Customer Reviews

Plan 9 from Outer Space

5 star:		(139)
4 star:		(55)
3 star:		(42)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(41)

 

 

After reading many of the other Amazon.com reviews of the "Plan 9 From Outer Space" DVD, the consumer MUST be aware there are two different companies that are distributing this movie on DVD. The first is PASSPORT which, from all the other reviews seem to say, should be avoided. Apparently the company has their logo visible on screen the ENTIRE movie and featurette which follows. And they also don't even include a chapter index. The other company which distributes this movie is IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT. This is the version I have and THIS is the DVD to get of "Plan 9". (The cover of my version is the one Amazon.com has displayed in the picture above.) The picture quality is near perfect and the Dolby Digital Mono sound is excellent. And. . . .no annoying logo in the bottom corner of your screen. While the (seemingly) inferior PASSPORT version supposedly has a few interviews cobbled together from Tim Burton's "Ed Wood" press junket, the IMAGE version includes a 111 minute documentary which includes some of the stars of Plan 9 (including Vampira) as well as cult horror directors Sam Raimi and Joe Dante! It's two movies for the price of one! So unless you're a die-hard Johnny Depp fan and NEED to have a couple of clips of him speaking, the IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT DVD is the absolute one to purchase. I believe Amazon.com offers both so just beware. And if you're thinking of buying one from an on-line auction make sure you ask the person selling which version they have. I hope this helps.

Plan 9 is just as bad as everyone says it is (buy it buy it buy it!), so this review is just a reminder for you to purchase the better of the two DVDs that Amazon offers of this title.

Do NOT buy the Passport Video edition...it has horrible sound and the picture lighting throbs between dark and bright through the entire film. Passport Video also included a watermark of their logo in the bottom right hand corner of the screen that lasts throughout the film. In addition to all of this, what is advertised on the package as "Show 2: THE ED WOOD STORY" is in fact 40 mins. of cobbled together interviews with Vampira, Johnny Depp, Ed Wood's wife, and one of Tor Johnson's neighbors. Sounds okay, but they are actually mind-bogglingly uninsightful and focus mostly upon Tim Burton's Ed Wood film.

The edition of this DVD that you will want to buy is the Image Entertainment version that includes the 111 min. documentary "Flying Saucers Over Hollywood" (which is a wonderful addition). This DVD has great sound and picture quality, vastly superior to Passport Video's piddly excuse for a quality DVD.

I know that it may seem counter productive to buy a more expensive release of the worst movie of all time, but you will appreciate the horrible experience of grave robbers from outerspace much more (and Image Entertaiment's documentary is great too).

Plan 9 From Outer Space is often called the worst movie ever made, but its entertainment value elevates it above many other films, even some of better quality. The plot moves along nicely and has little to no padding in it and the dialog and special effects are hilarious even if that was not the intent of the director, Ed Wood. Everyone who loves cinema should see this movie! The wobbly flying saucers on single strings, Swedish wrestler turned actor Tor Johnson, Bela Lugosi in his last role, Vampira and more make this an unforgettable film. It's so bad it's great. Sadly, the great Bela Lugosi died during filming, so look for Bela Lugosi's replacement in some scenes. He's not hard to spot as he is taller and looks nothing like Mr. Lugosi, hence he holds a cape in front of his face in every scene in which he appears!

The original black and white (b&w) version of the film is nicely restored on this DVD and the colorized version is of good quality and interesting as well. The colorization looks better on this disc than most and appears both rich and fairly natural. Mike Nelson, former head writer and host of the HILARIOUS Mystery Science Theater 3000 (aka MST3K, also available on DVD) provides a humorous commentary track that can be heard on either the original b&w or the color version of the film. Other extras include Mike Nelson's amusing "lost alien plans 1 through 8," some brief home movies of the famous cross-dressing director, Ed Wood, commercials produced by Ed Wood, faux comedic deleted scenes, and a color version of the movie trailer.

Fans of Plan 9 will appreciate the nicely restored picture and sound and the Mike Nelson commentary is highly amusing as expected. This DVD is a movie buff's dream. Don't miss it.

As another reviewer mentioned, Passport Video has their logo "PIP" in the lower right hand corner throughout this DVD.
Hold up your hand if this sounds like a good idea.
Also, if you go to the menu and click on PLAY MOVIE (as you're likely to do) you'll not get to the movie, you'll get the INTERVIEWS. That's right Passport Video is a bunch if screwups!
To watch Plan 9 you have to go to CHAPTERS.
Avoid this disc.

I'm constantly mystified that people call this the worst movie ever made. True, the dialogue, special effects, acting, etc, clearly aren't on par with the big budget sci-fi movies Hollywood was cranking out at the time. However, if a movie is as entertaining as this one -even if it's not in the way its creators intended- it can't be that bad. I've watched this movie countless times and I never fail to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Nowadays, no one could intentionally create a comedy to be as entertaining in the way "Plan 9" is. It's a great party film if you have quick witted friends. If you really want a BAD film, watch "Wild Wild West." "Plan 9" may have UFO's made out of pie pans; but at least it doesn't have a stupid 80ft spider. There's a difference between entertainingly bad and just plain bad. "Plan 9" is the former. I think Ed Wood -the original "Bowfinger" - would be surprised to know that his "masterpiece" turned out to be exactly that. A masterpiece. Well, maybe not in the vein he intended! Buy this movie!

Not that PLAN 9 was worthy of the Criterion Collection, but it deserved a bit better than the presentation Passport has given it. The transfer is slightly above VHS and the mastering is pretty bad. Hell, even the old VHS tape looked better. Granted, it's a film in the public domain, but couldn't you have found better materials? Worst of all is the company logo that plays throughout most of the movie - like anyone would rip it off!! However, Passport does try to make some amends by offering interviews with some of Wood's cronies and with ED WOOD Johnny Depp and Martin Landau, interviews taken off a 1994 press junket. There are also trailers for 4 other Wood films, and even if they too vary in quality, they are fun to watch. The film is the real star and is worth owning in any format. I just wish this one were better.

There are two kinds of bad movies - the kind through which you cannot sit and the kind that raise their "badness" to an art form. Plan 9 is in the latter category. Originally titled Graverobbers from Outer Space, it tells the story of the Leader of the Galaxy (named Eros = Greek god of love) and how he tries to take over the Earth using human zombies. Various people catch onto the plan and try to stop the surprisingly humanoid aliens.

None of this is important, though. What is fun in the inane dialogue, some examples of which are, "We are all interested in the future for that is where you and I will spend the rest of our lives.", "You see? Your stupid minds!", and "Inspector Clay is dead! Murdered! And someone's responsible!". In addition, supposedly contiguous scenes are filmed half in the daytime, half at night; you can see strings on the flying saucers (descibed as "cigar shaped" in the dialogue); styrofoam gravestones wobble; etc. The star of the film, Bela Lugosi, passed away before the movie started production - most of his part is played by another actor with a cape over his face.

Thus, there is enough here to keep anyone amused, if not laughing out loud, through most of the film. It is highly recommended.

The rest of my comments will centre on the DVD edition. The video is remarkably clear and crisp. The audio track does not fare as well, but it's okay. There are some extras, including some trailers for both this film and other Wood offerings - very entertaining. Finally, there are some interviews. Unfortunately, some are inane, dealing solely with the Tim Burton Movie "Ed Wood", which, while interesting, are not really appropriate here. The more personal interviews are better - one of Wood's actresses and ex-girlfriends, a neighbour of Tor Johnson's, and Lugosi's son. An okay set of extras for a movie that's 40 years old. But why, OH WHY??, did the company that produced the movie insist on putting its semitransparent logo in the corner (like the little TV network logos) through the entire movie? Argh!! This feature alone robs the movie of its fifth star.

Unbelievably, this DVD has a watermark ("PIP") throughout the film! It's as though they taped it off the air! I returned it to Passport with a letter telling them to send me a pressing with the watermark removed, but have yet to receive a replacement disk (>6 months ago). I would advise waiting for another company to release Plan 9 and the remainder of the Wood collection. This is one instance where the DVD is inferior to the Laserdisk collection that was released a few years ago.

This was great movie! But this DVD is terrible. They got this PIP logo in the bottom right-hand corner through out the whole DVD. It's like watching the movie on a cable channel. The only things I liked about this DVD, besides the movie, is the interviews they have and the trailors. If they got rid of that PIP logo, it would be cool.

Anybody who loves horror movies and calls themselves an expert must have Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space." It qualifies as an 'it's so bad it's good' classic. However, don't make the mistake that I made in buying the Passport DVD "Plan 9" with the 40 minute Ed Wood story. The basic reason is that in this version you will spot the capital letters PIP stamped in the lower right hand corner in every shot. Unlike some people, I don't have to have the initials of the company that produced the DVD staring me in the face when I'm watching it. You cannot remove these initials. Get another version of "Plan 9."