Customer Reviews

Target Earth [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

On the surface this 1954 movie appears to pretty bare-bones in comparison to other 1950s sci-fi epics. Richard Denning (Frank) and Kathleen Crowley (Nora), along with two others, are holed-up in a deserted hotel in a large American city (probably Chicago). The city's inhabitants have been evacuated, but these four have been overlooked. The menacing Venusian robot force (actually one robot), while a bit clunky and one dimensional, presents a threatening, underlying presence throughout the movie. When will it strike with its death-ray? Can anyone survive its monomaniac pursuit?

The movie's director, Sherman Rose, deftly explores the theme of loneliness and isolation among the crew's cast. Nora's failed suicide attempt and Frank's stoic acceptance of his being "rolled outside a bar after flashing a big roll" the night before seem to create a credible chemistry that bonds the characters' fates together. If misery loves company, Frank and Nora want no part of the company that waits outside the flimsy boundaries of their hotel room.

Black and white movies occasionally intensify austerity in a way that color films do not. The seeming hopelessness of Frank and Nora's situation, the desertion of the city, and unblinking, unnerving robot presence raise the emotional level of "Target Earth" up a couple of notches.

Viewers will like movie's ending too. The "science" portion of "Target Earth" gets the viewer to a strong visual climax as military scientists race against time to develop an ultrasonic sound wave generator that will defeat the invading menace. Will they get to Frank and Nora in time? Or will the lurking robot(s) find them first?

Kudos must also go to supporting actors Virginia Grey (Vicky) and Richard Reeves (Jim) as a pair of Pol Roger champagne guzzling reprobates who vow to drink their way from one end of the city to the other. As down-and-outers in their own isolated existence, their being trapped with Frank and Nora aptly points out that they have something more to live for than imbibing and gambling on the "daily double."

The acting is first rate and the story's plot comes from a nice short story called "The Deadly City" by Paul Fairman.

VCI did a good job restoring this vintage sci-fi invasion tale. After a failed suicide attempt, Nora King (Kathleen Crowley) wakes up to find the city deserted except for a body or two with horrified expressions on their faces. She encounters Richard Denning and they try to figure out what happened (he had been mugged unconcious) while they "slept". They meet a colorful couple drinking it up who survived also and the four band together. An invasion of robots from Venus have attacked the Earth and everyone has evacuated. (Well, actually it's only one robot clanking around but this IS a low-budget quickie). They end up in a hotel, contend with a gangster and fight the robot. Not everyone survives, but there's a rescue by the armed forces who have discovered how to demobilize the robots. With high-frequency sound! Engagingly goofy, loopy sci-fi that's competently acted but very low-budget. The robot is so cheesy looking I expected pieces of him to fall off any moment. But that was part of the fun. If this is your cup of tea, enjoy---!

You know, I'm not one of those people who insists movies be presented in widescreen. Especially for older movies, it's just not that big of a deal. But TARGET EARTH screams out for a widescreen transfer from the first HORRIBLY CROPPED FRAME. You can't even read most of the opening credits because of the sloppy transfer job. It's inexcusable, especially when you refer back to the box and see "Widescreen" prominently printed on the cover.

Having said that, this was my first exposure to this taut, cheap little invasion flick, and I was fairly impressed. The black & white photography adds much to the feeling of isolation and desperation experienced by the characters. And the robot is pretty decent, by 50's sci-fi standards. Heckuva climax, too. But you'll have to see that for yourself.

Recommended for any fan of classic science fiction.

This film terrified me when I first saw it at the age of 9, but I doubt it will terrify anyone who has been raised in the era of sophisticated special effects. Nonetheless, it is a short (75 minutes), entertaining, and fun movie that captures the mood generated by the 1950s flying saucer scares.

The story centers on Nora and Frank, two strangers who've been left behind while the city was evacuated in response to an unknown (to them) threat. The eerie opening music creates the mood as Nora wakes from the stupor of an attempted suicide via sleeping pills. Alarmed to discover that both her rooming house and the entire city (as seen through her window) seem to be deserted, she gets dressed and goes off in search of someone.

With overhead photography worthy of Hitchcock, we follow Nora through the streets as she stumbles upon a dead body and eventually meets Frank, an out-of-town businessman who was also left behind after being mugged and knocked out the previous evening. They join forces, and eventually meet up with a drunken, bickering couple in an abandoned nightclub.

Together the four go outside, determined to find a way out of town. It is then that they have their first encounter with the invaders, robots from space armed with a deadly heat ray. Here is where you have to suspend judgment about the primitive special effects, but the rest of the movie is fast-paced and suspenseful, right up to the end.

Considering what a shoestring budget Herman Cohen's first production was made on, it's almost a masterpiece.

Sci-fi mainstay Richard Denning awakens one morning in the city, to find there's no city. Everyone in it is gone - almost. He runs into frightened Kathleen Crowley, and eventually into another couple, Virginia Grey and Richard Reeves, who aren't sure whether the world's ended or not (and aren't frankly too worried about it, if it has), and so celebrate with champagne just in case. In time, an on-the-lam hood joins the group, making them all wonder what is worse: invaders from beyond, or their own next door neighbors.

And what's come from beyond are alien robots - clunky tin-can jobs, with a single cyclopean eye that fires a killer heat-ray - intent, for whatever reason, on eliminating the local populace. The military has the city cordoned off, and is busy studying the single robot they've captured. They theorize it was sent by a humanoid race, probably from Venus, as a vanguard for invasion.

Can they find the robots' weakness, and exploit it in time? Will the abandoned city's survivors manage to find a way to survive each other, let alone the invading metal men?

This movie succeeds despite its remarkable cheapness - only one robot was made, recycled to represent an army of them - but its script is fairly trite. It's still worth watching, though, for the performances and the end-of-the-world fun with killer robots.

I was lucky to see this fantastic movie at the Fox Theater in the 1950's. I was in the 3rd grade and remember this film...several of my buddies and I couldn't wait to see this film. In those days you only new about a new movie a week or two before it came to your theater.

We were so scared, the military looked so up to date, and they were helpless. The movie was set to modern times, so we felt like we could be attacked next. Made for many many sleepless nights. a young boys delight!

I recently saw this movie, and I have to admit it was pretty fun. Yeah, it was fairly cheap and cheesy, but a good, solid sci-fi b-movie. The story revolves around a group of individuals who find themselves trapped in recently evacuated city. Not knowing why the city is empty, they start looking for answers and find that the city has been taken over by an army of killer robots from space. (Well, for budgetary reasons, there is only one robot, but they use it again and again to create the illusion of many.) And the space robot looks pretty hokey, but whatever....did anyone else notice the sort of misogynic treatment of the women in this movie? Maybe this was par back in 1954, I don't know, but it seemed almost comical they way the men ordered the women around, telling them to keep quiet or to shut up and such. I also thought it was funny how Mort Marshalls' character, Charles Otis, was introduced, provided some exposition, and then was efficiently eliminated. Don't get me wrong, as his character was highly annoying, and a quick departure was welcome, but it all seemed a little to convienent. The story moves along, and there is a side story with the army trying to find a weakness in the alien invaders, devise a method to overcome them before they have to use atomic weapons on the city.

The picture and sound are pretty good, and there are a few extras, including a sort of video homage and biography to the producer, Herman Cohen, who also made movies like I Was A Teenage Werewolf, I Was A Teenage Frankenstein, and Horrors Of The Black Museum. There is also a commentary track by either the producer or the director, I can't remember which.

Forget all of the national conflicts our planet has--the Venusians have now invaded with giant robots armed with death rays. That is the premise of this classic B movie science fiction matinee flick. All of the baby boomers remember those low budget sci-fi flicks that all us guys went to see. Well, this is one of the better ones, and actually features decent if not great acting, terrible special effects, but an actual storyline that I found surprisingly engaging after not seeing this flick for around 40 years.

A few people awake in a city to find it evacuated. Each missed the evacuation for his or her special reason; one woman had tried unsuccessfully to commit suicide with sleeping pills. They soon find that the city is menaced by huge electronic robots armed with death rays. Earth's (propeller-driven) bombers and artillery are powerless against the Venusian invaders, who are plainly the advance guard of a full-blown invasion.

Human technology carries the day (after all, we are all still here). No spoilers here.

As I noted above, this film, unlike some of these old science fiction matinee films, actually has a decent storyline and acceptable acting. Kathleen Crowley, in my opinion, turns in a particularly nice performance. Overall, this film is great fun and nostalgia, if one's expectations are not too high. I enjoyed it.

TARGET EARTH is basically a zero-budget War Of The Worlds. There are no alien ships. There are no spectacular special effects. No deep messages or insights into the human condition. Nope, this is sci-fi stripped down to it's basic elements. A small band of people, led by Frank (Richard Denning), have awakened to find the city of Los Angeles deserted except for themselves and a small army of killer robots from Venus. Due to financial constraints, there is only one robot. It is basically an old furnace with flexible dryer-duct legs. Sadly, the robot is only seen about 4-5 times, as it was fairly entertaining to watch while it lumbered along. The rest of the film has our not-so-merry bunch trying to stay out of the robot's way. A couple of them are hit by it's death-ray, and it does come crashing through a plate-glass window at one point. Otherwise, it's just vacant street scenes and discussions among the survivors about an invasion and devastation we never actually get to see. Of course, there's plenty of grainy old military stock footage as well. TARGET EARTH is not a bad movie, it's just not a classic. I still recommend it for diehard sci-fi maniacs...

I had memories of this Film since I was 5 yeats old. Dreams of giant robots terrorizing people left behind in a city deserted. I found the DVD on Amazon and after viewing it for the second time in 48 years I enjoyed it as much the second time around.