Sci-Fi Earth vs the Flying Saucers (1956)

[BudBrewster]

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When this movie came out in 1956 I was just eight years old, Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, Sputnik was a year away from making history, and there were 4,000 drive-in theaters across America.

Like this one, the Roosevelt Drive-In in College Park, Georgia -- where I grew up.

Sometime in July of that year my parents took me and my sister there to see Earth vs the Flying Saucers . . . and I haven't been exactly normal since!

Thank goodness.

Imagine being eight years old and seeing this through the windshield of the family car. It certainly impressed Hugh Marlow and Joan Taylor!

This was a dream come true for a kid who was already living and breathing science fiction, even though he hadn't been around one whole decade yet. This movie has everything a kid could want! It's got alien brain scans --

-- low-flying saucer in broad daylight --

-- battles with brave but soon-to-be-vaporized Army guys --

-- creepy aliens that absolutely, positively were NOT here to be anybody's friend --

-- saucers that cruised in formation over Washington like they owned the place --

-- lots of national monuments whose insurance rates were about to go way up --

-- amazing scenes of destruction which the guys in the Kremlin probably watched every weekend while they clapped and cheered --

-- and a brave scientist willing to try on a big alien helmet and risk having all the folks around him make funny faces while he couldn't see them.

If this great movie had a bigger budget, it would not have been stuck with these suits which had no eyes, no hands and (the one that really puzzles me) no elbows!

Instead, we'd have gotten something a bit more on the cool side of awesome, like this.

But this movie is still a crowd pleaser after 60 years, this coming July. Heck, I wish I had held up as well as this movie!


Bud

 

[screenersam]

loved it. said to be the 'inspiration' for Independence Day (sequel coming soon).
really liked the old flatbed trucks with the electronic weapon mounted on back.

 

[Kevin]

When this movie came out in 1956

I was born a bit later, 1970, but grew up watching old B&W movies like this on Saturday afternoon "matinee" double-features on TV and is why I still love them today.

You are absolutely correct about the special effects. The movies might seem simple today because of the visuals but their story lines still hold up against anything being put out today.

these suits which had no eyes, no hands and (the one that really puzzles me) no elbows!

The suits had internal HUD displays, like Iron Man's suits in the recent movies, and the metal was composed of nano bots so elbows and other bend points could be configured on demand as needed. Yeah, I'm sticking with that.

 

[Tom]

The movies might seem simple today because of the visuals but their story lines still hold up against anything being put out today.

Back then there was no 'straight to video' and movies had to have talent to gain box office money.
I like monsters; Them!, It Came From Beneath The Sea, 20 Million Miles To Earth, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms & even The Giant Behemoth are some of my old favorites.
The Creature From The Black Lagoon was one of my first monster movies and that thing still creeps me out.

Back in those days, (days of old movies first watches) I screened many B&W films and as I look back it seems that those were the films against which I judge all films against. I mean, You had to have talent to be an 'Actor'.

I try to watch every film I get in my collection at least once. I have seen some really Gawd-Awful stuff. I especially despise those shaky-cam, found footage pieces of felgercard that seem to have saturated Hollyrock in the last decade or two. Don't even get me started on Syfy Originals or anything done by Asylum.

As much as I love the oldies I don't want to see new movies reverting back to that style. I want to see what technology brings. I just want them to be more than a money box.

 

[BudBrewster]

Kudos to both your posts, gentlemen. It is SO good to know that there are intelligent like-minded guys in the world who appreciate classics like this one -- and it's also nice to know that "young" guys like you love 'em as much I do, even though you saw them long after Hollywood and our culture had changed so radically.

I confess I transplanted my initial post from the Science Fiction Message Board, because I thought it was a nice tribute to the movie and should be shared here as well as there. Ironically, it's a much better post than the one I did for my own board, All Sci-Fi.

All Sci-Fi :: View topic - Earth vs the Flying Saucers - (1956)

Yesterday, I added links to several threads from Cool Sci-Fi to the Multi-Board Alphabetical Index, but I didn't add this one because it was, at that point, identical to the opening post (mine) on the other board.

But now that you've added your own interesting comments about the movie, this thread has it's own special identity and deserves to be added to MBAI.

So, I'll do that right now. Hopefully more and more folks from the other four boards which have currently received the announcement about the MBAI (and the link to) it will notice the growing number of threads from Cool Sci-Fi and start enjoying this fine board.

And please feel free to promote Cool Sci-Fi enthusiastically on All Sci-Fi and Science Fiction Message Board anytime you want, any way you want! We're dedicated to the idea that message boards should support each other in every possible way.

Bud

 

[Tom]

And please feel free to promote Cool Sci-Fi enthusiastically

Um, CoolSciFi no longer exists? This is now AlienSoup.

 

[Kevin]

Um, CoolSciFi no longer exists? This is now AlienSoup.

I still need to change the logo.