ALL SCI-FI

Krel · Space Ranger Joined: 19 Feb 2023 Posts: 190

Movie Director Bert I Gordon has died at 100 years of age. His first movie was "King Dinosaur" (1955), his last movie was "Secrets of a Psychopath" (2015), his 24th film.

B.I.G. not only directed his films, but he also wrote, produced and worked on the SPFX on his movies.

Forrest J. Ackerman nicknamed him Mr. Big, because of his initials, and because of all the giant creatures movies he did.

He has the dubious honor of having the most films of any other Director to be featured on "Mystery Science Theater 3000".

Thank you for all the thrills and entertainment you gave me, and others Mr. Big.

David.

scotpens · Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 10:54 pm Post subject:

Bert I. Gordon will always be best remembered for his cheap but effective giant creature flicks, though he also ventured into fantasy and supernatural horror. His Beginning of the End, with bus-sized grasshoppers attacking Chicago, was my introduction to the sub-genre of "big bug" movies when I first saw it on television at the tender age of eight.

And in his magnum opus, Village of the Giants, Gordon gave us the most terrifying giant monsters of all -- giant teenagers! Oh, the humanity...

Rest in peace, Mr. BIG. You had a good long run.

Bud Brewster · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2023 11:25 pm Post subject:

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I have a soft spot for ths giant grasshopper movie, despite the fact that I didn't see it when I was a wide-eyed kid who loved sci-fi.

But the premise is interesting, and the characters are appealing. Peter Grave's scientist is cool, and Peggy Castle's "ace reporter" is wonderful! Very Happy

She's blond, she's beautiful, and she drives around in a cool convertible while she aggressively confronts authority figures who want to prevent her from getting her headline-making story.

The special effects are brilliantly low-tech. Simple photographs of buildings taken from street level are used to show giant grasshoppers crawling up the sides. This was done by having real grasshoppers literally crawl on the photographs!

Cool, eh? Cool

The effect might be less than perfect, but it's enough to tell us what's happening in the story. And that's the important thing, of course.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)