A Remake of THIS ISLAND EARTH may be in the works - This Island Earth (1955) Discussion

[–] alltare2 19 years ago

How can anyone remake this classic and expect it to compare favoribly with the original? Can't be done, in my humble opinion. Is there NO originality left in Hollywood? The last decent scifi films to come out of that formula factory were Gattaca and Dark City (but Dark City was a ripoff of Frederik Pohl's uncredited 1955 short story, "Tunnel Under the World").

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[–] Hammerfanatic46 18 years ago

Your absolutely right,what a terrible Idea !. Sadly I think Hollywood HAS no original ideas ,they would rather remake old movies and worse,TV shows which are percieved to have some form of "brand recognition" which will mean they can con some gullible people into seeing it before word gets around about how bad it is.Mainstream Hollywood is just no longer worth bothering about.

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[–] Dejael 19 years ago

Hello Altare,

I quite agree with you, I have always felt this film to have been one of the best 1950s sci-fi classics, and could have been better if only the studio had not tampered with the production while it was in progress, and left David S. Horsley alone to do the visual effects work as he saw fit; and if they had worked harder on the script, which is flawed, with some dud lines that should only be in a B-movie clunker. Franklin Coen could have, and should have, done better in the dailies. As it is, some of his bad, trite dialogue was crossed out of the final shooting script, but inexplicably remains in the final edit of the picture. Otherwise, I feel the picture could only have been better if it were filmed in CinemaScope, so the wide-screen epic panorama of Metaluna and its conflict with the enemy Zahgons would have been even more impressive. I highly recommend the classic textbook on this movie, "Films and Feelings" (1964) by French film critic Raymond Durgnat, for an in-depth fair analysis of the film's more subtle themes, which go beyond the simple script to explore psychological elements and cold-war innuendos.
Having known many of the key players in the 1955 film version of R.F. Jones' wonderful sci-fi novel of 1952, I have always been impressed with this film's amazing production design, art direction, visual effects, wonderful cast of fine actors, and the music score, which set it apart from and raised it far above being a B-movie. Anyone who thinks this picture is a B-movie doesn't know anything about filmmaking in Hollywood in the 1950s.

With the exception of his first feature film The GREAT RUPERT (1949), George Pal never made a B-movie, they were all bright and charming artistic fantasy and science fiction productions with a level of imagination not present in films of today except on rare occasions such as DRAGONSLAYER (1981) and SKY CAPTAIN (2004) as examples.

B-movies of the 1950s all had low budgets, usually less than $100,000.00 per picture, and most were made in basic black & white or occasionally in color when they could afford the more expensive color processes of the times like Eastmancolor (later on, in the 1960s, used as Metrocolor at MGM), Cinecolor or Agfacolor. B-movies almost always had second-string players and second-to-third rate scripts, but many classics have first-class screenplays, and have become classics in spite of their B-movie pedigree, such as Don Siegel's suspenseful film-noir sci-fi INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (AA,1956) or Ray Harryhausen's IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA (1955), EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS (1956), and 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH (1957). Pictures such as these were the exception, and not the rule in the cheap exploitation markets of back-alley film producers.

I quite agree it is pointless to remake a classic film, as Spielberg has just done with George Pal's version of H.G. Wells' WAR OF THE WORLDS. Having seen both, I still love Pal and Haskin's version much better. I think what made the 1953 version work so well was its level of worldwide epic scope which is sadly missing in Spielberg's version, which is more a personal tragedy story involving the lead character Tom Cruise plays, and his dysfunctional family; although the visual effects work is superb and spectacular in both pictures. I firmly believe that the reason for the 1953 Pal version's worldwide success is in this approach, which was undoubtedly a suggestion made to Mr. Pal by the uncredited Executive Producer of WOTW, none other than the Master Showman Cecil B. DeMille himself! Spielberg could have benefitted by making his film more of an epic like Roland Emmerich's highly successful INDEPENDENCE DAY (Fox,1996). To his credit, he wisely included some elements from Wells' original 1897 novel, such as the organic plasma plant known as the Red Weed, missing from Pal's version. This was also used to good effect in the classic 1978 Rock Opera version by Jeff Wayne.

We'll see if Peter Jackson can succeed in remaking the greatest fantasy film of all time, KING KONG (RKO, 1933). I have seen the preview trailer and it does look very interesting, set in 1933 New York with expensive production design and visual effects. We'll see if he can involve us in the story even half as much as Merian C. Cooper, Ernest Schoedsack, Willis O'Brien, Max Steiner's masterful, excellent music score, and the three principal cast members Robert Armstrong, Fay Wray, and Bruce Cabot did in that awesome and colossal black & white vision of Beauty and the Beast...
Of course, we won't talk about the ridiculous, embarrassing 1976 Dino de Laurentiis debacle which only succeeded in one thing: in launching Jessica Lange on her distinguished acting career in Hollywood...

Dejael

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[–] alltare2 19 years ago

Dejael

I envy you, having known the people involved in this movie. Does this mean you were actually involved in the production somehow?

Well, I know little about film making, but even I can see that the film was certainly not a B-movie. Even if it was, the beautiful color is enough to place it several notches higher on anyone's list, but the story itself was a good one. In fact, I consider the film version of the story to be considerably better than the book or the original magazine serialization. The screenwriters and director did well in getting rid of the book's labor conflicts and the other relatively mundane earthly dramas, and shifting the action to an interplanetary stage (in the book, the entire story takes place on Earth). Yes, there are some bad lines, but they're relatively small blemishes on the overall product. My favorite line is about Neutron the cat: "We call him that because he's so positive". Besides the obvious technical error here, I have often wondered whether, before the censors got involved, he might have been named that for another more delicate reason.

Even if you don't like this movie, you have to give it an award for futuristic variety. I know of no other movie that simultaneously contains "sense of wonder", scientific gizmos, death rays, BEMs, flying saucers (asymmetrical ones, at that), intergalactic travel, warring worlds, and Faith Domerque. How can you loose?

I tend to look beyond cheesy sets and low production budgets, and instead concentrate on the subject and execution. For that reason, I rarely categorize movies by their cost of manufacture. Among my favorites, I include all four of those that you mentioned by Siegel and Harryhausen. I guess they really were B-movies, but they're all roughly on par with TIE according to my enjoyment scale. I would also add the "hard" sf movies by Ivan Tors/Curt Siodmak, the best one of which is The Magnetic Monster (1953).

By the way, I was amazed at the huge difference in picture quality between the VHS and DVD releases of TIE. For example, when the space ship flies over Metaluna's pocked surface, instead of seeing mostly a black background, one can see LOTS of terrain, craters. etc. Overall, the DVD transfer seems to this layman to be excellent.

alltare

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[–] Dejael 19 years ago

Alltare2,

No, I did not have anything to do with this film's production, having been a boy of 7 years of age at the time, but in the 1980s I was hired by Bob Skotak of the Skotak Brothers (Bob & Dennis Skotak) of 4-Ward Productions, the special visual effects wizards who won 4 Academy Awards for ALIENS (1986), The ABYSS (1989), TERMINATOR 2 (1991) and TITANIC (1997) - to contact and interview as many of the principals involved in the production of THIS ISLAND EARTH as possible, for a book Bob Skotak was writing about the Making of THIS ISLAND EARTH and other science fiction and horror classics of the 1950s made by Universal Studios. Bob Skotak's book has inexplicably never been published, but we did publish the official authorized screenplay of THIS ISLAND EARTH in book form in 1990 with many illustrations and some technical background on how the film's incredible visual effects were produced by David S. Horsley, Roswell A. Hoffman, Clifford Stine, and Charlie Baker, with Production Design and Art Direction superbly done by Russian Prince Alexander Golitzen (AA Winner, SPARTACUS, 1960), with Richard H. Riedel, and Russ Lawson's wonderful matte paintings of Metaluna; and the Special Makeup effects of Bud Westmore's art studio were mostly done by Jack Kevan resulting in the fabulously original and realistic Metaluna Mutant monster, a worthy companion to the Creature From the Black Lagoon, or Blacky Lagoon as he was known on the set.

The reason Bob Skotak hired me in 1982 to interview the cast & crew of TIE, was he had heard I was writing articles about sci-fi films for magazines and fanzines, and because I already knew Jeff Morrow and Rex Reason personally, having met them in the 1970s. I had a wonderful time getting to know the world of Universal Pictures in the 1950s, and met many fine performers, technicians, production people, artists, and filmmakers. I continued this assignment for several years until 1988. One of the highlights was being invited to the Universal Studios Old-Timers Club Annual Picnic in Studio City in 1988 and meeting Albert Whitlock, the premiere matte artist on dozens of pictures such as
EARTHQUAKE (1974), who got started as the apprentice to Russ Lawson on THIS ISLAND EARTH. I enjoyed a long friendship with Jeff Morrow and his lovely wife Anna Karen Morrow, from the late 1970s until his passing in 1993, and Rex Reason and I are still the best of friends.
To my eternal regret, the only person I had no success in interviewing was actress Faith Domergue. I did contact her, but she said she was simply not interested. She was too sensitive to all the Hollywood hype which connected her forever to Howard Hughes, and she wanted nothing to do with show business any longer, only wishing to have a private life away from the public.
However, my associates Paul and Donna Parla did manage to coax her into personal interviews with them in 1997 and 1998, which were to be her last public statements in her career, since she passed away in April 1999.

THIS ISLAND EARTH, according to Universal Studios' own press releases of 1954, was one of the A-List film productions announced by the studio for upcoming release that year (in the Hollywood Reporter), but its elaborate visual effects took over a year to complete, and the film's principal photography (actors and sets) took only three and a half months (January-April 1954); post-production took another six months, so when the movie posters advertised the film as "2-1/2 Years In The Making", that was essentially true, from the time the screen rights to the original novel by Raymond F. Jones were acquired in early 1953, to the first (discarded) script written in late 1953, to the film's first release on June 1, 1955.
Thus, the film was NOT a B-picture, not even considered as one by its own studio. The final budget for the film, NOT including worldwide distribution and promotion by the studio and the theatrical distributors at the time of its release, was over $800,000.00 - nearly a million dollars.

The reason the studio failed to adequately promote the film is that its CEO, Edward Muhl, didn't have any faith in it, and said so, and tried to keep the costs down, and it was Muhl who fired David Stanley Horsley and replaced him with the film's cinematographer, Clifford Stine, ASC. If he hadn't, the film would have cost over a million to make.
Sadly, this is the reason the studio failed to promote the picture as an Oscar contender for Best Special Effects of 1955. (A similar thing happened to George
Pal at Paramount that year, over CONQUEST OF SPACE.) Ed Muhl and the studio heads were annoyed with Horsley, and this was their way of punishing him. Yet - THIS ISLAND EARTH did achieve an Oscar at the Academy Awards that year - it was a technical award to Horsley and Roswell Hoffman, his right-hand man, for a special effects device known as the Linear Accelerator, which was used to show the flying saucer moving through space and over the surface landscape of Metaluna. This clever device was all they could do in the analog world of the 1950s to show spaceships and aircraft realistically flying across process screens, before the digital CGI breakthroughs of the 1970s by Lucasfilm's STAR WARS (1977) and Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS (1977).
Ed Muhl (the cantankerous old movie mogul at Universal) didn't like science fiction, and thought ALL science fiction pictures should be low-budget B-pictures made in black & white with a big, horrible monster in them. This is the real reason why Universal never made another big-budget science fiction picture until 1970, 15 years later - when the studio made TWO of them at once: COLOSSUS - The FORBIN PROJECT (1970) and The ANDROMEDA STRAIN (1970).
The reason why Universal suddenly made these pictures: Ed Muhl had retired, left the studio and the business, and a completely new management was in place at the studio, open to the idea of sci-fi blockbusters. This new management hired a young film graduate student named Steven Spielberg at that time, and started him on his 35-year career in Hollywood. His first efforts were on Rod Serling's NIGHT GALLERY TV series, and then in 1971 Universal allowed him to direct his first picture, the TV-movie DUEL which is a classic of the sci-fi and fantasy genre. Since then, he has distinguished himself as one of the finest filmmakers in Hollywood.

By the way, Neutron the cat in TIE also starred as RHUBARB, THE CAT (1951) and appeared as the monstrous cat menacing Grant Williams in The INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN (1957). His real name was Orangey, you can look him up on the IMDB.

MAGNETIC MONSTER (UA, 1953) is one of the best, and one of my favorite, sci-fi B-pictures of the 1950s, along with ROCKETSHIP X-M (1950) and KRONOS (1957).

Dejael

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[–] alltare2 19 years ago

(For readers here who don't know about it, the book Dejael referred to is "This Island Earth- The Original Shooting Script" by Philip J. Riley (editor) and MagicImage Filmbooks (1990). Long out of print, you can find a copy now and then on ebay or at www.abebooks.com. The book has a lot of background info on the movie, and contains the complete movie script that's a lot of fun to read. Filmfax magazine #33 of June/July 1992 had many excerpts from this book and a lot of other TIE info. The Faith Domergue interview by Paul Parla can be found at
http://www.classicimages.com/1997/march/faith1.html. It also appeared in another Filmfax issue).

Dejael, you're obviously an expert on This Island Earth, so I have a question for you: What is the big framed painting next to the door in Exeter's office? The painting that looks like a big double-decker hamburger. What the heck is that? This same picture supposedly turned up again in "The Leech Woman" (1959), but I haven't seen that one in 20 years, so can't be sure.

I'm glad Ed Muhl went elsewhere. He may have snuffed out many good sf films before he left. The 1970 films that followed his departure were OK, but I could never get over the lousy ending of The Andromeda Strain. It defied all logic. There they were, fighting a bug that mutated faster than they could react. It ultimately mutated into something that could eat the rubber seals of the lab and escape into the atmosphere. What did the scientists do? They shrugged their shoulders and decided that, oh well, it had mutated into a harmless form and would just drift away. End of story. The whole movie was about a changing entity, so how did they know it would suddenly stop mutating? I think they just ran out of film or ideas.

By the way, I agree with you about Kronos. Generally, I didn't much care for Rocketship X-M, but it did have a good ending. I'll counter that one with "1984" (the 1956 version with Edmund OBrien).

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[–] Dejael 19 years ago

Alltare2,

Thanks for giving the specific information about these items on the IMDB site!

Re: the painting in Exeter's study in TIE: I don't know, but I do know it was used in several Universal pictures (as were the sets and props of the Georgia Mansion, especially Exeter's wood-paneled office) in The GLENN MILLER STORY (1954), PILLOW TALK (1959) and in The LADY TAKES A FLIER (1957).

Did you read my post about Ed Muhl on another topic? He was the reason the sci-fi and horror cycle at Universal came to a close at the end of the 1950s. The studio producers wanted to do bigger and better things in the 1960s, but Ed Muhl wouldn't allow it. James Pratt, who worked directly under him, told me a lot about this.

Yes, the British "1984" (1956) is a finely-crafted film isn't it? It's too bad it isn't available on video. It's frightening, gripping, dark and terrifying at times. Exactly like George Orwell's 1949 novel intended it to be, with scenes of a future Britain as a totalitarian state and the loss of individual freedoms.

Cheers,
Dejael

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] corpplaneteer 19 years ago

Dejael

Being another appreciater of THIS ISLAND EARTH, I find your experiences, surrounding its production very interesting. In spite of many modern condescending reviews of TIE (much do to MST. I still love their show, and they did it more as a challenge, being fans of it as well), it was the first color space opera Hollywood was willing to gamble a bit more on. From a Sci-Fi Cinema History perspective it is highly significant; esp. when it was made a few decades before CGI was conceived. and was a childhood inspiration to George Lucas for STAR WARS over 20 years later. Speilberg used a quick clip from it in ET, and it's a favorite of John Carpenter and Joe Dante.

The film also received high marks from the critics on its initial release, and scored as a commercial success as well. Definitely not your standard 'B-Movie'; in spite of its "being dated" by today's high tech CGI.

Notice how the MST version eliminated the most impressive scenes, which would have diminished its parody potential. Like the saucer's descent upon Metaluna and its surreal landscape, as the planet is being gloriously bombared bt the Zagons.

Though the acting is considered 'wooden', the characters were more developed than the usual B fare, and Rex Reason had a likeable quality about him. Jeff Morrow was admirable as Exeter, in spite of the script's weaknesses and occasional ridiculous dialogue. His monologue when Metaluna goes supernova is, admittingly, a bit corny today. He must have struggled enormously to keep a serious, sincere look on his face for that, and I couldn't help but laugh during MST's jabes ("Cooler by the Lake"). And Faith Domergue goes without saying. Cal and Ruth were that mythic All-American couple of the 50's (with some slight liberal leanings). Notice that he doesn't treat her in that smug macho condescending way as the 50's heroines more often were. Though Hollywood did have to have her go distressed damsel when they almost bite it on Metaluna; to keep up with the old 'tradition', no doubt. Whatever.

I always wondered if a faithful remake would work today. Repairing the script's flaws and rewriting the some of the bad dialogue and stiltedness. Some of the original's 'futuristic science' will need an updated overhaul. Would an Interociter really be that new and intriguing today? Though the destruct weapon is a plus, but how "original" will it seem today? Or going through the Thermal Barrier? You can hear modern science nerds niggling over that, in spite of how 'cool' it's made to look. It's items like that which would have to be reworked now.

Without fear of appearing superficial (trust me, I'm far from that), I always wanted to see more of the Metaluna/Zargon war, and the reasons and issues behind it. Yes, I'm screaming out for a little more devastating action and updated SFX in the final scenes, but with a great build-up, it could work added wonders (and please todays' more demanding audiences). As fond as I still am about the original, it always left me begging for more. The trick is not to overdo or underdo. It would need a really polished script and the right director. An ideal project for ILM and Dreamworks. Lucas or Speilberg could serve as overseeing producers; perhaps Speilberg directing.

Though the Zargons are the supposed 'bad guys', we only know this from the Metalunans' perspective (and rhetoric). Exeter and his gang still resort to ruthlessness and trechery, and the stoic Monitor (Commie!!!) isn't the most ethical or compassionate. Were they really trying to "make peace" with them, or just desperately trying to save their own butts? There are some compelling ambiguities here, despite its uneveness. After all, the Metalunans wish to 'relocate' to this island Earth, superior weapons and all - and also resorts to advanced lobotomy if anyone disagrees.

What never exactly made sense to me is why they need to take Cal and Ruth to their planet; esp. when it's on the verge of anniliation. Since time is so crucial, why bring them there without the gigantic quantities of uranium their planet desperatedly needs? Did they actually expect to have enough time to go back to Earth for it? Wouldn't only one trip there be enough? Why waste more critical time on two trips? It was these vital plot points that many of the film's critics jumped all over. Esp. when it was trying to be more intelligent, and even sophisticated, than most of the usual Sci-Fi at the time.

I still love the original for its early earnestness for the genre, and it is one of its first pioneers that set the course for later landbreaking projects, but I do wonder how a well worked out remake would go. Usually, I feel only bad fims (those 'interesting failures' that had stronger potential) should be remade (like ANGRY RED PLANET or JOURNEY TO THE SEVENTH PLANET: e.g.). But I do wonder if a decent remake of THIS ISLAND EARTH would work.

Who would we cast today as Cal, Ruth and Exeter? How about Brack? Would Neutron be included, and also blown to smithereens when they have to destroy the mansion? I almost wept.

Anyways, very good posts.

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[–] nomad-46 19 years ago

Not all remakes turn out inferior to the original. Look at "John Carpenter's The Thing," for instance. That one went back to the original short-story and stayed very faithful to it, and basically ignored the plot of the first movie. And the original "Thing" was very different from the short-story it was supposedly based on. Maybe they didn't think the audiences of the day were ready for the concept of an alien that could slowly take over a person at the molecular level and literally become him, so, instead the arctic scientists were facing... a walking, humanoid carrot-creature?!?!?!????

On the other hand, John Carpenter's remake of "Village of the Damned" was uninspired.... Go figure.

However, I have been hoping for years that someone would do a remake of "This Island Earth," and this time do for it what Carpenter did for "The Thing." I mean, I've read the original novella, and there were so many great, compelling ideas they left OUT of the movie... such as the idea of two emense, warring supercivilizations using computers to run their war plans, computers that predicted by extrapolation everything the other side was going to do and countering it... until one side decided to ignore the computer progostications and just pick a random target, throwing the other side off the beam.

If they put ALL of the complexities of the original novella into the picture, and made this a period piece set back in the 1950s, it would probably blow everyone away.

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[–] midflamagic 19 years ago

Hi Guys... I hope I'm not too late for all of you to read my post! I just want to say how much I appreciate and am in awe of all your knowledge and opinions about This Island Earth - and the Sci-Fi genre in general. At 56 years old, I am very comfortable stating - you are all a bunch of very cool guys. I don't know all your ages, but I'm pretty close to Dajael as I was about 8 or so when TIE was first released. I didn't see it until the 60's as a teenager - in a drive in... it was FANTASTIC!!! and I'd been waiting to see it for years. We are all so fortunate today to have so much available; that we can all see these classic movies, (it will always be one to me!), and be able to see them virtually anytime we would like.

To find a "bunch" of guys not only interested in the same movies I grew up with and have literally "studied" all my life, but to find such an interesting group that can talk so intelligently, (for the most part)about them - having a passion for them. Oh, and Dajael; you had what many of us would believe to be the "dream job" - thanks so much for all you have shared with us. Thanks to Dajael, Alltare 2, Headrusch 1, corplaneteer, nomad-46 and especially The Silent Photoplayer for the very well stated defenses of This Island Earth and your personal input about it. Thanks so much for the sharing...

Mike
midflamagi

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[–] sonofagun 19 years ago

As the saying goes:

"Welcome to the party, Pal!"

Well done, memorable films are something to be savored and discussed like a fine wine, beer, painting, piece of music, or any other appreciable art forms.

Enjoy!

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[–] marcolm 19 years ago

Hope you're wrong. Spielberg will just ruin another classic.

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[–] headrusch1 19 years ago

You can't ruin a classic, you can simply make another version of it.

I haven't yet seen the new WAR...but I heard it blows. I'll go into it like I do all movies, with an open mind. If it tells a decent story, I'll be amused.

But far too many of us get too romatically involved with films, as though the original will somehow be "tainted" by a remake. Thats not the case. If anything, the remake FINALLY got someone to re-master and re-released an updated version of the original classic on DVD. So..."YAY!" :)

I'd love to see a remake of This Island Earth...even a remake of Forbidden Planet.

In a WORST case scenario, the originals are still the original classic films they always have been. In a best case scenario, they do a decent job on the remakes and I'm entertained by an "updated vision" of the story.

Or..the exact same story with fancy special FX.. :)

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[–] The-Silent-Photoplayer 19 years ago

The bigger insult is that Hollywood is dishing remakes out at all. I'm sorry, but the track record of remakes has been slim enough to label this dead before it even gets off the ground.

On the other hand, I don't even know why one would want to remake TIE anyway-- the underlying themes have no connection with today's audiences, and if they change them (if they even recognize them in the first place), they might as well make an entirely different picture.

-J. Theakston
The Silent Photoplayer
http://www.thephotoplayer.com/

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[–] sonofagun 19 years ago

Since someone here has mentioned a remake of Forbidden Planet, see my ideas for a remake posted on its board:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049223/board/flat/4971273

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] alltare2 19 years ago

REES-1,

So THAT's why I remember that scene so well! She was very impressive, wasn't she?
http://www.briansdriveintheater.com/horror/faithdomergue/faithdomergue2.jpg

She was memorable in "Cult of the Cobra", too.

Quote:
I now savor the scene where Dr. Adams goes into the water...

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[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 19 years ago

I'm with you, but wouldn't it be great if they remade "The Giant Gila Momster" paying attention to the fact that the original didn't even use a gila monster, but a beaded lizard?

Nothing exists more beautifully than nothing.

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[–] richardstark 19 years ago

Maybe that's "When Worlds Collide." Anyway, it would be a wonderful idea -- I actually like the old movie a lot. Does Universal hold the rights to the original film?

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[–] Dejael 19 years ago

Yes, the film is still the legal property of Universal.

Dejael

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[–] richardstark 19 years ago

Thanks.

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[–] c-horse 19 years ago

Unfortunately if memory serves correctly Universal and Spielberg consider they have already remade "WWC" -- "Deep Impact". Personally I wouldn't get too excited about Spielberg remaking any classic. His "War of the Worlds" was only partially successful and the remake of "The Time Machine" he produced was a travesty. It's been a long time since the big S has made a wholly satisfactory movie, remake or original. I'd hate to think what he would do with a property like TIE. Speilberg trusts his own storytelling abilities more than he does the power of the original.

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[–] Dejael 19 years ago

I agree completely! If a remake were made, it would have to be carefully crafted to be as artistic and unusual as the 1955 original. Latest word is, I understand that someone at Universal, a producer, is planning this remake, and it may be Spielberg himself.
I got this information from Rex Reason, who got it from the Raymond F. Jones family estate, who are ebullient about doing this remake (for obvious reasons).

Dejael

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[–] cool guy69 19 years ago

Hey Dajael, do you happen to know what Rex Reason though about the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of This Island Earth? If he saw it, that is; and if he didn't has he purposly avoided it? I would've thought that he has at least heard of it.

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[–] Dejael 19 years ago

Yes, Rex got a laugh out of it, although he wasn't pleased with it as it exploited him and the other actors in the film as ham actors and that upset him, as well as the derision of the MST3K concept poking fun at a classic sci-fi film instead of making fun of a really bad cheesy piece of schlock like WORLD WITHOUT END (Fox, 1956) or QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE (AA,1958) which they also considered because they obviously wanted to exploit and satirize a color film instead of the many black & white low-budget B's out there made in the 1950s.
Rex saw it at a private screening at Universal in 1996 when he called his attorney and they both demanded that Universal and Gramercy Pictures (which made the MST3K movie) show it to them since Rex Reason's likeness was being used for profit after the copyright had run its first course, and he and his attorney both knew that Rex could, and did, get a financial settlement (and Rex told me it was a sizable bank check, enough to put a new roof on his house and finish remodeling it) out of it, since now each time a studio or production company uses the likeness of a famous person or celebrity (living or dead) for profit, they must pay that person or the person's family estate. Also, Rex called Anna Karen Morrow, Jeff Morrow's widow, and told her about this, and she got in on the payout action as well, representing Jeff's family estate. As far as I know, Faith Domergue and Lance Fuller did not express interest in this film or being retro-funded for its use of their likeness.
Rex did not like the MST3K film but good-naturedly said it was gratifying that something he did over 40 years before was still attracting a lot of attention in the public eye, and he is such a professional he is proud of his film work as a fine actor from the classic era. He says THIS ISLAND EARTH is a fine piece of filmmaking and is rightfully proud of it as an American classic film, whether or not it is science fiction, the genre does not matter to him, only the quality of the production. He believes it can stand on its own as a piece of art, and I'm inclined to agree with him!

Dejael

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[–] cool guy69 19 years ago

That's cool. If it's any consolation, the MST3K version made me want to see the normal movie. I'm looking forward to seeing it from the DVD release this August. Would've bought it already, but the first DVD release is out-of-print and is very pricey trying to find one used. I'm sure I can look past the jokes MST3K made and see it as a cool 50's sci-fi film. Also, from what I've read from MST3K fans on the internet, even they admit that TIE is a good movie and not the usual crap they poke fun at.

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[–] Wulfe51 18 years ago

Hey, it's great to discover these discussion boards. I'd rank TIE in the top ten fifties SF films, though it has stiff competition. In no particular order:

The Day the Earth Stood Still
Forbidden Planet
THEM!
The Thing from Another Planet
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
This Island Earth
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
Godzilla
War of the Worlds
It Came from Outer Space

$.02

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[–] alltare2 18 years ago

I pretty much agree with you, but you left out a lot of good ones, Wulfe51. OK, if it's lists you want, then here's my list of 1950's movies in date order. I don't think I've left too many scifi titles out, but I have avoided most horror and a lot of "monster" films.

I've put an asterisk (*) after those titles that are my favorites and a pound sign (#) after those that are real bombs. The ultimate stinkos (Robot Monster, Plan 9, …) were purposely not included on this list. Don't ask me what makes a movie my favorite- I can't even explain it to myself.

Destination Moon (50)*
Rocketship X-M (50)
Unknown World (50)
Captain Video- Master of the Universe (serial) (51)
Day the Earth Stood Still (51)*
Flight to Mars (51)
Flying Disc Man from Mars (serial) (51)
Man from Planet X (51)#
Thing from Another World (original) (51)*
When Worlds Collide (51)*
Radar Men from the Moon (serial) (52)
Red Planet Mars (52)*
Zombies of the Stratosphere (serial) (52)
Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (53)
Invaders from Mars (original) (53)*
It Came from Outer Space (53)*
Magnetic Monster (53)*
Project Moonbase (53)#
Spaceways (53)
Twonky, The (53)
War of the Worlds (53)*
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (54)*
Atomic Submarine (54)#
Conquest of Space (54)*
Godzilla (54)
Gog (54)*
Riders to the Stars (54)
Stranger from Venus (54)
Target Earth (54)
Them! (54)*
Tobor the Great (54)#
Atomic Man AKA "Timeslip" (55)
Creature with the Atom Brain (55)
Cult of the Cobra (more horror than scifi, but Faith Domergue's in it) (55)*
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (original) (55)*
It Came from Beneath the Sea (55)*
Quatermass 1 (Creeping Unknown) (55)
Science Fiction Theatre (TV series) (55)*
Tarantula (55)
This Island Earth (55)*
1984 (1956 Version) (56)*
Beast of Hollow Mountain (56)
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (56)*
Forbidden Planet (56)*
It Conquered The World (56)
Mole People (56)*
World Without End (56)*
X - The Unknown (56)#
20 Million Miles to Earth (57)*
27th Day (57)*
Attack of the Crab Monsters (57)
Beginning of the End (57)*
Deadly Mantis (57)
Giant Claw,The (57)
Invisible Boy (57)
Kronos (57)*
Land Unknown (57)#
Monolith Monsters (57)*
Monster that Challenged the World (57)
Night the World Exploded (57)*
Not of This Earth (57)
Quatermass 2 (Enemy from Space) (57)
Attack of the Puppet People (58)
Blob, The (58)*
Brain Eaters, The (58)
Earth vs the Spider (58)
First Man into Space (58)
Fly, The (58)
From The Earth to the Moon (58)
I Married a Monster From Outer Space (58)*
It! The Terror from Beyond Space (58)
Monster from Green Hell (58)#
Giant Behemoth (59)#
Journey to the Center of the Earth (59)*
On the Beach (59)*
Return of the Fly (59)
Wasp Woman (59)

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[–] Wulfe51 18 years ago

Ah, I've goaded you into summarizing the best of the 50s sci fi movies ;-) Thanks! With my memory thus refreshed, I might print out your list and give it to my wife to keep in mind for Christmas and birthdays.

Indeed, the additional movies you asterisked were classics as well. I didn't think that anyone besides me remembered "World Without End," featuring "good old bazooka" or Kronos, either, for that matter. The scene in Kronos where the aliens killed the John Emery character from a distance and then apparently used his bodily fluids to short out their huge computer sticks with me as firmly as the chestbuster scene in "Alien."

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[–] alltare2 18 years ago

To wander even further off topic...

I've watched that "bodily fluids" scene closely more than a few times, and it looks to me like they used liquid mercury to make contact and cause short circuits with actual charged electrical conductors, resulting in real electrical sparks and vaporized mercury. I don't think it was a conventional pyrotechnics effect. It made for a good show- it would have looked great in color- but OSHA would probably have a few words to say if they tried that method today.

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[–] 19 years ago

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