Customer Reviews

Battle of the Worlds

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I was expecting to be entertained by a low budget Scifi flick.
What I didn't expect was to recieve this title burned on consumer grade media.
Couldn't watch movie with all the skipping and last chapter completely freezes up dvd player.
When did Amazon start dealing in Pirated Movies?

Again. Stay Away From CHEEZY FLICKS ENT.

About the only positive thing I could say about the movie Battle of the Worlds (1963), originally released as Il Pianeta degli uomini spenti (1961), is that it wasn't actor Claude Rains', who passed away in 1967, last feature film (that would be 1965's The Greatest Story Ever Told), as no one should have to be remembered for appearing in this dreadful Italian made sci-fi schlock. Written by Ennio De Concini (Black Sunday, Colossus and the Amazon Queen) and directed by Antonio Margheriti (Horror Castle, Mondo Inferno, Hercules vs. King Fu), the film features, as I've mentioned, Claude Rains (The Invisible Man, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Notorious), along with Bill Carter (Angels Hard as They Come), Umberto Orsini (Don't Tempt the Devil), Maya Brent, and Jacqueline Derval (Duel of Champions).

As the movie begins we find ourselves on an island whose main structure is an observatory, and we meet a young couple in Dr. Fred Steele (Orsini) and Eve Barnett (Margheriti), both of whom work at the facility. We learn that the pair are not only engaged, but are soon to leave the island to `live among the normal people', as Fred puts it...anyway, after about a ten minute sequence involving some sort of astounding discovery found in space, precipitated by a less than thrilling sequence involving a convoy of Mars bound spaceships in peril (does two ships constitute a convoy?), we're finally let in on the fact that there's a rogue planet crusing through our solar system, headed on a collision course for Earth. While this is news to everyone else, the facility head, a cantankerous, crotchety curmudgeon named Professor Benson (Rains) has known about it for quite a while, due to his supreme calculus skills, and has since named the celestial object `the outsider'. Given this global threat, Eve decides to stay on, which irks Fred some, but it doesn't really matter as all transfers have been canceled. This aspect actually has little bearing on the story, but, at the time of its presentation, it seemed of some importance. Eventually the mystery planet arrives and goes into orbit around Earth, and Benson argues with the `bigwigs' (this is how he constantly, and subsequently annoyingly, refers to those in the high command) about a course of action. Benson believes the planet should be destroyed immediately (for reasons he doesn't bother to share), while those in charge feel more investigation is needed, to which an exploration party is sent, only to meet with a disastrous fate, allowing for Benson to go into `I told you so' mode (he's a real sour grapes kinda guy). Eventually Benson begins sharing his hypothesis with regards to the planet (he thinks there may be intelligent life within), and those in charge decide to mount a full-scale attack to neutralize the threat. Anyway, some stuff happens, Benson sits in a hammock, Fred is angry with Eve, Benson's secretary Mrs. Collins creeps everyone out (what the hell was her deal?), an alien saucer is recovered, all culminating in Benson, accompanied by a small group of scientists, actually visiting the planet prior to the military's operation, leading to some sort of interesting revelations.

The main problem I had with this feature seems to be one shared by others in the fact that it's just so very boring...and when I say boring, I don't just mean boring, but mind numbingly tedious. I can forgive a lot of things like the cheap, bargain basement special effects, insipid characters, inane dialog scattered with meaningless techno babble, and rotten, illogical science, as these are often commonalities with shoddy, cheaply made science fiction features, but at least in those other films there was a modicum of entertainment value, which wasn't the case here. The only real spark of life in this feature is Rains' (who looks an awful lot like the late, great Cubs baseball announcer Harry Carey), and that's only because he hams up every scene he's in...and I have to say, his character was quite the a-hole. He constantly claims to know about events and circumstances well before they become known to his colleagues, but keeps said information to himself until it becomes common knowledge (you know, it's real easy to claim prior knowledge of an event after it's already occurred). Perhaps a little heads up would be appropriate in terms of a rogue planet heading towards Earth, possibly signaling our ultimate destruction. And he also seems to take great satisfaction, especially when it results in the loss of human life, when things go wrong after the `bigwigs' decide on a course of action that differs from what he thinks should be done. His character is an obnoxious, odious, hermit who lives in a shack with a ton of plants and a mangy mutt, does ridiculously complicated calculus equations on the planters with chalk, sleeps in a hammock, chews on a cigar, and belittles anyone within range with his smarmy, superior, egotistical, condescending comments if only to continually show how much smarter he is than everyone else. I'm surprised none of those working (I should say suffering) under his leadership hadn't visited him in the middle of the night and clubbed the life out of him with a blunt object. And get this, we don't even learn Rains' character's name until a half hour into the film because his underlings only refer to him as the `old man'. As far as the rest of the characters, they were all worthless, often presented as being of some importance only to disappear from the movie for extended periods of time, reappearing at some later point if only to say, "Hey, I'm still here!". The story, which is essentially a few plot threads mashed together, crawls along, picking up only slightly near the end when an expedition is mounted to visit the mystery planet. There are some interesting visuals and revelations as a result, but hardly enough to warrant anyone sitting through this miserable dreck to get to that point. As I mentioned, the special effects are pretty rotten, which I can let slide, but why did all the Earth ships look like phallic pleasure aids with bits of plastic glued on? And then there's the musical score...some of it was standard stuff, but the other bits were comprised of an irritating cacophony of sound effects including various bloops, bleeps, and blorts. Just because someone can edit a bunch of obnoxious, `spacey' sound effects together doesn't mean said concoction should be used to score a science fiction film.

The fullscreen picture on this Cheezy Flicks DVD release looks rotten, pure and simple. I don't know what source material was used for the transfer, but it was well worn, as not only were the colors washed out, but there's lines, specks, and other signs of wear, tear, and age damage present throughout the entire feature. The audio was slightly better, but not by much. The information on the back of the DVD case claims the film was "remastered", which I take, in this case, to mean slapping whatever shoddy element available onto DVD. As far as special features, there's not much except for a video montage of other Cheezy Flicks DVD releases, along with a few vintage intermission clips.

Cookieman108

By the way, there seemed to be an attempt at comedy in the film in terms of a running gag as whenever Benson would pull out a cigar, about ten of his ash-kissing lackeys would shove lit lighters in his face. I'm not entirely sure why this was supposed to be funny, but maybe it's an Italian thing...

A rogue planet hurtles toward Earth. Alien saucers emerge and engage toy rocket ships from Earth. The hostile planet has its own electronic super-brain. Irascible Prof. Benson (Claude Rains) tries to communicate with the "other" before Earth can blow-up the galactic interloper. The best visual display is the brief scene early in the film of forty-something Mrs. Collins bulging out of her tight swimsuit. Great cheeks. After that, the outer space FX suffer in comparison. What Claude Rains, of all people, is doing in this Italian sci-fi flick is a puzzle. This movie was produced in the same era as Rains' appearance as irascible Professor Challenger in "The Lost World." Perhaps, the producers wanted to exploit the popularity of that other '60s popcorn flick among pre-teens. Today this movie is of value only for determined fans of the esoteric delights of low budget flicks. The rest of the cast is as boring as they are obscure. The script is ambitious, but tends to go off in various directions that make continuity elusive. The rest of the film is too pretentious and somber to be good camp. Although, viewing an aging Claude Rains in a space suit complete with a bubble-glass helmet verges on comic. From this point forward, you are on your own. ;-)

"Battle of the Worlds" is not the best 'B' movie and probably can be rated as a 'Z' movie, but it is still a cult classic. Cheezy Flicks prided themselves on owning thousands of titles so where are they? And if they think so much about getting them out on disc, why is this version absolutely un-watchable? The print looks like it was dragged behind a car and the colors are washed out and as usual, they have cut off the film company credits and replaced it with their own. So far the best version for print quality and color is the one Alpha has though it is not properly framed.

I guess we will never know because Cheezy Flicks has been cited releasing bootleg versions of films that are not in the public domain and don't have the rights to release. They haven't released anything new since 2005 and will not answer e-mail. Too bad as other companies like Dark Sky Films are doing what Cheezy Flicks should have and the follow-up film entitled "War Between The Planets" on their label is stunning! Maybe they will pick up Battle as well? One can hope but stay away from Cheezy Flicks version by all costs.

It is sad that Alpha has taken this title out of its current catalog. Their version is the best copy out there. Not full of lumps and bumps, scratches or blemishes and colors "are" colors. The framing is a bit off (over scaled).

Don't bother with the Cheezy Flicks version at all... a total waste of money! There are several budget versions out there but Alpha's is the best I have seen thus far. If you like this movie and have an opportunity to find one in bargain bins or offered as a used copy, buy Alpha's.

Eric

Watch Claude Rains devour every piece of scenery as Dr. Benson, in this slow, yet somehow watchable space epic. Benson is the only scientist who seems to have a brain, and must overcome the idiots around him in order to deal with a rogue planet from another galaxy! Yes, said planet has entered our solar system and is heading toward the earth! It will soon be close enough to destroy all life! Worse still, the mysterious orb is loaded with killer flying saucers that thwart all attempts to investigate the planet! Can Benson find a way to get to the electronic brain at the planet's core before doomsday? Watch and see! BOTWs boasts special FX that are straight out of some poor kid's toybox! The story is nearly motionless at times and the characters (except for Benson) are petrified wood. However, I find myself enjoying it anyway! Am I sick or what?? Check it out...

Man, this movie really gets a bum rap. You have to love the wonderful cheesiness of a classic, low-budget science fiction film such as this, but Battle of the Worlds (an Italian film originally released as Il Pianeta Degli Uomini Spenti) comes with the extra special treat of a commanding performance by the legendary Claude Rains. Granted, this didn't exactly mark the height of Rains' career, but I could have watched him stomping around as the arrogant, crotchety, know-it-all astronomer Professor Benson all night long. It's no wonder he's so grouchy, given the cardboard characters surrounding him and the fact that all of them put together aren't as smart as he is - and he does it all with calculus and old-fashioned brain power, having no use for all the technological gizmos his subordinates rely upon. Heck, by the time the observatory scientists come to him with the news of a celestial object appearing on a collision course with Earth, he's already been studying the "Outsider" for five days.

The Earth is definitely in trouble, as this large object from another galaxy seems to have doomsday written all over it. It has already played havoc with the Mars base, exerting a gravitational force strong enough to pull Deimos (one of Mars' moons) out of its regular orbit. Professor Benson, however, determines that it will miss the earth by a good 95,000 miles - but no one listens to the "Old Man." He finally gets the attention of the bigwigs in High Command after the object stops at the distance he predicted - only to go into orbit around the Earth. Now all the scientists want to study the thing, but Benson insists that the Outsider be destroyed post-haste. Does anyone listen? No, and those sent up to examine the object more closely never come back. Apparently, Professor Benson is the only scientist in the world who realizes that a natural object just doesn't throw on the air brakes on a dime for no reason - someone or something has to be controlling it. As far as the military folks are concerned, though, the Battle of the Worlds has officially begun - but, thankfully, Benson's Battle of the Egos is far from over.

The story does have some weak spots - planet-sized weak spots. For example, there's the clumsy, boring romance of Dr. Fred Steele (Umberto Orsini) and Benson's assistant Eve Barnett (Maya Brent) and the weird, cougar-ish behavior of Mrs. Collins (Jacqueline Derval), whoever she was supposed to be. Then there are the special effects, which are gloriously, shamelessly awful - the spacecraft scenes in particular may be the worst I have ever seen. That's pretty much a trademark of these beloved 1960s Italian Space Operas, though, so I actually count that as a positive. Combine that with the spirited performance of Claude Rains, and you've got yourself a true classic of science fiction camp. I loved it.

I am in a less than generous mood after watching "Battle of the Worlds," not so much because it's bad, but because it's boring. I have seen many (many!) very badly made movies, and this one ranks among the most boring of all time. This was made in Italy and stars Claude Rains as the absolutely insufferable Professor Benson, a brilliant scientist who predicts that another planet will collide with Earth during the incredibly brief periods of time when he isn't insulting everyone in sight. This movie is like poison ivy: relentlessly irritating, almost to the point of being unwatchable.

The film is ostensibly in "color" (sepia and very pale aqua are colors, after all), but giant chunks are in black and white. Here is the premise (or as close a facsimile thereof as I could figure out during the movie-induced narcolepsy I was suffering while attempting to view this): There are two young people, deeply in love who are in the space corps and they fly around in some hilarious spaceship models and talk about marriage and having kids between being yelled at by Rains. Meanwhile, Rains and his schnauzer detect the alien planet approaching Earth. When it goes into orbit around the Earth (after some ponderous calculus done on a chalkboard explaining it all...those of you familiar with orbital mechanics will be required to enter a state of extreme denial at this point) the humans go exploring and a giant space war erupts for what seems like about a year and a half of screen time (it's really just a couple of minutes of the same models-on-strings seen numerous times), then the Earth undergoes a plague of stock footage which seems to concern volcanoes, hurricanes, and forest fires (this is in black and white to, no doubt, underscore the haunting angst of the protagonists, or maybe because that's what was available cheaply.) There is a lot of very bad acting and it all come to a head with this prophetic line "Most things happen unexpectedly, even the apocalypse." (Ponder.) Throughout this Professor Benson smokes cigars (this is apparently some kind of joke that made sense in Italy), sleeps in a hammock, and glowers a lot. In the end Rains gets into a snug spacesuit and somehow saves civilization while blathering in a scream about music and harmonics and physics, while the soundtrack assaults the audience with what sounds like something written by John Cage and performed by Nigel Tufnel.

You get the idea. I could never sit through this film again unless my life depended on it. I have seen worse movies, but very few that have tested my stamina like this one: the 84 minutes of this movie make the Iditarod look like a picnic.

Beware.

I saw this movie when I was much younger, and it's stuck in my mind as one of the best performances Claude Rains ever gave. (Another one worth searching for is "Crime Without Passion".) He plays a scientist-mystic involved in an alien encounter, a man who holds the earth and its population in contempt, but in the end is only too willing to sacrifice his own life for a glimpse of truth which he'll never be able to share. Unapologetically hostile, out-of-touch with his times, and surrounded by idiots (aren't we all?) he carries the film single-handedly. The purity of his character makes me forget all about the cheesy acting, bad color, and hokey special effects with which he finds himself surrounded. The "Outsider" theme song will haunt you, too.

Boring Italian flick dubbed into English starring the great Claude Rains as an eccentric scientist charged with saving the Earth from the mysterious "Outsider", a rogue planet full of flying saucers on a collision course with our own. Rains does his best to carry the picture, but he doesn't have much help. You would think such material wouldn't lend itself to boredom. Until the final scenes within the alien world, somehow the director and cast pull it off. Some accomplishment. The effects are fairly laughable, even by 1961 standards. For those wishing to see an Italian science fiction movie from this era with an engaing story and good acting, look no further than "Assignment: Outer Space". It's available in the same Tree Line Sci-Fi Classics package as BOTW, along with truly great schlock like Teenagers From Outer Space, Mesa of Lost Women and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

I thought that a movie with Claude Rains, who starred in such classics as "The Invisible Man," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "Casablanca," and "Notorious," might have some redeeming characteristics. This movie did have some redeeming characteristics, but they were almost exclusively those of Mr. Rains.

Professor Benson (Rains) is a middle-aged genius who hangs out with his flowers and hot babes. When a planet enters our solar system from another galaxy, Professor Benson is in the driver's seat as he seems to know what to do with respect to the planetoid, though nearly always just a little late to be truly effective. The planetoid causes a near catastrophe with one of our spaceships, and then mysteriously goes from being on a collision course with earth to an orbit about earth.

Flying saucers that spout animated beams of light attack spaceships sent to investigate the planetoid. The earth plans to blow the planetoid up until Benson convinces them that doing so would be a disaster. Eventually Benson convinces the "bigwigs," as he calls them, to allow him to travel to the planetoid so that he can ferret out the secret hidden in the planetoid.

Once on the planetoid, our intrepid voyagers discover that the interior of the planet is full of surprises. I will leave the rest for you to discover.

Much of this movie is boring. I grew tired of waiting for something to happen for much of the first portion of the movie. It was only after the saucers attacked that the pace picked up. I did like Rains' curmudgeonly character, who sparked each of his scenes. Unfortunately, Rains' character is insufficient to make this movie worth watching. If you are a big fan of Rains', this movie may be worth watching. However, I am unable to recommend this movie except for fans of awful Italian science fiction movies.