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"The Angry Red Planet" - 1960 : A Review

168.10.128.185

Well, I finally got to see "The Angry Red Planet"-1960 as an adult, my
childhood memories were so vague as to preclude clear evaluation until
now.
In spite of it's multitude of shortcomings, (for example, in the
acting department, Colonel O'Bannion's demeanor in the first half of
the film seemed more like that of a gigolo than a spaceship commander); I found it to be a delightfully entertaining film.
Very original and creative in some respects: the CineMagic red
filtering gives the Martian atmosphere and landscape an eerie, glowing
quality; the artwork, while evident, is impressive, especially the
Martian city across the lake; the giant Venus (I mean Martian!)flytrap
was just passable, but the bat-rat-spider-crab creature was cool and well-constructed, much more so than I had been led to
believe (compare to the dangling vulture in "The Giant Claw"-1958); the
giant ameoba with the rotating eyeball is an incredible, hilarious
sight - intended or not, it's got to be one of the most comically imaginative creatures ever conceived!
I would place "The Angry Red Planet" in the third tier of the
180+ sci-fi films made in that era - better than dozens of dull, boring, unimaginative low budget efforts in the fourth and bottom rung, but well below the second
tier ("When Worlds Collide";"This Island Earth" etc.) and the top
level,("Forbidden Planet"; "War of the Worlds",etc).
Perfect popcorn fodder for both die-hard 50's sci-fi fans and general family entertainment. - AH




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Topic - "The Angry Red Planet" - 1960 : A Review - AudioHead 09:51:49 05/07/01 (6)


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