Old Science Fiction...

[birdguy 3,946]

Three excellent scifi movies of my generation are being shown on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) this evening starting at 6:00pm MDT.

From 1956 - Earth versus the Flying Saucers

From 1978 - Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  Early movie parts for Donald Southerland and Leonard Nemoy.

From 1982 - The Thing.  He's not credited but James Arness of Gunsmoke fame plays the Thing.

Noel

[vgbaron 3,701]

25 minutes ago, birdguy said:

From 1982 - The Thing.  He's not credited but James Arness of Gunsmoke fame plays the Thing.

Nope Noel - that was the original 1951 version  with Ken Tobey where James Arness was the monster - this (1982) is a remake with Kurt Russell.

[charliearon 3,030]

Earth vs the Fly Saucers!  That's why I have an infinitely indexed memory bank! 🛸

James Arness as the walking carrot!

Some old times classics that I will always watch:

The Day the Earth Stood Still........With Michael Rennie

Forbidden Planet....With Walter Pidgeon and Leslie Neilsen

This Island Earth

War of the Worlds....  With Gene Barry...scared the crap outta me and my sister

[sightseer 895]

I had no idea our generations overlapped as far as movies were concerned.  I just watched (my mom and I) "2010:The Year We Make Contact" which is a reasonably good sequel to 2001:A Space Odyssey (one of my all time favorites).   We were on a Star Wars kick before that.  Is "Close Encounters of a Third Kind" on your list?  That was good...need to see that again.

[birdguy 3,946]

I didn't realize The Thing was a remake.  I doubt I ever saw the version that's playing this evening.  I only recall the first version.

Forbidden Planet was kinda hokey Charlie.  And I never liked Walter Pidgeon's voice no matter what he played in.  He always sounded kinda superior to everyone else.

Noel  

[charliearon 3,030]

But, Noel, do you realize that the captain (Leslie Nielsen) was Gene Roddenberry's inspiration for Captain Pike/Kirk,  He was swave and deboner and Captain "Perfect Hair".  And, who didn't like Anne Francis in her short little skirt????? 🤪

[birdguy 3,946]

Yeah, Ann Francis was nice to look at and Leslie Neilson was OK.  But it was still hokey.  I might have liked it better if Walter Pigeon hadn't been in it.

Noel

[GACSavannah 227]

3 hours ago, vgbaron said:

Nope Noel - ...- this (1982) is a remake with Kurt Russell.

Little known fact here...the first person to file a UFO report when the "Arizona Lights" UFO was buzzing around (The BIG triangular shaped one) was .... Kurt Russell. The same Kurt Russell. Funny how things in the movies sometimes transition over to the real world, isn't it?

[sightseer 895]

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea?

Journey to the Center of the Earth?

[HiFlyer 9,363]

 

 

 

 

 

[birdguy 3,946]

I stayed up until midnight and watched all three of the old scifi pics.

From 1956 - Earth versus the Flying Saucers.

Not bad for the period.  seeing the old ideas and how to defeat hostile aliens was pretty good.  Three stars.

From 1978 - Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  Early movie parts for Donald Southerland and Leonard Nemoy.

This was an excellent remake of the original.  The only thing different was the location.  It was moved from Marin County and Calistoga (where the mud baths really are) to San Francisco.  That's OK.  They're very close to each other.  And the mudbath scenes were actually taken in the real mud baths in Calistoga.  I've been there and I recoginze them.  They even included the dog with a man's head from the original.  And while the location of the final scene was different (at Civic Center instead of on the street), the acting was identical.  I give this remake four stars.

From 1982 - The Thing. 

UUggggh!  Nothing like the original at all except for the title.  Too much action.  No time to stop and take a breath.  The alien in the original did not invade human and dog bodies.  There were no explosions in the original, but this rendition was replete with them eventually destroying the entire station.   Flame throwers were used on all the invaded bodies.  In the original the flame thrower is used just once to destroy the alien at the very end.  I only give it a half a star.

Noel

 

 

[LHookins 3,104]

On 7/8/2022 at 10:44 AM, birdguy said:

From 1956 - Earth versus the Flying Saucers

This was the first movie I ever saw in a theater.  The aliens were a bit scary.  I was 6 or 7 at the time.

 

On 7/8/2022 at 10:44 AM, birdguy said:

From 1978 - Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

The original was much better.  It was the best of the four (I think) versions.

The book was even better than the movie.  Available for Kindle which you can read on a free PC app.

----

Love the Body Snatchers story.  Another good one is Heinlein's The Puppet Masters.  The book (recently available on Kindle) is much better than the movie.  I actually read that one aloud to my wife before we were married... she had vision problems.

Hook

[charliearon 3,030]

Noel, in the original  "The Thing" he was destroyed when they made a walkway that was electrified and poor James Aness was incinerated by electricity!  They did torch him earlier in the movie that sent him running, on fire, out of the building.

 

[birdguy 3,946]

You're right again Charlie.  My old memory banks d work that well anymore.

Noel

[vgbaron 3,701]

The overall effects in Forbidden Planet were not that good but the dialog and story was excellent. I had a copy of the entire soundtrack and I would listen to it. It was like books on tape - the story and dialogue carried the excitement. I also had a copy of the soundtrack from the original The Thing and it was the same. You didn't need the visuals to make it scary - the story was well written.

Compare that to some of todays blockbusters and you find that today, they rely on special effects and CGI to carry the story. The dialogue is incidental.