ALL SCI-FI

[The Spike]

Masterpiece of the Z grade fantasy genre.

I'm serious as well. I mean don't get me wrong, if you haven't got a bent for this type of Z grade, creaky creature feature (why would you be watching is my first thought?) then it's a rating of about 3 to 4 out of 10 tops.

But to me it's a special kind of nonsense that takes me back to a nice time in my childhood. You know the kind, the memories that never leave yo — eagerly taking it all in with youthful wonderment as Doug McClure and Peter Cushing tunnel beneath the mantle to do battle with a host of creatures and sub-human species.

And now that we are all grown up, we can admire the wonder of Caroline Munro and her heaving cleavage. No wonder my older brother was keen to take me to the cinema to see this one!

Yes the effects are bad; men in suits, strings swinging parrot monsters around, and exploding rubber frog-like thingies amuse us greatly. And yes, Cushing and a surprisingly pudgy McClure act as if they have truly been mesmerized by the evil Meyhas at the "core" of our film.

But it matters not, zany and clunky and awash in glorious colour, At The Earth's Core is a throwback to a special pre-ILM time when kids like me queued around the block to see such joyous nonsense. 8/10
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The quality of mercy is not strnen.

[Bud Brewster]

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I'm afraid I was less forgiving, Spike. Here's my take on this film.

Being a big Edgar Rice Burroughs's fan I really wanted to like this. I had all these vivid mental images in my head from reading the books and gazing in awe at the great Frank Frazetta paintings like these —





— but the movie broke my heart and left me very disappointed.

The film's somewhat miscast players and lackluster action are only part of the reason why this promising film from director Kevin Connor is a disappointment; the producers unwisely chose to leave out the most interesting aspects of the Burrough's Pelucidar concept.

Peter Cushing is Abner Perry, Doug McClure is David Innes, and Caroline Monroe is Diane the Beautiful in this British adaptation of the first novel in Edgar Rice Burrough's "Pelucidar" series.

Burrough's described Pelucidar as the inner surface of a hollow Earth, where "up" is toward the vacant center of the planet and "down" is outward towards the Earth's outer surface. In this film version, Pelucidar is just a large cavern with a forty-mile-high ceiling (an idea done much better in 1959's "Journey to the Center of the Earth").





The heroes are pitted against the intelligent reptilian overlords of Pelucidar (who look like featherless parrots). The clumsy, immobile monster suits are especially embarrassing when they try to fly on concealed wires.

These days Hollywood could create a great version of At the Earth's Core that would knock my socks off — but I'm still waiting for it.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Brent Gair]

For fans of this movie (unlike Bud the sourpuss ), this is a recent Blu-ray release from Kino. It looks spectcular and includes a new on-camera interview with Caroline Munro.

[orzel-w]

[Rocky Jones]

Probably true, Wayne. I read the entire Pellucidar series long after seeing the the Earth's Core film and it certainly was an improvement. I thought some of the other novels were actually better than that one, though.

Maybe if the Fire & Ice live action remake does well there will be interest in doing more films in the style of Frazetta's illustrations. The Pellucidar stories would be a good pick, plus they're probably all in public domain at this point.

[Bud Brewster]

I wondered if that was true, Rocky, so I looked it up. Here's what I found on Wikipedia in an article called Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc..
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Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. is an American company founded in 1923 by author Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is based in Tarzana, California. The company holds the rights to the literary works of Burroughs that are still protected by copyright (a number of Burroughs' early works have passed out of copyright and consequently are in the public domain).

Burroughs was one of the first artists to incorporate, which he did for tax reasons and for more control over his works. Burroughs' books were published through the company from 1931 (Tarzan the Invincible) through 1948 (Llana of Gathol), with one additional title (I Am a Barbarian) appearing in 1967.

The company remains in the ownership of the Burroughs family and manages and licenses Burroughs' works and characters, including Tarzan and John Carter of Mars.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Rocky Jones]

Yes, but the remaining ERB copyrights are running out fast. Apparently the ERB inc. group are doing everything they can to hold on to something, though, such as declaring trademark infringement instead of copyright infringement. I suppose if you hate dealing with rights holders you can always knock out another Sherlock Holmes film/show or two.

[Bud Brewster]

I hate the idea of a copyright running out because the owner forgot to renew it, but I hate even more the idea that copyrights can expire even when the owners want to keep them in effect.

It's like owning a great painting for several decades and then being told that your ownership has expired!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[orzel-w]

[Bud Brewster]

[Randy]

Bud,

Only Congress can change the length of time that copyrights can be held by the copyright owner.

Previously, copyrights were:

"The life of the author plus 50 years"

Sonny Bono (Cher's husband) ran for congress and persuaded Congress to extended copyrights to the following:

"The life of the copyright creator plus 70 years"

This bill was known as the "Mickey Mouse Protection Act" as Walt Disney's copyrights were nearing the point of entering the "Public Domain" and the Disney Corporation was in a blind panic to keep control of Mickey Mouse!

[orzel-w]

Whether it's a copyright or a patent, the creator knows up front how long the law protects his exclusive right to profit from it. (Like, is your lifetime + 70 years long enough?) That figures into how much investment of time and money you want to put into it. If it's not worth your investment, you pass. If you miscalculate and the market loses interest before the time has expired, maybe it's time some other interested party took the ball and ran with it.

For example, I'm frankly tired of Disney retaining exclusive rights to do anything new with Harper Goff's Nautilus. I'd just as soon let others have a crack at it. Disney keeps farting around with it and ends up doing nothing while I get closer to my grave.
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...or not...

WayneO
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[Bud Brewster]

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I know what the law SAYS, guys. I just don't like it!

I still think that if I can pass the ownership of (for example) my artwork on to my grandchildren and great grandchildren, I should be able to do the same for the rights to my literary efforts, too.

And I still maintain there's a significant difference between a patented medicine that's needed to treat illness and a work of art that's the property of the creator.

Now, about that 70-year thing. That sounds all well and good until one of the drug companies develops a cure for aging! Then all the immortal artists are going to have the last laugh when they get to keep the rights to their work for a few centuries.

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

[Randy]

Don't you realize just how old and feeble Mickey Mouse will be when he is finally set free?

It's smacks of indentured servitude!

Shocking, I say ... just shocking

[Bud Brewster]

Mickey must have already been given the anti-aging drug! Somebody tell that damn mouse to share it with the world!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)