ALL SCI-FI Forum Index ALL SCI-FI
The place to “find your people”.
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Them! (1954)
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Sci-Fi Movies and Serials from 1950 to 1969
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17017
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 5:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Oh my God! What if the cosmic event DID make the ants gigantic! But it also made the humans gigantic, too!

Maybe this little girl is a thousand feet tall, gazing at a giant ant as large as Them!






How's that for thinking outside the box, folks? Cool
_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17017
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Sun Oct 20, 2019 6:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Krel wrote:
Something else different from other 50s monster movies. As large as they were, bullets, even pistol rounds would kill...Them!

A big-budget remake of this great movie using CGI FX showing G.I. soldiers encountering the ants in the desert and having as much trouble killing them with bullets as the Starship Troopers did in that great movie would be amazing!
_________________
____________
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 Wed May 20, 2020 3:49 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17017
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Tue Oct 29, 2019 2:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Interesting that years later Disney would give us a friendly ant who saves the miniaturized kids in "Honey, I Shrink The Kids."

And the ant would battle a nasty scorpion reminding me of the classic "Black Scorpion."

The ant & scorpion appear to be done via a combo of a large scale animatronic practical prop & stop-motion animation.

It all comes together wonderfully & gives us a suspenseful & dramatic scene with both insects.

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids does indeed demonstrate just how good stop motion could have made the ants in this movie. Obviously all the scenes with the ants would have to be done differently than they appear in the movie, because (unlike CGI) they couldn't have just matted in the ants so they interacted seamlessly with the people and the backgrounds.

And Pow's comment also suggests a fascinating idea for a "parallel universe" version of Them!, in which the radiation not only causes the ants in the area to mutate and become gigantic — it also affects other creatures as well! Shocked

Suppose the area was suddenly populated by giant lizards, snakes, beetles, scorpions, and other arachnids! The whole region would become a kind of desert "Skull Island", and the military would have their hands full as they battled these monsters!

Wow! What an idea! Cool


______Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - Scorpion vs Ant

__________


Good Lord, this concept practically writes itself! The first thing that comes to mind is the question of why all these creatures weren't discovered soon after they first went on the rampage?

The answer is simply. The creatures ate all the people who encountered them!

Question two: What would all these animals and insects eat after they grew so large?

That's a no-brainer, too. They would eat the people and the normal animals in the area!

Question three: If there are that many large creatures, wouldn't that require a very large food supply?

Answer: Naturally! So we populate this region with a few farms and ranches, along with all the sheep, horses, cattle, and humans that would be present under those circumstances.

Question four: Would that be enough?

Answer: Maybe not . . . so we put a small, remote desert town right in the middle, like the small towns in It Came from Outer Space and The Monolith Monsters.
________________________________

So, foks, that's the situation. Here's how the story starts.

We see a creepy scene at night when a rancher hears tortured sounds from the dark pasture nearby, coming from his cattle. He rushes outside with his lantern and his shotgun, but the sounds suddenly cease. Terrified, he flees back into his house.

The next morning he finds a few scattered remains of his herd, and blood all over the pasture.

His report of the incident to the local sheriff is disbelieved at first, but investigators arrive at the ranch and find no one there, and the house is wrecked. They discover the same situation at a nearby sheep ranch, and when they return to the small town, it's completely deserted! But the fronts of several buildings have been badly damaged, and there are mutilated bodies scattered around!






Suddenly the team of investigators encounter a giant Gila Monster hidden inside one of the buildings, and they flee for their lives.

The military is called in, and the real fun begins! They cordon off the entire area and establish the perimeter of this desert "Skull Island".








I'll let you folks imagine where this idea goes after that, but I think this could have been the greatest 1950s "giant monster movie" ever made! Cool
_________________
____________
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 Oct 29, 2022 3:54 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17017
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Wed May 20, 2020 4:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Good God, it's been seven months since I posted the above suggestions for an imaginary 50s sc-fi extravaganza!

And yet we still don't have a single reply from All Sci-Fi's members! Shocked

I was hoping for some brilliant additions to my suggestions. Come on, guys — tell us what you think of my ideas and where you think the idea will go! Cool

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Eadie
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 1695

PostPosted: Wed May 20, 2020 8:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A real possible sequel to THEM! is given within the movie itself.

When the army is going into the sewers under Los Angeles it is stated that one of the units could not be contacted. Could a princess and a male who (because of the radiation) have mutated to be more intelligent have escaped and created a nest in the jungles in central America? Imagine the resultant battle!

From Wikipedia™:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Them!

The giant ants, painted a purplish-green color, were constructed and operated by unseen technicians supervised by Ralph Ayers. During the climactic battle sequence in the Los Angeles sewers, there is a brief shot of one ant moving in the foreground with its side removed, revealing its mechanical interior. This blunder has been obscured in the DVD releases of the film.
_________________
____________
Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Gord Green
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 06 Oct 2014
Posts: 2940
Location: Buffalo, NY

PostPosted: Wed May 20, 2020 8:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A sequel to THEM! could be about that lost group of soldiers. They find themselves lost in the vast maze of the ants' nest and have to fight their way out.

With them is another female entomologist who came along to report on the ants and advise the squad. They find that they have two missions to complete. First...locate and destroy a queen and her eggs and two...survive! They have to fight their way through the twisted labyrinth that is the nest to get back to the LA river. Meanwhile another squad of soldiers is attempting to find them and bring them home.

We see their voyage through the viewpoint of both teams.

But ….unknown to both teams is that Washington has designated that an atomic bomb could be used underground to destroy the ant colony! An elite team has been sent to locate the nest...set...and prepare for detonation! Now there are three teams underground, each with different missions and very different reason for each of them !

At some point they do meet up and the need for their own survival and the survival of humanity becomes a point of controversy.

With their expansion in size is there a similar expansion in the ants' intellect? Are they becoming more intelligent and cunning in fighting the Army crews?- And if so...what does the fact that they have existed on the Earth for millions of years more than humans say about ….Just WHO should inherit the right to be the dominant species?

_________________
There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17017
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2020 10:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Wow, Gord, that's a great concept for a sequel! The opportunities for tense situations would be plume abundant!

One question: Do you really want to detonate an atomic bomb under Los Angeles? I suggest you make it something that wouldn't wreck the city or harm the citizens. But that's a tall order if we really want to whip out a few thousand giant ants.

Perhaps a large number of high explosive device need to be planted all through the tunnel system, the kind that create tremendous heat. It would require the Army teams to travel through many of the tunnels, fighting the ants while the set the charges. :shock;

You'd have to have a dozen bomb teams, and these would be the different groups your story centers on. One or more of the teams suffers heavy casualties and need to be rescued, as you described above.

The action and drama comes from the fact that the bombs will all go off at the designated times for which they were set, so all the teams have to finish setting the bombs, rescue the teams who are in trouble, and get out before the tunnels become a fiery inferno!

Imagine the climax: Several teams are shown running along ahead of pursuing ants in several different tunnels while the bomb timers tick down towards zero. (Imagine the pulse-pounding music for this part.)

When the teams finally race out of various tunnel openings, the flames erupt close behind them and incinerate the pursuing ants, right at the mouths of the tunnels!

What do you think? Confused

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Gord Green
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 06 Oct 2014
Posts: 2940
Location: Buffalo, NY

PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2020 2:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting ideas Bud, But THIS is what I was thinking---

Scientists in Washington determine that if the bombs --

(An explosive like those used in the DAVY CROCKETT tacticel nuke system --Real thing, check it out!

The M-388 round used a version of the Mk-54 warhead, a very small sub-kiloton fission device.





The Mk-54 weighed about 51 pounds (23 kg), with a yield equivalent to somewhere between 10 and 20 tons of TNT—close to the minimum practical size for a fission warhead,)

--- is planted far enough below ground the resulting damage above ground would not be worse than a 3.o Richter Scale earthquake which they determine is acceptable.



But....After the elite team is dispatched another scientist--A Geologist--determines that the point of explosion is right on the San Andreas Fault! Now they think the explosion could trigger an earthquake beyond any expectations and could reach all the way up the West Coast! The scientist argue about the worse case scenerios-- Takeover by giant ants or an earthquake!

Meanwhile the three sub-teranian teams are rushing to a climax...with giant intelligent ants thrown into the mix!

_________________
There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Krel
Guest





PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2020 2:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The movie points out why you wouldn't want an inferno under the city. But if you're going to do it, then Napalm would probably have been the weapon of choice.

Anyway you look at it Los Angeles was going to suffer greatly.

David.
Back to top
Eadie
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 1695

PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2020 3:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gord Green wrote:
The M-388 round used a version of the Mk-54 warhead, a very small sub-kiloton fission device.

Sounds like the novel Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein.
_________________
____________
Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17017
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2020 5:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Nice research, Gord! Very Happy

But I still think a nuke to kill a vast hive of giant ants places too much energy at one point to kill thousands of insects located all throughout a complex tunnel system . . . with a large U.S. city right overheard! Shocked

As Krel said, something like Napalm would probably be the weapon of choice. We'll need to burn the insects below the ground with devices placed all throughout the hive — rather than one device which delivers a single powerful blast at a central location.

Besides, the idea of having the teams having to battle the ants while setting all the charges is the best part the story!

Consider the way buildings are demolished: many chargers carefully placed at the base of the building. They don't just place one big bomb below the building.

And besides, my suggestion allows several teams of soldiers to risk death from the ants all throughout the hive while battling the ants as they race through the tunnels to carefully plant the charges!

It's a classic action movie like the Mission: Impossible films! But with giant ants!

_________________
____________
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 Thu May 21, 2020 6:09 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Gord Green
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 06 Oct 2014
Posts: 2940
Location: Buffalo, NY

PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2020 6:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not ONE device Bud!

At 41 lbs each every soldier could carry one as the launcher would not be needed if the bombs were set with timers...the only way they could have time to try to escape….Or was this to be a suicide mission? What did the "brass" back in Washington have in mind?

Naplam? Possibly....But too heavy for a few men to carry enough to be effective...and THIS team has only five men in it...to travel as quickly as possible.

Then they would have to try to escape the tunnels before being engulfed by the flames and heat. Remember...It was not necessary that they destroy ALL the ants, and that is not their mission. It is to destroy the BREEDING queen and mating drones and eggs! It's the first and second team that has to kill individual ants to survive! The massive all-out bug hunt ala' STARSHIP TROOPERS is NOT the focus here...save that for THEM!3!



Radiation from the atomic explosion would disipate through the dirt and rock layers. Any remaining ants could then be dispatched with bazzookas and flame throwers.

Besides napalm doesn't fit in the 50's nuke mania and would greatly reduce the significance of that issue in the movie! NOT consistant with this SEQUEL!

_________________
There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17017
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2020 6:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Ah well, I guess I'm just too fond of the image of the tunnels being being filled with fire which chases the ants and the men right out to the tunnel mouth and burns up the ants at the last moment. And radiation enveloping the area precludes all that.

Besides, a bunch of nukes would collapse the tunnels instead of incinerating the ants. That doesn't seem as visually dramatic.

But your idea sounds great. I love it. Very Happy

_________________
____________
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 Jun 06, 2020 11:14 am; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Eadie
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 1695

PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2020 1:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Photograph of the real Camponotis vicinus Myra:



Notice the large mandibles. Not quite as large in proportion to those in THEM!, but that's before the mutation.
_________________
____________
Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17017
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2020 11:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Beautiful, Eadie! And I like the glossy black exoskeleton, as opposed to the shaggy ants in Them!

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Sci-Fi Movies and Serials from 1950 to 1969 All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8  Next
Page 5 of 8

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group