Les Survivants de l'infini

I first saw this movie when it was released in 1954. I was about six. I didn't see it again until @1967/1968, as a theatrical re-release. The big screen did help, but this second viewing, and subsequent viewings on video (I own it), show that it wasn't as perfect as my youthful eyes saw it to be. However, I still consider it a great show. It has the same basic plot of world domination by aliens that other movies of its day had, but, it is so different in it's approach, feel, and delivery, it just never seemed like the same plot to me.

It was also a rare Sci-Fi motion picture. It was filmed in color. Of the eleven horror/sci-fi movies of 1954 (and this list might not be exactly complete), only three were in color. Riders To The Stars (1954), Phantom Of The Rue Morgue (1954), and This Island Earth (four if you put 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954) into this group). The remainder of the list range from the cheap quickie to the higher budgeted movie that had some effort put into them. The list is: Devil Girl From Mars (1954), Creature From Black Lagoon (1954), Killers From Space (1954), Godzilla (1954) [this is the Japanese release], Monster From The Ocean Floor (1954), Stranger From Venus (1954), Them! (1954), and Tobar The Great (1954). These black and white shows did have merit in their own way. And, they did what they were made for, to entertain a crowd of kids (and some adults). Almost everyone appreciates color more than black and white, and for a "Kid's" Science Fiction movie to be in color, it made This Island Earth all the more special.

Of course, the special effects, acting, and other aspects of this movie don't match up to today's standards. If it did, it would mean that there had been no advancements in over 40 years. For its day, the special effects are extremely well done. The sets were impressive. The script was intellectual without going leaps and bounds about the child viewer's head. The Mutant really wasn't as good as I remembered, but it was still impressive. Bud Westmore was the master of his day. He, Jack Pierce, and other makeup masters of the past, created the foundation for today's highly imaginative work.

Just think, future generations probably will give negative reviews of Stars Wars, Jurassic Park, E.T. and many of the other groundbreaking movies of our time. They will probably laugh at the "poor" quality of the special effects, or the stilted dialogue and acting just as some of the younger audience does today.

I agree with other writers that point out how much people miss by not watching a black and white, or even just not watching an older movie. They don't come across as hip, realistic, terrifing, or as erotic as today's fare, but, if you really look at these shows, you will find the cornerstone of today's movies created by that moldy oldy from 40, 50, 60, or even 70 years ago.

I am old enough to have seen "This Island Earth" when it was first released. After "Forbidden Planet", it was the only other film for a decade to take place outside of Earth's solar system. Galactic fiction had been written for decades by Edmond Hamilton and a handful of others, very successfully; but it is still rare and hard to handle in film, because it requires some level of ideas and logical development of a political-philosophical system other than conventional and unimaginative acceptances--the stock in trade of those who rip off headlines, use titles such as "Across the Ses of Stars"--and then write nothing at all to go with the promising title. Here we have a mysterious robot-controlled aircraft's flight, mail from aliens, the building of an Inter-Rossiter communication device, tall-domed aliens (exhibiting a variety of ethical characters), interstellar flight, a war on a planet called Metalluna, flaming comet-missiles, a competent alien mutant creature, an intelligent cat named Neutron, romance, news conferences, good and bad advice and more. The original story line, for those who have not read Raymond Z. Jones' original mystery-sci-fi, is much better than what was done with its ideas in the film's script. In that novel,Earth was to be destroyed, because it was in the way and being used as a base by one of two sides in a huge interstellar war; at the end, the hero, whose ingenuity has saved the one side, has to make a speech to save the Earth--a climax that did not make it into the film version. Handsome Rex Reason, who lacks classical accent ability, plays scientist Cal Meacham, opposite Faith Domergue, a fair actress who does well as Ruth, his long-lost love, or is she. The film is stolen by Jeff Morrow as Exeter, also star of "Kronos"; Douglas Spencer is a bit disappointing as The Monitor, as is Lance Fuller as an evil Metallunan; the special effects such as rays that explode cars and the aforementioned comets are interesting for their time. What is right about the film I suggest is its color, its adventure narrative and swift-paced unfolding, since it is rather well-directed; what is lacking is the first-rate ideas of the novel from which it was adapted. "This Island Earth" ( a phrase later used in "Star trek's "All Our Yesterdays" also) is arguably a welcome change from all those sci-fi films where rockets seem tied to earth, unable to expand the human horizon. I like it, and recommend it to anyone who wants to escape from the present mean-streets ugliness cult's movies; it is physically beautiful and frankly more entertaining than most have credited it with being these past 50 years.

This is a great treat from a wonderful era of Sci-Fi. Those who complain of the hardware aspects have no romance - an Earth scientist receives an unsolicited manual and roomful of parts to build a futuristic two-way TV, but the parts are a marvel and the pages of the manual aren't paper, but some manner of flexible metal. After constructing the "Interociter", our hero receives a broadcast from Exeter, a fellow scientist with a suspiciously prominent forehead, inviting him to join his research team of the world's greatest experts in their fields. What follows is a comic book come-to-life, and in vivid, 3-part Technicolor! This film is beautiful to look at, and apparently many of today's best Sci-Fi filmmakers did. Rex Reason is fine as our hero, Jeff Morrow is one of the most memorable aliens of the era, and Faith Domergue is a fine actress and is mysteriously one of the most unsung beauties ever. And as to the hardware, the special effects, etc - there is actually nothing to complain about at all...the spaceship, the planet Metaluna, aliens, etc, are not merely passable for the 50's, they are compelling by today's standards. If you have just a bit of imagination, this is one of the best Sci-Fi classics of it's time, and still makes many contemporary efforts pale in comparison.

Guess I'll have to watch MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: THE MOVIE to find out what is so bad about THIS ISLAND EARTH. The film is intriguingly plotted, beautifully photographed, and has excellent (even by contemporary standards) art direction, costume design and special effects. So what if Rex Reason sounds as if he was dubbed (he always sounds that way), and some of the other performances seem a bit stilted. The Metaluna Mutant was the most memorable outer space monster until ALIEN.

I can only recall one technical error in the film. After the interociter (communicator) has been reduced to molten metal, Rex Reason picks up a Geiger counter and says, "It's no longer radioactive." There IS no set up for this (i.e., when it proved to be radioactive).

I'd certainly rate this film in the top ten of the best science fiction films of the fifties (probably in the top five). It's philosophical, exciting and well made.

The 1955 sci-fi film, "This Island Earth" was spoofed in the film,"MST 3000: The Movie"; but in actuality the film got good reviews from Leonard Maltin, The Motion Picture Guide, not to mention Bill Warren's monumental opus, "Keep Watching The Skies!". The acting in this film is not exceptional, but not dismal, I would say adequate. My favorite character is the Metalunan, Exeter - this dude is one smooth talker, oozing a sinister coolness, while displaying a funky appearance: neatly coiffured white hair, bushy eyebrows, a high indented forehead, coppertone tan and dressed in a conventional Earthian suit and tie (he would have made a great politician or televangelist!). His assistant, Braack, is a carbon copy, as are the other Metalunans. There is an atmosphere of suspense and intrigue and the plot is credible enough. One the technical side, a Metalunan communication device called an Interociter remains a centerpiece throughout the film; it is very versatile, able to incorporate an Interplanetary Generator, Volterator, Astroscope, Electron Sorter, and a deadly Neutrino Ray (all of these are not in the script, rather I got them from the Raymond F. Jones story the film is based upon; however, the Neutrino Ray was demonstrated by Exeter to Dr. Cal Meacham on occasion); Meacham pulled the plug on one of them in his lab, causing it to self-destruct; leading one to wonder if that device were so advanced, then why didn't it have a backup internal power source and safety feature to prevent that sort of sabotage? Moreover, why did it have to rely on an external power supply at all?' The highlight of the film is the voyage back to Metaluna with Drs Meacham and Adams on board; the distant planet is being attacked by enemy Zahgon guided meteors. The Drs were recruited to help the Metalunans rebuild their war depleted uranium supply which sustained their protective atomic force shield- the Earth is rich in uranium supply. The Metalunan spacecraft looks like a cheap, plastic toy pulled from a crackerjack box, but as it cruises through the "thermal barrier", the fiery special effects around the craft look way cool. And the special effects, set design and artwork of the war-ravaged planet and the ongoing battle there are simply excellent for that time period. In addition, the Herman Stein musical score is a tasty delight- the organ parts are simply an ear to behold! No, "This Island Earth" does not have the Oscar-Winning effects of "The War Of The Worlds", the snappy, overlapping dialogue of "The Thing From Another World", the abundant richness of ideas of "Forbidden Planet", nor the spine chilling suspense of "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers"; but what it does have is an irresistable charm, the result - I suspect - of having a peculiar combination of outstanding qualities coexisting alongside of much inferior ones. "This Island Earth" should definitely be part of every 50's sci-fi film connoisseur's collection.