Les Survivants de l'infini

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 electronic engineer Dr. Cal Meacham (Rex Reason) is a prominent scientist that is studying industrial application of nuclear energy and also a great pilot. One day, he receives a different condenser and soon his assistant Joe Wilson (Robert Nichols) receives a manual instruction and several components of a sophisticated machine. Carl and Joe build a communication apparatus and a man called Exeter (Jeff Morrow) contacts Carl. He tells that Carl has passed the test assembling the Interocitor and invites him to join his research. The intrigued Carl decides to travel to meet Exeter that sends an unmanned airplane to bring him to an isolated facility in Georgia. He is welcomed by Dr. Ruth Adams (Faith Domergue) but she mysteriously does not recall their love affair in the past. They team-up with Dr. Steve Carlson (Russell Johnson) and they note that the other scientists in the facility have been transformed, having a weird behavior. They decide to flee in a car, but they are attacked by rays and Steve dies. Carl and Ruth also witness the facility blowing-up and they escape in an airplane. However they are pulled up into a flying saucer and realize that Exeter is an alien. Whal is the objective of the aliens?

"This Island Earth" is an entertaining sci-fi from the 50's, with a story of aliens that need help from the Earthling scientists in their war against another planet. For a film made sixty years ago, the special effects, the monster, sets and scenarios are great. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Guerra Entre Planetas" ("War Between Planets")

Note: On 17 November 2017 I saw this film again.

When it came out, I thought this was the most fantastic movie I'd ever seen. It was easy to identify with the lead character and to share his fascination with the technology that the aliens used to capture his attention and recruit his talents. I particularly remember being entranced by the special effects; the use of vivid color was outstanding among sci-fi offerings of the time. 45 years later, it's still my favorite of the era. I enjoy watching the movie on video and recalling the thrill of seeing it on the big screen for the first time.

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.

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.