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Them! (1954)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 7:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

In view of the fact that actual "army ants" in the Amazon only venture out a few hundred feet from their nest when they swarm — not the 20 miles this movie claims — I maintain that the ants in this George Pal movie are a mutated variation on the natural species!

That said, this great George Pal movie would quality as science fiction! Shocked

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Eadie
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 08, 2019 5:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not all of the gi-ANTS were destroyed! There is dialog just before the army enters the sewers that one of the outposts couldn't be contacted. A "princess" and at least one male-drone had to have gotten out! My proof? This recently found photograph in government archives (again courtesy of Lois Lane and the Freedom of Information Act):


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Krel
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud, looking through this, your comments about Las Vegas triggered a memory.

A few years back I read an article about the Las Vegas drainage tunnels under the city. They are very extensive, and occupied. Because of the high costs of living in Sin City, many workers have trouble affording accommodations. Because of the low rainfall, they can get away living on elevated platforms, and some have very nice apartments down there. Of course, if there ever was a heavy rainfall, or runoff from the mountains, then these people are in trouble.

But they consider it worth the risks.

I don't know if these drainage tunnels existed in the 50s, probably not. But how horrible would it be to have scenes of people living in the tunnels when the ants move in.

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon May 27, 2019 12:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

A very interesting bit of information, and I love the ideas it gave you! Thanks!

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Eadie
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PostPosted: Mon May 27, 2019 4:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In the movie the elder Dr, Medford calls THEM! Real Camponotis vicinus mya.(it's actually Camponotis vicinus Myra). THEM! would have been more effective if the ants looked more like the real ants and in color:


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alltare
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PostPosted: Mon May 27, 2019 9:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Eadie wrote:
In the movie the elder Dr, Medford calls THEM! Real Camponotis vicinus mya.(it's actually Camponotis vicinus Myra). THEM! would have been more effective if the ants looked more like the real aunts and in color:


Your second post makes more sense, Eadie, but it's not as funny.
----------
Concerning the correct name for the ants, consider this dialog from "Matinee" (1993):
Question: "What in creation do you call that thing?"
Answer: "Bill".


Last edited by alltare on Sat Oct 19, 2019 1:50 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2019 9:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Welcome back, Steve! It's good to see you again. Cool

I removed Eadie's accidental double post for her. Heck, we all do that from time to time.

(Just for the record, folks, Alltare is referring to the fact that in her first post Eadie said "aunts" instead of "ants".)

The duplicate probably happened because she hit the "back" arrow to fix the typo after submitting the post, instead of hitting the "edit" button. Laughing

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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 01, 2019 7:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Obviously the atomic radiation has induced a mutation apart from the giganticism, that of the thick, coarse black hair on the ants as well!
JB
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 01, 2019 1:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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That makes perfect sense, JB, and in the movie the two scientists discuss something pertaining to the ants reproductive cycle that was unlike normal ants. They attributed it to the mutation as well.

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Last edited by Bud Brewster on Wed Oct 16, 2019 10:33 am; edited 1 time in total
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 16, 2019 10:30 am    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!

I love the scene in which the professor shouts to James Whitmore, "Get the antennae! Get the antennae!"

Whitmore dashes back to his police car and grabs a machine gun, which he uses to brake both the antennae on the attacking ant, after which it die's instantly.

I watched the clip below to be sure I remembered which character had the machine gun, and I realized that we aren't suppose to think the ant dropped like a stone just because its antennae were severed. It's obvious that Machine Gun Jimmy put plenty of bullets into it's head, too, and that's what killed it!

Way to go, Jimmy! Cool


_________________ Them (1954)- A giant ant


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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 Oct 29, 2022 3:38 pm; edited 3 times in total
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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 7:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Was there ever a creature from the microcosm that wasn't elevated to monster size by atomic radiation in the movies?
JB
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 12:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

By jiminy, I tried to think of one that hadn't enjoyed that honor and yet was interesting enough to be used in a movie . . . but I came up blank! Shocked

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alltare
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 1:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

johnnybear wrote:
Was there ever a creature from the microcosm that wasn't elevated to monster size by atomic radiation in the movies?
JB

Yes, the ants in "Phase IV".
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 2:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I may have misunderstood the question, Steve, but I think what JB meant was this.

"Was there ever a creature from the microcosm that wasn't [used as the giant monster after being] elevated to monster size by atomic radiation in the movies?"

In other words, Them! used giant ants made larger by A-bomb tests.

The grasshoppers in Beginning of the End were caused by radioactive fertilizer used on the crops they ate.

The Monster from Green Hell was about wasps exposed to cosmic radiation when sent up n capsule.

But now that I think of it, the other giant insect movies did not use atomic radiation to create the big creatures.

Tarantula was the result of a new kind of food.

The Deadly Mantis and The Black Scorpion were both prehistoric creatures.

Earth vs the Spider was just a big spider, no explanation given. (Unless I've forgotten something.)

The Monster that Challenged the World was about prehistoric sea slugs.

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~ The Space Children (1958)
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Krel
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 4:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

alltare wrote:
johnnybear wrote:
Was there ever a creature from the microcosm that wasn't elevated to monster size by atomic radiation in the movies?
JB

Yes, the ants in "Phase IV".

Not atomic radiation, but a cosmic event.

David.
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