Description

With this silent-era spectacle, Cecil B. DeMille cemented his reputation as the master of the biblical epic. DeMille tells the story of Christ's life and Passion with great attention to historical accuracy, along the way paying homage to the religious illustrations of Da Vinci and Doré, and, in a modern flourish, restaging Christ's resurrection in luminous Technicolor. In time for Christmas, Criterion will present fully restored editions of both versions of this glorious spectacle in a heavenly two-disc set: the original 155-minute silent version from 1927 - never before available on home video - and the 1931 release, re-cut by DeMille to 112 minutes. The DVD edition will also include new Dolby Digital 5.1 scores by composers Donald Sosin (1927 version) and Timothy J. Tikker (1931 version); the original score for the 1931 release by Hugo Riesenfeld; behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the film; cast portraits, production and costume sketches, a stills gallery of production photos and promotional material; the original illustrated program and press book featuring photographs from the film's gala premiere; and more. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

The King of Kings was a cinematic tour de force
When I think about this movie, I have to remember to place myself back in 1927 - the last year in which all movies were made in a silent format. To see the life of Christ depicted in such a visually rich format, despite the limited technical resources available to a movie director like DeMille, was truly inspiring. What I liked the most was the end of the movie (and who doesn't like the end of the story of Jesus:), but I mean this from a cinematic point of view. Do not read any further if you don't want to, because I will reveal the DeMille genius. The last scene in black and white has the Apostles taking the Body of Jesus down the pathway and into the tomb. They then roll the stone in front and depart. The screen remains black for what feels like an "eternity". I am sure the people who originally saw the movie in a theater must have been nervous, with the only sound being the movie projector rolling above them. Then, the scene changes to reveal Easter Sunday morning, and the rest of the movie appeared in color, as if the whole world had changed for the better, thanks to the Resurrection. It is visually stunning, and worth watching the whole movie just for that. All in all, an excellent film, and one that gives classic movie buffs like myself great pleasure.

Rev. Mark Moretti

Simply Remarkable!
I hadn't seen this movie since I was a little girl; then, I saw on my way to a church hall party that the film was going to be shown later in the church that very night with live organ accompaniment. Well, I left the party early to see "King of Kings" and that was no mistake! HB Warner turns in a sensitive performance as Christ, one of the best I've seen. His Jesus is gentle without being weak, which so often happens in other films. There's also a very talented child actor playing the part of a young evangelist Luke, who is healed of his lameness by Christ. For me, the most effective special effect sequence was in the beginning, when Mary Magdalene barges in on Christ and his followers. She is a brazen hussy driving a zebra-drawn chariot and is determined to give Christ a hard time for stealing away Judas, her apparant boyfriend. Then, as Christ merely looks at her, she undergoes a transformation as she is cleansed of the Seven Deadly Sins before our eyes. The appearance of each sin as it is drawn from her body is astounding. From that moment on, I was hooked!

If you would like to see an excellent version of the Christ story, look no further than this silent masterpiece.

Jesus Christ Never Existed.
'King of Kings' made in 1927 is a famous film some people have seen or at least heard about. Most people fail to realize all of that doesn't matter because Jesus Christ never existed!! Jesus Christ is a mythological figure the church has exploited for hundreds of years and now the film industry has for almost a hundred years. There is absolutely no archeological or historical evidence that Jesus Christ existed. Even if he did exist, it would be highly unlikely he would have received that kind of punishment.
It is a shame that con artists like these filmmakers are using this mythological figure to make millions of dollars. People have to start swaying away from the manipulations of the church and the filmmaking industry and start looking at the hard facts. Jesus Christ and his crucifixion never happened.

nubian slaves, harness my zebras!
H.B.Warner plays Jesus as a hallmark card and Magdalene has a romance with the traitorous Judas. When she gose to look for him, she rushes out to her chariot, looks at her slaves and delivers the most funny silent title of all time;
NUBIAN SLAVES, HARNESS MY ZEBRAS!

priceless!

The Silent Movie Version of The King Of Kings!
This 1927 silent movie The King of Kings directed by celebrated film director Cecil B. Demille was on Turner Classic Movies a couple of nights ago and I watched it and taped it and it was a pretty good movie. At first I was taken aback by all of the heavy theatrical makeup that was used on some of the actors, a look that was very popular at the time and I first thought that the actor who played Jesus looked a lot older then the 33 years old that I believe Jesus was at the time but after awhile you get past that and the story of Jesus really shines through and the actor who played Jesus really gave a moving, inspirational performance and I very greatly recommend this movie. Has this version been put out on DVD yet? If not it really should be transferred to DVD! The only negative thing about this movie is the bizarre and overly theatrical depiction of Mary Magdalene and her riding in on a carriage driven by zebras and I almost gave up on the movie because of that but the scenes with the actor playing Jesus made up for the Mary Magdalene scenes. Btw: This movie is mostly in black and white with one color scene. There is a remake of this movie from 1961 and that is being shown on TCM today and I will tape and watch that one too! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Double feature - double pleasure
"Monsieur Beaucaire" (1946), this is Bob Hope at a top performance for a Costume Comedy at the style of "The princess & the pirate". The action occurs in the courts of France and Spain, nations on the verge of war. Bob Hope is Monsieur Beaucaire, the King Louis XV's barber forced to impersonate a duc named Le Chandre, or lose his head. At the same time, in Madrid, the traitorus Don Francisco commander of the spanish Army, wants to prevent the upcoming marriage of Le Chandre with Maria (a Spanish princess) and plans eliminate a Bob Hope, in order to destabilize the crown, unleashing a war between the countries. At the end, we see a Bob avoid the homicidal plans with lots of comic situations and gags. Very very Funny!

"Where There's Life" (1947), a year later Bob had a royal performance, when he is convinced by the General Katrina Grimovitch (Signe Hasso) that he is the heir of Barovia, and must ascend to the throne in order to let organized the fist democratic election in the country avoiding that an evil organization take the control. Of course this is a good excuse
for persecutions and gags of all kind. Very funny (only?).

This double feature disc represents a good value for Hope's fans and for all who want an inexpesive laugh now or later.

GREAT movie and DVD
Because I was only looking for "Monsieur Beaucaire", I was reluctant to buy this disc (it is only one disc not two) but I did and was pleasantly surprised by the hidden treasure "Where There's Life."

"Monsieur Beaucaire" is often seen on TV and is Bob Hope at his best. If you liked "Princess and The Pirate" then you will enjoy this title.

"Where There's Life" rarely shows on TV and is one of those movies you remember seeing, enjoying but just can't remember the title. It is a Hope "GEM" with an ensemble cast that delievers a wonderful movie. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

FAUX HISTORICAL EPIC - FLASHY BUT INACCURATE
"The Plainsman" represents the directorial prowess of Cecil B. DeMille at its most inaccurate and un-factual. It sets up parallel plots for no less stellar an entourage than Wild Bill Hickok (Gary Cooper), Buffalo Bill Cody (James Ellison), Calamity Jane (Jean Arthur), George Armstrong Custer and Abraham Lincoln to interact, even though in reality Lincoln was already dead at the time the story takes place. Every once in a while DeMille floats dangerously close toward the truth, but just as easily veers away from it into unabashed spectacle and showmanship. The film is an attempt to buttress Custer's last stand with a heap of fiction that is only loosely based on the lives of people, who were already the product of manufactured stuffs and legends.
TRANSFER: Considering the vintage of the film, this is a moderately appealing transfer, with often clean whites and extremely solid blacks. There's a considerable amount of film grain in some scenes and an absence of it at other moments. All in all, the image quality is therefore somewhat inconsistent, but it is never all bad or all good - just a bit better than middle of the road. Age related artifacts are kept to a minimum and digital anomalies do not distract. The audio is mono but nicely balanced.
EXTRAS: Forget it. It's Universal!
BOTTOM LINE: As pseudo-history painted on celluloid, this western is compelling and fun. Just take its characters and story with a grain of salt - in some cases - a whole box seems more appropriate!

CALAMITY JANE
On September 17, 1868, while fording the south fork of the Republican River in what is now Colorado, General "Sandy" Forsyth was ambushed by 600 Cheyennes and Arapahoes. Outnumbered ten to one, Forsyth and his troops took refuge on a brushy island in the middle of the river and for nine days stood off one of the fierest charges in the history of Indian wars. The ten years which followed this gallant episode saw the final defeat of the Indians on the Northern half of the Great Plains. Some 300 battles were fought, chiefly against the Sioux and Cheyennes. In 1876, the two nations rallied to wipe out General Custer's regiment on the Little Big Horn. By 1880, Indians were no longer a power on the plains. Cecil B. DeMille, the producer of super-colassal spectacles of the thirties and forties goes the American West for THE PLAINSMAN. The film opens with a prologue shot of President Lincoln and his Cabinet, from then on compresses many actual events in the history of the Great Plains. Its hero and heroine are two of the most famous characters of the West "Wild" Bill Hickok and "Calamity Jane" ably portrayed by Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur (whose Calamity is decidedly more glamourous - with rouge and mascara applied - than was the real Martha Jane Canary!) In one segment, the Cheyennes ambush Buffalo Bill for twelve minutes ; it was considered quite an exciting climax to 1937 audiences.

The West as it SHOULD have been!
This epic western condenses "many years into an hourglass". In 1936 when it was made, it used available information & speculation, added a big dose of romance, & created a masterpiece. More recent research has rendered some of the plot devices obsolete, but for the lovers of great film, who cares? The friendship of Hickok & Cody was true enough, & the rest is good fun. Cooper & Arthur are superb, & the supporting cast is terrific. This is a must-see film for anyone.

Grand Old-Fashioned Movie-Making
The Plainsman is terrific fun, grand and old-fashioned movie-making in the best sense of the word. Gary Cooper is splendid as Wild Bill Hickok. And even though the facts are bent and twisted, there is something so honest in his portrayal of Hickok, you get the idea that he has managed to reveal the real Hickok. Jean Arthur is also wonderful, as Calamity Jane. A real flaw is James Ellison as Buffalo Bill, he throws off every scene he appears in, especially when in the same frame as the iconic Cooper. It is also less than politically correct in its treatment of Native Americans.

Fascinating Cooper
THE PLAINSMAN is probably all the things its champions and its detractors say it is. Graham Greene felt it was the best western ever made when he reviewed it in 1936. Others point to the clumsy plotting and awkward pacing. However, there are things in it which are just wonderful! Take the opening sequence, with the illegal gun runners plotting how to get around government laws. It is tightly written, bitterly ironic and flawlessly acted. Indeed, it is as up-to-date as John Le Carre's fine novel about illegal gun runners of today -- THE NIGHT MANAGER. There are beautifully handled set-pieces, especially the shoot-out on a dusty, deserted street, shot in one long take, in which Cooper kills three villains. No MTV-style editing here, no tight close-ups of guns exploding, bodies flying, etc. You aren't asking yourself after the scene is over, how did he kill all those guys? And then there is Cooper's performance -- since he knew from the beginiing that his character was to die at the end, he played throughout as if his Hickok was doomed and well knew it. The weary fatalism in the way he utters his lines, the bleak look in his eyes for most of the film, it is a very, very fine performance. A performance which isn't given its due, perhaps because it is a DeMille film. For all its flaws, this is a movie with a great deal recommending it. Try it. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Two Good Paramount films of the 1940s
Both of these films represent the type of film Paramount was famous for in the 1940s: brash, energetic, we're-all-in-on-the-joke type comedies that appealed to young men and women of that era.

My favorite of the two is "Star Spangled Rhythm." Make no mistake, this is no more a Bob Hope film than it was a Bing Crosby film when it was marketed as one on VHS in the 1990s. This is more an Eddie Bracken-Betty Hutton film, but also features every star on the Paramount lot during World War Two. This is by far one of the most bizzare films anyone will ever see, with a convoluted plot featuring a Navy man who thinks his dad runs Paramount, but who, in reality, is the security guard at the front gate. So.... the first half of the film deals with trying to keep that secret from Eddie Bracken, while at the same time trying to convince the Paramount stars to perform in a show for the Navy. Along the way, there are plenty of breezy and brash musical numbers that totally epitomize the Paramount musical comedy of the war era. Then, the second half of the film is the actual show they put on, while trying to hide everyone from the "real" head of Paramount. These skits are hit and miss. Some work, others don't. But the kicker is the patriotic finale featuring Bing.

As noted before, this is the most bizarre film I've ever seen, but it's one that I really love despite, or maybe because of its unbelievably strange nature.

Breakthrough Hope Classics...
Bob Hope had for some time said on his radio show that Madeleine Carroll was his "favorite blonde". The actress called to thank him, and a movie pairing soon followed. A parody of spy films (most notably "The 39 Steps"), the film delivers the laughs as British agent Carroll evades the Nazi bad guys with unwilling help from a penguin-toting vadevillian performer played by Hope.

Gale Sondergaard plays the spy chief with a prerequisite dose of iciness. Sadly, she isn't featured as much as one could wish, but her henchmen fit the bill as the heavies.

"Star Spangled Rhythm" is a welcome, but odd inclusion on the disc. The story is a classic screwball comedy mixed with a dose of "Stage Door Canteen". Unfortunately, the numbers in the big show not only defy logic (the size and scope of the production is rediculously larger than believability can allow), but on top of that, they are mostly dull, overlong, and uninspiring.

The majority of the big names touted in the credits are more or less confined to appearing in the big morale show, save for two nice turns by Cecil B. DeMille and Preston Sturges. Bing Crosby is limited to what amounts to an extended cameo, while Bob Hope fares little better. Only two numbers really stand out from the show. One is a nice number with Paulette Goddard, Dorothy Lamour, and Veronica Lake in "A Sweater, A Sarong, and a Peek-a-boo Bang". The title refers to the famous trademarks of each star (Goddard's sexy sweaters, Lamour's island-movie sarongs, and Lake's vision-obscuring hairdoo). The other number is the balletic winter dance sequence in which a GI dreams about his girl back home.

"If Men Played Cards As Women Do" is a Vadevillian piece that was first performed back in 1929, and unfortunately, shows its dated quality. By today's standards, the characters come off as simply "femme" given the subtlety of the act. The point of the skit is similar to that commercial where burly men say things like, "Do these jeans make me look fat?" Of course Ray Milland and Fred MacMurry, et al, are lots of fun, but the skit just doesn't hold up.

Back on the Paramount lot, however, there's a fun number about defense workers called "Swing Shift". And then there's an interesting scene where Betty Hutton tries to gain access to the Paramount lot by literally going over the wall, with next to no help whatsoever from a pair of helpful passerbys.

While Bob does emcee the big event, and helps Betty with some of her scheming, he isn't really the star here. As such, the film, while nice to have, is kind of out of place in the Bob Hope Tribute Collection.

Either way, it's a good disc for Bob fans. Production notes and trailers are included for each picture. ... Read more

Description

Lost for decades, cinema genius Ernst Lubitsch's historical drama "Eternal Love" is a wonderful rediscovery. Starring the great John Barrymore and the gorgeous Camilla Horn, the film features the legendary actor in a sexual tour-de-force. Barrymore's powerful love scenes with Horn are among both actors' best performances on film. UCLA Film and Television Archives have combined the original sound and picture quality for this film restoration. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

An Enduring Romance
Eternal love ~ what a premise! And in this terrific film it comes delivered to you via two star-crossed lovers Ciglia (Camilla Horn) and Marcus (Barrymore). Marcus prefers the wild mountainsides outside of his Swiss village only somewhat less than the pure and beautiful preacher's daughter Ciglia, whom he desires very much to marry. Uncle Tass (Hobart Bosworth) has other ideas, wishing for Ciglia the more staid and proper Lorenz (Victor Varconi), while wild mountain girl Pia (Mona Rico) has her own designs on Marcus, desiring him very much for herself. Pia seduces Marcus through some truly dishonourable conniving, dooming Marcus to marry her. Ciglia settles with Lorenz in an effort to heal her crushed heart, but of course this does nothing of the sort ~ Marcus and Ciglia hold blazing torches that no twists of fate can quell. Thus, the movie moves toward its devastating finale.

During a blizzard, Marcus becomes lost on the mountains. Pia, desperate to find him, implores Lorenz and Ciglia for help. Distraught at this news, Ciglia slips her facade for an instant arousing the suspicions of her husband. When Marcus arrives safely home, the jealous Lorenz bribes Marcus to take his leave from the village and from Ciglia once and for all. Marcus refuses, and Lorenz seeks a final, deadly revenge, during which he is mortally wounded. Marcus is now a marked man, and Ciglia's pleas of his innocence only serves to inflame the villagers to seek their own revenge on what they perceive as an adulterous couple.

What happens next adds a satisfying 'drama' to this melodrama, and contains a twist equal to the larger-than-life affections of Marcus and Ciglia, whose only real crime was loving each other despite, and in spite, of any and all circumstances.

This film should appeal to anyone with even a speck of the romantic, an appreciative eye for splendid scenery (filmed on location in the Canadian Rockies), and the taste for a rousing good story. Barrymore is a smouldering hero, his magnetism unabashedly evident in the love scenes. Camilla Horn is a gorgeous heroine that one cannot help aching with and for. The conniving Pia, on the other hand, is an absolute terror, and plays the bad girl to the hilt.

This DVD includes the original score to the film, and the picture quality is astonishing. Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 'Eternal Love' was his last silent film.

Restored and pleasing
I'll admit, I have been a silents fan for many years, but am still a novice, but I did enjoy this movie, and was surprised by the UCLA 'disclaimer' that this restoration was not up to their usual standards (or some such note). If that is the case, I would like to see their best standards! After years of suffering through bad copies of silents, with equally hideous "soundtracks" (of which there are a few exceptions), I was glad to see this movie restored to a good speed and brilliant contrasts of light and dark. Barrymore is elegant and graceful, mixing both outrageous humor (the scenes of his drunken revelry at the town party are funny, and a bit disheartening, much like Dinner At Eight), and brilliant drama (the lone scene of his finding the 'evil woman' had entered his room is incredibly portrayed with a few surprised, heavy heaves of the chest and narrowing eyes, more sexy to me than any obvious modern bedroom scene!)
Overall, there are much better stories, but to see Barrymore at his hearty best and Lubitsch's modern use of camera movement and beautiful mountain scenery, make this a worthwhile viewing.

European Film-making via Hollywood
The very late silent film era in Hollywood, 1927-28, saw a number of artistic films made by European directors that could have been right out of Ufa's studio in Germany. SUNRISE is perhaps the most obvious example, but ETERNAL LOVE is definitely in that category. Not really a "lost" film, ETERNAL LOVE was safely secured among Mary Pickford's own films that she refused to circulate. Bootleg prints of this film have been in circulation for years but I was disappointed that the quality of this print wasn't more impressive. Good yes, impressive No. The introduction alerts the viewer that the print is "substandard" - too bad they didn't place that notice on the box. I would have bought it anyway. The film is intelligently written, directed and acted but it seems a little too doom-laden for its own good. John Barrymore railed for years against the happy endings that always got tacked on to his films so at least in his last silent he got the tragedy he wanted. A Barrymore-Lubitsch collaboration should have given us a sparkling romantic comedy - and that loss is a real tragedy!

Long Lost Lubitsch Loses Little
Ernst Lubitsch is remembered today as "the man with the golden touch". His droll and witty comedies of the sexes from the 30's and 40's such as TROUBLE IN PARADISE and TO BE OR NOT TO BE certainly deserve their place in movie history. So do his silent films which thanks to present day technology are being made available to new generations of film lovers. MGM released one of his best known silent films THE STUDENT PRINCE IN OLD HEIDELBERG (1927) back in 1991. Image Entertainment released THE MARRIAGE CIRCLE (1924) last year. Now Milestone Film and Video, one of the top providers of silent films, have released ETERNAL LOVE on both VHS and DVD. Made at the end of the silent era (1929) with music and sound effects discs, the film has been beautifully restored with original materials by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Having just seen the film on VHS, I was astonished not only at its beauty (Lubitsch has always known how to use a camera) but also by the power of its simple story. Ill-fated love stories have been around forever but here as played out by John Barrymore and Camilla Horn, I found it unexpectedly moving. I was simply unable to look away. The setting is a village in Switzerland (it was filmed in the Canadian Rockies) and deals with love, individuality, honor, and small town morality. The ending, while quite expected, was still very effective. John Barrymore in a more subdued role than he usually played in films, gives a power and a dignity to his character that few others could have. Camilla Horn who was Gretchen in F.W. Murnau's FAUST, makes a beautiful and believable heroine. The supporting roles were equally well acted which led to the overall strength of the film. The only real drawback for me was the overdone makeup that Barrymore used in the first part of the film. How that made it past the dailies is beyond me. A small quibble though when put up against the rest of the film. While ETERNAL LOVE is no masterpiece, it is extremely well made by a master craftsman at the height of his powers.

Eternal Soap
Ernst Lubitsch was a famous Hollywood director{"Ninotchka" and "The Merry Widow" in the 1930's). John Barrymore stunned the world in 1922 with his Broadway "Hamlet". What a coo to combine these two entertainment giants in 1929, with "Eternal Love". I don't think so...Barrymore had starred in the first sound film, "Don Juan" in 1926. Audiences clamored for SOUND, not another silent. This would be the last for both. "Eternal Love" is the slow-moving tale of Marcus, a gruff mountain man who drinks too much. His lover is played by the German Camilla Horn(the producer Joe Schenk's mistress). The exquisite mountain photography of Baanf and the Canadian rockies cannot off-set the eternal soap-opera and Barrymore's ashen make-up. A critical and financial flop, United Artists shuttled it in and out of theatres quickly. Lubitsch's innuendo and deft touch are here, but it's not enough. To really enjoy the Shakespearean-trained Barrymore, see(and hear) his "Svengali", filmed at Warners in 1931. Or pick up "Grand Hotel(1932), the MGM classic where he woos Greta Garbo. Both are on DVD. UCLA did a magnificent restoration on "Eternal Love". But UCLA can't restore what was never there... ... Read more

Amazon.com

In the future, giant submarine liners ferry passengers and freight under the Arctic ice.But someone--or something--has made eight of them vanish without a trace.The U.S.S. Tiger Shark, the most powerful nuclear sub in the fleet, is sent to investigate and uncovers an alien life form that threatens to wipe humans off the face of the earth.This 1959 low-budget sci-fi flick deals with "atomic power" as a menace--and protector--of mankind. The sets and special effects are definitely low-budget, but the filmmakers showed what you can do with a smart script, a solid cast of character actors, a dark soundstage, and some imagination.A veritable crossroads of '50s low-budget filmmaking talent: producer Alex Gordon cowrote Ed Wood's Bride of the Monster, special effects supervisor Irving Block cowrote the classic Forbidden Planet, and composer Alexander Laszlo was a regular on Roger Corman pictures.Includes the original theatrical trailer. --Geof Miller ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Classic BEM attacks! Viewers win...
ATOMIC SUBMARINE is nifty. Here you have a very bad, cyclopean BUG-EYED MONSTER deployed to our ever vunerable Terra to scout its potential as a colonization planet. Its power source is earth's electromagnetic field so it particularly enjoys hanging-out at the North Pole. From its base, the BEM wages war against our "futuristic" submarine fleet. The latter comprises major commerce and transportation agency as well as military forte. The TIGER SHARK is commissioned to hunt the Bad Bug and save mankind (until next time). The FX of this late 50's thriller range from good to laughable. But that is why I consider the film so engaging. Sometimes you're watching stock footage of Admiral Rickover's prize nuclear sub Nautilus diving and surfacing at the Pole. Sometimes you get to see a squadron of bicarbonate of soda-powered toys cruising fish tanks full of plastic cube/glaciers simulating treacherous Polar regions. The reel-deal however, is the Alien craft. It is BIO-ORGANIC. That is, the monster and the space-ship are a singular entity. It may look hokey, but it's a stellar concept. The movie is 50's black-and-white sound stage action with a battle array of well-known monster mash matinee actors. Electronic music adds menace along with the fact that the BEM is genuinely UGLY. ATOMIC SUBMARINE is space monster opera. It's here to kill us. The good guys have to kill it. No quarter asked, none given. The classic BEM attacks...the viewer wins!

This one's all wet...
This film stinks. It gives B scifi a bad name -- even makes those Roger Corman movies look stunning. If possible, I would give it a negative rating to balance the positive reviews seen here. If you want cornball underwater action, buy "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea." Provided that your cerebral cortex is active, you'll agree it's a zillion times better.

Atomic Sub on every set at home
I saw this movie on the BIG screen when I was 6, and I was under the seat most of the time back in 1958. My parents lived within a block of the movie theater; thus, you know what I was doing at that age. The music and sound effects really added to the earie atmosphere of this movie; especially, when the beam of light melted the frogmen. The cyclops creature had me under the chair - I now know it's a hand inside the puppet - but on that BIG screen...

What fun...with my own reservations...
I have to admit that a few things about this film disappointed me. The acting was better than expected, and the script was somewhat literate. Other than that, this was all the schlock, bad F/X I expect from films of this genre & time period. It's interesting to know that this film was released by Allied Artists, which was a studio neck-to-neck with American-International for the drive-in crowd. A-I went somewhat legit when they went with the Corman/Poe/Vincent Price movies, later the Beach Party films. Allied Artists went a different route: they picked up the options for the American release of "epics" like EL CID and 55 DAYS AT PEKING. (My vote goes to A-I, for sheer originality...) Enough history... This is a fun film. The special effects are absolutely laughable, my favorite being the alien saucer leaving the polar ice cap, obviously a toy being pulled up through soft wax. A previous reviewer referred to this as "warmly corny"; I couldn't put it better. Bad sets, bad effects...and, of course, after Brett Halsey proves himself to be a hero and not a wimp, his shirt is suddenly open showing lots of manly chest-hair. What a guy! I've always liked Arthur Franz (especially in "Monster on the Campus"). All in all, it's loads of fun for the "bad sci-fi" afficianado. My major disappointment with the DVD, though it has great picture & sound quality, is that it should've been in Widescreen. At the beginning, they show News Headlines declaring horrible stuff, but you could only see the middle of the headline...there was no perifery. As far as sets go, the perifery wouldn't have mattered...but no one can deny that the majestic scenes of the Arctic (few as they were) would have been awesome. Watch this, and keep all of your other guilty pleasures (beverages, junk food, etc.) handy. If you can ignore the good points of the film, the bad points will overwhelm you and entertain.

Deep Sea Cheese
This movie has to be viewed more than once to appreciate it. A plastic submarine in an aquarium is hard to accept but all in all this movie is a pretty enjoyable watch. An alien saucer under the polar ice cap planning the take over of earth. As for the DVD itself the quality is quite good, no extras (other than the trailer/scene selections} but a nice clean picture. ... Read more