This Island Earth Movie Review
At war in their own land, a group of aliens come to Earth to enlist the help of the best and brightest scientists they can find. They fly Dr. Cal Meacham (Rex Reason of The Creature Walks Among Us) to their base, where he is reunited with former colleague Dr. Ruth Adams (Faith Domergue from Cult of the Cobra). Together they try to determine if the leader of the aliens, Exeter (Jeff Morrow, also of The Creature Walks Among Us), is on their side--and lots of science fiction stuff happens from there. I know this movie was featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, a fantastic show known for featuring horrible films, and yes, this movie absolutely screams 1950s B Sci-Fi, but honestly, there are a couple things to like about this film.
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...anyway, the version I watched was the Technicolor version, and for as much as I love black and white, I have to admit to really digging the way the color practically jumped off the screen in this version. In particular, when they arrive at Metaluna, the alien planet, the visuals are stunning.
Cool
Honestly, for it's time (1955), this film has some very impressive special effects and gives us a small peek into the future (ever wonder what Skype, 1950s style, would look like?) while also blending in doses of stuff that's so bad it's good (the spaceship chasing the car scene comes to mind). The acting is fairly good across the board, with the exception of Reason, who comes across as completely unbelievable as a scientist. Probably more than anything, This Island Earth is known for this guy...
Handsome fella
While not quite to the level of "iconic", this monster, described in the film as something akin to an insect on Earth, is pretty recognizable and would inspire alien designs for many movies to follow. This Island Earth is, for better or worse, one of the most known science fiction films of the golden age of them, and is certainly one that any fan of this genre should check out.
On A Scale Of One To Ten: 6
This Island Earth Movie Trailer
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