Directed by WILLIAM ALLAND
Review by ELIJAH DRENNER


Released by Universal
Running Time: 86 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Color format: Color
Audio/Subtitles: 2.0 Mono/French and Spanish subtitles
Region Code: 1, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 1.33:1
16:9 Enhanced: No
Special Features: Trailer.
Trailer Online: No

THIS ISLAND EARTH is not a great movie. It’s a movie, though, that is not without its fans - myself admittedly included. But the title has always puzzled me. Why it almost makes you think of some kind of Al Gore-ian hyped fate for our planet. And after watching the movie again, I’m still not sure the title makes a lick of sense – but maybe it doesn’t need to.

Based on the pulp novel “The Alien Machine” by Raymond F. Jones, the movie is sort of a buzz kill compared to other big budget/color/1950’s sci-fi. George Pal’s WAR OF THE WORLDS is a superior example. FORBIDDEN PLANET is, too. But this film, though steeped with some great special effects in the final reel, is just too – for lack of a better word – boring. The climax that it builds to is neat to look at, though ultimately unfulfilling. Even the picture’s greatest attribute – the large cranium, bug-eyed Metaluna Mutant – is just another man in a clunky costume, offering no real menacing presence in the film.

Iron jawed macho-man Rex Reason plays atomic scientist (and part-time pilot) Cal Meacham. One day, while discovering more advanced ways to enrich uranium, he receives a mysterious package: a small, impenetrable bead that turns out to be part of a larger unknown alien communication machine. More packages arrive, and with notes on how to assemble the pieces into what is called and Interocter; a high tech communication device with an upside down triangular shaped monitor, that can also shoot out a deadly heat beam. Upon its assemblage, a white-haired alien scientist with an elongated forehead named Exeter (played by Jeff Morrow) appears on the monitor instructing Cal to relocate, and join a band of scientists dedicated to peace on our planet. In reality, all signs should point to “NO” but Cal proceeds anyway, hopping onboard to a mysterious plane and arriving in rural Georgia where he meets an old flame – Dr. Ruth Adams (played by Faith Domergue) who was also summoned by Exeter. It’s not long before Cal and Ruth suspect something sinister and split. While fleeing, they are kidnapped by aliens and taken to their dying planet – Metaluna. During their intergalactic road trip, Cal and Ruth learn why they were really selected, to help the aliens tap our own planet’s resources for their ongoing war with planet Zaghon.

As stated before, this is hardly top notch sci-fi fantasy from the golden age of flying saucers, Martian Hops and atom bombs. Universal’s only Technicolor science fiction movie, this little number sits nearly smack dab in the middle of the studio’s better and more enjoyable atomic-age outputs: CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE and THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, to name a few. Most of the Universal sci-fiers were directed by the great Jack Arnold by the way, who actually directed a great deal of re-shoots for this movie, uncredited. Producer William Alland is curiously given sole directing credit on the film, which was actually begun by director Joseph Newman, before Arnold took over.

Released through Image Entertainment many moons ago, THIS ISLAND EARTH has been out of print until this recent re-issue from Universal. And just like the previous issue, there is nothing on the DVD except the trailer. The transfer looks good - with some to-be-expected mild dirt and grain visible, the film is presented in its appropriate 1.33 ratio. Another Image release that is also, still sadly out of print, is MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: THE MOVIE. MST3K: THE MOVIE uses THIS ISLAND EARTH as its featured attraction, and is an ideal choice for such knee-jerk mockery, as it is perhaps best viewed with a duo of smart-ass robots of your own. Collectors should take note that Universal Home Video has released a Best Buy exclusive, two-disc set that includes MONSTER ON CAMPUS, THE MOLE PEOPLE, THE MONOLITH MONSTERS, THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN and TARANTULA - all in a nicely priced edition called THE CLASSIC SCI-FI COLLECTION. Keep watching the skies…