospheric and there also are some very intelligent extra elements added, like new epidemics as a result of water shortness. Surprisingly enough, there's even room for an honest (and credible, for once) love-story between the cynical reporter and the overly-emotional weather-girl. Personally, I didn't really like the ending but it does typify 60's cinema greatly. The acting performances are splendid, with Leo McKern ("X-the Unknown"), Edward Judd ("Island of Terror") and the adorable Janet Munro (former child star of "Swiss Family Robinson"). The Day the Earth Caught Fire is a vastly underrated Sci-Fi gem, probably because it wasn't a Hammer production, and genre fans should urgently re-discover it. Highly recommended!

In a world where The Earth's axis has shifted a fraction after atomic testing by both The USA and Russia, a group of journalists aim to get the story, and give the public all the facts.

I had to do a double take to check that this film was actually made back in 1961, it is well and truly ahead of its time, and over sixty years on, it still packs an almighty punch. It feels more 1980's, it put me in mind of Threads, it has that very realistic, bleak vibe. Don't expect the typical 60's love story, there's a romance, but it's far from tropical of the time.

It's so interesting, the end of the world, but not seen through the eyes of a lead character, but scene from the point of view of the press, it's so interesting.

Made during the years of The Cold War, a time where people had genuine anxieties about nuclear weapons, and possible fallout.

Very clever camera work, the main body of the film is in black and white, in wide-screen, the opening sequences use warmer sepia tones to show the future earth, you can almost feel the arid heat.

The visuals are so impressive for its time, they made great use of the facilities on hand, the foggy bus trip, the cyclone and various disaster scenes all look wonderfully effective.

Edward Judd, Leo McKern and Janet Munroe are all excellent, I cannot fault a single performance.

A very impressive movie. Two hours pass by very quickly.

9/10.

Don't be fooled by the schlocky title of this 1961 British science fiction disaster film, it's actually one of the best apocalyptic films of its era. Told through the eyes of British reporter Peter Stenning (Edward Judd), we learn that both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. have simultaneously set off nuclear explosions to test their efficiency, causing the Earth to go off its axis. Directed by Val Guest (The Abominable Snowman / The Quatermass Experiment), it offers a sobering look at a country staring the end of the world in the face. It uses matte paintings to create images of abandoned cities and desolate landscapes, as well as incorporating real London locations create a movie that is heavy on atmosphere (heavy rains buffet the windows of buildings, thick fog wafts through the city, a raging hurricane crashes into the British coast). The production even features the real Daily Express, using the paper's own then headquarters, the Daily Express Building in Fleet Street. The film was made in black and white, and in the original prints the opening and closing sequences are tinted orange-yellow to suggest the heat of the sun. Monty Norman wrote the "Beatnik Music" score, and would become well known one year later when his James Bond Theme was used in the title sequence of Dr. No. Look out for a before he was famous appearance by Michael Caine in an uncredited role as a police constable.

This 1961 classic is truly underrated. Performances by Janet Munro and the great Leo McKern (Rumpole of the Bailey) are quite good, and Edward Judd, whose career is introduced in this movie come together to create a create a sense of building tension as the audience finds out the reason for the strange changes in weather.

Judd plays his character a little roughly, but that is to be understood, given his problems with his divorce and visitation with his young son.

Leo McKern's dialogue and facial expressions are superb and create the perfect persona of the seasoned veteran science writer who interprets and unravels the mystery for us.

Janet Munro, who died prematurely in her thirties gave a very acceptable performance for a young starlet, who keeps reporter Pete Stenning (Judd) at bay, then feeds him the critical information that blows open the story. I have two copies - One I taped from TV in the 80's, and another that I bought new. My sci-fi collection wouldn't be complete without it.

After more than forty years, this film is still a milestone in the science fiction genre. In its day, it was years ahead of its time. It had characters that acted like real people, instead of like John Agar and Lori Nelson. It contained a clearly implied sexual relationship between the two main characters, in an era when filmmakers were still routinely depicting even married couples as sleeping in separate beds. It was filled with shocking insinuations that the government is not all-wise and benevolent, that science doesn't really have all the answers, that the military is capable of blunders that put new meaning into the phrase "friendly fire," and that all may not be well, after all.

The film's greatest strength is in its understated, matter-of-fact presentation of the characters' various reactions to the relentlessly deteriorating situation. The performances are consistently honest and compelling, from the principal players down to the smallest walk-on parts. The award-winning script by Wolf Mankowitz is at times almost too clever for its own good. If there is one criticism that may be leveled against it, it is that most real people are not that consistently witty. Occasionally they are at a loss for words. Occasionally they say things that are lame, stupid, and altogether inappropriate. And this is the one element that was pretty much absent from the dialogue.

In an age when movies are being strangled to death by their own special effects, and character development often does not extend beyond the crudest bodily functions and four-letter expletives, it is genuinely refreshing to return to a film such as this one. Not only does it not rely on visual effects to tell its story, it is really so little dependent on the visual that it could have been equally successful as a radio drama (a forgotten art form nowadays), and might very well have caused an even greater panic than Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds."