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One of the five great science fiction movies of the 50's

posted 11 years ago by will-694
7 replies | jump to latest

Five movies that set the bar very high for all future sci-fi movies. They were all well produced and directed. They had good production values, excellent dialogue (for the most part), imaginative, intelligent stories.

--The Thing (From Another World) - 1951
--When Worlds Collide - 1951
--This Island Earth - 1955
--The Day The Earth Stood Still - 1951
--Forbidden Planet - 1956

[–] Enrique-8 11 years ago

agreeeeeed!

Enrique Sanchez

[–] desierra2003 11 years ago

I agree as well

[–] wallacesawyer 11 years ago

My favorite is probably THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953).

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[–] darryl-tahirali 11 years ago

My favorite is probably THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953). - wallacesawyer

Agreed. This is the first movie I remember as a little kid, and it freaked the bejesus out of me. Even watching it decades later, I can see how terrifying it can be because until the deus ex machina at the end, the Martians seem unstoppable, and the final scenes really illustrate the human race's futility and enveloping despair.

I would definitely swap out This Island Earth for War of the Worlds. In fact, the OP's list looks like one of those "one of these things is not like the others" lists because all the films except for TIE are excellent 1950s sci-fi flicks (The Day the Earth Stood Still is the undisputed classic), and TIE is most assuredly not. Well, When Worlds Collide is, like TIE, pretty overwrought--I'd replace it with Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

This isn't to say that watching TIE is not enjoyable--in fact, with 1950s sci-fi, the cheesier the better. Faith Domergue is disappointing here, ultimately just another eye-candy appendage, which is a shame because her role in It Came from Beneath the Sea (a tepid remake of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms) was a much better one--her character there is complex, competent, and fairly intriguing, and Domergue, a decent though hardly spectacular actor, does a good job with the role.

But War of the Worlds is a very good one.

------------------
"Man becomes the food of the divinity he worships." - Chris Stevens

[–] flapdoodle64 9 years ago

There are actually 17 great scifi films of the 1950's:

Destination Moon
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Them!
It Came from Outer Space
House of Wax
The Creature From the Black Lagoon
The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms
War of the Worlds
When Worlds Collide
Gojira (AKA Godzilla in USA)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Thing From Another World
Forbidden Planet
The Incredible Shrinking Man
The Fly
The Mysterians

This Island Earth is good, and fun, but it is not a classic. It starts out promising but in the last third of the film it just goes sideways.

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[–] michael-abatemarco 9 years ago

20 if you include It Came from Beneath the Sea and Invaders from Mars. I would also include This Island Earth.

[–] rp69 9 years ago

I would replace When Worlds Collide with War of the Worlds. and if the list was 6 titles I would add Inv of the Body Snatchers.