Product Details

• Actors: Hugh Marlowe, Joan Taylor, Donald Curtis, Morris Ankrum, John Zaremba
• Directors: Fred F. Sears
• Writers: Bernard Gordon, Curt Siodmak, Donald E. Keyhoe, George Worthing Yates
• Producers: Charles H. Schneer, Sam Katzman
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed
• Language: Portuguese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese
• Dubbed: French, Portuguese, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click .
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: January 15, 2008
• Run Time: 83 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (210 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000YDOOHI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,338 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (Color Special Edition)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A textbook example of '50s-era science fiction, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers boasts not only a solid script and competent performances, but some genuinely impressive stop-motion effects courtesy of one of the industry's uncontested masters, Ray Harryhausen. Scientist Hugh Marlowe (who faced a more benevolent invader from space five years earlier in The Day the Earth Stood Still) discovers that UFOs are responsible for the destruction of a series of exploratory space rockets launched by his space exploration project. The saucers' helmeted pilots land on Earth and deliver an ultimatum to humanity via Marlowe: fealty or complete annihilation.

Harryhausen's painstakingly intricate saucers and the destruction they wreak (particularly during an assault on Washington, D.C.) are the film's unquestionable highlights, but Marlowe and Joan Taylor (as his wife/partner) are capable leads, and veteran B director Fred F. Sears doesn't let the dialogue and expositional scenes fall apart in between the barrage of effects. Earth vs. the Flying Saucers is a fun and effective slice of sci-fi that should please younger audiences as well as nostalgic return viewers. Sears later reused some of the effects footage for his jaw-droppingly awful 1957 effort, The Giant Claw. --Paul Gaita

Product Description

Dr. Russell Marvin heads up Operation Skyhook, which is tasked with sending rockets into the upper atmosphere to probe for future space flights. Unfortunately, all the rockets are somehow disappearing. While investigating this strange occurrence, Russell and his new assistant/wife Carol Marvin are abducted by a flying saucer, where the aliens demand to meet with certain people in order to negotiate. But it was a trick; the aliens only wanted to kill them. The invasion has begun and if Russell and Carol can't find a way to get past their defenses and stop these creatures, it may be the end of the human race.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 91 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars ORIGINALLY MADE IN 1.85 WIDESCREEN January 25, 2009

By Paul Scott

Format:DVD

These films,were in fact filmed in either 1,85 or 1,66,both Widescreen for the cinemas.
Being a Projectionist working in the 50's I can vouch that these films were all presented in Widescreen.
So as one reviewer puts it,these are not fake Widescreen'but are being presented as they were originally filmed.
Had to clear that up.

161 of 177 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Harryhausen versus the Sci Fi Cliches February 14, 2003

By Thomas F. Bertonneau

Format:DVD

Here is a list - for people jaded by "Star Wars"-type digital special effects and Bruce Willis-type smart-aleck dialogue - of what the classic science fiction film "Earth versus the Flying Saucers" (1956) does not boast: it is not processed in Technicolor but only in (glorious) black-and-white; it does not show whole cities sprung sky-high by death-rays or fleets of numberless star cruisers nuking it out among the nebulae; its aliens do not look like the dripping unsought-for results of recombinant DNA experimentation, nor are they invulnerable so that stopping them depends on a hasty "deus ex machina" tacked on by the screenwriters; its scientist hero and his wife are mature people, not teenagers or "twenty-somethings" escaped from prime-time television; they act with deliberation and do not pump air or dance a jig when their efforts prove effective; when people die in the film, they die without bravado. People who insist on such things should know in advance that their particular adrenaline-addiction will not be fixed by this film. Intelligent and discriminating viewers, on the other hand, can expect the superb model-work of Ray Harryhausen deployed economically but satisfyingly throughout the film. They can also expect thoughtful, jargon-free dialogue from screenwriters George Worthington Yates and Raymond T. Marcus, working from a story by Kurt ("Donovan's Brain") Siodmak, and taught direction from Fred F. Sears. "EVFS" gratifyingly violates one of the formulas of 1950s sci-fi cinema: it does not make the audience wait to see the alien nemesis, continually postponing a disappointing appearance, but exposes its first saucer within two minutes of the opening segment. As Dr. Russell Marvin (Hugh Marlowe) and his newlywed wife (Joan Taylor) drive down a California desert highway toward the rocket test-site where Marvin directs his earth satellite program, an enormous craft swoops down on them, maneuvering around the speeding car. Both are fazed by the experience and don't quite believe their senses. When Marvin tries to launch another one of his "artificial moons," a saucer lands on the grounds; soldiers fire on the robot-like aliens, whereupon the craft takes to the air again and uses its ray to blast the installation. It is while waiting to be rescued from the bunker where they have been caught that Marvin and his wife discover that their tape-recorder contains a message from aliens, beamed at them during their close encounter on the highway. The message is apparently friendly, but the aliens turn out to be intent on taking the earth by force. Marvin and his scientist cronies race to develop a weapon to neutralize the saucer-fleet, which makes its attack on Washington D.C. in the film's brilliant finale. Supporting performances come from the ubiquitous Morris Ankrum and from Donald Curtis. Ankrum appears in nine out of ten 1950s sci-fi "B" movies, or so it seems. (See "Flight to Mars" or "Kronos.") Midway through the film, Marvin and his wife, in company with his wife's father, an Air Force general played by Ankrum, board a saucer that has landed on the beach, ostensibly on the Virginia shore. The location is actually Westward Beach, in Malibu, about a thousand feet from where I lived as a teenager, looking as deserted an alien as it is possible to imagine. It is a remarkably stark scene. The interior of the saucer is sparsely and therefore effectively conceived. The aliens regard themselves as supermen, classically "beyond good and evil." In the assault on D.C., Ray Harryhausen contrives to destroy every major national monument in the city. That the alien hardware is not indestructible lends the story credibility: the implication is that humanity is equal to the battle, provided that it does not panic. The DVD of "EVFS" includes two featurettes, "This is Dynamation," about Harryhausen's signature technique, and the more specialized "The Making of Earth versus the Flying Saucers." Presentation is in wide-screen, a real boon. (The VHS was in pan-and-scan television format.) This is a terrifically entertaining item from the black-and-white "alien invasion" genre. Highly recommended.

52 of 54 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Chromachoice? I'd rather not. January 6, 2008

By Howie

Format:DVD

This is a 2 disk set. The main film is, like "20 Million Miles to Earth: 50th Anniversary Edition", on 1 disk in both a digitally-restored black & white original version and newly colorized version. This is made possible by a process Sony calls "Chromachoice". This allows you to switch between the color and b/w versions of the film at any time by simply pressing the "angle" button on your remote. It's a good idea but some would argue that it's flawed in execution. I'm one of those. On my player the "angle" icon comes up every time there is a chapter stop and will NOT go away until I press the "clear" button. This is very annoying but at least I can get it off the screen! Based on reports on "20 Million..." other players will display this icon the entire film. There may or may not be a way of disabling this on your player. Frankly, I would rather choose from a menu which version to watch as the novelty of switching wears off after a while and the annoyance of the constantly appearing icon does not. While this is possible you still get the icon "popup" at chapter stops.

Special features on a 2nd disk are:
Audio Commentary by Ray Harryhausen and Other Visual Effects Specialists
Featurette: Harryhausen on Earth vs. The Flying Saucers
Featurette: A Present Day Look at Stop Motion
Featurette: Tim Burton Sits Down with Ray Harryhausen
Featurette: Interview with Joan Taylor
Featurette: David Schecter on Film Music's Unsung Hero
Featurette: The Hollywood Blacklist and Bernard Gordon
Video Photo Galleries
Advertising Artwork video montage of film's ad materials by Producer Arnold Kunert
Sneak Peek of Digital Comic Book Flying Saucers vs. the Earth

All-in-all a good package for a classic Harryhausen film marred only by "Chromachoice" which reduces the score from 5 to 4 stars.

If you are concerned about possible problems with "Chromachoice" on your player, I recommend that you borrow/rent a copy of the newly remastered versions of "20 Million Miles to Earth" , "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers", or "It Came from Beneath the Sea" first to check your player for compatibility issues.