ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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What can we talk about today?

How about a story with intelligent apes that take over the world?

Or maybe a story about a giant insect that thaws out in the Antarctica?

Better yet, let's share Great Movie Night Memories from the movies we've seen with friends!





I’m sure everybody has tales they can tell about enjoyable evenings like that.
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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)



After the the highly enjoyable first film in this series, the sequel did a terrific job of continuing the story in an entertaining and intelligent manner.

The acclaimed special effects by Weta Digital present the story in an manner that's both believable and beautiful. Watching the apes leap and swing is like watching Spider-Man cruise down the streets of New York -- a dance as intricate as anything ever done by Gene Kelly.

The budget was a well-spent $170 million, and the box office take was a well-earned $708 million. Thank goodness, too, because that means these talented people will get to keep on making these wonderful movies.

The critics got it right this time when they said kind things about the movie, resulting in a positive score of 90% based on 257 reviews, according to Rotten Tomatoes.

As for the plot, linking the intelligence of apes to a cure for alzheimer's that mutated and became a world pandemic which wrecked human civilization was brilliant. One cause for two effects is intelligent story telling.

One of the things about the original I never cared for was the complete absence of any explanations for what made the apes smart and the humans dumb.
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The Deadly Mantis (1957)



I watched Them! just a few days ago and -- as always — I admired the story and the cast, but I cringed at the site of those poor, clumsy, hairy ants. They really detract from my enjoyment.

The Deadly Mantis uses a very large and realistic model of the mantis, and the FX guys move it around pretty well in most scenes — except for the laughable shots of it flying.

This is obviously a fake photo (the mantis model couldn't have been this big) — but it does show that the model was very detailed.





I think a large part of the problem is that we've all seen the graceful and eerie way a mantis moves, and this puppet comes just close enough to make us wish it had come closer.





Another thing it has in common with Them! is the unfortunate use of a constant "insect" noise which the mantis makes. With the ants in Them! it was a high-pitched squeal that sets my teeth on edge. (It's supposed to do that, of course.)

In The Deadly Mantis the offending noise is a symphony of buzzing bee noises — at least three sounds in different pitches, overlaid for maximum irritation.

If you haven't seen the movie, treat yourself to this example, especially in the last thirty seconds.





As for the plot and pacing, the story lacks the dynamic scenes that Harryhausen gave us in It Came from Beneath the Sea and Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (the sinking of the ships in both movies, and wrecking of the lighthouse in Beast).

The closest thing we get to that in this movie is one brief shot of the mantis climbing the Washington Monument — and for that shot they used a real praying mantis!

The big showdown takes place in a smoke-filled Holland Tunnel, with abandoned cars all around. That part works fairly well and might have scared kids back in 1957.





The worthy cast includes Craig Stevens (Peter Gunn, A & C Meet Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde), and William Hopper (20 Million Miles to Earth). Alix Talton is the attractive lady reporter whose attentions the men compete for.

The story is by producer William Alland (a point of interest for its own sake), and the script is by Martine Berkeley.

Produced by William Alland (The Space Children, Creature from the Black Lagoon, etc.), directed by Nathan Juran (20 Million Miles to Earth, First Men in the Moon), and released by Universal.
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Great Movie Night Memories!



Back in the 1980s my friends and I went plum crazy from time to time with elaborate events that celebrated the greatness of our favorite science fiction movies from the 1950s.

Most of these events occurred at my house. Sometimes we'd prepare crazy projects for several weeks before we finally gathered together on a Saturday evening to share a movie and see what kind of surprise presentations we had each devise for these special occasions.

One such event was a triple feature comprised of When Worlds Collide, Earth vs the Flying Saucers, and Strange Invaders. Just for fun, Jim Peavy (wearing the yellow T-shirt) and I constructed a cardboard marquee over the front porch. Jim did all the fine lettering for the movie titles, and I worked diligently on the theater's name — which I misspelled.

(Wayne, please stop laughing. It's rude. )

The bearded gentleman in back of Jim is Bryan Bustard, whose artwork is featured in one of All Sci-Fi's art galleries. (I compensate for being a bad speller by surrounding myself with talented people.)





On another occasion a few years later we dedicated the evening to Earth vs the Flying Saucers again.

When my guests arrived they were greeted by the sound of Paul Free's voice blasting out from big stereo speakers I had positioned at the open living room windows. The recording was from the scene of the saucer on the beach, when the alien's amplified voice called out —

"Please come in . . . with your friends!"

On that occasion, Jim worked with Larry Hanson to construct a replica of the saucer-men suits, complete with a helmet made of plaster (which is what Harryhausen used to make his).

I actually did not know Jim was coming that evening, because he had conspired with my friends to convince me he couldn't make it. However, after everyone had arrived, Jim snuck in through the back door and walked into the living room wearing the saucer-man suit, surprising me and my family.

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When Larry lifted off the helmet, Jim contorted his face to resemble the alien in the movie — which scared my young children! (By that I mean that Jim scared them, not the alien. )



Larry's other contribution that evening was a cake in the shape of a flying saucer. It even sat on an actual saucer! A tiny clay alien stood beneath it. This particular occasion severed a dual purpose: it was both a special movie event and a going-away party for one of the attendees, who had just joined the Navy.

That's why the cake says "Bon Voyage".



But that epic evening was later topped by an even more ambitious tribute to This Island Earth.

Just to get my guests in a proper Metalunan mood, I rigged up a green spotlight under the front porch awning to shine down on the front door, and I concealed a speaker in the shrubbery to play the tractor beam sound from the movie. When the guests approached the house, the green light illuminated the door, and the tractor beam sound pulsated from the bushes — while the door opened by itself!

( * A thin rope on the inside doorknob pulled the slightly-ajar door open, and then the rope was quickly yanked out of sight. )

Imagine my surprise and delight when the door opened to reveal Chris Adams in full Metaluna make-up, compliments of Mr. Peavy!

They posed together for this picture holding the catalog I'd recently received from Electronic Services, Unit 16.



Larry had brought along a few replicas of the "beads" seen in the movie.



Jim, a mere Earthling, was understandably stunned by these alien marvels.

But Larry had another surprise for us. He presented a hemispherical "Earth cake" with a tiny model of the saucer suspended above it on a thin string. And the "Earth's" molten core was actually strawberry ice cream!

( * I know you're wondering how a cake can be baked with ice cream in the middle, but Larry swore if I ever revealed the secret he'd have me placed in the Metaluna Thought Transformer. )



Larry posed next to the cake with Earth's Metalunan ambassor, the brother of Brack (the malicious Metalunan in the movie), whose name was Broke — possibly indicating that he didn't manage his money very well . . .





( * Larry claims this guy still owes him $20.00. )

On another of our special movie night, Larry's culinary skills were demonstrated by the creation of a cookie cake designed to resemble the hard ground the skeletons broke out of in Jason and the Argonauts. He even built a model of a skeleton to adorn the cake, complete with a handmade sword and shield — and the shield was beautifully painted in perfect detail.





But Larry outdid himself for our famous 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Night, the movie that topped them all.

For that legendary event he created a cake that was carefully frosted to resemble the ocean — and it displayed a clay model of the Nautilus he had carefully crafted, complete with lighted ports!



The cake even had a Hollywood-style "background painting" which extended the oceanscape and included an attacking squid! The painting was by yours truly, done at Larry's request while he was planning this edible tribute to Jules Verne.





My contribution that night, in addition to the cake's background painting, was a collection of artwork done just for this occasion. It included these drawings of scenes from the movie —









-- and this 2' X 4' acrylic painting of the Nautilus cruising along with a few of it's fellow denizens of the deep.



I was not the host of this epic occasion. The person who had that honor — Rod Bennett — did one hell of a job. Rod hosted the event at his parents' spacious home, and he converted their well-furnished living room/dinning room into the parlor of the Nautilus, complete with a clever mock-up of the pipe organ and a dinning room table which was set with an elaborate seafood dinner, complete with his parents' best china and silverware.

Hidden speakers behind the furniture played the constant drone of the Nautilus' engine (taken directly from the movie's soundtrack), and we were periodically treated to the voice of Captain Nemo (a passable imitation of James Mason, recorded by our host), giving us reports from the submarine's bridge.

Before the movie, we sat down to enjoy the sumptuous dinner. The engine noise continued to hum in the background, and Captain Nemo's voice intervened from time to time to express his hopes that we were enjoying our meal.

All the food came from Captain D's, of course -- but you couldn't tell it, because our host barred all his guests from the galley while he got the various courses ready to bring in, and we weren't allowed to see the Captain D's packaging (even though we figured it was from a restaurant).

After dinner we retired to the living room and enjoyed the movie on a strange invention that Captain Nemo described as "an electric imaging device" — which looked remarkably like a Sylvania 27" console television and a Sony Betamax.

With such an imaginative and elaborate presentation — which took us weeks to prepare — we enjoyed the movie immensely. It was an amazing evening for one and all, one we'll never forget.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)