This Island Earth: Amazon.ca: Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue, Rex Reason, Lance Fuller, Russell Johnson, Douglas Spencer, Robert Nichols, Karl Ludwig Lindt, Jack Byron, Spencer Chan, Richard Deacon, Coleman Francis, Clifford Stine, Joseph M. Newman, Virgil W. Vogel, William Alland, Edward G. O'Callaghan, Franklin Coen, Raymond F. Jones: DVD

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A mysterious, pilotless plane carries scientist Rex Reason to a colony of America's best and brightest minds. They've been kidnapped by a dying alien race, the Metalunians, to repair their defense shield before their enemies destroy their world completely, toiling under their spying eyes and futuristic security cameras (two-way TVs that dominate every room). Jeff Morrow, under a raised forehead, bronze tan, and snow-white hair, philosophizes as Exeter, the thoughtful Metalunian torn between his duty and his morals as he forces the plucky humans to labor in his race's defense. The moody mystery of the first half turns to pure pulp adventure when the humans are transported across the galaxy to the battle-scarred world of Metaluna, under the threatening watch of a monstrous bug-eyed monster with a giant brain for a head and massive claws for hands. There's a genuine sense of wonder to Joseph Newman's intergalactic adventure, one of the most ambitious science fiction films of the 1950s. The story is simple space opera, but the futuristic designs of glass and metal, the marvelous alien makeup, and grandstanding special effects invest the film with a Technicolor splendor. Faith Domergue co-stars as a nuclear physicist and Gilligan's Island's Russell Johnson makes his first professorial appearance as a scientist. Science fiction auteur Jack Arnold was an unbilled codirector. --Sean Axmaker

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Customer Reviews

40 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

Average Customer Review

3.5 out of 5 stars (40 customer reviews)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Classic Of Early Science Fiction, Jun 28 2004

By

Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: This Island Earth (DVD)

It has taken me a few decades but I have finally seen the film This Island Earth (I had to buy it first). I must say that I was not disappointed by this well-crafted tale.

A physicist working on new power from uranium and the transmutation of elements to create more uranium, gets involved in a project of a far grander scale. Replacement parts are ordered for the lab but the parts that arrive seem far superior to anything that should be available. Then a catalogue of other equipment arrives and soon the lab is set on building a strange device.

The device is a communications console which puts the scientist in contact with a white-haired man seeking out talented scientists to tackle the issue of world-wide peace. The scientist joins a small think-tank of top researchers who are working on increasing the energy available from nuclear reactions. But it soon becomes apparent that all is not what it seems. The head of the project, and his assistant, are actually aliens. They are hoping that the human scientists can come up with a way to save their home planet.

The story then escalates to include the alien world and their plight at the hands of a second, and vicious, race of aliens. We learn of motives, deceits, and how far the peaceful will go to save their own home. Distrust and compassion struggle against one another until the film's conclusion.

This is not a typical B-movie of alien invasion. Unlike most of that type this film was not a quick project. Two and a half years were spent in the making so that the film is pretty well consistent within itself. The pacing of the plot's revelations is well handled and almost resembles a classic tale of A.E. van Vogt. This is definitely a film for fans of the great black and white science fiction films.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Lamest Sci-Fi You'll Actually Want To See, Oct 8 2009

By

K. HALE "M2MM" (Langley, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: This Island Earth (DVD)

This film is a really lame duck, mainly because it had so much potential, but the makers obviously ran out of money and couldn't finish it properly. You'll still want to see it, though. The cover is misleading as the "aliens" in the film are actually only one that you see in the last 5 minutes. The intelligent aliens are just ordinary folk with really BIG heads. The premise is interesting, and fairly well executed, but as previously said, the end is clearly rushed and poorly done, due to lack of funding. Have a good laugh anyway, but if you can find it in a rental, do so.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific Classic S/F, Oct 28 2006

By

Ray "Ray" (Alberta) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Island Earth (DVD)

I just recently purchased this S/F classic movie from the fifties. The last time I viewed "This Island Earth was some forty years ago on TV.

What a treat to enjoy this classic again. The tension slowly builds up in this film until the suspenceful conclusion on the ancient planet Metaluna in a far off galaxy. The special effects are truly incredible for that era.

Pure nostalgic entertainment for this old time Science Fiction fan.

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Most recent customer reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars This boring alien planet
Let's see -- hole-filled plot, cold war hysteria, wooden actors, and a plot that turns out to be completely pointless. Read more

Published 13 months ago by E. A Solinas

4.0 out of 5 stars "The two of you are about to take incredible journey"
I'm so glad I picked this dvd up when it was a reasonable price tag
I don't know how "Goodtimes" gets the rights to release "Universal"
prints but... Read more

Published on Mar 16 2004 by Brian C. Lawton