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Day the Earth Caught Fire, the

Edward Judd , Janet Munro , Val Guest    Unrated   DVD
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
Price: CDN$ 37.93
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Despite its melodramatic title, which carried on a '50s doomsday naming convention, this taut 1961 English science fiction thriller offers an object lesson in the power of story over special effects. When both the Soviets and the West detonate nuclear tests simultaneously, the seismic double whammy jolts the earth off its axis and onto a new orbit sending it fatally closer to the sun--a fate that writer-director-producer Val Guest views from the street-level perspective of its principal characters, rather than an off-world vantage point. The street in question, however, is London's Fleet Street, the venerable hub of its newspaper and tabloid publishers, and the hard-nosed reporters growing realization that their number is up carries its own stark punch. Edward Judd is Peter Stenning, a rugged, appropriately grim reporter, Leo McKern is tough but compassionate editor Bill Maguire, and Janet Munro is Stenning's love interest, in an elfin, sexy turn that's a striking contrast to her best-known turn in Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People. With an effects arsenal that consists largely of a spray bottle to apply beads of "sweat," Guest and his small but crack cast are surprisingly effective, and the cold war plot hook still works, thanks to its uncomfortable proximity to more contemporary environmental terrors. --Sam Sutherland

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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Another epic, Sci-Fi adventure from Val Guest May 20 2013
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This movie is one of many great science fiction thrillers to come out of the British Isles in the late 1950's and early
1960's. Val Guest, as a producer and director of films, was a driving force behind some of the best science fiction
works to be released at this time, including this one.

The Day the Earth Caught Fire is a story about a 'down-on-his-luck' news reporter, with a drinking problem. His
well-to-do-wife has left him and taken away his young son, to boot. Our intrepid hero is just wallowing in self pity and
hitting the bottle pretty hard. About to loose his job, when along comes Janet Munro, a switch-board operator at some government ministry, who somehow puts our our reporter friend on the trail of a huge government conspiracy to withhold
the truth from the public, about the Earth being dislodged from its orbit and heading for the sun. Doomsday for all, on
the horizon.
And what do reporters do best? They tell everyone. Poor Janet looses her job for leaking vital information to the press
and must come to work for the newspaper to survive. At close quarters, the relationship between Janet and the
reporter blossoms. She saves him and he saves her as society unravels and civil law no longer prevails, with the
'End of Everything' looming over everyone.This is a popular theme in British cinema. The break down of society
at large, whatever its external cause, has the effect of releasing the darker side of human nature, especially when it comes to ultimate survival. The movie deals with this theme admirably, from both the human and scientific aspects of
man. We are left with the question - Do we actually deserve to survive as a species? This is Sci-Fi at its best.

The DVD quality is good. Remastered from the original print, the black and white picture is sharp and the tinted scenes
come through very well. All in all, this is an excellent movie and deserves a place in anyone's video library.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
It's London, England in the early 1960's and both the United States and The Soviet Union have simultaneously set off nuclear explosions. At The London Daily Express news of weird and strange weather happenings around the world begin being reported to the public. However, as Science Reporter Bill McGuire and other reporters at the newspaper begin digging deeper into the story, they are shocked to discover that the explosions set off by the US and Soviet Union have knocked the earth off it's axis and sent it hurtling towards the sun. Now, the world's best scientists must find some way to prevent the Earth from being destroyed by the sun...but will they find it in time? and, more importantly, will it save the Earth from being destroyed by the sun??

This is another classic Sci-Fi film produced, directed and co-written by Val Guest (The Quartermass Xperiment). The situations surrounding the chaos are portrayed very realistically for it's time. What really surprised me about this film is it's use of Special Effects. Unlike today's ecological disaster films, like The Day After Tomorrow and The Core , The Day The Earth Caught Fire doesn't overwhelm you with Special Effects; they're used just enough to relate the gravity of the situation. The main focus of this movie is it's in-depth characterizations of the people involved and how they react to the idea that they may be living their last days on earth. Edward Judd (Carry On Sergeant, I Was Monty's Double) as newspaper reporter Peter Stenning, Janet Munro (Darby O'Gill and the Little People) as Jeanne Craig ,his source and love interest, Leo McKern ( The Prisoner, Rumpole Of The Bailey) as Science Report Bill McGuire and just-then-retired Chief Editor of The London Daily Express Arthur Christiansen as Chief Editor Jeff give performances that make you believe in the characters they're portraying. Look out for some steamy sex scenes with a teasingly naked Janet Munro and Edward Judd, pretty daring for it's time! If you look carefully near the end of the film, you'll see a young Michael Caine as a policeman directing traffic!

This film was released on DVD in 2001 and has been restored for the first time since it's release in 1961. The results of that restoration are marvellous, as not a bit of grain nor age spots can be found in the picture,. The sharpness and contrast are excellent, especially in the tinted scenes at the beginning and end, deliberately done that way to show the effect the sun is having on the Earth as it gets nearer! The Dolby Digital Mono soundtrack that accompanies the movie also sounds great! As for the extras, you'll get TV and Radio Spots for the film, A bio of Val Guest, the original theatrical trailer, and audio commentary by Val Guest and journalist Ted Newsom.

So, if you're looking to see a truly original Sci-Fi film that pre-dates today's Sci-Fi disaster flicks you'll certainly want to give this a try. You may even want to add it to your collection!

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5.0 out of 5 stars A sultry Janet Munro makes for a good story Aug 5 2010
By bernie TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:DVD
The story starts out with an orange filter. Then we plunge into a long flashback.

Strange things have been happening to the world, weather-wise that is. However, newspaper reporter Peter Stenning (Edward Judd) is too wrapped up in his own problems to notice this and wishes he were wrapped up in Jeannie Craig (Janet Munro) a Ministry switchboard operator who overhears a menacing secret.

Bill Maguire (Bill Maguire) in the process of hiring Jenny for the newspaper's own archives has a warning for her:
Bill," by the way I better warn you about some of these newsroom characters."
Jeannie," I'm a big girl now."
Bill." That's what I mean."

Things start to heat up as the cat is left out of the bag. Looks like there is going to be a hot time on the town tonight.

If you took out the stock footage this movie can easily be a stage play.
If you see the British version, Munro is missing her towel.

==========
DVD Extras
Trailer (what something missing from the U.S. version)
TV Spots
Radio Spots
Commentary with Director Val Guest and Journalist Ted Newsom
Still Gallery
Val Guest Bio

On the Beach
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Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Film
Imagine, an adult sci-fi film! What a concept. Not a single B.E.M. in sight. Easily one of the top ten sci-films of all time. Read more
Published on Nov 4 2007 by Cap
5.0 out of 5 stars long afternoon of earth
The late great VAL GUEST did a spot on job with this terrific doomsday thriller. Guest worked as a newspaper man during his early years and he gets the details of the journalism... Read more
Published on Aug 11 2006 by Raegan Butcher
4.0 out of 5 stars A disaster classic from England...
With the summer hoopla of the end-of-the-world saga "The Day After Tomorrow" smashing theaters, I'm reminded of one of the great disaster films of all time. Read more
Published on Jun 16 2004 by Chris K. Wilson
4.0 out of 5 stars Hammer sometimes made good movies....
Val Guest's script and direction are effectively handeled in this movie, that looks a bit more like an expanded Twilight Zone episode, rather then a movie, but the strength of the... Read more
Published on May 27 2004 by Joe Mac Guy
4.0 out of 5 stars I've got the marshmellows...
The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1962) has impressive credentials, given that it was co-written and directed by Val Guest, the man who brought to the screen such classic films as The... Read more
Published on April 2 2004 by cookieman108
4.0 out of 5 stars A 1950s Story for Our Times
I saw this film as a 15 year old in 1958 living in a west-of-London suburb and, with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmanent movement at its height, it resonated as loudly as a church... Read more
Published on Mar 14 2004 by M. ABBOTT
1.0 out of 5 stars This sucks.
this is the dumest movie since I saw Barney {with my freinds child} it's so stupid and and dumb I think it's a piece of older brother Roger says "it's so stupid I could kill... Read more
Published on Mar 1 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars Quality Filmmaking Hides Small Budget
Let's face it, most "end of the world" pictures are usually weak. This one is one of the most intelligent sci-fi films, in terms of dialogue and direction, ever made. Read more
Published on Dec 30 2003 by John Gentile
5.0 out of 5 stars Early Sci-Fi At Its Best
Unlike many examples of early sci-fi cinema, TDTECF combines a thought-provoking storyline with superb acting to create a very credible thriller about the countdown to Earth's... Read more
Published on April 16 2003 by David
4.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing adult SF.
The vast majority of science fiction films of this period were aimed at the younger set, but here is an exception. Read more
Published on Jan 12 2003 by Marc Russell
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