Earth vs. The Flying Saucers

I would like to weigh in on the two-disk set of this 1950s cold-war extravaganza about UFOs that fuel our fears of the unknown. Many documentaries about UFOs are now available, and Amazon offers some excellent ones: OUT OF THE BLUE, DAN AYKROYD UNPLUGGED ON UFOS, and the Ancient Mysteries segment titled UFOS -- THE FIRST ENCOUNTERS which is hosted by Leonard Nimoy. Since I already gassed on about this last entry, and since others gave brilliant reviews of OUT OF THE BLUE (unquestionably the best of the lot), I won't dwell on those here. Nor will I give a straight critical analysis of EARTH VS THE FLYING SAUCERS as a film in itself; the other reviews here on Amazon are so well-done that I find little to add.As a kid, I saw the monochrome version of this excellent alien invasion film in my father's small-town movie theatre, just as I saw 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH and IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA -- all Columbia releases and all given the Ray Harryhausen treatment in the special effects department. Usually, I am not in favor of colorizing a film. Even Ray himself said he would not favor colorizing the all-time classic CITIZEN KANE because the moody black-and-white cinematography by the venerable Gregg Toland is an integral part of the cinematic experience. Some films need to remain in black-and-white, like many film noir productions. I mean, how would the dark vision of Hollywood told from the first-person perspective of Joe Gillis (Willian Holden) who has been murdered -- SUNSET BOULEVARD -- appear in color, or even such hard-boiled tough-guy thrillers like OUT OF THE PAST? Even another film about Hollywood, THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, narrated in a manner similar to CITIZEN KANE, would lose its texture if colorized. The list -- including but not limited to other 1950s sci-fi giant creature films like TARANTULA, THE DEADLY MANTIS, THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD, THE BLACK SCORPION, BEGINNING OF THE END, KING KONG, etc. -- could go on forever. However, Ray says in an interview that he not only favored colorizing EARTH VS THE FLYING SAUCERS and the other two black-and-white monster movies mentioned above but actually sat at the computer to assist in the process. The result, as we have seen here, is remarkably more subtle and convincing than those black-and-white films rendered in color by Ted Turner and company years ago. In this regard, I have to agree with Ray.As I mentioned at the outset, I would like to comment on the two-disk set which I purchased, particularly extolling the virtues of the companion disk. Like the two-disk set of THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES (my favorite horror/sci film which I reviewed elsewhere on Amazon), the companion disk is as compelling as the main feature and certainly quite informative. Although it features interviews with the master himself -- interviewed at one point by none other than Tim Burton, the most unkempt-looking but singularly unpretentious director in recent history -- it also includes interviews with actress Joan Taylor who appeared in two of these films, a discussion of the musical score and how Columbia had no similar sci-films in its library to draw from, and even a discussion of how press-books or press-sheets were printed and utilized by theatre owners. This last addition was particularly a treat for me. As a boy, these press-books that arrived at our small-town theatre which showed ad layouts for the newspaper, lobby posters that could be ordered from National Screen Service, and even news stories that could be run in the local paper were a treasure for me. I clearly remember the lobby cards, the 14 x 36" sheets, and the black-and-white 8 x 10 still shots from the films. After all, it was my job to put them up in our lobby. Later, I became acquainted with the one-sheet and the three-sheet posters, although the latter were too large for our small venue. What an exciting trip down memory lane to watch the narrator explain these to the viewers of the DVD. If possible, I would like to use this segment from the companion disk to show to my students when I again teach a film studies course here in China. Since there are no subtitles to accompany this second disk, I will no doubt have to do some considerable explaining. As I tell people, however, when they thank me for pointing out errors in grammar on papers or when I write letters of reference for colleagues, that is my job.Ray Harryhausen's job was to be an animator, and he did his work by hand -- using stop-motion techniques that pre-date the CGI effects that we see in films today. Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam, primo directors who use their own style of animation in their films, extol the virtues of this pre-CGI method of making the unreal come to life on the screen, so I don't need to add my appreciation here. All of the fans who continue to view his films on DVD know about his genius, and the many filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, Burton, and Gilliam acknowledge his influence on their work. Even Tom Hanks has expressed his praise for JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, listing it as one of his all-time favorite films. As youths, we were all blown away by such Dynamation color fantasies like JASON, CLASH OF THE TITANS, THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD and its many sequels, MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, THE VALLEY OF GWANGI, et all.If you are not only a fan of Harryhausen's films but also a film scholar (amateur or professional) interested in what went on behind the scenes, you will find the companion disk to be as valuable as the main feature. Of course, EARTH VS THE FLYING SAUCERS is no 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY or even CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND; however, it is still a worthwhile piece of 1950s memorabilia. If you are a behind-the-scenes junkie, the companion disk is icing on the cake. You don't even have to put your brain on hold while watching.

Item arrived on time and as described!

The 1956 Columbia Pictures presentation of "Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers" plopped itself down into the midst of an America that was largely on tenterhooks because of very real Communist expansionist activities around the world (hence the spectre of an "invasion" mentality), as well as an America steeped in the awareness of strange things being seen in the skies since the mid-1940s (sporadic signtings of weird "airships" or "flying chariots' go far back into history, but EN MASSE incidents dated only to the Second World War in the skies over Europe...to little silver disks sailing through Allied bomber formations, to larger light balls soaring about everywhere, seemingly with "intelligent guidance"...things called "ghost rockets" and "foo fighters" that the Allies thought were German secret weapons, and the Germans thought were Allied secret weapons).In June of 1947 an Idaho businessman named Kenneth Arnold wasinvolved in a Civil Air Patrol search near Washington's Mt. Rainier, helping the US Air Force in searching for a downed cargp plane, when he saw a group of strange aircraft sail past the mountain in an echelon formation like geese or ducks. He was close enough to tell they weren't birds, but crescent shaped metallic "whatzits". Arnold reported them, but believed they were some sort of classified, experimental aircraft on maneuvers.The government denied this. In talking about these things he'd seen, Arnold said the "craft" (crescents, mind you) kind of moved forward through the air in a skipping sort of motion "like if you spun a saucer out (frisbee style) across the top of a pond and it skipped scross the water". Well, he used the word "saucer", and the things were supposedly flying, so the media put the two concepts together and the term "Flying Saucer" was born. The implication being these "must be" the craft of some kind of people from outer space. But what did they want? Why were they here? Imaginations were left to run wild with that...as well as memories of H.G. Well's novel "War of the Worlds" and the terrifying radio program done of it in the 1930's by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre Players. People got a little "antsy" over these things (justfiably so) and interest in them was high (still is). The Air Force was charged with investigating this situation and set up several projects to investigate them, the most famous being Project Blue Book at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio. Early on the AF had somewhat of an open policy with the public about "these things". but in 1952 that changed radically. In the summer of 1952 the greater metropolitan Washington, DC, area was besieged by "saucers" for several days in July. They were all over the skies over Washington and on out into the Virginia and Maryland countrysides. Jets took them on and got outflown and outmaneuvered. Rumors persist to this day that there were "shootdowns" on both sides. Maybe. Maybe not.In any event, after that wild summer the government cracked down big time on UFO reporting. The policy became "Deny it. Deny it all", the same policy that exists to this day. Project Blue Book was turned into nothing more than a "discrediting agency" for "PR" purposes and the real AF UFO investigation switched to a NEW unit, the 4602nd Air Intelligence Service Squadron, a group whose existence was only discovered in the past decade or so. It has operated under various code names, "Moon Dust", etc., ALL ALONG, while the public was told that THE "investigating agency" (Blue Book) had been SHUT DOWN in 1969 on the recommendation of a spurious, CIA-controlled "Scientific" Investigation at the University of Colorado. All this Colorado horseplay did was write official "finis' to Project Blue Book, the OFFICIAL AF UFO research project. But "deep black" clandestine government UFO investigations continued...and continue NOW...in full swing...under various covert code names. Surprise, surprise, the government lies! But not just ours...they ALL do! The 1952 D.C. incident was made prominent in a classic expose book called "Flying Saucers From Outer Space" by Marine Corps retired Major. Donald Keyhoe, and this later formed the basis for the screenplay of "Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers". "Earth" , in cranking out an exciting SF adventure for the younger crowd, does a sizable bit of exaggerating on what what really went on...with saucers destroying national landmarks in DC while the AF and the Army use newly brainstormed rayguns to shoot them down. Its an Us-vs-THEM shoot-em-up showdown in the sky.The war-of-the-worlds scenario of a dying race looking to relocate on Earth was the basis for this invasion plan, and it works fine enough in this capacity in this film. The stop-motion animation effects by Ray Harryhausen are excellent for their time and technology level. Harryhausen's work is always a treat and is no less spectacular here than in any of the Sinbad series entries or any of his big gorilla or dinosaur work. Hugh Marlowe (From "Day the Earth Stood Still") stars here and does a fine job in one of the few SF movies of the period that doesn't star either Richard Denning or Richard Carlson (or both). All supporting roles are handled competently. "Earth" delivers all the thrills, chills, excitement and goosebumps you could ask for in a B-level potboiler and if you want to stuff yourself with hot chocolate and popcorn in front of the old idiot box while it rains a river outside sometime, pop this oldie-but-goodie in your DVD player, kick back, relax, and enjoy. It's a lot of fun.

Love this ol flick

Die UFOs aus dem Film wurden in vielen Filmen wiederverwendet, oder standen Parte für andre Filme, so auch noch bei Mars Attacs... und Nintendo hatte es mal als Werbung für seine Spiele...Ray Harryhausen ließ in diesem Film alles einfließen, was man zu jener Zeit über UFOs zu glauben dachte. Er führte sogar Gespräche mit dem UFO Guru "Adamski" der die berühmtesten UFO Fotos schoss und behauptete mit Venusianer in Kontakt zu stehen. Eine straffe Dramaturgie des Filmes lässt keine Langeweile aufkommen, auch wenn die Außerirdischen in ihren steifen "Space - Ritterrüstungen" etwas plumb wirken, so ist das Design der Raumschiffe durchaus ansehnlich, wenn gleich das UFO "Am Tag, an dem die Erde still stand" edler wirkt. Für die Zeit sind die Trickaufnahmen wirklich gut.Ich konnte den Film noch 1978 im Kino sehen - als man den Außerirdischen den Helm abnahm, riss der Film.....es sollte 20 Jahre dauern, bis ich im TV sehen konnte, wie der Film ausging....Aber darf man man das? Einen Schwarz / Weiß Film mit neuester Technik auf Farbe trimmen? Klar, wenn der Macher des Filmes noch lebt und dazu steht...Wirklich gut gemacht. Harryhausen meint, endlich währen die Filme , wie er sie seinerzeit hätte drehen wollen - in Farbe! Das wäre aber wegen der hohen Produktionskosten nicht möglich gewesen. Natürlich könne man so Klassiker wie "Metropholis" und "Citizen Kane" nicht Kolorieren, aber viele der alten Filme währen in Farbe gedreht worden, wenn man die Möglichkeiten und das Geld dafür gehabt hätte. Das wüßte er aus vielen Gesprächen, die er mit den berühmtesten Regisseuren seiner Zeit, früher schon geführt hätte. Vor 20 Jahren - so Harryhausen - hätte man schon versucht per Computer s/w Filme zu kolorieren, diese versuche währen jedoch sehr schlecht gewesen. Heute wäre die Technik soweit, diese Aufgabe perfekt, ohne grelle Überzeichnungen zu übernehmen. Tatsächlich setzt in den USA mit Erfolg eine Welle von neu Kolorierten, alten Filmen ein.Ich finde es nicht schlecht, wenn man die Klassiker außen vor läßt, deren Kunst durch die S/W Fotografie besteht.Komödien - Krimis, wie die "Dünne Mann" Film Serie usw., da finde ich es OK.Im Fall von Harryhausen kann man eh nicht meckern, wenn der Schöpfer der Filme selbst da Hand angelegt hat, um seine Filme endlich so zu zeigen, wie er sie immer schon dem Publikum hat präsentieren wollen....Die Filme, die auf der DVD im Schwarz Weißen Original und in der neuen Farbigen Fassung vorliegen, sind hervorragend in digitaler Qualität aufgearbeitet worden. Als Bonus befinden sich reichhaltige Materialien auf der BR! - Making Ofs, Interviews mit Harryhausen, Tim Burton....... Der kauf lohnt sich für das interessierte Publikum und für den Science Fiction Fan gehört er eh zur Sammlung!Während die Britische DVD über die Deutsche Tonspur verfügt, hat man dies bei der BluRay merkwürdiger Weise leider verpasst - aus welchen Gründen auch immer! Das Bild brillant! Für SF Fans ein "MUSS"!

EARTH vs. THE FLYING SAUCERS [1956 / 2008] [Blu-ray] Warning! Before You Scoff at Flying Saucers – See The Greatest SHOCK of All Time! Ray Harryhausen Presents For The FIRST TIME in COLOUR!Aliens are everywhere, and they're attacking planet Earth in one of Ray Harryhausen's most amazing stop motion Sci-Fi classics. Dr. Russell Marvin [Hugh Marlowe] works for Operation Skyhook, a government task force sending rockets into space to probe for future space flights. But when the rockets begin mysteriously disappearing, Dr. Russell Marvin investigates along with his wife Carol [Joan Taylor], only to find the rockets are being intercepted by an army of space aliens who give humanity an ultimatum: Loyalty or death! As the aliens begin attacking cities and landmarks across the Earth including an unforgettable assault on Washington, D.C. and it’s up to Dr. Russell Marvin and his wife to figure out how to stop these diabolical creatures before it’s too late. Narrated by William Woodson (uncredited).Cast: Hugh Marlowe, Joan Taylor, Donald Curtis, Morris Ankrum, John Zaremba, Thomas Browne Henry, Grandon Rhodes, Larry J. Blake, Fred Aldrich (uncredited), Nicky Blair (uncredited), Jimmy Cross (uncredited), Jack Deery (uncredited), Charles Evans (uncredited), Raoul Freeman (uncredited), Paul Frees (Alien voice) (uncredited), James Gonzalez (uncredited), Duke Green (uncredited), Ed Haskett (uncredited), Clark Howat (uncredited), Harry Lauter (uncredited), Don Marlowe (uncredited), William Meader (uncredited), Sol Murgi (uncredited), Forbes Murray (uncredited), William J. O'Brien (archive footage) (uncredited), Murray Pollack (uncredited), Mike Ragan (uncredited), Alan Reynolds (uncredited), Bert Stevens (uncredited), Arthur Tovey (uncredited), Dale Van Sickel (uncredited), Guy Way (uncredited), Bob Whitney (uncredited), Frank Wilcox (uncredited), Beal Wong (uncredited) and William Woodson (Narrator voice) (uncredited)Director: Fred F. SearsProducers: Charles H. Schneer and Sam KatzmanScreenplay: Bernard Gordon (screenplay) (originally as Raymond T. Marcus), Curt Siodmak (screen story), George Worthing Yates (screenplay) and Major Donald E. Keyhoe (novel)Composer: Mischa Bakaleinikoff (uncredited)Cinematography: Fred Jackman Jr. (Director of Photography)Special Visual Technical Effects: Ray HarryhausenVideo Resolution: 1080p [Black-and-White and Colour]Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1Audio: English: 5.1 TrueHD Master Audio, English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo and French: 2.0 Dolby Digital AudioSubtitles: English SDH, English, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Arabic and HindiRunning Time: 83 minutesRegion: All RegionsNumber of discs: 1Studio: Sony Pictures Home EntertainmentAndrew’s Blu-ray Review: Here we are again with another entry in my “Alien Invasion Films of the 1950s” series, this time we have this Sci-Fi classic from 1956 called ‘EARTH vs. THE FLYING SAUCERS.’ This is an interesting film in that has a typical 1950s fun feel to it made all the better by the amazing special effects by animation master Ray Harryhausen! This is actually the first time Ray Harryhausen animated something other than a living creature showing how creative and versatile he was. Stop-motion animation is done by photographing models one frame at a time to give the illusion that they are in motion when the film is played back and the models are normally constructed around flexible armatures, and then optically combining the results with live action, often using a technique known as the traveling matte. This Sci-Fi film was influenced by a book written by Major Donald E. Keyhoe entitled “Flying Saucers From Outer Space.”When live action is combined with the animated miniature, tricks can be played with scale, so that a model less than a foot tall can appear to loom up like a colossus. The first film with Ray Harryhausen in full charge of technical effects was ‘The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms’ [1953]. The filmmakers learned that a long-time friend of Ray Harryhausen, author Ray Bradbury, had sold a short story called “The Fog Horn” to The Saturday Evening Post, about a dinosaur drawn to a lone lighthouse by its foghorn. Because the story for Ray Harryhausen’s film featured a similar scene, the film studio bought the rights to Ray Bradbury’s story to avoid any potential legal problems. Ray Harryhausen soon met and began a fruitful partnership with producer Charles Schneer, who was working with the B-movie unit of Columbia Pictures.With the Sci-Fi film ‘EARTH vs. THE FLYING SAUCERS’ [1956] we find the space scientist Dr. Russell Marvin [Hugh Marlowe] rushes home from his honeymoon with new wife Carol [Joan Taylor] because alien androids have been shooting down his satellites. Dr. Russell Marvin soon discovers that the evil extra-terrestrials plan to take over the Earth, so he tries to come up with a weapon that will stop them. Full of spectacular sequences involving huge flying saucers, ray guns and weird aliens, the film climaxes with an exciting battle between Earth’s military and the saucers over the city of Washington D.C. during which a number of famous landmarks are destroyed by the saucers. So impressive is the destruction that, for a time, we find ourselves rooting for the aliens.When the Russian Sputnik was only a year away from being launched, alien invaders descended on Washington D.C. with their terrifying death rays in director Fred F. Sears’s ‘EARTH vs. THE FLYING SAUCERS’ one of countless films of the 1950s period to come out of a social fabric defined equally by interest in the unknown and mounting Cold War paranoia. Here, however, such social significance takes a backseat to pure B-movie matinee fun, albeit without losing any of its implicit self-examinations of moral questions in the process; the film lacks the weight of works like ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ or ‘The Thing from Another World,’ but its thrills never want for intelligent examination of human behaviour under duress.A series of rocket ships designed to collect information while orbiting the earth have been falling back to the surface almost as quickly as they’ve been launched, an occurrence soon explained by presence an extra-terrestrial species hovering nearby. Secretly planning to take over with as little force as necessary, the invaders only use force when fired upon by a typical belligerent knee-jerk US military, and quickly, their malicious intentions send scientists scrambling to discover a means to defend the earth against such technologically superior beings. Nuclear power is never explicitly invoked in the film, but a question of “what if” hangs dreadfully over the proceedings as the destruction ensues, begging reflection on the effectiveness of first attack versus the necessity of weapons as a means of self-defence.Admittedly, to some people it is a very silly film, but to me I totally disagree, especially as it has some really spectacular special effects, so I feel it is a great deal of fun to watch, thanks mainly to the genius of Ray Harryhausen’s superbly animated saucers, yet in his autobiography he makes it quite clear that this was his least favourite film: “A prime fascination to me was the challenge of seeing just how interesting one could make an inanimate object such as a rounded metal spaceship. Although the variations were limited for stop-motion, they did provide the potential for doing something a little different than the other “flying saucer” pictures of the time.” The film can also be seen as a counter-argument to ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’ [1951], in which Hugh Marlowe‘s character was wrong not to trust the alien who landed in Washington D.C.The credible cast also includes Donald Curtis, Morris Ankrum and John Zaremba, but right now I’d like to focus on the voice of the aliens, the talented Paul Frees who, from the fifties to the seventies, was kept busy dubbing dialogue for other actors: He re-voiced Humphrey Bogart (who was suffering from throat cancer) in his final film ‘The Harder They Fall’ [1956]; replaced Tony Curtis‘s ‘Josephine’ dialogue in ‘Some Like It Hot’ [1959]; and re-recorded Toshiro Mifune‘s voice for ‘The Battle Of Midway’ [1976]. Unlike many voice actors who worked mainly for only one studio, Paul Frees worked extensively with some of the greatest animation companies of the last century, including Walt Disney, Walter Lantz, UPA, Hanna-Barbera, Filmation, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, DePatie Freleng, Jay Ward and Rankin-Bass. In fact, Paul Frees was still actively working until his sudden death in 1986 from heart failure.Animator Willis O’Brien, who passed away in 1962, lived long enough to see some of his former pupil’s success, though most of the early films on which Ray Harryhausen worked were comparatively minor. But in the late fifties Ray Harryhausen, along with the producer with whom he nearly always worked, Charles Schneer, had a breakthrough film, ‘The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad’ [1958].‘EARTH vs. THE FLYING SAUCERS’ [1956] is certainly not the first film to show elliptical spinning ships buzzing around bewildered researchers. But it does achieve repute from Ray Harryhausen’s memorable stop-motion animation and photographic effects, as well as the archetypal designs for wrinkled spacemen in stiff-armoured suits. Thanks to this forefather of science-fiction, many of today’s CGI extravaganzas have a foundation for crafting their own twists on the concept of sadistic creatures from the unknown bent on world domination.‘EARTH vs. THE FLYING SAUCERS’ was well received by the audiences and critics alike at the time of the film’s release and the Variety publication noted that the special effects were the real stars of the film and now viewing this Blu-ray disc, I agree with that comment. The simple-minded story of the alien invasion being thwarted by a scientist’s sonic solution that looks to modern audiences a very basic scientific technique to fight back against the alien invaders, but it is still has a very entertainment value, especially of the master works of the genius of Ray Harryhausen, who went onto play a major role in subsequent fantasy and Sci-Fi genre films, many of which are still considered to be great classics and remain memorable examples of his work. They include: ‘The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad’ [1958], Jason and The Argonauts [1963], ‘The First Men in The Moon’ [1964], ‘The Golden Voyage of Sinbad’ [1973], and ‘Clash of The Titans’ [1981], to name but a few. I would like to thank the genius of Ray Harryhausen for his inspired profession work in Stop-motion animation.Blu-ray Video Quality – Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings you this wonderful Blu-ray with an equally wonderful 1080p encoded image, with an equally superb 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Also you have the choice of either watching the film in Black-and-White or in the Colourisation processing which I really enjoy viewing and I cannot understand why people are so negative about this process. Restoration has been successful, running damage out of the frame. Specks of dirt or scratches have been relegated to stock footage. All of that aside, this Blu-ray disc looks to come from a relatively high resolution source, the master was capable enough for the format with some grandiose texture on the saucer models and facial close-ups. The effect is similar to noise reduction at its peak, although lacking the usual aggression of that process. The grey scale affords the images with great. Blacks are superb, and contrast vivid without blotching sections of the video. Shadow detail is totally preserved and as for the colour and leaving the Colorization processing debate aside, saturation is clean especially with the usual pastel quality to the flesh tones.Blu-ray Audio Quality – Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings you this wonderful Blu-ray with an equally wonderful 5.1 TrueHD Master Audio. The hums of spaceship technology pan overhead in this wholly wonderful sound experience, making it feel as though saucers are really there, so making it totally fun and very enjoyable. The Alien machines are all over the sound field, spreading to all of your speakers. Explosions really breach the high-end, although there is a slightest hint of muffled sound activity when they crash into the water to give them a modern splash. Laser blasts sweep through the newly mixed channels without hiding the original mono sound track. Static, hiss, and pops are all cleaned up from the ageing material, dialogue is preserved from its low-budget roots. All of it stays in the centre without the mixers breaking from the frontal nature of the camera work.Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:Feature Film in Colour and Black-and-White.Audio Commentary with Ray Harryhausen, Film Producer Arnold Kunert, Visual Effects Artists Jeffrey Okun and Ken Ralston: Here Arnold Kunert introduces himself and informs us that he is with three of his friends, who introduce themselves, and also inform us that they are here to talk about the colourization the classic Sci-Fi film ‘EARTH vs. THE FLYING SAUCERS’ that was produced by the genius that was Ray Harryhausen who of course chats about his involvement with the film as they all watch it. They all talk about the use of seeing the flying saucers at the beginning of the film, which Ray points out it is very unusual early on with most Sci-Fi films that seeing the flying saucers in films are very reluctant to do so until about half way through the film. They all ask Ray who made the flying saucers and Ray informs them that he designed the saucers that were made out of Aluminium and his father made them on his Sears, Roebuck & Company Lathe. The biggest saucer was 12 inches in diameter and there were three medium size saucers and three very small saucers for the long distance shots, and they were only 3 inches in diameter. They of course get on to talk about the screen credits and of course the business of Bernard Gordon who was “blacklisted” and now his name has been reinstated on the credits on this Blu-ray release. They also talk extensively about the stock shots used throughout the film and of course ray tells them that the reason they were used is because of the studio heads had a tight grip on the budget for making the film. They ask Ray about all the photographic images of The White House, Washington D.C. and the Pentagon and asked Ray if he was given permission to take these photographs and to be allowed to use them in the film and Ray answers them back with a big emphatic “NO.” But Ray also informs then he had to take the photos himself, as he could not afford to pay for a professional cameraman to take the photos. When we see Hugh Marlowe and Joan Taylor go down into the basement where all the pipes are featured, Ray informs us that this facility was actually a redundant sewage plant and even at the time of filming, sewage was still entering the pipes, which the three in the room thought that the smell was terrible, but Ray never commented about this. But one thing Ray did inform us that he suggested he record the noise of the pipes and that is what was used to give the sounds of the flying saucers, which amazed the three other people in the room with Ray. They talk about the different stock music score you hear in the background which were uncredited and we are told that it was from other Columbia Pictures films that included compositions from people like David Raksin, George Duning, Max Steiner, Miklós Rózsa to name but a few. As we get to the end of the film, they all say, “thank you for viewing this colorized film with us and we hope you enjoyed our running commentary like we did.” Well I say to that, that it was quite interesting hearing everyone’s comments, but sometimes they go very silly and a bit over the top, whereas Ray Harryhausen was really the only sane and sensible person who came out with the most intelligent and sensible replies out of the group. But despite this, it is still quite an interesting audio commentary.Special Feature: The Hollywood Blacklist and Bernard Gordon [2007] [1080i] [1.78:1] [29:27] We hear why the screenwriter Bernard Gordon [1918 – 2007] American screenwriter and producer and for much of his 27-year career, toiled in obscurity, prevented from taking screen credit by the powers-that-be who were the Hollywood Blacklist for his political beliefs, and therefore his credits were removed from the films, and his best-known works are screenplays for the films ‘Flesh and Fury,’ ‘Earth vs. the Flying Saucers’ and ‘55 Days at Peking.’ In this look at this ludicrous situation, Del Reisman of the Writers Guild of America explains the ins and outs of Fifties communism inspired paranoia. Through his friendship with writer/entrepreneur Philip Yordan, and Bernard Gordon found regular work as a writer and producer in Madrid for the Samuel Bronston Productions. At first, however, he was still denied screen credit, with Philip Yordan frequently listing himself as sole author of films like ‘Circus World,’ ‘Battle of the Bulge,’ ‘Custer of the Wes’t and ‘The Day of the Triffids.’ Bernard Gordon did receive on-screen credit for ‘55 Days at Peking,’ and the first screen adaptation of ‘The Thin Red Line.’ As a producer, Bernard Gordon made a number of westerns in Spain and the well-received sci-fi thriller ‘Horror Express,’ co-starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Another film he wrote, ‘Cry of Battle,’ was playing at the cinema in which Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested by Dallas police on 22nd November, 1963. Bernard Gordon's blacklist-era work remained relatively anonymous until journalist Ted Newsom happened upon the man behind the assumed name Raymond T. Marcus (a name under which Bernard Gordon wrote or co-wrote). When the Writers Guild of America took up the task of correctly crediting pseudonymous screenwriters from the 1950s and 1960s, awarding retroactive screen credits to them, Bernard Gordon received more after-the-fact credits than any other blacklisted writer. His first film to receive posthumous credit was ‘The Day of the Triffids,’ originally credited to the film's producer, Phillip Yordan. Bernard Gordon subsequently wrote two autobiographical books detailing the 20-year surveillance of him by the FBI, and often spoke publicly about his experiences. He helped lead the fight against the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Lifetime Achievement Award to Elia Kazan, who cooperated with HUAC during the blacklist era. Sadly Bernard Gordon passed away on 11th May, 2007 in Hollywood, California. All in all this is a fascinating look at the life and times of the genius people that lived and worked in Hollywood and especially Bernard Gordon and Del Reisman is very articulate on telling us about the great black stain on that period of time in American history, which was The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) that was created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having Communist ties.Special Feature: Remembering ‘EARTH vs. THE FLYING SAUCERS’ [2007] [1080i] [1.78:1] [21:25] Here we find Ray Harryhausen [1920 – 2013] talking about the good times he had and the hard work into bringing his pet projects to fruition. Ray Harryhausen talks about his dear friend Charles Sneer [Producer] who use to cut news items out of the newspaper about sightings of flying saucers, and wondered if they could make a film about this phenomenon, and Ray Harryhausen was very enthusiastic about the project. We also get to hear from John Canemaker [Filmmaker, Author & Historian] and talks extensively about the genius that was Ray Harryhausen, and how he was also a very generous person, but most importantly how Ray Harryhausen wanted to make the flying saucers look realistic, and in this interview Ray Harryhausen has two of the small models in front of him and demonstrates how with his Stop-motion animation made the flying saucers look like they were actually flying and was a very time consuming process. We hear that Ray Harryhausen designed the alien space suites, and who coined the term “solidified electricity” in reference to the external suits that the aliens wear, and also informs us that it was all a load of old “hogwash” and just wanted to come up with a name to sound very scientific. We see Ray Harryhausen and a book signing convention and especially signing books for very young fans and really enjoyed attending these special conventions. Stan Winston [Special Make-Up Effects Artist] talks about his inspiration on why he want to pursue a career in films and it was all down to the genius of Ray Harryhausen, who he really admires and especially being the genius he was. Frank Darabont who is a French-Hungarian-American film director, screenwriter and producer who has been nominated for three Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Award, and also gives great praise to Ray Harryhausen and who he also thought was a total genius and inspired Frank Darabont to work in the film industry. All in all this is again a very fascinating insight into the life and times of Ray Harryhausen and is a must watch.Special Feature: Interview with Joan Taylor [2007] [1080i] [1.78:1] [17:29] Joan Taylor the actress talks about her life and career with this very nice personal interview, and first talks about the two specific Ray Harryhausen this actress appeared in and mentions that it is now well over 52 years ago the films were first released and now being retired has not done any acting for a very long time. But one thing Joan was very surprised that anyone wanted to being asked to do this personal interview and was very happy and a nice gesture to be asked. When Joan was a very young child, dreamed of being a Shirley Temple and was a very keen tap dancer. We find out her father owned a cinema and at the weekends always went to the cinema to watch the films being shown and was totally enthralled to see all the Hollywood actors up on the big screen, and of course dreamed of being up their also with the stars on the silver screen. Over time Joan studied very hard, especially at music, dancing and did lots of shows for the USO [United Service Organization] which is The USO Show Troupe and is part of an American tradition that goes back 75 years to its beginnings in the muddy camp shows of the South Pacific, but the USO shows that Joan appeared in was where she lived in Illinois that was between the great lakes and the troupe would perform in the Military Hospital Wards for the young men who were badly injured very badly and it use to upset Joan very much. Eventually Joan moved on and moved to Pasadena in California and was warned there was no chance that Joan would not be allowed to perform at the Pasadena Playhouse, which is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California, but with grit and determination, eventually performed in the Pasadena Playhouse, and this was in 1946 and performed there for 3 years and at the time met her husband and admits it was the best thing to happen to Joan in getting married to her husband. Eventually Hollywood beckoned and with her friend Victor got a part in a film with Randolph Scott, and this is where Joan learnt her craft, especially with all aspects of her acting career. Suddenly we get a notice appear on the screen, where it states, “Joan Taylor reminisces about working at M-G-M on its 1954 musical ‘Rose Marie,’ which was directed by Mervyn LeRoy, with choreography by Busby Berkeley and starring Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Bert Kahr and Fernando Lamas.” Joan tells us that she had a great time working with Howard Keel and bert Lahr, who Joan thought was a really very kind and lovely man. When Joan’s contract with Paramount Pictures, went freelance, and came into contact with the producer Charles H. Schneer and of course got a part in the film ‘EARTH vs. THE FLYING SAUCERS,’ and found Hugh Marlowe a really wonderful actor, and one key thing Joan learnt from Hugh and especially being involved with the SAG [Screen Actors Guild] because he was a very big in the union business, and because Joan was asked to do some extra scenes in a her lunch break, Hugh stepped in and would not allow Joan to do that extra work, but overall, Joan really liked Hugh Marlowe, because he was very professional in his acting career and a joy to work with. Joan remembers the time in ‘EARTH vs. THE FLYING SAUCERS,’ and working in the locations of Washing D.C. and the Pentagon and had a marvellous time, but there was a downside because having to be delayed because of a hurricane, was not able to attend her daughters first birthday celebration and vowed this would never happen again. The following year Joan appeared in the film ‘20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH’ [1957] and appeared with the actor William Hopper, who was the only child of actress and Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper, who was the American actress and the newspaper gossip columnist, and Joan also had a great time working with William Hopper, who felt he was also a very professional actor. Joan finally gets round to mentioning her family and especially her husband Leonard Freeman and the father to their three daughters and also was the man who created the TV series “Hawaii Five-0” and Joan was very proud of her husband being involved in the very successful TV series.Special Feature: The Colourization Process [2007] [1080i] [1.78:1] [11:02] Ray Harryhausen and folks from Legend Films discuss the colourization process in films in general. Here again we meet Ray Harryhausen and talks about his films to be finally turned into the colorization process, and how pleased he was with the more up-to-date process, compared to when colorization first started, which was not very good at the time, but now have gone into leaps and bounds, and Ray Harryhausen that if they had a bigger budget they would of shot the films in colour. We also meet Barry B. Sandrew, who is the founder of Legend Films which is a San Diego-based company that was founded in August 2001. The company specialises in the conversion of feature films, both new release and catalogue titles, and commercials from their native 2D format into 3-D film format utilising proprietary technology and software. We hear all about the very intricate technology process details on how via a computer they add the subtle colours to a black-and-white film and we meet Rosemary Horvath [Creative Director] at Legend Films. All in all this a really nice and fascinating insight into the company that is the pioneer and recognized leader in the restoration and colorization of classic black-and-white films.Special Feature: Original Screenplay Credits [2007] [1080i] [1.78:1] [3:16] In the 1950s, hundreds of actors, writers and directors were “blacklisted” by the Hollywood studios for their political beliefs and forbidden from working within the motion pictures and television industry. The actual co-writer of ‘EARTH vs. THE FLYING SAUCERS,’ along with George Worthing Yates, was blacklisted writer Bernard Gordon, whose credit has been restored with the original DVD release, and now with this Blu-ray disc release. As the following original credit roll shows, film audiences in 1956 saw the name “Raymond T. Marcus,” a Bernard Gordon acquaintance, receive co-writing credit for the film ‘EARTH vs. THE FLYING SAUCERS.’ So what you get to view is the beginning of the film until the actual film starts after the credits have finished.Special feature: “FLYING SAUCERS vs. THE EARTH” Comic Book [1080p] What you have to do is use the Left and Right arrow keys on your remote control to navigate through the 15 pages of the Comic Book. Enjoy! If you press the centre arrow under the Comic Book images it takes you instantly back to the menu. What you view looks really fascinating, as it is a totally different story to the film and it was a shame they could not have been allowed to turn the Comic Book images and storyline into an actual film.Special Feature: Galleries [2007] [1080p] [1.78:1] [23:20] Here you have two different categories that consist of Advertisement Art Photo Gallery and Production Photo Gallery. You can either play each category separately or Play All. What you get while viewing the images is the audio soundtrack of the film ‘EARTH vs. THE FLYING SAUCERS.’Blu-ray Trailers: Here you get to view a selection of four Blu-ray trailers, which are as follows: SONY Pictures Home Entertainment Blu-ray Disc is High Definition [2008] [1080p] [1.78:1] [2:24]; ‘20 Million Miles To Earth’ [2007] [1080p] [1.78:1] [2:00]; ‘It Came from Beneath the Sea’ [2008] [1080p] [1.78:1] [2:03]; ‘The 7th Voyage of Sinbad’ [2008] [1080p] [1.78:1] [1:41].Special Feature: BD-LIVE: BD-LIVE is a feature on Blu-ray discs that allows new content to be downloaded to the Blu-ray player. BD-Live features include movie trailers, automatic firmware updates, featurettes, games, and more.BONUS: ChromaChoice: You have the facility to use the “Angle” button on your remote control to toggle between the colour and black-and-white versions at any time!Finally, ‘EARTH vs. THE FLYING SAUCERS’ [1956] is of its time and the acting is slightly stiff, and the Mischa Bakaleinikoff’s film music score helps to move the film along. Overall though ‘EARTH vs. THE FLYING SAUCERS’ is well put together and is a lot of good fun from beginning to end, and feel it has its place in the Sci-Fi genre and of course in 1956 things were so different to what we see in the cinema today and I personal think it is a Sci-Fi classic of its time, that was helped with the genius that was Ray Harryhausen and it has now gone pride of place in my Blu-ray Collection. Highly Recommended!Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film AficionadoLe Cinema ParadisoUnited Kingdom

How far wrong can you go with the 1950s and flying saucers? There is a certain charm these old films had - a bit naive, with men in suits and hats or slicked-back hair and women in pretty dresses and high heels, all in the midst of an alien invasion.'Earth vs The Flying Saucers' is an unashamedly low budget production that could easily have been forgotten, but it had the fortune of having Ray Harryhausen behind the special effects. Although crude by today's standards, the effects must have been a marvel back in the 50s.But the film is more than just the effects and the story holds together remarkably well considering its age. And what makes the whole production so much fun today is that the film has been restored and expertly colourised. Although there are many horribly grainy sequences there are just as many decent quality sections and the sound is great with a quality Dolby 5.1 TrueHd soundtrack.Certainly worth your time to watch and also one for the young kids who should like the flying saucer crashes and who will laugh at some of the outdated concepts.

A good quality film transfer, the Special Features are really good for such a vintage movie (but since I grew up watching Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion creations maybe I'm biased?) and the audio commentary is entertaining enough. The colourised version looks somewhat suspect by current standards and doesn't add anything to the film, but I suppose it's a nice curiosity. I love the 50s attempts at futurism (e.g. "solid electricity") and the all-too-briefly seen alien face is excellent - one character describes it as "humanoid and ancient". Revisit a classic piece of 1950s black-and-white science fiction - you may be pleasantly surprised.

The 1950's was the cinematic decade of sci-fi flics, for the 'big bug' and awakened prehistoric beast, radiation kind and thirdly, the outter space kind in which either we go out there, are the aliens drop in on us, without invitation kind. In Earth vs. the Flying Saucers it is the latter. Alien space ships and creatures arrive and the battle for survival begins as we quickly realise that they want to take over. As an early effort, (which MAY have, I'm guessing, inspired Independence Day, decades later,) it is a well done effects effort and good entertainmùent in it's genre. One of the 50's best in my opinion. So, unless you are one of the generation who rejects out of hand, all films in black and white, earlier, less sofisticated tech. films, it's worth getting.