The movie, besides its great entertainment value, has an important obvious message behind – Save the forests, and on a large larger scale, save Nature. I thought it was a clever topic to choose for a movie since the hype about “Go Green” is definitely still big. Almost every developed country around the globe is now talking about saving the Earth, about nature conservation, and so on.

The 3D experience was absolutely delightful as well. The images were very vivid that they almost seemed to ‘pop’ out from the screen! Throughout the movie, I was glued to the seat as I watched the story unfold in front of my eyes, or should I say, 3D-spectacled eyes.

Avatar is definitely one of a kind, combining real-life acting and computer-animated graphics together into a movie. And the emotions that the characters portray, even the animated characters, were very intense.

Having said that, I am thankful that my first 3D movie viewing experience came from some epic and not just another animation.

So, was the movie worth the price? Definitely!

The War of the Worlds 1953 lobby card set image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Director Byron Haskin and Paramount Pictures delivered the original The War of the Worlds to movie theaters in 1953. Gene Barry plays the American scientist, with Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne and Robert Cornthwaite in stellar support.

H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds

The War of the Worlds is based on the 1898 novel of the same name by British author H.G. Wells (1866-1946). An early titan of the genre, Wells’ other science fiction novels include The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897) and The First Men in the Moon (1901).

Barre Lyndon wrote the screenplay for Paramount Pictures and Byron Haskin (Treasure Island, Conquest of Space, Robinson Crusoe on Mars) directed. Leith Stevens crafted the spooky music score and George Barnes delivered the dazzling cinematography.

Gene Barry (Dr. Clayton Forrester) and Ann Robinson (Sylvia Van Buren) head the cast. Other players include Les Tremayne (General Mann), Robert Cornthwaite (Dr. Pryor), Sandro Giglio (Dr. Bilderbeck), Lewis Martin (Pastor Matthew Collins), Houseley Stevenson Jr. (General Mann’s Aide), Paul Frees (Opening Announcer), William Phipps (Wash Perry), Vernon Rich (Col. Ralph Heffner), Henry Brandon (Cop), Jack Kruschen (Salvatore), Alvy Moore (Zippy), Cedric Hardwicke (Commentary Voice), Gertrude Hoffman (Elderly News Vendor) and Walter Sande (Sheriff Bogany).

The War of the Worlds Filmed in Arizona and California

Budgeted at a healthy $2 million, The War of the Worlds was filmed from January to February 1952. Several Los Angeles locations were used to great scenic effect, including City Hall, the U.S. District Court Building on Spring Street, First United Methodist Church on Franklin Avenue, the then unopened Harbor Freeway and St. Brendan’s Catholic Church on Van Ness Avenue. Shooting was also done in California’s Simi Valley and in Arizona (Phoenix, Florence).

As befitting a science fiction film of this magnitude, producer George Pal committed $1.4 million to special effects. The fantastic Martian warships were elaborate models made of copper, each of which was supported by about 20 wires. A scale model of Los Angeles City Hall was lovingly crafted, and then blown up with frightening efficiency.

The movie’s eerie sound effects were accomplished via several means. Three electric guitars played backwards provided the sound of the roving Martian spaceships while a microphone dragged across dry ice coupled with a reversed woman’s scream served as a Martian’s wounded cry.

The War of the Worlds: The Martians Invade Earth

The War of the Worlds opens with the commentary that the earth has been being “watched” from outer space. A flaming meteorite then hurls to earth, landing in the hills just outside Linda Rosa, California, knocking out power. Nearby at a square dance is Dr. Clayton Forrester, the eminent physicist from the Pacific Institute of Science and Technology.

Dr. Forrester and the locals check out the “meteorite,” which turns out to be a buried Martian spaceship that eventually comes to life, destroying everything in its path with a fearsome heat ray. An entire army of Martian war machines follow, falling to earth in strategic parts of the globe and wreaking destruction.

The world’s militaries prove helpless in stopping the invasion, with the alien warships throwing up fantastic force shields that repel bullets, bombs and rockets. When a thermonuclear detonation fails to even dent the Martian spaceship near Linda Rosa, the military is forced to retreat.

Dr. Forrester and girlfriend Sylvia eventually make it back to Los Angeles. Forrester brainstorms with his fellow Pacific Institute scientists, examining a sample of Martian blood that he had extracted while hiding in a farmhouse. The blood reveals that the Martians may have certain biological weaknesses that can be exploited.

With Los Angeles almost completely evacuated, the Martian warships march on the City of Angels. Huddled in a church are Dr. Forrester, Sylvia and other survivors who are bracing for the horrific end while still praying for a last-second miracle.

The War of the Worlds Premieres in Atlantic City

The War of the Worlds made its world premiere in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on July 29, 1953.

“War of the Worlds is a socko science-fiction feature, as fearsome as a film as was the Orson Welles’ 1938 radio interpretation of the H.G. Wells novel,” reported Variety.

“…An imaginatively conceived, professionally turned adventure, which makes excellent use of Technicolor, special effects by a crew of experts and impressively drawn backgrounds,” observed A.H. Weiler of The New York Times (8/14/53).

Film Analysis: The Martians and Psalm 23

Forget Tom Cruise and his irritating dysfunctional family in the 2005 remake of The War of the Worlds and stick with the original. The 1953 version of the H.G. Wells classic is still the one to see, reigning supreme among Earthlings and Martians alike.

George Pal’s The War of the Worlds is 1950s science fiction at its best. The script is literate, the direction innovative, the acting above par and the special effects simply out of this world for a pre-CGI picture.

A bespectacled Gene Barry, who passed away at age 90 on December 9, 2009, carries much of the movie on his able shoulders. Barry’s Dr. Forrester is both courageous and brilliant, piloting a private plane during the Martian onslaught and even (thankfully) slapping a screaming Ann Robinson during one of her bouts of alien invasion hysteria.

One of the movie’s best scenes is garnered by Lewis Martin as Pastor Matthew Collins and Sylvia’s uncle, who recklessly approaches the hovering alien warship while reciting Psalm 23 a.k.a. “The Lord Is My Shepherd.” The Martian ship spots the good reverend and ignores the sermon, blasting him with a heat ray and making good on the psalm’s “the valley of the shadow of death” theme.

The War of the Worlds earned three Academy Award nominations, all in the technical categories: Best Film Editing (Everett Douglas), Best Sound (Loren L. Ryder) and Best Special Effects. The lone winner was Gordon Jennings and his special effects team, who delivered the goods like no other sci-fi production of the decade.

The War of the Worlds Notes, Movie Memorabilia, DVD

• The movie rights to The War of the Worlds were bought by Paramount Pictures in 1924.
• Orson Welles broadcast his chilling radio version of The War of the Worlds on Mercury Theatre on the Air, October 30, 1938.
• Auction results for original 1953 The War of the Worlds movie material, courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries, Dallas, Texas: one sheet poster ($2,151), rare half sheet poster style B ($26,290), insert poster ($1,434), 30″x40″ poster style Z ($4,481.25), Australian daybill poster ($1,195), complete set of eight lobby cards ($2,629).
• On DVD: The War of the Worlds Special Collector’s Edition (Paramount, 2005).

“Guns, tanks, bombs – they’re like toys against them!” General Mann declares.

A bit humbling, isn’t it, General?

German lobby card for The Time Machine (1960), image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Is time travel possible? Quantum physics says maybe while Hollywood voices a definite yes. Here are ten outstanding time travel movies from the fantastic world of science fiction. Hello, McFly?

The Time Machine (MGM, 1960)

Producer-director George Pal’s The Time Machine remains the granddaddy of time travel motion pictures. Solid, square-jawed Rod Taylor stars as Victorian Era scientist H. George Wells who jets off in his time machine to the year 802,701 A.D. Here he encounters the peaceful Eloi and the mutant Morlocks, who prey on the former from their underground catacombs. Joining Taylor in the cast are Yvette Mimieux (Weena), Alan Young (David Filby/Jame Filby), Sebastian Cabot (Dr. Philip Hillyer) Whit Bissell (Walter Kemp) and an array of impressive special effects which still wow the viewer today. 

Time After Time (Warner Bros., 1979)

Malcolm McDowell stars as inventor-author H.G. Wells, whose 1893 time machine is used by none other than Jack the Ripper to escape to 1979 San Francisco. The intrepid Wells pursues the serial killer where he tries to prevent the murder of his 20th century girlfriend, who is slated to become the Ripper’s latest victim. David Warner (Dr. John Leslie Stevenson a.k.a. Jack the Ripper), Mary Steenburgen (Amy Robbins), Charles Cioffi (Lt. Mitchell) and Patti D’Arbanville (Shirley) join McDowell in fantastic support.

Back to the Future (Universal, 1985)

The first and best in the series, Back to the Future stars Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, a high school kid who travels back to 1955 where he meets his future parents. Marty’s mother, however, soon takes a romantic interest in him, leaving dear old dad as the squeaky third wheel and the perennial victim of bully Biff Tannen. Christopher  Lloyd (Dr. Emmett Brown), Lea Thompson (Lorraine Baines McFly), Crispin Glover (George McFly), Thomas F. Wilson (Biff) and a revved up, time traveling DeLorean ably complement Fox’s bravura performance – on a skateboard and otherwise.

Planet of the Apes (Twentieth Century-Fox, 1968)

Charlton Heston as George Taylor leads his fellow American astronauts on a long journey through space and time. When awakened from suspended animation, the crew find themselves on a future Earth where intelligent apes are the dominant species and mute humans their obedient slaves. Roddy McDowall (Cornelius), Kim Hunter (Zira) and Maurice Evans (Dr. Zaius) play the ape scientists behind fantastic simian headgear.

Somewhere in Time (Universal, 1980)

Christopher Reeve plays a young Chicago playwright named Richard Collier whose obsession with an actress propels him back to 1912 and the Grand Hotel. Here he falls in love with the thespian Elise McKenna, much to the dismay of her theatrical manager. Joining Reeve in the cast are Jane Seymour (Elise), Christopher Plummer (William Fawcett Robinson), Teresa Wright (Laura Roberts) and the rich, lush scenery of Michigan’s Mackinac Island where the movie was filmed.

Peggy Sue Got Married (TriStar, 1986)

A second chance at high school? That’s what Kathleen Turner gets in this charming fantasy from director Francis Ford Coppola in which she is whisked from her 25-year high school reunion back to the spring of 1960 and her senior year. But it’s boyfriend trouble and senioritis all over again, as Miss Peggy Sue disses her algebra teacher, dumps her future husband and hooks up with the handsome class literary buff. Nicolas Cage (Charley Bodell), Barry Miller (Richard Norvik), Catherine Hicks (Carol Heath), Kevin J. O’Connor (Michael Fitzsimmons) and a young Jim Carrey (Walter Getz) ably play high schoolers despite being a little long in the tooth for their Brylcreem/bobby sox roles.

The Final Countdown (United Artists, 1980)

Kirk Douglas and the crew of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz encounter a freakish, electromagnetic storm while out on a routine cruise. The powerful tempest propels them back to the eve of the December 7, 1941, attack at Pearl Harbor, which heralded the United States’ entry into World War II. As the Nimitz’s skipper Captain Matt Yelland, Douglas must decide whether to engage the approaching Japanese air armada or simply let history take its course. Joining Douglas in the cast are Martin Sheen (Warren Lasky), Katharine Ross (Laurel Scott), James Farentino (Commander Richard T. Owens), Ron O’Neal (Commander Dan Thurman), Charles Durning (Senator Samuel Chapman) and the officers and men of the USS Nimitz.

The Philadelphia Experiment (New World, 1984)

The controversial 1943 Philadelphia Experiment is dramatized in this science fiction entry in which two sailors are transported through time to the year 1984. The two young men were aboard the USS Eldridge, where a government experiment into invisibility has gone horribly awry. Michael Pare (David Herdeg) and Bobby Di Cicco (Jim Parker) play the two reluctant time travelers, with Nancy Allen (Allison Hayes) and Eric Christmas (Dr. James Longstreet) along for the ride.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Paramount, 1986)

The former officers of the USS Enterprise commandeer a Klingon starship and travel back in time to 1986 on a mission to save Earth. Their plan involves the transportation of two humpback whales which hold the key to disarming a deadly alien probe threatening the planet. The entire Star Trek gang is here – William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), James Doohan (Scotty), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), George Takei (Sulu), Walter Koenig (Chekov) and Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) – battling loud music, primitive medical techniques and the 1980s punk culture.

The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (Columbia, 1962)

If the Stooges can manage to time travel, then pretty much anyone can, right? Using inventor Schuyler Davis’ time machine, the boys, along with Schuyler and his gal pal Diane, journey back to Ithaca in ancient Greece where they run afoul of the evil King Odius. While confined to a ship’s galley with the Stooges, young Schuyler develops huge, rippling muscles. The time travelers eventually escape, whereby Schuyler begins performing great feats of strength under the name of “Hercules,” garnering the attention of the real Greek strongman. Moe Howard (Moe), Larry Fine (Larry) and Joe DeRita (Curly Joe) head the cast, with Quinn K. Redeker (Schuyler), Vicki Trickett (Diane Quigley), George N. Neise (Ralph Dimsal/King Odius) and Samson Burke (Hercules) in solid, fun-filled support.

Honorable Mention:

• The Time Travelers (1964)  
• Timescape (1992)
• Timecop (1994)
• Time Bandits (1981)
• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1949)
• Flight of the Navigator (1986)
• The Butterfly Effect (2004)
• 12 Monkeys (1995)
• Timeline (2003)
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

The Fly lobby card set image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Director David Cronenberg and Twentieth Century-Fox brought The Fly to movie theaters in 1986. Jeff Goldblum stars as the budding insect, with Geena Davis as his horrified girlfriend. Be afraid. Be very afraid!

George Langelaan’s The Fly

The Fly is based on the short story of the same name by British author George Langelaan (1908-1969), which first appeared in the June 1957 issue of Playboy. One year later, Langelaan’s horrifying tale was made into a motion picture by Twentieth Century-Fox, with Al (David) Hedison, Patricia Owens and Vincent Price in the feature roles.

The Fly (1958) touted the blaring tagline: “She had to kill the thing her husband had become – But could she?” Two sequels were produced: Return of the Fly (1959) and Curse of the Fly (1965).  

David Cronenberg Directs The Fly (1986)

David Cronenberg and Charles Edward Pogue penned The Fly remake for Mel Brooks’ Brooksfilms, with Cronenberg (The Brood, Scanners, The Dead Zone) also directing. Howard Shore created the original music score and Mark Irwin served as cinematographer.

Jeff Goldblum heads the small cast as Seth Brundle. Other players are Geena Davis (Veronica Quaife), John Getz (Stathis Borans), Joy Boushel (Tawny), Leslie Carlson (Dr. Brent Cheevers), George Chuvalo (Marky), Michael Copeman (2nd Man at Bar), David Cronenberg (Gynecologist), Carol Lazare (Nurse) and Shawn Hewitt (Clerk).

The Fly Filmed in Canada

Budgeted at $15 million, The Fly was filmed in Toronto and Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada.

One of the most challenging aspects of filming was the transformation of Jeff Goldblum from human being to house fly. Chris Walas and his makeup team labored for five hours each day, turning Goldblum into Brundlefly. A concoction of honey, eggs and milk was cooked up by the special effects team to simulate the creature’s corrosive, enzyme-laced vomit drops.

Doron Kernerman and Romuald Vervin doubled for Jeff Goldblum in the gymnastics scene where Brundlefly displays his prowess on the bars.  

The Fly and Brundlefly

The Fly opens at the Bartok Science Industries Party, where scientist Seth Brundle meets journalist Veronica Quaife. Brundle later takes the young writer back to his converted warehouse laboratory, where he demonstrates his latest invention, an experimental matter transmitter.

Back at the office, Veronica plays her audio recording of Brundle’s experiment to Stathis Borans, editor of Particle magazine. Borans tells Vernonica that the experiment is a hoax, with Seth later showing up in order to prevent any publication of his latest work.

Seth and Veronica get together again, where Seth uses a baboon to demonstrate his teleportation device. The experiment goes awry, with the dying, mangled baboon clawing at the telepod’s window, causing Seth to later comment that “something’s getting lost in the translation.”

Seth finally works out the bugs and successfully teleports another baboon. He then uses himself as a guinea pig, failing to notice that a common house fly has inadvertently slipped into the pod with him. The transmitter is activated, and Seth is successfully transported from Pod #1 to Pod #2 some 15 feet away.

But Seth soon realizes that something has gone horribly wrong, as he gradually takes on the characteristics of a house fly. When quizzed, the computer spits out the shocking news: “Fusion of Brundle and fly at molecular genetic level.”

As Seth continues to mutate, desperately looking for a cure, Veronica and Stathis Borans become intimately involved in his struggle. The climax comes at Seth’s laboratory, where The Scientist Formerly Known as Seth Brundle confronts both Veronica and a shotgun-wielding Borans.

The Fly Release, Reviews

The Fly was released on August 15, 1986.

“In David Cronenberg’s new version, Jeff Goldblum is a graphic fly for the fact-crazed ’80s, transformed into a creature so repulsive he makes the monster in Aliens look like Grandma in a Norman Rockwell painting,” reported Caryn James of The New York Times (8/15/86).

“David Cronenberg’s remake of the 1958 horror classic The Fly is not for the squeamish. Casting Jeff Goldblum was a good choice as he brings a quirky, common touch to the spacey scientist role. Cronenberg gives him a nice girlfriend (Geena Davis), too,” observed Variety.

The Fly Box Office, Oscar Nomination, Notes, DVD

• The Fly grossed $40.456 million at the American box office, good for the #23 position on the list of the top moneymaking films of 1986.
• One Oscar nomination: Best Makeup (Chris Walas, Stephan Dupuis, won).
• Most awesome scene: Brundlefly arm wrestles a burly guy named Marky at a bar, snapping the man’s wrist bone and winning a $100 bet and Marky’s girlfriend Tawny for the night.
• Best line: “Be afraid. Be very afraid,” Geena Davis tells Joy Boushel after Brundlefly tries to usher the young woman into a telepod.
• Particle magazine mock cover story: “Teleportation: A reality? Seth Brundle, youthful father of a new age.”
• Copies of the original Charles Edward Pogue/Walon Green screenplay are still around. The scientist’s name in this version is Geoffrey Powell, whose wife gives birth to a giant maggot in the final scene. But is it simply an hallucination?
• The sequel: The Fly II (1989) starring Eric Stoltz as Martin Brundle, son of Seth.
• The Fly (1986) was named to Time magazine’s 2005 list of the all-time 100 best films.
• On DVD: The Fly Two-Disc Collector’s Edition (20th Century-Fox, 2005).

“My teeth have begun to fall out. The medicine cabinet’s now the Brundle Museum of Natural History. Do you want to see what else is in it?” Jeff Goldblum asks Geena Davis.

Er, no thanks, but please pass the Raid and fly swatter…

Rollerball lobby card set image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Director Norman Jewison and United Artists delivered the hard-hitting Rollerball to movie theaters in 1975. James Caan plays the futuristic superstar, with John Beck as his teammate and John Houseman as the big boss. Jon-a-than! Jon-a-than!

William Harrison’s Roller Ball Murder

Rollerball is based on the short story “Roller Ball Murder” by American writer William Harrison, which first appeared in the September 1973 issue of Esquire. Harrison came up with the idea for his “little experimental story” after watching an especially raucous basketball game at the University of Arkansas, where he was a professor of English and Creative Writing.

Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, the story later appeared in a collection of 13 short stories by Harrison titled Roller Ball Murder, published by Morrow in 1974. Warner Books released the movie-tie in paperback one year later, with an illustration of a spiked rollerball player gracing the cover.

Norman Jewison Directs Rollerball

Norman Jewison produced and directed Rollerball for Algonquin Productions and United Artists Pictures. William Harrison was credited with the screenplay, though the writer later remarked that Jewison “did everything to my script except use it.” Musical director Andre Previn coordinated the movie’s soundtrack, which features classical compositions by Tchaikovsky, Bach, Shostakovich and Albinoni.

James Caan heads the cast as the legendary Jonathan E., whom Norman Jewison had selected after seeing Caan play doomed Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo in Brian’s Song (1971). Other players include John Houseman (Mr. Bartholomew), Maud Adams (Ella), John Beck (Moonpie), Moses Gunn (Cletus), Pamela Hensley (Mackie), Barbara Trentham (Daphne), John Normington (Executive), Shane Rimmer (Rusty), Burt Kwouk (Japanese Doctor), Robert Ito (Houston Strategy Coach) and Ralph Richardson (Librarian).

Rollerball Filmed in Europe

Rollerball was filmed primarily in Germany, with the futuristic BMW Building and Museum in Munich serving as the headquarters for the Energy Corporation. The gaming sequences were staged at the Olympic Basketball Arena in Munich, the city that had hosted the terrorist-scarred 1972 Summer Games in which 11 Israeli athletes were slain. Citizens of Munich occupied the fenced-in stands, playing the role of rabid, bloodthirsty spectators.

During filming, the sport of rollerball – a cross between roller derby, football, hockey and lacrosse – became so popular that in between takes cast members, extras and stuntmen played the game for fun. Following the movie’s release, some audience members found the game so irresistible that talk began about forming rollerball teams and leagues. That kind of thinking horrified director Norman Jewison, who had intended Rollerball to be a statement against mindless violence.

Rollerball: The Future of Sport

Rollerball is set in the year 2018, where huge, multinational corporations have supplanted governments as the supreme leader. One of the ruling entities is the Houston-based Energy Corporation who, with its various other corporate brethren, control all access to the world’s goods, transportation, housing and energy needs.

Rollerball, an ultra-violent sport owned by the corporations, has replaced war as an outlet for the citizenry’s anti-social tendencies. Clad in padded uniforms, helmets and spiked gloves, the players traverse an oval track on roller skates and motorcycles, crashing into each other as they attempt to deposit a metal ball into a magnetic goal. The game is an international phenomenon, with teams representing such cities as Houston, New York, Madrid, Rome, Manila, Tokyo and Pittsburgh. Before each contest, the P.A. announcer asks that everyone please rise for the playing of “our Corporate Anthem.”

The Houston club, owned by the Energy Corporation (a precursor to Enron?), is led by the flashy Jonathan E., the game’s reigning superstar whose name is chanted in reverence by his fans. Jonathan E.’s popularity, however, is seen as a threat in a society where individualism is secondary to the collective goals of the global corporate state. That is why Mr. Bartholomew, powerful head of the Energy Corporation, wants him to retire, offering rollerball’s glamour boy a lucrative severance package in the form of his own television highlights show and certain “privileges” in society.

Rollerball Opens in New York City

Rollerball opened at New York City’s Ziegfeld Theater on June 25, 1975.

“It’s as if Mr. Jewison, and William Harrison…really believed that things like war, poverty and disease could be so easily wiped away and that something like Rollerball could be inflated into such an effective soporific. The Romans threw Christians to the lions, but that didn’t keep the lower orders quiet for long,” observed Vincent Canby of The New York Times (6/26/75).

“There’s really not much more serious violence here than in a good Three Stooges comedy – mostly a lot of head-spinning close-ups of body blocks, gang tackles, drop kicks, kidney punches and elbowed eyeballs, accompanied by whopping and whacking and bopping and grunching sounds…” reported Sports Illustrated (7/7/75).

Rollerball Notes, Remake, DVD

• Rollerball did lackluster business at the box office.
• Some sports fans of the era compared James Caan’s Houston club to the extremely physical Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (indeed, the two teams share the dominant color of orange), who as the vaunted “Broad Street Bullies” had captured the Stanley Cup in 1974 with their rough, intimidating “rollerball” style of play.
• Other movie reviews: Time (7/7/75), The New Yorker (7/7/75), Saturday Review (8/9/75), Mademoiselle (9/75), Christianity Today (8/8/75).
• Remake: Rollerball (MGM, 2002) starring Chris Klein, Jean Reno and LL Cool J.
• On DVD: 1975’s Rollerball (MGM, 1998).

When I first heard about the new Star Trek coming out, I was ecstatic. I couldn’t wait. But then I heard it was a reboot with a whole new cast. This bothered me a little, but eventually I swallowed my pride. The first news I heard on casting was that they chose Simon Peg as Scotty. Personally I thought that was a perfect choice. If anyone could play Scotty, he could. As time went on I heard more news on casting, some unknowns to me, some great choices. In all on cast, I feel that they couldn’t have chosen better on the cast. Chris Pine as Kirk was great, Zachary Quinto as the present day Spock was just about perfect, but the best casting I for any character in Star Trek was Karl Urban as “Bones”. He was able to truly portray that character.

You can tell they all had a lot of fun making Star Trek. It really showed through with the final product. The sets and effects were great. I found out that J.J. Abrams wanted to do as much as possible with practical special effects, and as little as possible with CGI. I believe this really showed through with the final product. I am a fan of practical effects though, so I might be a little bias.

Over all I have to give J.J. Abrams Star Trek a 9 out of 10. It shows drama, witty dialogue, great action sequences, and great film-making all in one package. If you haven’t seen it yet I suggest checking it out.

Image via Wikipedia

Journey to the Center of the Earth lobby card set image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Director Henry Levin and Twentieth Century-Fox delivered the Jules Verne classic Journey to the Center of the Earth to movie theaters in 1959. James Mason plays the academic adventurer, with Pat Boone, Arlene Dahl and Peter Ronson along for the subterranean descent.

Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth

Journey to the Center of the Earth is based on the novel of the same name by noted science fiction writer Jules Verne (1828-1905). Titled Voyage au centre de la Terre in France, the book was first published by Pierre-Jules Hetzel in 1864.

Verne’s other works, many of which were also made into motion pictures, include such fantastic fare as Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863), From the Earth to the Moon (1865), Around the World in Eighty Days (1873) and The Mysterious Island (1875).

Henry Levin Directs Journey to the Center of the Earth

Walter Reisch and Charles Brackett wrote the screenplay for Cooga Mooga, Joseph L. Schenck Enterprises and Twentieth Century-Fox. Henry Levin (Cry of the Werewolf, Jolson Sings Again, April Love) directed. Bernard Hermann created the fabulous music score, with Leo Tover serving as cinematographer.

James Mason (Professor Oliver S. Lindendbrook), Pat Boone (Alec McEwen) and Arlene Dahl (Carla Goteborg) head the cast. Other players include Diane Baker (Jenny Lindenbrook), Thayer David (Count Saknussemm), Peter Ronson (Hans Belker), Robert Adler (Groom), Alan Napier (Dean), Alan Caillou (Rector), Mary Brady (Kirsty), Frederick Halliday (Chancellor), Alex Finlayson (Professor Bayle), Ben Wright (Paisley) and Red West (Bearded Man at Newspaper Stand).

Originally tapped to play Professor Lindenbrook and Count Saknussemm were Clifton Webb and Alexander Scourby, respectively. The ailing Webb, who never made it before the cameras, was replaced by James Mason. Scourby was deemed ineffective in the role of the evil Count and was let go in favor of the more sinister-looking Thayer David.

Pop music sensation Pat “White Bucks” Boone originally wasn’t interested in doing the picture. But after a talk with his agent, Boone signed on as the young Scot. It proved to be a good move, as Journey to the Center of the Earth became a hit and provided Boone with residual income for years to come.

Journey to the Center of the Earth Filmed at Carlsbad Caverns

Journey to the Center of the Earth was filmed primarily at New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Other locations used were Edinburgh University in Scotland and Leo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu, California. Little Lake and Fossil Falls in Lone Pine, California, served as the setting for Iceland.

L.B. Abbott, James B. Gordon and Emil Kosa Jr. were in charge of special effects, delivering an array of prehistoric monsters, giant mushrooms, a violent subterranean storm and other fantastic scenes in giant CinemaScope.

The Lindenbrook Expedition Discovers Atlantis

Journey to the Center of the Earth opens in 19th century Scotland, where Professor Oliver S. Lindenbrook discovers a cryptic inscription inside a piece of volcanic rock. Lindenbrook believes it’s a message from Arnie Saknussemm, the legendary explorer who descended into the bowels of the earth alone some 300 years ago and was never heard from again.

With young student Alec McEwen in tow, Professor Lindenbrook heads to Iceland where he hopes to duplicate Arnie Saknussemm’s journey. In Reykjavik, he finds that a rival, Professor Goteberg of Stockholm University, has been murdered in his hotel room. The leading suspect is Count Saknussemm, a descendant of the famous explorer who is planning a journey below as well.

Professor Goteborg’s widow, Carla, agrees to supply the Lindenbrook Expedition with all the necessary equipment from her late husband’s estate, with one stipulation: that she be allowed to accompany Lindenbrook on his journey. Reluctantly, Lindenbrook agrees, with Carla, Alec and a big, strapping Icelander named Hans Belker (along with his duck Gertrude) rounding out the team.

Following markers left by Arnie Saknussemm, the Lindenbrook party make their trek to the center of the earth. Along the way they encounter giant mushrooms, glowing rock formations, underground waterfalls, giant lizards, a vast subterranean ocean and the remnants of the lost continent of Atlantis.

Journey to the Center of the Earth Premieres in New York City

Journey to the Center of the Earth opened at New York City’s Paramount Theater on December 16, 1959.

“The true-blue sci-fi fan may find aspects of the picture ludicrous, but if one is willing to accept the film as one big spoof, it can turn out to be a fairly amusing entry,” observed Variety (12/9/59).

“Its main success is as a children’s film, one of the best to come along in some time…” opined Paul V. Beckley of The New York Herald Tribune (12/17/59).

“Good, clean, gaudy fun without a brain or a message in its pretty little head, which should be enough for anyone,” offered John P. Case in Films in Review (1/60).

Journey to the Center of the Earth pressbook image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Journey to the Center of the Earth Box Office, Trivia, DVD

• Journey to the Center of the Earth grossed $4.777 million, earning the #17 position on the list of the top moneymaking films of 1959.
• The film garnered three Oscar nominations: Best Color Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Special Effects and Best Sound.
• Pat Boone performs four songs: “The Faithful Heart,” “Twice as Tall,” “My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose” and “My Heart’s in the Highlands.”
• On DVD: Journey to the Center of the Earth (Twentieth Century-Fox, 2003).

“I don’t sleep. I hate those little slices of death,” Count Saknussemm declares.

Giant lizards, a quacking duck, Pat Boone singing – no one else will sleep through this movie either…

First Men in the Moon lobby card set image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Director Nathan Juran and Columbia Pictures delivered the fantastic First Men in the Moon to movie theaters in 1964. Lionel Jeffries plays the eccentric scientist, with Edward Judd and Martha Hyer along for the moon trek.

H.G. Wells’ First Men in the Moon

First Men in the Moon is based on the novel of the same name by British author H.G. (Herbert George) Wells (1866-1946). First published in 1901 by George Newnes Ltd. of London, First Men in the Moon told the story of a businessman and scientist who undertake a journey to the moon using the latter’s invention, an anti-gravity compound called Cavorite.

First Men in the Moon was adapted for the silent screen 18 years later. Directed by Bruce Gordon and J.L.V. Leigh for Gaumont British Picture Corporation, this crude 1919 film featured Bruce Gordon, Heather Thatcher, Hector Abbas, Lionel d’Aragon and Cecil Morton York in the lead roles.

Nathan Juran Directs First Men in the Moon

Nigel Kneale and Jan Read penned the 1964 screenplay for Ameran Films and Columbia Pictures. Directing the action was Nathan Juran, whose previous science fiction credits included The Deadly Mantis (1957), 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957), Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958) and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958).

Producer Charles H. Schneer employed Wilkie Cooper as cinematographer and Laurie Johnson as music director. The legendary Ray Harryhausen (It Came from Beneath the Sea, Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans) created the film’s dazzling special effects, with assistance from Les Bowie, Kit West and Bob Cuff.

First Men in the Moon Cast

Edward Judd (Arnold Bedford), Martha Hyer (Katherine “Kate” Callender) and Lionel Jeffries (Joseph Cavor) head the fine cast. Other players are Miles Malleson (Dymchurch Registrar), Norman Bird (Stuart), Gladys Henson (Nursing Home Matron), Hugh McDermott (Richard Challis), Betty McDowall (Margaret Hoy), Paul Carpenter (Express Reporter), Erik Chitty (Gibbs), Laurence Herder (Glushkov), Sean Kelly (Col. Rice), Marne Maitland (Dr. Tok), Gordon Robinson (Andrew Martin), John Murray Scott (Cosmonaut Nevsky) and Huw Thomas (Announcer).

Peter Finch makes an uncredited cameo appearance in the role of Bailiff’s Man. The visiting Finch was commandeered for the part when the assigned actor failed to show.

Filmed in the United Kingdom

First Men in the Moon was filmed in Chertsey and New Haw, United Kingdom. Shepperton Studios in the UK served as the film’s in-house production facility.

The movie was shot using Ray Harryhausen’s Dynamation Process, a filming technique that effectively combined live action with stop-motion in the same frame. Harryhausen had pioneered Dynamation while working on The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953).

British Moon Landing in 1899

First Men in the Moon opens in 1964, where a United Nations expedition lands on the moon amidst great fanfare back on Earth. Exiting their spacecraft, the international team of explorers soon discover an old British Union Jack and a makeshift letter of proclamation claiming the moon for Queen Victoria.

The letter is eventually tracked down to one of its authors, Arnold Bedford, who is currently residing in a retirement home in England. Descended upon by the media, Bedford begins to relate his fantastic tale of 65 years ago.

In flashback form, the aged Bedford tells of his meeting with Professor Joseph Cavor, an eccentric genius who creates an anti-gravity compound called Cavorite. After applying the substance to a special sphere constructed in the laboratory, Cavor, Bedford and Bedford’s fiancee Kate Callender embark on a trip to the moon in 1899.

Donning special spacesuits, Bedford and Cavor exit the sphere, eventually descending into the moon’s interior where they discover an entire civilization populated by the insect-like Selenites. Back in the present day, Bedford issues a warning to the UN team as they began their underground descent.

First Men in the Moon Premieres in England

First Men in the Moon opened in England on August 16, 1964. It later came to American movie theaters on November 20, 1964.  

“Ray Harryhausen and his special effects men have another high old time in this piece of science-fiction hokum filmed in Dynamation,” reported Variety (8/5/64).

“At least First Men in the Moon is clean. And just as dull. Only the most indulgent youngsters should derive much stimulation – yet alone fun – from the tedious, heavy-handed science-fiction vehicle that arrived yesterday from England…” observed Howard Thompson of The New York Times (11/26/64).

First Men in the Moon Movie Memorabilia, DVD

• Auction results for original First Men in the Moon movie material courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries, Dallas, Texas: one sheet poster ($36), insert poster ($62), complete set of eight lobby cards ($69), six sheet poster ($131.45), half sheet poster ($83.65), French Grande poster ($191.20), Gold Key 1965 tie-in comic book very fine/near mint condition ($29).
• On DVD: H.G. Wells’ First Men in the Moon (Columbia, 2002).

“Poor Cavor! He did have such a terrible cold,” Edward Judd declares.

Remember that line…

Image of Alien Czech movie poster courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

“In space no one can hear you scream.” So promised the promotional material for Alien, Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi box-office hit starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver and Harry Dean Stanton.

Ridley Scott Directs Alien

Dan O’Bannon and  Ronald Shusett wrote Alien for Brandywine Productions and Twentieth Century-Fox. Originally tapped to direct the film was Arthur Hill, who was replaced by Ridley Scott. Three years later, Scott would also direct another science fiction classic, Blade Runner (1982).

Alien Cast

The lean cast is comprised of Tom Skerritt (Captain Dallas), Sigourney Weaver (Ellen Ripley), Veronica Cartwright (Lambert), Harry Dean Stanton (Brett), John Hurt (Kane), Ian Holm (Ash), Yaphet Kotto (Parker), Bolaji Badejo (Alien) and Helen Horton (Voice of Mother).  

Veronica Cartwright – light years away from her days as little Violet Rutherford on TV’s Leave It To Beaver (1957-63) – was originally slated to play Ripley. Jon Finch was first cast as Kane, but was replaced by John Hurt after Finch’s diabetes raged out of control.

Alien Filmed in England

Budgeted at $11 million, Alien was filmed from July to December 1978 at Shepperton and Bray Studios in England. Employed as atmospheric interior scenery for the spaceship Nostromo were shots from airplane graveyards.

As befitting a sci-fi movie of Alien’s stature, an array of props and special effects were used with deadly efficiency. Aside from the big seven-ton Nostromo, which was constructed as one piece, the next largest props were the adult alien and the accompanying alien architecture, designed by artist/sculptor H.R. Giger.

Other props employed included various models, movie-made extraterrestrial slime, two alien costumes (one worn by a stunt man and the other by a seven-foot tall Masia tribesman), colored water simulating blood, and 130 Hollywood-generated alien eggs.

In Space No One Can Hear You Scream

Alien opens in serene quiet, with the seven-man crew of the Nostromo making their way from Thedus to Earth in the year 2037. In suspended animation, the crew is awakened by MU-TH-R 182 – or “Mother – the ship’s computer, which has detected an unidentified SOS transmission.

As part of their contract, the Nostromo crew must investigate any intelligent communication in space. Disengaging from the spacecraft via the shuttle, Captain Dallas, Lambert and Kane head down to the source of the transmission, a foreboding planet called LV-426, which is characterized by extreme cold and howling winds.

Donning spacesuits, the three explorers encounter a petrified alien life form which they believe to be long extinct. Suddenly, Kane, the ship’s executive officer, is attacked by a creature, who attaches itself to his helmet visor.

Making their way back to the Nostromo, Dallas and company are initially denied entry by Ripley, who cites the 24-hour quarantine procedure. Ash, the science officer, overrides that order, and later attempts to remove the thing attached to Kane’s face with a laser scalpel. His effort produces an acid-like substance that spills onto the floor and begins eating its way through the ship.

The alien creature eventually detaches itself from Kane’s face, but it has left a little calling card inside. Mother, the ship’s all-knowing computer, had earlier determined that the transmission was not an SOS call as originally believed, but a dire warning to all space travelers.

Alien Release, Reviews

Alien was released on May 25, 1979.

“Plainly put, Alien is an old-fashioned scary movie set in a highly realistic sci-fi future…” reported Variety (5/23/79).

“Ridley Scott’s 1979 movie is a great original,” observed Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times (10/26/03).

Alien Box Office, Awards, Sequels, TV Guide Honors, DVD

• Alien grossed $40.3 million at the box office, good for the #5 position on the list of the top moneymaking films of 1979.
• Alien was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration and Best Effects/Visual Effects (won).
• Alien spawned three sequels: Aliens (1986), Alien3 (1992) and Alien: Resurrection (1997)
• Alien placed #3 on TV Guide’s list of the “20 Scariest Movies” of all time (10/17/98).
• Alien’s famous “Gut Buster” scene, in which a face-hugging space critter rips its way out of John Hurt’s belly at the dinner table, placed #41 on TV Guide’s list of “The Greatest Movie Moments of All Time” (3/24/01).
• On DVD: Alien Quadrilogy (20th Century Fox, 2003).

“Final report, the commercial starship Nostromo, third officer reporting,” Ripley intones at the end of the film.

Don’t forget to include Special Order 937 in that log…

Loosely based on the concept of Star Trek, and Star Trek conventions, the film begins at a convention for a fictional sci-fi television show called Galaxy Quest. The scenes at the convention manages to both make fun of science fiction uber-fans and treat that particular sub-culture with warmth and respect. There is even a nod to the idea that Star Trek had shaped some of our modern technology, and is therefore not as laughable as it might seem to some. Though not a Trekkie myself, geeks are my people, so I appreciated the warm-hearted take that this film has toward our ilk.

In the Kirk/Shatner role is Tim Allen, who does a brilliant job of taking the stereotypical impressions that Trek-lore has given about the actor and character and fleshing it out, creating a character that is whole and believable, even with the gonzo plot. Sigourney Weaver, who, in spite of her role in the infamous Ghostbusters movies is not known for her comedic acting is also surprisingly funny. Alan Rickman is sheer genius in the Spock/Nemoy role. Tony Shaloub’s laid back, stoner persona of the Scottie-esque character is all his own and works really well in this film. Sam Rockwell plays an “extra” cast member – an infamous red-shirt who is just along for the ride. (A “red-shirt” is one of those characters who appears once, does not have a last name, and typically dies within the first ten minutes of an episode of Star Trek, and in the fictional series of Galaxy Quest, this apparently also holds true.)

The plot is that the cast of Galaxy Quest makes an appearance at a convention – their acting careers reduced to public appearances at conventions and store openings – when Tim Allen’s character is approached by a group of aliens requesting his help. Believing the aliens to be another group of fans with their own take on aliens from the show, Allen agrees to help them negotiate with an enemy, assuming also that the negotiation is simply a way of discussing the terms of his personal appearance. It turns out that the aliens are real and have been watching Galaxy Quest, believing the television show to be historical documents rather than a fictional television program. From there, the entire cast of Galaxy Quest is taken to literally fill the roles that the show had created for them, with lots of space age hi-jinks. What is great about this movie is that while it uses gags that Star Trek fans will recognize as inside jokes, it manages to keep people who have never seen a single episode of Star Trek completely entertained.

One of the things that strikes me about this film as easily overlooked but remarkable is how the technical aspects came together. Think about it, with a plot like this, the director, cinematographer, props, costumes and special effects teams have to work together to give fake episodes of Galaxy Quest that retro sci-fi look, then they have to apply those visuals to the modern day earth world in a sci-fi convention setting, and then they have to make it look real when the characters are thrown into an actual space. The level of detail and expertise to basically create three entirely different fictional settings is mind-boggling, but it is done seamlessly – and the film itself is still laugh out loud funny. I definitely recommend this one for family viewing, and with a PG rating, its one of those to keep on the back-burner as holidays approach for when everyone gets sick of Jimmy Stewart and Bing Crosby.