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This Island Earth (1955)
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Maurice
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 12:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
Starlog #15 had a great article about This Island Earth, and the Internet Archive.org has scans of that issue.

Since I volunteer at the Archive: you're welcome. Wink
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 9:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I watched This Island Earth yesterday with Gord Green and Bulldogtrekker in our chat room.

I own a copy of that Starlog, and I was pleased to find the scans of it on Archive.org so I could post it here on All Sci-Fi and generate fresh interest in This Island Earth.

The article raised my enthusiasm for the movie and made me aware of production details I hadn't known. It was the prefect "pep rally" to get me ready for a wild and woolly space adventure! Very Happy

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


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sat Aug 03, 2019 2:09 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 23, 2017 12:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would love to see a remake, but instead of re-making the original movie go back to the original novel for inspiration!

(Some comments from Wikipedia)



This Island Earth is a 1952 science fiction novel by American writer Raymond F. Jones. It was first published in Thrilling Wonder Stories magazine as a serialized set of three novelettes by Raymond F. Jones: "The Alien Machine" in the June 1949 issue, "The Shroud of Secrecy" in the December 1949 issue, and "The Greater Conflict" in the February 1950 issue. These three stories were later combined into the novel entitled This Island Earth in 1952. The novel became the basis for the 1955 science fiction film This Island Earth.

The story revolves around a race of aliens who, in recruiting humans for a group called "Peace Engineers", are actually using Earth as a pawn in an intergalactic war. Both the novel and the film contain some intriguing concepts that had not previously been considered by most science fiction of the time, but while the movie starts out in a very similar manner to the novel, it quickly goes its own way.

THE PLOT OF THE NOVEL :

At Ryberg Instrument Corporation, engineer Cal Meacham has received a quartet of bead-like devices that are meant to replace the condensers that he ordered. Thinking it a joke, he tests them anyway and finds that they work just as well as what he had ordered. He orders more and with them gets a catalogue filled with electronic apparatus completely unfamiliar to him. His interest piqued, he orders the parts necessary to build what the catalog calls an interociter.

When he turns the completed interociter on he confronts a man who invites him to join a group called Peace Engineers. Knowing that he would not refuse, the group sends a pilotless airplane to pick him up and take him to a small village/factory complex in a valley north of Phoenix, Arizona. He is greeted by Dr. Ruth Adams, a psychologist who seems to be afraid of something. Dr. Warner, the man he spoke with over the interociter, tells him that he will be in charge of the interociter assembly plant. He also meets Ole Swenberg, who was his roommate in college.

Six months later he meets the Chief Engineer, Mr. Jorgasnovara, who describes the Peace Engineers in terms reminiscent of the Babbage Society in Michael F. Flynn's novel In the Country of the Blind. Later he overhears Jorgasnovara's thoughts through the interociter in his laboratory. One night he and Ruth discover that the interociters are being shipped out, not by truck, but by spaceship. Again overhearing Jorgasnovara's thoughts, Cal learns that the Peace Engineers are involved in an interstellar war.

Cal believes that all of Earth should be participating in the war that the Peace Engineers have somehow gotten us into, so he gathers documents and samples and takes a small airplane to fly to Washington. Halfway to his destination he and his plane are snatched out of the air by a spaceship and taken to the moon. There Jorgasnovara tells Cal, Ruth, and Ole that Peace Engineers is actually run by his people, aliens called Llanna, and that the Llanna are engaged in a millennia-long, intergalactic war with people called Guarra.

Earth is now being used in that war as certain small Pacific islands were used in World War II.(THIS IS THE ORIGIN OF THE TITLE----THIS ISLAND EARTH.)

Returning to Earth, Cal, Ruth, and Ole find the plant being sabotaged. The Llannans decide to abandon it, but before they leave, Cal and Ruth discover that Ole is a Guarra sleeper agent. As a consequence of the interociter-mediated battle that destroys Ole and his non-human henchmen Jorgasnovara dies.

Cal and Ruth are taken to Jorgasnovara's home world and are told that Earth is to be abandoned completely, that the Guarra will destroy it, as they have destroyed so many other worlds.

Cal protests but the Llannan Council tells him that their war computers have predicted that they would not defend Earth.

But the Guarran war computers would tell the Guarra the same thing, so, Cal tells the Council, the best tactic is to do what the Guarra do not expect. The Llannans then agree to defend Earth and Cal and Ruth look forward to returning home.

Using some of these concepts along with your ideas, Bud, would possibly be a TERRIFIC new feature film worthy of a 200 million dollar budget!!!
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Krel
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 23, 2017 1:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I always wanted someone to do the book and keep the period setting so they can have my favorite scene from the book. Cal is worried that they are going to have a strike, and the Metalunans state that they could just break any strike. Cal gets nervous, having visions of getting called in front of the House Unamerican Activities Committee. Laughing

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 23, 2017 2:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

__________________________________

I had to add the text below in the middle of my post from yesterday, because I didn't make it clear that my concept was a sequel based on an alternate ending for This Island Earth intended to set up the second film.

Imagine an alternate version of the movie's conclusion in which Exeter actually did know about the colonies. With that in mind, here's how the sequel would go.

Exeter takes the ship to the nearest colony world, instead of to Earth.

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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 24, 2017 12:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote



And here's the famous scene from the first sequel CAPTAIN AMERICA VS METALUNA !
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 21, 2018 2:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote







Some Mute-Ants!
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Custer
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 21, 2018 3:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shasta's 1955 reprint had a new dust jacket promoting the 1955 movie version:

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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Sat May 26, 2018 4:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Article from THEM!, a 1980's British fanzine.

Not a lot of new info, but the last article page has a few interesting facts.









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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 4:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

From FANTASTIC MONSTERS #1 1962

Click on each page here to see a large, easy-to-read version you can zoom in on. Click on the large version again, and then zoom in as close as you want!

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 08, 2019 3:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Gord, your article above got me in the mood to find a "making of . . . " video, so I've posted one below AND a nice copy of the full movie! Very Happy

The original images needed some enhancement to make them easy to read, so I worked on them and created the BIG VERSIONS we can click on to see the text better.

The video below is a fairly well done 13-minute documentary with quite a few interesting facts. The narrator and producer, Jonny Baak, is not one of those loud, fast-talking young guys who do these kinds of things for YouTube. If anything, his delivery is a bit dry, but he still has iinteresting things to say about the film.

Mr. Baak's video includes one of the sexiest pictures of Faith Domergue I've every seen! Very Happy






Just for the record, this is the other best one. Wink


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The second video is, surprisingly enough, a good copy of the full movie. It's only been on YouTube for one year, so they might take it down soon. If you don't own this movie, you can downloaded is with Savefrom.net for YouTube.

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_Everything you need to know about This Island Earth (1955)



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__________________ This Island Earth 1955


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Bogmeister
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 7:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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________________ "This Island Earth" Trailer


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This fifties sci-fi feature stands out a bit because it's an early one in color - and brilliant color it is. The plot concerns visiting aliens among us; these aliens, who look like us except with slightly larger craniums and foreheads, have instituted a sneaky plan to gather Earth's top scientific brains so that they can help the aliens in their losing war against other, more hostile aliens.

One of these top brains is Dr. Cal Meacham (Rex Reason); he passes a test to construct a device and soon heads off to a secret location to join other Earth scientists, among them old flame Dr. Ruth (Faith Domergue) and Dr. Carlson (Russell Johnson of Gilligan's Island fame). The main alien - the one who contacts scientists - is named Exeter (Jeff Morrow). Eventually, two of these scientists travel to the home planet of the aliens, Metaluna, in a flying saucer. This is when it gets really colorful.



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The first half of the story is intriguing; we wait to see what develops. The 2nd half seeks to impress us with visual splendor. There are problems on both fronts. I admit there is interest to the plot in the first half, but it just doesn't make too much sense. The aliens demonstrate in the early going how much more advanced they are than us; how could even our top brains be of any help to them? Then, there seems no reason for two of the main characters to head to Metaluna, except as an excuse by the filmmakers to show off their special FX - the best of the fifties.

The war between the aliens is presented in condensed fashion - there's really no time to show an elaborate showcase of this war; that would require a 3-hour film. Also, as explained in the Wikipedia article on this film, there are some samples of faulty science in this one that are pretty bad - mostly in the field of cosmology. In all, I find Forbidden Planet to be much superior to this, on many fronts.

BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10


_____________ This Island Earth Tribute (Pt.2)


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BoG
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Eadie
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 08, 2019 5:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Earth Scientists Recover Artifact From Metalunan Saucer That Crashed Almost 65 Years Ago!

Exclusive For The Daily (& Sunday) Planet by Lois Lane



The Metalunan Thought Transference Mind-Sifter?

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue May 14, 2019 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I was surprised to find that YouTube has a fine copy of his movie! The picture quality is excellent, and it was added to YouTube a year ago, so they've had plenty of time to take it down.

If you don't have a DVD of this movie, here's your chance to be a cheapskate and get it for free! Very Happy
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____________________ THIS ISLAND EARTH


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But if YouTube does take it down, here's another version that's TWO years old, and the picture is just as good. However, this version is fourteen minutes shorter, and it sounds a bit "sped up". Rolling Eyes

__________________ This Island Earth 1955


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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alltare
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2019 3:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just received the super duper blu-ray edition of TIE. The picture is GREAT- much better than my DVD. The colors have been significantly enhanced, and the image doesn't look washed out, as many of the earlier releases were. The extras alone make the disc worth buying, but the movie itself is the jewel of this release.
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