ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

If a great cast guaranteed a great movie, the DVD for this one would be in everybody's rack. Sadly, a movie's cast and a movie's quality are apples and oranges, and this film didn't turn out to be the bountiful fruit basket the producers hoped for.

Consider the list of luminaries in this disaster movie — a phrase that describes both the genre and the film's financial success. Sean Connery, Natalie Wood, Karl Malden, Brian Keith, Martin Landau, Trevor Howard, Henry Fonda, and lots of other familiar names. They tried to get Queen Elizabeth and Pope John Paul II, but there were scheduling conflicts.





The problem with making a movie like this is that it cries out for lots and lots of awesome special effects showing death, destruction, and carnage. In the modern world of CGI-happy directors, stuff like that is a walk in the park. But back in the Carter era, you could throw large wads of cash at a problem like that and still get FX that looked like exploding doll houses and dangling puppet shows.





The budget was $16 million, but only made $8 milllion — which would be a nice profit if it wasn't also the same amount the movie lacked in breaking even.

Armageddon tried this idea again with a less serious tone (a bit too "less serious"), and Deep Impact tried it with pretty much the same tone as this one. It was moderately successful.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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I'm not sure I've ever seen this one, and YouTube has several versions of it — which means I could probably find even better versions of it through sources like Vidzi.tv.

If you haven't seen it, or you like it but haven't seen it in a long time, here's your chance!

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___________________ Meteor (1979) - Trailer


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________________________ Meteor (1979)


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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I watched this one yesterday, and it's so damn bad, AIP studios deserved to go bankrupt for making this abysmal piece of crap. It's THAT bad!

Do not waste your time, guys.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

Smoke and Mirrors by Mark D. Wolf.

---yet another misfire by A.I.P. Trying to up their game as a "big" studio, all they succeeded in doing was making the star-studded cast look lost among anemic visual effects---which included recycling disaster footage from Avalanche (1978). The menacing meteor was a chunk of volcanic rock from Hawaii.

Sidebar: Well, there's the problem right there. Tourists aren't supposed to collect volcanic rocks in Hawaii and take 'em back home. You'll be cursed if you do.

This one looked like A.I.P. put more bucks into the production than their other "B" films by a longshot.

But it wasn't enough.

I particularly recall seeing the film in the theater and being shocked at how poorly the space platforms were that held U.S. & U.S.S.R. missiles.

Looked like it was from a hobby shop...and not a good one. Natalie looked beautiful as ever and got to speak Russian, which she could in real life. I read that she loathed making The Great Race epic comedy movie; I'm thinking after making Meteor she might have reconsidered The Great Race as her unhappiest experience.

[Bud Brewster]